Crossflow microfiltration of oil from synthetic produced water

Produced water is formed in underground formations and brought up to the surface along with crude oil during production. It is by far the largest volume byproduct or waste stream. The most popular preference to deal with produced water is to re-inject it back into the formation. Produced water re-injection (PWRI) needs a treatment before injection to prevent formation blockage. Due to the increase of produced water during oil production in the west of Kuwait, an effluent treatment and water injection plants were established and commissioned in 2004 so that produced water could be used for re-injection purposes. It is estimated that oil wells in the west of Kuwait produce 15 to 40 % of produced water. The main aim of this treatment train is to reduce not only the oil-in-water amount to less than 10 ppm, but also total suspended solids to 5 ppm which is the maximum allowable concentration for re-injection and disposal. Furthermore, with respect to the upper limit for injection, the maximum number of particles between 5 and 8 microns is 200 in 0.1 ml. In practice the number is found to exceed this limit by 10 times...