Patent · US Active

Treatment of brines for deep well injection

US7681643B2 · kind B2 · utility

65Cited by
88References
50Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateSep 22, 2006
Grant dateMar 23, 2010
Priority date
Expiry dateDec 19, 2027

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
  • CPC primaryY10S159/901
  • WIPO fieldCivil engineering
  • WIPO sectorOther fields

Abstract

A process for conditioning of wastewater treatment brines for deep well injection during recovery of heavy hydrocarbon oils in situ. High pressure steam is used to mobilize oil, which is recovered in a mixture of oil and produced water. The produced water is pre-treated by removing residual oil. The remaining water is acidified and steam stripped to remove non-hydroxide alkalinity and non-condensable gases, and is then fed to a crystallizing evaporator, where it is evaporated from a circulating brine slurry to produce (1) a distillate stream having a trace amount of residual solutes, and (2) evaporator blowdown stream containing, as dissolved or suspended solids, substantially all of the solutes from the produced water feed. The distillate stream is used as boiler feedwater, either directly or after polishing. The evaporator blowdown is conditioned to remove substantially all suspended solids and to produce a clear brine solution for deep well injection.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.