Cover Story | Optimizing Produced Water Oil Separation for Devon

When Devon Energy needed a solution for oil removal from produced water at its Jackfish 2 (J2) oil sands project in Alberta's Athabasca region, it contracted Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies (VWS) to provide the design, engineering, fabrication and supply of an Induced Gas Flotation (IGF) unit. The resulting proprietary AUTOFLOT® Mechanical IGF has been designed to provide efficiencies and effective treatment to meet the near and long-term needs of this significant oil sands project.

Devon has identified sufficient oil sands in the Athabasca region of Alberta to support an additional 35,000 barrel per day (5,565 m3/d) stand-alone project using Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD). Total recoverable reserves for the J2 Project, which is currently under construction, are estimated at more than 300 million barrels.

"Devon was seeking an oil removal solution that is robust, compact, and easy to install," says Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies Senior Sales Engineer Jim Sawkins.

Although a vessel that is 70-feet long, 21-feet high and 19-feet wide may not, at first glance, seem very compact, Sawkins says that, comparatively, it achieves a lot for its size.

"It's rated for flowrates of 140 barrels per day (4,092 GPM/932 m3/hr) and 90 percent oil removal (with an inlet oil content: 100 mg/l). In addition to its compactness, this system has the advantage of lower energy use and shorter retention times compared to other technologies," he says.

The horizontal vessel is designed with its total volume divided into four chambers that produce the selective separation of solids and free oil based on the degree of surface hydrophobicity. The unit designed and built for Devon's J2 Project requires a total retention time of only eight minutes - as low as two minutes per chamber.

"The AUTOFLOT system has been delivered and installed and is ready to go once operational start-up of the J2 project begins," Sawkins says.

Contact: Ken Severing
mail to: ken.severing@veoliawater.com
+1 (714) 986-5333