O F F S H O R E

E U R O P E

Seawater membrane filtration used

to control scale in Syd Arne reservoir
Option to chemical injection

Alistair M. Munro
Tony McMonagle
Alan Skinner

Weir Westgarth Ltd

he control of scale in offshore oil fields
where filtered seawater is used to maintain
reservoir pressure has generally been
achieved by using squeeze chemicals and
inhibitors injected into the flowline of each
water producing well. The control of calcium
carbonate scales can be controlled using this
method. However, the presence of high levels of
barium and strontium in the formation water leads
to a second form of scale production: namely
barium and strontium sulfate. This will occur
when seawater containing sulfate comes into
contact with the formation water bearing the
strontium and barium ions.
The plan to install a sea waterflood in the Syd
Arne reservoir created a potentially severe scaling problem from barium sulfase. Analysis by
Amerada Hess reservoir engineers determined
there would be severe downhole scale formation problems. The magnitude of the scale problem had the potential to seriously impact the
economics of the development.
The production wells were judged at highest
risk and in the absence of any preventative measures, downhole scaling due to seawater breakthrough could cause loss of oil production,
make sliding sleeves inoperable, and ultimately
require wells to be worked over.

Jim Hardy
Eon Stratton

Amerada Hess
manifolds and in downstream equipment or in the
wellbore. The highest operational risk is that scaling downhole will impact on production.
In the long horizontal S. Arne wells, the potential for scaling was greater than in a conventional
homogenous reservoir. Since effective inhibition
is costly and technically difficult, every possible
alternative was considered in the design and operation of the waterflood system. It was considered
financially and environmentally more prudent to
remove the problem at source by the reduction of
the sulfate content in the injection water.

Scale prediction
Further analysis showed that the highest
potential mass amount of barite scaling would
occur at a mixing ratio of 20:80 FW:SW, 880 mg/l
at 115 C and 920 mg/l at 60 C, although significant amounts were predicted over much of the
mixing range. The higher mass amount precipitated at the lower temperature, representative of
process conditions, was due to the lower solubility.
The high scaling tendency meant that the scale
would form and deposit rapidly at the point of mixing of the incompatible water types. The scaling
reaction would have been difficult to inhibit using
chemicals alone. A moderate potential for deposition of strontium sulfate was also identified.
However, solutions adapted to control the more
serious barium sulfate problem also mitigated
against the minor strontium sulfate scale risk.
When untreated seawater meets formation
water containing barium, scaling is inevitable. The
scale forms immediately downstream of the point
of mixing, typically topsides, in the production

The lower section of SRP 2 is being lowered

onto the platform. This major lift, one of five,
was completed in 18 hours.

The use of membrane based sulfate removal

technology was identified as the preferred technical option to manage the problem. Weir
Westgarth Ltd, the manufacturer for the application of the technology, which was patented by
Marathon Oil, was selected as the contractor.

Operational lessons
Weir Westgarth has the benefit of over 40
years experience in desalination processes with
over 20 years related to membrane installations.
Experience transferred from Marathon Brae and
Weir Westgarths own installations, such as Agip
Tiffany, provided considerations during retrofit
designs:

Syd Arne sulfate removal plant: the chemical

and cleaning package are on the right. The
SRP 1 module is on the bottom left, with the
membrane package on top.

Plant designs should be modular for ease of

installation on to an operating production
platform.
Abstracted seawater is best fed to the sulfate
reduction package before de-aeration.
Pipework from the seawater abstraction to
module should be in non-ferrous materials
to minimize contamination of the membrane
system and reduce the module weights.
Pre-heating of the feed water by the platform cooling systems enhances the efficiency of the plant, but the variations in
possible flows. Thus, temperature ranges
should be carefully considered during the
detailed design phase of the project.
The membrane system should not be subjected to a reversing of the differential pressure. System surges are difficult to avoid
completely and devices to ensure that the
product outlet is protected must be incorporated into the design.
The cleaning system should clean each of the
streams with the minimum number of subcleaning circuits to minimize off-line time.
Shock dosing of chlorine to the feed seawater is preferable to continuous dosing.

The Marathon process

The use of membrane technology was pioneered by Marathon Oil on the Brae A Field and
was designed to utilize a membrane capable of
removing specific ions. Unlike reverse osmosis,
which rejects all ions, the FILMTEC nanofiltration membrane specifically removes sulfate ions.
The process technology requires seawater to
be passed through the membrane at 20-30 bar,
depending on the temperature of the feed

Reprinted with revisions to format, from the August 2001 edition of OFFSHORE
Copyright 2001 by PennWell Corporation

O F F S H O R E

E U R O P E

stream. The membranes are capable of reducing

seawater sulfate levels from approximately 3000
ppm to less than 40 ppm.
The primary consideration in process design
was to agree with Amerada Hess on the level of
sulfate required in the product water and also the
feed water temperature. The higher the temperature, the lower the pressure needed to maintain
the flux rate and the flow per unit area of membrane surface. At higher temperatures the sulfate
passage through the membrane and into the
product water increases but the energy absorbed
decreases.
On the Syd Arne project, Weir Westgarth
worked to optimize feed temperature flow by
mixing warmed seawater from the platform
cooling system outlet with the main injection
feed flow. The membrane rejection characteris-

The Toisa Lion conveying the packages to the

platform.

tics being temperature dependant increases the

sulfate passage by 100% for every 10 C rise in
temperature.

Mixture control
The design conditions for the Syd Arne plant
were 10-24 C with three high pressure pumps,
each rated for 354 cu m/hr with a 270 meter developed head, along with a 750 kW motor running at
3000 rpm. By controlling the mix ratio of the feed
water, the membranes can be operated in a steady
state condition with respect to temperature.
This allows a constant feed water pressure to
be applied to the membrane ensuring a 75% conversion of seawater feed to low sulfate product
water for injection. The residual 25% is discharged overboard and contains the sulfate ions
removed from the feed stream. The 75% conversion of feed to product is achieved by a two-stage
membrane process with 50% recovery over each
stage.
Because of the inter-relationship between
temperature and output, the system must be
able to vary the applied pressure to the membrane in order to maintain a constant output with
changing temperature. The control of the membrane system therefore incorporates analogue
loops to ensure that the reject to product ratio
stays constant.

Applied pressure varies and the main high

pressure pumps are subject to variable back
pressure to provide the quantity of water at the
required pressure for the changing conditions
across the membrane system.
A super duplex steel, Zeron 100, was utilized
for the pipework system to eliminate ferrous
contamination and reduce the weight of the
module. Zeron 100 duplex (UNS32760)
pipework allowed reduced pipe diameters and
valve sizes because of the high velocity the
internal polished surfaces of this super duplex
material could utilize without significant pressure losses. Plant processes were controlled
centrally within the platform control room and
linked into the platform computer systems.
Since the water is taken before de-aeration,
the ability to chlorinate the feed greatly reduces
the potential problems associated with bacterial
contamination. The addition of sodium bisulfite
removes any free chlorine before the membrane
system. Chemical cleaning of the membranes is
carried out using in-situ connections to remove
any scale formed within the membrane system
or any bacteria. The sulfate-reduced water is
then passed to the de-aerator system where deoxygenation and chemical additives are made in
the normal manner prior to injection.
Due to the high scaling potential of the Syd
Arne reservoir, Amerada Hess ordered the first
phase of a 120 000 b/d sulfate reduction package at the end of May 2000, on a 17-week delivery program. This schedule was made possible
by internal manufacturing capabilities for critical path items such as pumps, valves, and the
Zeron 100 super duplex material.
The plant was designed to operate in three 33%
capacity streams. The product water specification
was to reduce the sulfate level of 2,740 ppm, to
less than 50 ppm, and was designed around
FILMTEC SR90 nanofiltration membrane elements.
Phase 1of the plant was designed to provide
an initial stand-alone 40,000 b/d and was delivered mid-October 2000. The program consisted
of three fabricated modules, limited in weight to
40 tons by the crane facilities on the platform.
Phase 2 of the project, comprising an additional
80,000 b/d capacity, was ordered by Amerada
Hess in October 2000, with a 26-week delivery.
This phase consisted of a further two modules.
To accommodate both phases of the plant,
which had a combined wet weight of 228 tons,
Amerada Hess undertook the strengthening and
extension of an existing cantilever platform.

Filtration
Prior to the start of the project, it was recog-

*Trademark of The Dow Chemical Company

Phase 2, the fabrication step.

nized by all that the filtration required upstream

of the membranes required careful consideration. The feed supply had been identified as being
affected by an annual algae bloom that lasted
from mid-spring through to late autumn. Pilot trials were conducted during the first few weeks of
the fasttrack first phase, to allow definition of the
optimum cartridge filter arrangement and proposed intermediate filtration.
As a result of these trails, dual media filters
were provided as a part of the second phase.
These were located on the opposite side of the
platform from the SRP plant, on a purpose builtcantilever deck.
Due to the location, the lift limit in this area
was reduced to 20 tons. As a result, the filters
were delivered as eight individual filters with a
separate central access/pipe manifold support
structure, to which the filters were linked on site.
The membrane process plant for the reduction
of sulfate in seawater is now a tried and proven
technology, helping to decrease the environmental impact of reservoir development. The process
has overcome scale formation problems in
injected wells using seawater, which is incompatible with formation water.
Fasttrack execution of this technology was
possible through client-contractor partnering,
and by securing long lead item supply from internal manufacturing capabilities.
The use of membranes as a specific ion
removal mechanism is the first of many areas in
which membrane technology shows great
promise in ensuring that harmful discharges are
minimized.

Authors
Alistair M. Munro is Director, Sales and Marketing; Tony
McMonagle is the Project Manager; and Alan Skinner is the
Manager, Sulfate Removal, all for Weir Westgarth Ltd.
Jim Hardy is a Production Chemist, and Eon Stratton is the
Project Manager, both for Amerada Hess

Form No. 609-00376-202

CH 172-288-E-202