ProSep has entered the final stage of its ITF joint industry project (JIP) with Qatar Petroleum and Petroleum Development Oman (PDO).
The Houston-based firm’s Osorb® Media unit is undergoing a two-phase field trial in PDO’s Marmul oil field to demonstrate the media’s water treatment and regeneration capabilities.
Osorb Media is a regenerable organosilica that adsorbs free, dispersed and water soluble hydrocarbons, as well as many oilfield chemicals from produced water.
The Marmul oil field is 200 kilometers northeast of Salalah in Oman.
Ryan McPherson, general manager for the Middle East for ProSep said: “This project represents a significant step in the evolution and development of Osorb Media. To be part of a JIP with two national oil companies in the Middle East has been a tremendous experience, with all parties truly collaborating towards a shared goal. The ability to regenerate the media in-situ is fundamental to full-scale technology implementation. I am looking forward to a successful trial that will enable us to create a regeneration process that is both economically and operationally practical for operators.”
Wail Saif Salim Al-Harrasi, corporate technology advisor at PDO, added: “This JIP is of great importance to PDO as it has the potential to resolve some of the challenges associated with EOR activities, such as the de-oiling of polymer contaminated water and enabling the reuse of spent polymer, which in turn reduces the overall cost of EOR.”
The unit will be in country by the end of the year, and the trial is scheduled to begin in January 2016 with completion by end of the first quarter.