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Aries Helps Oilfield Service Company Develop Fluids Dewatering Process

An oil and gas service company operating salt water disposal wells and oil recovery facilities wanted to expand its oil reclamation to other E&P fluids, including drilling muds and tank bottoms. Aries Chemical was asked to help develop a chemical treatment process to handle a variety of different fluids including water based and oil based drilling muds, high solids oil-water separator tank bottoms and off-spec oils.

Through laboratory testing and subsequent pilot-scale work, Aries developed a set of recipes to successfully dewater a variety of fluids, increasing the volume of salable oil, improving the characteristics of the injectable brine, and reducing the landfill costs for the dry waste-solids.

The chemistries that Aries developed utilized coagulants and flocculants to create a treatable mixture. Following the dewatering process, Aries identified suitable emulsion breakers to maximize the volume of the salable oil recovered from the oilfield wastes. Moreover, the oilfield service company benefited from substantial reductions in landfill fees and transportation costs by being able to dispose of a dry solid waste rather that a liquid/sludge mixture.

The dewatering process has allowed the service company to increase its offerings, generating new revenues by handling waste fluids from well drilling and completion, pumping stations, tank batteries, and saltwater disposal facilities.

Left: Untreated waste oil/water/solids – note large emulsion layer of unsalable oil.
Center: Salable oil (top layer); minimal rag layer at interface; injectable low-solids water (bottom).
Right: dry solids for landfill.

For further information on Aries’s solutions for the oil and gas industry, contact your Aries Chemical Representative or the Beaver Falls office at (315) 346-1489. Also view a printable version of this Fluids Dewatering Process for Oilfield Service Company Case Study.