ESP FLOWSHEET SIMULATION

APPLICATION BRIEF
Downhole Oil/Water Separation

The largest volume waste stream associated

with oil and gas production is produced
water. Water to gas ratios of 10 to 1 are
common and treatment followed by disposal of
produced water leads to significant costs for
operators. A relatively new technology,
downhole oil/water separators (DOWS), has
been developed to reduce the cost of handling
produced water.

DOWS separate oil and gas from produced

water at the bottom of the well and reinject
some of the water into another formation or
another location within the same formation.
Since most of the produced water is not
pumped to the surface the cost of handling
produced water is greatly reduced.

A secondary benefit of DOWS is that the risk of

contaminating underground sources of drinking
water is minimized since reinjection from the
Figure 1 Schematic drawing of a
surface is reduced.
Hydrocyclone Oil/Water Separator

Contents
The Application.............................................................................. 2
Fluid Compositions – Oil Phase................................................. 2
Fluid Composition – Brine Phase............................................... 2
Application 1: No DOWS Installed................................................... 3
Application 2: DOWS Installed........................................................ 4
A Concern…................................................................................... 5
Conclusions ................................................................................... 6

OLI Systems, Inc. Downhole Oil/Water Separation 1

The Application
For this application we use a simplified producing oil well as an example. The oil is
in contact with formation fluids and minerals. The first application simulates the
movement of the oil and brine up the well to the separator without the use of a
DOWS. The second application simulates the same fluids using a DOWS installed
below the production zone. Finally, the two produced waters are compared.

Fluid Compositions – Oil Phase

The oil phase flows to the well bore at a rate of 208 barrels per day (bpd) at 250 oF
and 300 psia. The oil composition is shown in the Table 1:

Table 1 Oil analysis

Fraction API Gravity Mol. Wt Volume %
C1-C4 1.7
C5-175 oF 78.8 97 7.3
175 oF - 250 oF 59.8 111 8.1
250 oF - 375 oF 50.8 136 14.2
375 oF - 530 oF 40.2 184 16.3
530 oF - 650 oF 34.5 246 10.0
650 oF - 1050 oF 2.7 425 31.8

Fluid Composition – Brine Phase

The brine phase flows to the well bore at a rate of 1290 bpd at 250 oF and 300 psia.
The brine composition is shown in Table 2:

Table 2 Brine composition

Cation mg/L Anion mg/L
Mg+2 2387 Cl-1 23059
Na+1 3679 SO4-2 23.4
Ba+2 33.5 HCO3-1 6.3
Ca+2 3382 OH-1 2.1
K+1 4904 CO3-2 0.3

Neutral mg/L Properties

CO2 0.7 pH 6.8
Density (g/mL) 0.973

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Application 1: No DOWS Installed
Using ESP, we first simulate a simplified well with no downhole oil/water separator
installed. The fluids detailed above are mixed at the well bore. A small pressure
drop of 100 psi is assumed. This fluid is sent to the well head/separator. Any solids
that may form are entrained until reaching the separator. The separator is operated
at 100 oF and 50 psia.

2282 SCF/Day

To Gas Processing

112 BPD

100 F 1071 BPD

Produced Oil
50 PSIA

Produced Water

SEPARATOR Scales
Well Head / Separator
BaSO4 11.3 lb/Day
CaCO3 2.8 lb/Day

OIL/GAS/Water to Well Head

250 C
300 PSIA 250 C
200 PSIA

Formation Fluid
Scales
To Well Bore

BaSO4 0.1 lb/day

1290 BPD SEPARATOR

Well Bore

Figure 2 Non-DOWS configuration – ESP flowsheet

The predicted phase flows from the separator are listed in Table 3 below:

Table 3 Non-DOWS configuration flows

Gas 2282 scf/day
Produced Water 1071 bbl/day
Oil 112 bbl/day
Scale Formation
BaSO4 11.3 lb/day
CaCO3 2.8 lb/day

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 The water – oil ratio is 9.6 which is typical for an aged producing well. Some solid
formation is to be expected although this simulation can’t predict where in the well
the scales will form.

Application 2: DOWS Installed

Next, we simulate a well with a downhole oil/water separator installed. For this
example a hydrocyclone oil/water separator is installed below the producing zone in
the well. Hydrocyclones have been used for many years above ground for the
separation of oil, gas and water. Hydrocyclones have no moving parts and separate
substances of different density by centrifugal force. A liquid/liquid hydrocyclone is
used in DOWS technology. The denser aqueous solution moves to the outside of the
hydrocyclone and moves down the cyclone to be reinjected in the formation. The
lighter fluids remain in the center of the cyclone and flow upwards in the well.

Separation is incomplete in hydrocyclones. Oil is entrained in the water fraction,

sometimes as high as 500 ppm. Also, some brine is entrained in the oil fraction
where 10 to 15 weight percent is frequently encountered.

2087 SCF/Day

To Gas Processing

112 BPD

100 F 120 BPD

Produced Oil
50 PSIA

Produced Water

SEPARATOR Scales
Well Head / Separator
BaSO4 1.3 lb/Day
CaCO3 0.1 lb/Day

OIL/GAS to Well Head

Entrained Water
SEPARATOR
Hydrocyclone
250 C
200 PSIA
pH 6.8

Water Reinjected
Fluid to DOWS To formation

1000 BPD
250 C No Scales
300 PSIA 250 C
200 PSIA

Formation Fluid
Scales
To Well Bore

BaSO4 0.1 lb/day

1290 BPD SEPARATOR

Well Bore

Figure 3 DOWS configuration – ESP flowsheet

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 In this application a hydrocyclone separator is placed between the well bore and the
well head/separator units. The hydrocyclone is specified to entrain 500 ppm oil in
the reinjectate and to have 15 weight percent brine entrained into the oil phase. The
gas phase is allowed to pass through the separator without entrainment. The
hydrocyclone separator can handle 1000 bpd with the remaining fluid bypassing the
hydrocyclone. A 100 psi pressure drop is assumed across the hydrocyclone.

The conditions at the well bore and at the well head/separator are the same as in
the first application.

The phase flow results for this simulation are listed in Table 4 below:

Table 4 DOWS configuration flows

Gas 2087 scf/day
Produced Water 120 bbl/day
Oil 112 bbl/day
Scale formation
BaSO4 1.3 lb/day
CaCO3 0.1 lb/day

The predicted water/oil ratio is 1.1. Some solid formation is expected. However,
this simulation can’t predict where in the well the scale will form. The reduced
produced water flow is very desirable since we have approximately a 10 fold
decrease in volume. Also, note that there is a reduction in the amount of scales that
can be formed.

A Concern…
There is a concern that since there is 14 times more scale in the non-DOWS
configuration that excess scaling species are present in the reinjectate. These solids
may scale out and plug the formation. For this reason, the reinjectate is injected
well below the production zone or very far away from the well bore in the production
zone.

A final simulation mixes the formation fluid (see Table 1 and Table 2) with the
predicted reinjectate fluid from the non-DOWS simulation (see Table 3). The
reinjectate fluid has the following composition:

Table 5 Reinjected brine composition

Cation mg/L Anion mg/L
+2 -1
Mg 2830 Cl 22970
Na+1 3675 SO4-2 13.9
Ba+2 33
Ca+2 3370
K+1 4832

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 Neutral mg/L Properties
CH4 126 pH 6.8
Oil 485.9 Density (g/mL) 0.972

Of particular note is that the carbon dioxide and carbonate ions seem to be missing
from this analysis. These species are soluble in oil and went up the well with the oil.

The fluid that flows to the well bore at 1290 bpd is mixed with the reinjected brine
flowing at 1000 bpd. The streams are mixed at 250 oF and 300 psia. The results of
the mix are:

Table 6 Production zone mixed fluid composition

Cation mg/L Anion mg/L
Mg+2 2139 Cl-1 20642
Na+1 3302 SO4-2 12.5
Ba+2 30 HCO3-1 2.5
Ca+2 3028
K+1 4343

Neutral mg/L Properties

CH4 498 pH 6.8
Oil 36890 Density (g/mL) 0.972
BaSO4(s) 3.1 mg/L/day

Table 6 shows that for the most part, injecting the brine back into the production
zone decreases the concentrations of the ions slightly. The production of barite
(BaSO4) solid is predicted to be 3.1 mg/L per day. This may be of concern for
formation damage. Unfortunately, this model can’t tell us where the damage will
occur.

Conclusions
These ESP simulations demonstrate the following:

• Using DOWS technology can result in reduced produced water

• Scaling problems on the surface can be minimized
• Formation damage can be predicted

A more complete description of the production zone chemistry and the injection zone
chemistry would allow for more accurate simulations. Also, a more complete
description of the DOWS configuration under consideration would allow for a more
accurate assessment of the technology.

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