Instrumentation For Produced Water Applications

By Steven Smith, Product Business Manager – Analytical, Endress+Hauser

Fracking has emphasized the need to clean up water produced from oil and gas wells, and proper measurement is vital for this effort

Produced water refers to any water brought up to the surface during oil and gas production, typically as the result of drilling, exploration and hydraulic fracturing. Before disposing or reusing the water (Figure 1), it must be treated to extract hydrocarbons and satisfy environmental code regulations.

The sheer volume alone of produced water shows its importance to the hydrocarbon recovery process. Already an 18 billion dollar process in the U.S. alone, the significance of being precise and efficient in water treatment is becoming more and more prominent in these applications. Achieving the required levels of control and monitoring requires instrumentation and analyzers to measure composition, flow, level, pressure and temperature.