Engineering Standard

SAES-A-012 12 April 2018

Process Design Criteria for Produced
Water Treatment and Disposal
Document Responsibility: Oil and Gas Process Engineering Standards Committee

Contents
1 Scope ................................................................................................ 2
2 Conflicts and Deviations .................................................................... 2
3 References ........................................................................................ 2
4 Definitions and Abbreviations ............................................................ 4
5 Overview ........................................................................................... 8
6 Overall Process Design ..................................................................... 9
7 Water Treatment Unit ...................................................................... 12
8 Disposal Water Pumps.................................................................... 21
9 Material Selection and Corrosion Control ........................................ 21
10 Groundwater Conservation ............................................................. 22
11 New Technology Applications, Testing and Deployment ................ 23
12 De-Bottlenecking of Existing Produced Water Treatment Units ...... 24
Revision Summary ................................................................................. 25
Appendix I - Simplified Schematic of Produced Water Treatment
and Disposal Unit in a GOSP without Crude Stabilization Facility .. 26
Appendix II - Simplified Schematic of Produced Water Treatment
and Disposal Unit in a GOSP with Crude Stabilization Facility ....... 27
Appendix III - Treated Produced Quality for Marine Disposal
(as per SAES-A-103) ...................................................................... 28
Appendix IV - Typical Removal Efficiencies for Selected Produced
Water Treatment Technologies ....................................................... 29
Appendix V - Typical Decision Process for Technology
Identification/Selection .................................................................... 30
Appendix VI - Industry Information for State of the Art Online
Oil in Water Analyzers ...................................................................... 33
Appendix VII - Parameters to Select Wash Water Conservation
Technologies ................................................................................... 34
Appendix VIII – Ground Water Conservation Process Schematic
Example .......................................................................................... 36

Previous Issue: 1 January 2018 Next Planned Update 12 April 2021

Page 1 of 36
Primary contact: Koleshwar, Vilas S. (KOLESHVS) on +966-13-880-9478

©Saudi Aramco 2018. All rights reserved.

Document Responsibility: Process Engineering Standards Committee SAES-A-012
Issue Date: 12 April 2018 Process Design Criteria for Produced
Next Planned Update: 12 April 2021 Water Treatment and Disposal

1 Scope

1.1 This Standard provides the minimum mandatory requirement for process design
of a grass root produced water treatment and disposal units at Gas Oil
Separation Plant (GOSP) in Saudi Aramco.

1.2 The standard also provides the minimum requirement for debottlenecking the
process design of an existing produced water treatment and disposal units.

1.3 Exclusions:
● This Standard does not apply to wastewater generated as a result of activities
governed by SAEP-327.
● This Standard does not apply to wastewater, sanitary and oily waste sludge
streams regulated by SAES-A-104.
● This Standard does not apply to wastewater that is regulated under
SAES-A-400, SAES-A-401, SAES-A-403 and SAES-S-020.

2 Conflicts and Deviations

Any conflict between this document and other applicable Mandatory Saudi Aramco
Engineering Requirements (MSAERs) shall be addressed in writing to the EK&RD
Coordinator.
Any deviation from the requirements herein shall follow internal company procedure
SAEP-302.

3 References

All referenced Specifications, standards, Codes, Forms, Drawings and similar material
shall be considered part of this standard and shall be the latest issue (including all
revisions, addenda and supplements unless stated otherwise).

3.1 Saudi Aramco References

Saudi Aramco Engineering Procedures

SAEP-302 Instructions for Obtaining a Waiver of a Mandatory
Saudi Aramco Engineering Requirement
SAEP-327 Disposal of Waste Water from Cleaning, Flushing,
Dewatering Pipelines and Vessels
SAEP-364 Process Simulation Model Development and Support

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Document Responsibility: Process Engineering Standards Committee SAES-A-012
Issue Date: 12 April 2018 Process Design Criteria for Produced
Next Planned Update: 12 April 2021 Water Treatment and Disposal

Saudi Aramco Engineering Standards

SAES-A-010 Gas Oil Separation Plants
SAES-A-020 Equipment Specific P&ID Templates (ESPT)
SAES-A-103 Discharges to the Marine Environment
SAES-A-104 Waste Water Treatment, Reuse and Disposal
SAES-S-205 Chemical Treatment Requirements
SAES-A-400 Industrial Drainage Systems
SAES-A-401 Closed Drain Systems (CDS)
SAES-A-403 Off-Shore Platform Drainage Systems
SAES-B-069 Emergency Eyewashes and Showers
SAES-D-001 Design Criteria for Pressure Vessels
SAES-G-005 Centrifugal Pumps
SAES-H-001 Coating Selection and Applications Requirements
for Industrial Plants and Equipment
SAES-H-002 Internal and External Coatings for Steel Pipeline
and Piping
SAES-J-100 Process Measurement
SAES-J-510 Process Analyzer Systems
SAES-L-132 Materials Selection for Pipelines, Piping and
Process Equipment
SAES-L-133 Corrosion Protection Requirements for Pipelines,
Piping, and Process Equipment
SAES-S-020 Oily Water Drainage Systems

Saudi Aramco Best Practices

SABP-A-015 Chemical Injection Systems
SABP-A-018 GOSP Corrosion Control
SABP-A-036 Corrosion Monitoring Best Practice

Saudi Aramco Manuals

FEL Manual Front-End Loading (FEL) Manual

Saudi Aramco Material Specifications

01-SAMSS-023 Intrusive Online Corrosion Monitoring

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Document Responsibility: Process Engineering Standards Committee SAES-A-012
Issue Date: 12 April 2018 Process Design Criteria for Produced
Next Planned Update: 12 April 2021 Water Treatment and Disposal

3.2 Industry Codes and Standards

American Petroleum Institute

API PUBL 421 Design and Operation of Oily Water Separators

NACE Standards
NACE MR0175/ISO15156 Materials for Use in H2S Containing
Environments in Oil and Gas Production

4 Definitions and Abbreviations

4.1 Definitions

Aquifer: An underground source of water from porous, water bearing,

geological formation.

BOD: (Bio-chemical Oxygen Demand) It is a measure of organic material in

water sample that can be biologically degraded. It is the quantity of oxygen
consumed during the biological decomposition (oxidation) of material in water.
BOD is measured over a specific time period (5 day or 20 day). BOD is
expressed in mg/l or ppm.

COD: (Chemical Oxygen Demand) It is the measure of the amount of organic or

reduced inorganic compounds in a sample that can be oxidized by a strong
oxidizer, usually potassium dichromate or potassium permanganate. COD is
expressed in mg/l or ppm.

Contaminant: Any physical, chemical, biological or radiological substance or

matter that has an adverse effect on air, water or soil.

Disposal Water: Treated produced water for downhole/surface disposal/injection.

Dissolved Oil: It is the portion of total oil that is not removed by filtration.
Dissolved oil can be removed by biological treatment, chemical oxidation or
activated carbon adsorption.

DO: (Dissolved Oxygen) It is important monitoring parameter for biological

systems. It is expressed in mg/l or ppm.

Formation Water: Water produced from Reservoir with Oil and Gas production.

Injection Water: Treated Produced Water/Sea Water/Aquifer Water for

reservoir pressure support.

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Document Responsibility: Process Engineering Standards Committee SAES-A-012
Issue Date: 12 April 2018 Process Design Criteria for Produced
Next Planned Update: 12 April 2021 Water Treatment and Disposal

Nutrients: These are chemical elements (nitrogen, potassium, phosphorous,

sulfur, cobalt, zinc and copper), which are essential for plant or animal growth.

Oil & Grease: It is the measure of total of dissolved and suspended “oil”
fractions extracted from produced water sample by an organic solvent.

Overfilling Time: The duration required to fill up the vessel if all outgoing flow
cuts off and High High Water Level shutdown fails. It is calculated as volume
between High High Water Level shutdown and vessel top divided by total
incoming volumetric flow.

pH: It is a measurement of the acidic or basic character of a solution at a given

temperature. It is defined as the negative logarithm (to the base 10) of the
hydrogen ion concentration.

Pollutant: Any element, substance, compound or mixture, including disease

causing agents, which after release onto environment and upon exposure,
ingestion, inhalation or assimilation into any organism either directly from
environment or indirectly by ingesting through food chains will or may
reasonably be anticipated to cause death, disease, behavioral abnormalities,
cancer, genetic mutation, physiological malfunction or physical deformation in
such organism or their offspring

PPM: (Parts per Million) When used in the context of water contaminant, it is
on weight basis and is sometimes interchangeably written as ppmw or mg/L.

Produced Water: Water produced from Reservoir with Oil and Gas production.

Suspended Oil: It is the amount of total oil that can be removed by filtration.
Suspended oil is total of free oil (already separated oil) and emulsified oil (yet to
be separated). A portion of the suspended oil is removed by physical separation
in produced water treatment units.

Silt Density Index: Silt Density Index (SDI, standardized filtration method with
0.45 microns filter, broadly used in RO systems to determine the pre-treatment
quality). This parameter is measured at process temperature (device directly
connected to sampling point), which avoids the interference of the 'Cloud Point'
of the organic matter or inorganic precipitation or oxidation by air dissolution.

Total Solids: It is the term for the residue after evaporation of a sample and its
subsequent drying in an oven at 103-105 °C (217-221 ºF). Total solids include total
suspended solids and total dissolved solids (organic and inorganic) and are reported
in units of ppm or mg/L.

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Document Responsibility: Process Engineering Standards Committee SAES-A-012
Issue Date: 12 April 2018 Process Design Criteria for Produced
Next Planned Update: 12 April 2021 Water Treatment and Disposal

TDS: (Total Dissolved Solids) It is a measure of all dissolved material in

water. It is reported in ppm or mg/L. TDS is used to determine the salt levels in
produced water. Conductivity is sometimes used as a measurement of TDS.

TOC: (Total Organic Carbon) TOC is used to measure the quantity of

organically bound carbon in a sample. TOC is commonly used as a replacement
for BOD. TOC is expressed in mg/l or ppm.

Toxic Compounds: Toxic compounds are those specific chemicals that have
been shown to cause death or adverse effects to organisms at certain
concentrations.

Toxicity: This refers to the level of toxic compounds determined through

laboratory based studies, which results into the adverse effects to organisms by
exposing the organism for a predetermined periods like 24, 48, 96 hour test period.

TSS: (Total Suspended Solids) It is the amount of suspended matter removed

by filter. It is reported in mg/L. Inorganic particles such as clay or grit as well
as organic particles contribute to TSS.

Water Retention Time: Time defined as volume between vessel bottom and
NIL divided by water actual volumetric flow

WOSEP: Water Oil Separator. Oily water separator to collect and treat
separated water mainly from the three-phase separators and dehydrator in order
to remove the entrained oil before disposal.

4.2 Abbreviations
API: American Petroleum Institute
BAT: Best Available Technology
BOD: Bio-chemical Oxygen Demand
BPD: Barrels Per Day
BS&W: Basic (Bottom) Sediments and Water
BTEX: Benzene, Toluene, Ethyl Benzene, Xylene
CDS: Closed Drain System
CFD: Computational Fluid Dynamics
CFU: Compact Floatation Unit or Cyclonic Floatation Unit
CM: Ceramic Membrane module
CML: Computer Model Library

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Document Responsibility: Process Engineering Standards Committee SAES-A-012
Issue Date: 12 April 2018 Process Design Criteria for Produced
Next Planned Update: 12 April 2021 Water Treatment and Disposal

COD: Chemical Oxygen Demand

CPI: Corrugated Plate Interceptor
CUF: Ceramic Ultra-Filtration
DBSP: Design Basis Scoping Paper
DCS: Distributed Control System
DO: Dissolved Oxygen
DGF: Dissolved Gas Flotation
ESI: Emulsion Separation Index to measure Emulsion Stability
ED: Electro-dialysis
EPD: Environmental Protection Department
FEED: Front End Engineering Development
FEL: Front End Loading
FPD: Facilities Planning Department
GOSP: Gas Oil Separation Plant
H2S: Hydrogen Sulfide
HPPT: High Pressure Production Trap (2 or 3-phase separator)
HTRO: High Temperature Reverse osmosis
IGF: Induced Gas Flotation
ISF: Induced Static Floatation
LPD: Loss Prevention Department
LPPT: Low Pressure Production Trap
LPDT: Low Pressure Degassing Tank
MAOP: Maximum Allowable Operating Pressure
MCC: Mechanical Completion Certificate
MMSCFD: Million Standard Cubic Feet per Day
MRPA: Macro-Porous Resin Adsorption
NOM: Natural Organic Matter
OEM: Original Equipment Manufacturer
OIW: Oil in Water
OM: Organic matter
PAH: Poly Aromatic Hydrocarbons
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Document Responsibility: Process Engineering Standards Committee SAES-A-012
Issue Date: 12 April 2018 Process Design Criteria for Produced
Next Planned Update: 12 April 2021 Water Treatment and Disposal

P&CSD: Process and Control Systems Department

PFD: Process Flow Diagram
P&FDD: Production and Facilities Development Department
P&ID: Piping and Instrumentation Diagram
PPM: Part Per Million
PPS: Parallel Plate Separator
R&DC: Research and Development Department
RMD: Reservoir Management Department
RO: Reverse Osmosis
SDI: Silt Density Index
TDS: Total Dissolved Solids
TMP: Trans-Membrane Pressure
TOC: Total Organic Carbon
TPS: Tilted Plate Separator
TSS: Total Suspended Solids
TT: Temperature Transmitter
UV: Ultraviolet

5 Overview

5.1 Produced water is the largest byproduct stream associated with oil and gas
production from GOSPs. It generally includes:
 Water separated in Oil and Gas Separators
 Water separated in Dehydrator/Desalters
 Wash water used in Desalting
 Recovered water from closed drain system
 Water separated in Oil and Gas Separators

5.3 The produced water is mainly Oil and TSS contaminated water. The removal of
high concentrations of these contaminants mainly happens in the upstream oil
treatment processes, like three-phase separators, degassing tanks,
dehydrators/desalters, etc.

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Document Responsibility: Process Engineering Standards Committee SAES-A-012
Issue Date: 12 April 2018 Process Design Criteria for Produced
Next Planned Update: 12 April 2021 Water Treatment and Disposal

5.4 For managing produced water in the oil field, the following options are
generally considered:
5.4.1 Prevent water production from oil field – Using water shut-off techniques,
e.g., injection of polymer gels to block water contributing fissures or
fractures in the reservoir or installing Downhole Water Separators to
separate water from oil or gas production streams in the Downhole and re-
injecting it back to formations. Any such measures must be approved by
Production Engineering.
5.4.2 Dispose or inject produced water – Treat and Inject the produced water
into the same formation or another suitable formation
5.4.3 Discharge produced water – Treat the produced water for direct sea
disposal meeting offshore discharge regulations, requirements of SAES-A-
103, EPD and LPD.

5.4.4 Reuse in oil and gas operations – Treat the produced water to use it for:
desalter wash water, drilling, stimulation, and work over operations.
5.4.5 Consume in beneficial use – Treat to meet the quality required for
beneficial uses such as: irrigation, land-restoration, floor washing, etc. in
accordance with SAES-A-104 requirements.
5.4.6 This water even though treated shall not be used for consumption and
potable or drinking water, or as utility water for humans and animals.

5.5 This standard is applicable to items 5.4.2, 5.4.3 and 5.4.4 above.

6 Overall Process Design

6.1 In accordance with FEL Manual, the GOSP design shall progress through
Process Study (FEL-2 Study), DBSP Development (FEL-2 DBSP), Project
Proposal (FEL-3 Project Proposal) followed by Detailed Design and
Construction (Project Execution).

6.2 The design of produced water treatment and disposal units should be viewed as
any other process technology where-in proper process design data is needed to
meet target treated water requirements in cost effective ways. The following
key data is required to conduct process design of produced water treatment
system:
 Crude/Gas/Water production forecast
 Geo-chemical analysis of formation water and desalter wash water
 The destination of produced water disposal (Disposal or pressure maintenance)

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Document Responsibility: Process Engineering Standards Committee SAES-A-012
Issue Date: 12 April 2018 Process Design Criteria for Produced
Next Planned Update: 12 April 2021 Water Treatment and Disposal

 Injection wellhead pressure

 Water quality required for disposal or injection
 The location of injection wells (provided by RMD / P&FDD)
 Injection water flow rate per well (provided by RMD / P&FDD)
 Compatibility tests with sea water when used along with sea water
(performed by R&DC).

The above data to develop produced water treatment and disposal unit design
during the various project phases shall be provided as per Section 6.2 of SAES-
A-010 unless otherwise noted.

6.3 Simulations

6.3.1 Produced water treatment and disposal flow sheet shall form the part of
Steady State Process simulation model for the GOSP.

6.3.2 Steady State Simulation shall be developed during DBSP (FEL-2) and
updated during project Proposal (FEL-3) and Detail Design phase by
Design Contractor and shall be based on the latest version of approved
simulation software package based on SAEP-364. The process
simulation software package that will be used in the project shall be
concurred by P&CSD.

6.3.3 Produced water treatment and disposal simulations shall be carried out
for summer and winter case at Initial Water Cut, Intermediate Water
Cut (Optional) and Design Water Cut.

6.3.4 The Process simulation developed by Design Contractor during DBSP,

Project Proposal and Detailed Design Phase shall be reviewed and
approved by P&CSD.

6.3.5 The process simulation models shall be included as project deliverables

during DBSP (FEL-2), Project Proposal (FEL-3) and Detailed Design
phase. The final process simulation models, with their documentation,
shall be delivered to P&CSD's CML coordinator as part of MCC.

6.4 PFDs

6.4.1 PFDs showing Heat & Material Balance for Summer and Winter
conditions of produced water treatment and disposal units shall be
developed for the following cases:

6.4.1.1 Initial Water cut

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Document Responsibility: Process Engineering Standards Committee SAES-A-012
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6.4.1.2 Intermediate Water cut (optional)

6.4.1.3 Design Water cut

6.4.2 Stream data table for Summer, Winter conditions for Initial Water Cut,
Intermediate Water Cut (optional) and Design Water Cut case shall be
provided in the PFDs.

6.5 P&IDs

6.5.1 SAES-A-020 shall be used as a building block to develop the project

P&IDs for produced water treatment and disposal units.

6.5.2 SAES-J-100 provides the Instrument data to be included in the P&IDs.

The following additional instrument data shall be included in the P&IDs:
a) Orifices- Orifice Bore and Flow Transmitter Range
b) Control Valves- Tight Shut-Off requirement
c) Level Transmitter- Type of level transmitter, Calibration Range
(in both percentage and actual level. e.g. 0-100% and 300-800
mm). Refer to Figure 6.1.
d) Additionally, the vessel template shall show the various level
alarm settings as height from vessel from vessel bottom for
horizontal vessels and tangent line for vertical vessel. Level
alarms settings shall be shown as both actual levels and
percentage in the DCS block on the P&IDs. Refer to Figure 6.1.

Figure 6.1
e) Level Gauge- Type of Level Gauge, backlighting requirement

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Document Responsibility: Process Engineering Standards Committee SAES-A-012
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f) Temperature Transmitter- Type of TT and Range. Alarm setting

on the DCS block or display
g) Temperature Gauge- Range of Temperature Gauge
h) Pressure transmitter/gauge- Range of the pressure
transmitter/gauge. Alarm settings on the DCS block.
i) All shutdown and alarm settings
j) All transmitters used for shutdown actions shall be shown
connected to the relevant ESD block logic in accordance with
Cause and Effect Matrix.

6.5.3 The turndown of produced water treatment and disposal units shall be
considered in accordance with the turndown of each individual
equipment.

6.5.4 All produced water treatment and disposal units shall be designed for
Wet Sour Service for potential souring of the production field during
the life cycle unless data provided by RMD can confirm otherwise.

6.5.5 In accordance with Section 6.8 of SAES-A-010, each main process line
within the GOSP battery limit shall be provided with flowmeter in
order to carry-out the overall plant mass balance in accordance with
SAEP-83.

7 Water Treatment Unit

7.1 Produced water treatment units can be designed either as primary or secondary
water treatment in accordance with Appendix IV.

7.2 The following influent water data shall be used for Produced Water Treatment
design:
 Oil and Grease, normal/maximum: 1000 ppm/ 2500 ppm
 TSS, normal/maximum: 1000 ppm/ 2500 ppm
Note: The need to use different influent water design data shall be evaluated and
concurred by P&CSD.

7.3. The required quality of treated produced water for injection and disposal into
reservoir shall be specified by RMD/P&FDD. In the absence of such
information, the treated produced water shall contain no more than 100 mg/l of
oil and grease.

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Document Responsibility: Process Engineering Standards Committee SAES-A-012
Issue Date: 12 April 2018 Process Design Criteria for Produced
Next Planned Update: 12 April 2021 Water Treatment and Disposal

7.4 The quality of treated produced water for the marine disposal shall conform to
environmental standard SAES-A-103. Refer to Appendix III.

7.4.1 As the water cut increases for the mature offshore fields, the treatment
of produced water at offshore GOSPs and discharge of treated water to
sea is sometimes considered to offload the production pipelines and
eliminate the debottlenecking of onshore GOSPs. For this option, the
water treatment systems shall be designed to remove toxins to a level
lower of the Industry and Saudi Aramco Standards.

7.5 The quality of treated produced water for Desalting Purpose Reuse shall be
specified in accordance with requirements of Section 9 of this standard.

7.6 The typical removal potentials for selected produced water treatment
technologies are shown in the Appendix IV. The information contained in the
Appendix IV shall be used as guideline only since actual removal efficiencies
depend on several factors like:
 influent quality variability
 flow variability
 upstream droplet shearing
 impact of chemicals on emulsion tightness
 oil quality (light, medium, heavy, extra light)
 fluid temperature
 equipment design.

7.7 The selection of produced water treatment technology shall follow the decision
steps stated in the Appendix V.

7.8 Produced water treatment effluent streams shall be monitored as follows:

 Produced water quality (oil content) and chemical residual shall be sampled
and monitored upstream, intermediate stage and downstream of water
treatment units
 Sampling points shall be easily accessible
 Visual control shall be provided where necessary.
 Automatic samplers, analyzers and online monitoring should be considered
wherever possible.

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Document Responsibility: Process Engineering Standards Committee SAES-A-012
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 The sampling connections shall be provided at all critical points

(Inlet, intermediate and outlet) for all the relevant streams.
 The sample points shall be 3 or 9 ‘O’ clock position for produced water and
reject oil streams.

7.9 High efficiency mixing devices shall be used when chemical injection is applied
in the water treatment process. Emergency eye wash and showers shall be
provided close to chemical injection skids. Refer to SAES-B-069.

7.10 The state of art online oil-in-water analyzer shall be used in the inlet/outlet of
the process for trending purpose. Refer to Appendix VI.

7.11 When primary water treatment is enough for achieving the target treated water
quality, either WOSEP or CPI separator design shall be selected.

7.12 WOSEP and CPI separator are horizontal cylindrical gravity separator designed
in accordance with SAES-D-001.

7.13 The choice between WOSEP or CPI separator shall be based either on the
criteria mentioned in Appendix IV and Appendix V.

7.14 WOSEP

7.14.1 The bulk liquid shall move horizontally inside WOSEP with near-
laminar flow regime and horizontal velocity of the influent water
inside the vessel shall not exceed 3 ft/min.

7.14.2 WOSEP shall be designed with internal split flow arrangement with
feed from the center of the vessel and oil collection compartments on
both ends of the separator (see example in Figure 7.1).

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Figure 7.1

7.14.3 WOSEP shall be designed to separate oil droplets of 150 microns and
larger at Normal Water Level from the water continuous phase and
have minimum 10 minutes water retention time (as defined in Figure
7.2).

Figure 7.2

7.14.4 The inlet nozzle shall be fitted with flow distributor to cover the central
oil separation compartment. The elevation of inlet nozzle shall be such
that it prevents the turbulence of solids settled at the bottom and oil
accumulated on the liquid surface.

7.14.5 Oil collection compartment shall be provided on either ends of the

vessel (see example in Figure 7.1). The weir of oil collection
compartment shall be supplied with provisions for future extension in
height.

7.14.6 The water outlet nozzle shall be provided with vortex breaker.

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7.14.7 Sludge/solids jetting manifold, solids drain nozzles and water jetting
nozzles shall be provided at the bottom of the separator to remove the
settled solids on regular basis.

7.14.8 Anti-wave breaker baffles shall be provided across the vessel to avoid
turbulence in the central compartment of the vessel.

7.14.9 All WOSEP shall be equipped with suitable supports and provisions
shall be provided for future coalescing pack.

7.14.10 The separated oil collected in the oil compartment shall be routed to a
recovered oil drum or recycled back to upstream oil processing
equipment.

7.14.11 All WOSEP’s internals shall be removable and pass through manways.

7.14.12 The treated water from each ends of the vessel shall be connected to
suction header of the disposal pumps and onwards to water
injection/disposal wells.

7.14.13 One vessel diameter on both sides of the water inlet nozzle shall not be
accounted for the gravity separation due to turbulence at the inlet of
separator.

7.14.14 CFD shall be performed on each Water Oil Separator during Detailed
Design by vessel’s internals supplier in order to confirm design of
vessel’s internals (e.g. inlet device, anti-wave baffles, mist eliminator,
etc.).

7.14.15 The operating pressure of WOSEPs shall be such that the bulk of the
water separated from the production traps and dehydrator shall flow by
pressure difference; this is to avoid the pumps which cause shearing of
oil/TSS particles and affect the separation efficiency of the API
separator.

7.14.16 WOSEP shall be blanketed with fuel gas to prevent oxygen entry into
produced water. The presence of oxygen causes corrosive environment
as well as corrosion products which affect the separation performance.

7.14.17 Split range pressure control valves shall be provided on the

pressurizing gas and the off-gas from WOSEP. A gap on the pressure
controller output will be provided between closing of the pressurizing
control valve and the off-gas control valve. The off-gas from WOSEP
shall be sent to the compression system and excess gas will be flared.

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Document Responsibility: Process Engineering Standards Committee SAES-A-012
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7.14.18 To avoid GOSP shutdown during disposal pump shutdown, minimum

20 minutes shall be provided between Normal Water Level and High
High Water Level shutdown.

7.14.19 The overfilling time of API Separators shall be minimum 10 minutes.

7.15 CPI Separators

7.15.1 CPI (Corrugated Plate Interceptor) separator is sometimes used in

place of WOSEP. They are alternatively named as Parallel Plate
separator (PPS), Tilted Plate separator (TPS).

7.15.2 CPI separator is also gravity separator like WOSEP, but it contains
pack of plates as internals. The flow of influent water takes place
between the plates. The plates reduce the travel distance for the oil
droplets to separate from water phase. The plates also reduce the
turbulence and enhance coalescence of the oil droplets into larger ones
that separate easier.

7.15.3 CPI separators shall be preferred over WOSEP when the influent water
contains tighter emulsions and when the treated water quality is
reliably required to be < 50 ppm OIW.

7.15.4 CPI separator can remove oil droplets larger than 60 microns compared
to the 150 microns removable by API separator.

7.16 Secondary Treatment General Design Requirement

7.16.1 When primary produced water treatment alone is not enough for
achieving the target treated water quality for disposal into reservoir,
secondary water treatment technology shall be added in series with
primary water treatment (the downstream of WOSEP / CPI separator)
for reliably achieving the required stringent treated water quality.
Liquid/Liquid Hydrocyclone, IGF or Media filters are the examples of
secondary treatment technologies.

7.16.2 The design of secondary treatment units shall be confirmed by CFD

modeling software.

7.16.3 When the target water quality requires oil contents below < 20 ppm,
secondary water treatment technology shall be applied in series with
the primary water treatment.

7.16.4 Feed to secondary treatment technology units shall be normally 100-

150 ppm OIW but shall not exceed 200 ppm OIW. The upstream

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primary treatment technology shall be designed and tuned to achieve

the desired feed quality for secondary treatment units.

7.16.5 IGF/Media Filters/Hydrocyclone shall remove particles 25 microns and

larger.

7.16.6 When coagulant or flocculent chemical addition is used in the design

of secondary treatment units, the need of caustic addition for pH
adjustment, its impact of increased TSS and the cost impact of unit
feasibility shall be carefully evaluated.

7.16.7 When secondary treatment technology (e.g., IGF) is placed

downstream of primary treatment technology (e.g., WOSEP / CPI
Separator), hydraulic study shall be performed to determine the need a
pump to flow the water through the secondary treatment unit without
impacting (e.g., high level) the primary treatment unit. When the need
of such pump is established, low shear pump shall be used to avoid the
generation of smaller particles and tighter emulsions.

7.17 Liquid-Liquid Hydrocyclone

7.17.1 Liquid-Liquid Hydrocyclone technology falls between primary and

secondary treatment, categories and is used as primary as well as
secondary treatment. It is therefore sometimes classified as advanced
primary treatment technology. Refer to Appendix IV for the selection
criteria of Liquid-Liquid Hydrocyclones.

7.17.2 When used as primary water treatment, Hydrocyclones can be used in

the following locations:
 HPPT water outlet
 Dehydrator/Desalter water outlet
 WOSEP inlet

When used as secondary water treatment, it can be used in the following

locations:
 Formation Water Tank outlet
 WOSEP outlet

7.17.3 Hydrocyclones achieve oil water separation by generating high

centrifugal forces, which separate the oil and water phases. The

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hydrocyclones therefore require feed water pressure > 100 psig.

Hydrocyclones are applied as water treatment units when:
 Median particle size > 30 microns
 Feed water pressure > 100 psig
 Not much suspended solids in feed
 Not much free gas in feed
 Flow rate and oil contents is fairly constant
 Low equipment maintenance is desired

7.17.4 Suspended solids are generally not separated in hydrocyclones during

this process and most exit the unit in the water phase with a small
fraction leaving in oil phase.

7.18 IGF / DGF

7.18.1 IGF/DGF units are designed as horizontal or vertical cylindrical

pressure vessel. In this equipment, the separation of the oil, water and
solid phases happens by gravity per Stokes' law. Refer to Appendix IV
for the selection criteria of IGF/DGF.

7.18.2 IGF/DGF use gas bubbles to remove oil droplets and suspended solids
not removed by primary water treatment.

7.18.3 In IGF vessel, the gas bubbles are introduced in the system by driving
it into influent stream either by impeller or by eductor. The gas
bubbles capture oil and suspended solids while rising to the surface.
The oily froth is removed by the skimmer and is recycled to oil treating
units.

7.18.4 The separation of gas bubbles can be enhanced by subjecting the

mixture to centrifugal forces. Such centrifugal based units are of
smaller foot print than the gravity based IGFs. Such centrifugal
separation based IGF units are also named as Cyclonic or Compact
flotation units (CFUs).

7.18.5 The recovered oil stream shall be controlled so that it does not exceed
4% of influent water. This is for restricting water contents in the
recovered oil. The water content in the recovered oil stream shall not
be above 30%.

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7.18.6 Selection between the Mechanical (propeller) and Hydraulic (educator)

type IGFs shall be evaluated by comparing energy consumption,
treated water quality achievable and maintenance costs. When
propeller type is used, variable motors shall be considered.

7.18.7 DGF differs from IGF by the method used to generate gas bubbles and
the resultant bubble sizes. In DGF units, the gas is dissolved in the slip
stream by applying pressure and is fed into the flotation chamber,
where gas is released in bubble form as the pressure is reduced.

7.18.8 Like primary water treatment technology, the efficiency of the gas
flotation process depends on: temperature. The oil-water separation
efficiencies depend upon the particle size distribution, specific
gravities of oil and solids, the specific gravity and viscosities of the
produced water, the degree of emulsification of oil and the amount of
soluble organic present in the influent water.

7.18.9 Minimizing gas bubble size and achieving an even gas bubble
distribution enhances the removal efficiency. Gas bubble attachment
to oil can be enhanced by 1-10 ppm chemical addition. The higher
salinity of water assists in smaller bubble size generation. Median
bubble size of 50-60 microns is attempted to achieve desired floatation.
Bubble size in IGF units is seen to be
100-1000 microns and in DGF units, it 10-100 microns. Around 20-
50% water is recirculated for contacting with gas.

7.18.10 Chemical injection is employed to effect flocculation of oil and solids,

which readily separate in IGF/DGF/CFU. Caustic addition for pH
adjustment of the influent water is required in most of such cases. The
impact of caustic addition shall be addressed in the design.

7.18.11 Streams with an expected oil droplet size of 2-5 microns cannot
undergo flotation.

7.19 Media Filtration

7.19.1 Media Filtration is used to remove suspended oil and solids that are not
removed by primary treatment processes. Refer to Appendix IV for
the selection criteria of Media Filtration.

7.19.2 The filters are made up with granular, multi-graded media/material

(sand, nutshell, anthracite or garnet) beds arranged in horizontal or
vertical pressure vessels. These vessels are fitted with impellers or

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submersible pumps to rotate the media vigorously during the backwash

cycle.

7.19.3 Filtration involves the processes of straining, sedimentation and

adsorption for removing the oil and solids from the influent water
stream within the filter bed.

7.19.4 Nutshell filters are special type of media filter made from ground
walnut shells and sometimes a combination of walnut and pecan shells.
The nutshells are better than sand or anthracite for oil removal since
they are preferentially water wetted and thus readily adsorb and desorb
oil. Nutshells are cleaned by backwashing with the influent water;
whereas sand filters require large amount of clean water for
backwashing.

8 Disposal Water Pumps

8.1 The treated water from the last produced water treatment unit (primary or
secondary, as the case may be) shall be pumped by the Disposal water pumps
and onwards to the disposal wells. The disposal pumps designed in accordance
with SAES-G-005.

8.2 These are high pressure pumps required to overcome the disposal/injection well
head pressure. Therefore, a combination booster and injection pumps or multi-
stage pump shall be considered.

8.3 Since the disposal water increases over the life cycle of the GOSP, the provision
shall be kept to add the required number of pumps in staged manner instead of
designing the pumps for ultimate disposal water capacity. One spare water
disposal pump shall be provided (n+1 sparing philosophy).

8.4 Separate pumps shall be provided for the produced water injection and the
power water (aquifer water) injection systems.

9 Material Selection and Corrosion Control

9.1 Material selection and corrosion control for produced water treatment units shall
be performed in accordance with SAES-L-132 and SAES-L-133.

9.2 Corrosion inhibitor dosage rates and injection locations shall be finalized in
consultation with CSD and Producing Department Corrosion Engineers. Refer to
SABP-A-018 and Refer to SABP-A-036.

9.3 Corrosion inhibitors for produced water treatment units shall be evaluated and
selected as per SAES-S-205 requirements.
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9.4 The need for Biocide and Oxygen Scavenger injection systems shall be
evaluated during Design Basis Scoping Paper (FEL-2) and Project Proposal.

9.5 The chemical dosing pumps shall be positive displacement, metering type
capable of adjusting the dosage rates both locally and remotely from the control
system. Pumps shall be equipped with pulsation dampener and pump rate shall
be confirmed by graduated cylinder installed on the pump suction. Refer to
SABP-A-015.

9.6 Coupon and on-line corrosion monitoring system, meeting the requirements of
01-SAMSS-023 shall be provided in produced water treatment units to monitor
corrosion. The locations for corrosion monitoring access fittings shall be
reviewed by CSD and Producing Department Corrosion Engineers. Refer to
SABP-A-018 and SABP-A-036.

9.7 Required space shall be provided for on-line coupon retrieval and installation
tools. Refer to SABP-A-018 and SABP-A-036.

9.8 Anode Monitoring System (AMS) and cathodic protection with sacrificial
anodes shall be finalized in consultation with CSD and Producing Department
Corrosion Engineers.

9.9 The need for online oxygen analyzer for produced water streams shall be
evaluated during Design Basis Scoping Paper (FEL-2) and Project Proposal
(FEL-3). Online oxygen analyzer shall be designed in accordance with SAES-J-
510.

9.10 Coating for produced water treatment units shall be in accordance with SAES-
H-001 and SAES-H-002 requirements.

10 Groundwater Conservation

10.1 The groundwater conservation shall be maximized in GOSPs and shall be

aligned with latest Kingdom policy and company policy statement (INT-11) for
water conservation.

10.2 The major groundwater consumers in GOSPs are desalter wash water and
injection for reservoir pressure maintenance. Alternative sources of water shall
be utilized to eliminate or minimize the use of groundwater for these
applications.

10.3 The demand for wash water shall be optimized based on salt and water balance
around crude oil desalting system.

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10.4 The necessary design measures and operations procedures shall be provided to
continuously monitor and control the use of groundwater for crude oil desalting
in the GOSPs.

10.5 Alternative in-plant sources of wash water for crude oil desalting shall be
developed for minimizing or eliminating the use of groundwater in GOSPs.
These alternatives can be one or a combination of the following options: desalter
effluent water, produced water, seawater, boiler blowdown, and wastewater (see
example in Appendix VIII).

10.6 Appendix VII shows the parameters that shall be used for identifying and
evaluating technologies for ground water / wash water conservation by using
produced water or desalter effluent water as feed stream.

10.7 The evaluation of new technology for the generation of equivalent wash water
quality shall include the following parameters:

 Minimum Wash water replacement: 70%

 Wash water quality (TDS, pH, bacterial count etc.) shall at the minimum
meet the design wash water quality available at the GOSP site. Any
deviation from the incumbent wash water quality can only be accommodated
if there is no impact on the existing wash water system. A new salt balance
shall be conducted to evaluate the impact.

 The number of processing steps shall be minimized as much as practicably

possible with due consideration to plant operability (e.g. de-oiling, H2S
removal, Desalination etc.).

 Waste stream are compatible for mixing with produced water.

10.8 The selected technologies for ground water conservation shall be concurred with
P&CSD.

11 New Technology Applications, Testing and Deployment

11.1 Following new technologies are being developed in Saudi Aramco for the
produced water treatment. These technologies shall be evaluated before
considering for the deployment.

De-Oiling
− Absorption (organoclay)
− Walnut Shell Media Filtration
− Membrane Separation (ceramic, cross-flow, hollow fiber, vibrating)

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Polishing - soluble pollutant removal

− Absorption (Activated Carbon, Organoclay)
− Solvent Extraction
− Biological treatment (membrane bio-reactor, fixed film, etc.)
− Oxidation
− Membrane Separation (Ultrafiltration and Nano-filtration)

Polishing - salinity reduction

− Membrane Separation (RO)
− Ion Exchange
− Electrodialysis (ED)
− Evaporation (Freeze/Thaw)
− Thermal distillation

Online Oil-in-Water Analyzer

− UV Fluorescence
− UV Absorption
− Ultrasonic backscattering
− Infra Red Absorption

11.2 Field Testing of new technology shall be carried out before deploying it in
commercial scale at Saudi Aramco facilities.

11.3 When field testing of already proven and globally deployed technologies is
waived, the original equipment manufacturer’s (OEM’s) performance guarantee
and physical performance verifications at similar worldwide facilities are
necessary.

12 De-bottlenecking of Existing Produced Water Treatment Units

12.1 Most of the existing GOSPs have only primary water treatment units (API/CPI
separators), but at some GOSPs, IGF and CFUs are lately installed. These are
not operational due to hydraulic limitations, low water flow rates. The capacity
of produced water treatment units shall be tested whenever:
 The crude production is stepped up
 Many new wells have been opened
 Water cut has increased sharply
 Chemical injection has increased significantly

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Relevant section of SABP-A-034 shall be used to conduct the capacity test.

12.2 When debottlenecking of the existing produced water treatment is being

considered, the design guidelines provided in this standard shall be followed.

Revision Summary
24 January 2013 New Saudi Aramco Engineering Standard.
1 January 2018 Editorial revision to modify paragraph 6.9.2.
28 March 2018 Major 5-year cycle revision
12 April 2018 A new section about groundwater conservation requirements for crude desalting
purpose will be added to SAES-A-012.

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Appendix I - Simplified Schematic of Produced Water Treatment

and Disposal Unit in a GOSP without Crude Stabilization Facility

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Appendix II - Simplified Schematic of Produced Water Treatment

and Disposal Unit in a GOSP with Crude Stabilization Facility

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Appendix III - Treated Produced Quality for Marine Disposal (As per SAES-A-103)

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Appendix IV - Typical Removal Efficiencies

for Selected Produced Water Treatment Technologies

Produced Water Treatment Typical Oil ppm Particle Size

Technology
Technology Type in Outlet water Removed
Primary Water Treatment WOSEP 100-250 ppm >150 microns
Primary Water Treatment CPI Separator 50-100 ppm >60 microns
Advanced Primary Water Hydrocyclone 15-25 ppm >20 microns
Treatment
Secondary Water Treatment IGF 15-25 ppm >25 microns
Secondary Water Treatment DGF 15-20 ppm >20 microns
Secondary Water Treatment CFU 15-20 ppm >20 microns
Secondary Water Treatment Media Filtration 10-20 ppm >5 microns
Advanced Secondary Water Chemical Flocculent 5-15 ppm >3-5 microns
Treatment with Hydrocyclone
and CFU in series
Tertiary Water Treatment Ceramic Membrane < 1 ppm >0.01 microns
Tertiary Water Treatment Granular Activated < 1 ppm >2 microns
Carbon
Tertiary Water Treatment Diatomaceous Earth <1 ppm >0.01 microns

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Appendix V - Typical Decision Process for Technology Identification/Selection

Identify all the source oil treatment equipment in the

GOSP that generate produced water stream, e.g.,
HPPT, LPPT, LPDT, Dehydrator, Desalter, etc.

Determine the flow rate and oil contents of

produced water stream generated by the source
equipment.

Determine what is needed in the source

equipment (HPPT, LPDT, Dehydrator,
Desalter) to reduce the oil
Is Oil in Water for concentration in the produced water
any produced water Yes
stream to < 1000 ppm, e.g., Change
stream in normal demulsifier, install or upgrade to
operation > 1000 efficient chemical mixer, install
ppm? coalescing internals in production trap,
change dehydrator/desalter to duel
frequency type, etc.

No

Implement the cost effective option in

Determine the combined flow rate and the source equipment to ensure <1000
oil-in-water concentration for the total ppm oil concentration in the produced
produced water stream.
water stream.

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Primary Is the oil Primary and

No Yes Secondary
Treatment is limit for
good enough disposal is < Treatment
50 ppm Required
OIW”?

Is the inlet Yes WOSEP

Is the inlet No CPI separator oil particle Required
oil particle Required size > 150
size > 150
microns?
microns?

No
Yes
CPI separator
WOSEP Required
Required

Yes No Hydrocyclone
DGF and Media Is the oil Is the oil and IGF is
Filtration Required limit < 20 limit < 25 required
ppm? ppm?

Yes

Chemical
No
Flocculent Is the oil
Injection + limit < 10
Hydrocyclone + ppm?
CFU Required

Yes

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Chemical Flocculent
Injection + Yes Is the Oil No
Hydrocyclone + CFU Limit
+ Diatomaecious earth <1ppm?
filters OR Ceramic
Membranes Required

Notes:
1. Yes/No decisions may not be absolute. They are meant to provide rough-order of magnitude decision.
2. If technology vendor challenges the technology decision, it has to further discussed backed by the
performance verification.
3. Some removal of TSS will always happen with oil removal, but extent cannot be predicted.
4. Polymeric membranes should be avoided as they foul and plug easily in oily water service.

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Appendix VI - Industry Information for State of the Art Online Oil in Water Analyzers

Measurement Principle Operating Experience

UV Fluorescence 1. Oil Type dependency. Measures Aromatics only.
2. Needs calibration when oil is changed
3. Scaling and fouling of lenses. Regular cleaning required.
4. Gas bubbles cause high readings
5. Good for trending only
Light Scattering / (IR) Light 1. Oil Droplet size sensitivity
Attenuation 2. Can detect small changes in oil concentration
3. No field experience
4. Good for trending only
Visual Imaging 1. Gas affects the reading of oil concentration and oil droplet size
2. Fouling Sensitive. Requires frequent maintenance
Acoustic Imaging 1. Limited Field Experience
2. Can differentiate oil and solids
3. Limited effect of fouling
Laser Based 1. Not Reliable as OIW analyzer
2. If solids differ from the calibrated value, error occurs
3. Corrosion inhibitor causes high readings
4. Easy operation, low maintenance

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Appendix VII - Parameters to Select Wash Water Conservation Technologies

All Parameters Units

Basic parameters
pH pH units
Temp ºF
Specific Gravity mg/L
Turbidity NTU
Total Suspended Solid TSS mg/L
Total Dissolved Solid TDS mg/L
Bicorbonate alkalinity as CaCO3 mg/L
Carbonate Alkalinity as CaCO3 mg/L
Total Hardness as CaCO3 mg/L
Dissolved Gases
Oxygen mg/L
NH3 mg/L
H2S mg/L
Common Organic parameters
Oil mg/L
Total Organic Carbon (TOC) mg/L
Biological Oxygen Demand mg/L
Chemical Oxigen Demand (Unfiltered) mg/L
Cations
Calcium (Ca) mg/L
Magnesium (Mg) mg/L
Sodium (Na) mg/L
Potasium (K) mg/L
Barium (Ba) mg/L
Strontium (Sr) mg/L
Total Iron mg/L
Iron (Fe) mg/L
Manganese (Mn) mg/L
Anions
Silica as SiO2 mg/L
Chloride Cl- mg/L
Sulfate as SO42- mg/L
BicorbonateHCO3- mg/L
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All Parameters Units

Carbonate CO32- mg/L
Total Sulfide as S2- mg/L
Total Petroleum Hydrocarbon (TPH)
C6 - C9 Fraction mg/L
C10 - C14 Fraction mg/L
C15 - C28 Fraction mg/L
C29 - C36 Fraction mg/L
C37 - C40 Fraction mg/L
C10 - C40 Fraction mg/L
Volatile Organic Compounds - BTEX
Benzene mg/L
Toluene mg/L
Ethylbenzene mg/L
Meta & para-Xylene mg/L
Ortho-Xylene mg/L
Volatile Organic Compounds - Surrogates
1.2 dichloroethane-D4 %
Toluence-D8 %
4-bromofluorobenzene %

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Appendix VIII – Ground Water Conservation Process Schematic Example

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