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OIL CONTENT IN PRODUCED BRINE ON TEN LOUISIANA PRODUCTION PLATFORMS
Citation:
Jackson, G., E. Hume, M. Wade, AND M. Kirsch. OIL CONTENT IN PRODUCED BRINE ON TEN LOUISIANA PRODUCTION PLATFORMS. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/2-81/209.
Description:
A survey of the oil content of brine effluents from offshore crude oil production platforms was conducted for the Oil and Hazardous Spills Branch of the Environmental Protection Agency. The objectives were to determine the amount of oil in the brine, and to determine the factors affecting brine oil content variability. Ten-day surveys were conducted on ten platforms. The platforms selected represented a wide range of characteristics with respect to produced fluids, processing systems, and water treating systems. Each platform had a flotation unit for final oil separation before discharge. Minimums of forty gravimetric and twenty infrared oil content tests were run on brine effluents of each platform. Oil content tests were also run at upstream points in the systems. Other brine tests run for correlation with effluent oil content included: soluble oil, oil drop-size distribution, suspended solids, surface tension, ionic analysis, pH, specific gravity, surface tension, boiling point distribution, and temperature. Records were kept of operational factors including: water cuts, lift methods, pressures, chemical addition programs, and hydraulic loading of water treating units. Test data and operational data were analyzed for correlation with effluent oil content data.