Sources of Injected Water
Any and every source of bulk water can be, and has been, used for injection. The following sources of water are used for recovery of oil:
Produced water is often used as an injection fluid. This reduces the potential of causing formation damage due to incompatible fluids, although the risk of scaling or corrosion in injection flowlines or tubing remains. Also, the produced water, being contaminated with hydrocarbons and solids, must be disposed of in some manner, and disposal to sea or river will require a certain level of clean-up of the water stream first. However, the processing required to render produced water fit for reinjection may be equally costly.
As the volumes of water being produced are never sufficient to replace all the production volumes (oil and gas, in addition to water), additional "make-up" water must be provided. Mixing waters from different sources exacerbates the risk of scaling.
Seawater is obviously the most convenient source for offshore production facilities, and it may be pumped inshore for use in land fields. Where possible, the water intake is placed at sufficient depth to reduce the concentration of algae; however, filtering, deoxygenation and biociding is generally required.
Aquifer water from water-bearing formations other than the oil reservoir, but in the same structure, has the advantage of purity where available.
River water will always require filtration and biociding before injection.
Read more about this topic: Water Injection (oil Production)
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