Precise separations are essential in oil and gas processing.
When hydrocarbons are extracted from natural sources, they often come mixed with water, solids, and crude oil or natural gas—forming a complex “soup.” To refine and sell these resources, effective three-phase separation is required. Over time, various methods have been developed to tackle this challenge, often involving multiple steps and technologies working in series. These processes can be intricate, and certain stages may present operational headaches. But with the right tools, there’s no need for separation anxiety.
New Logic’s VSEP vibratory membrane separation system offers a powerful solution.
VSEP excels at handling difficult oil-water separations, outperforming conventional separators. Its ultrafiltration membranes are capable of breaking emulsions and reducing oil levels in wastewater from both upstream and downstream operations. A prime example is treating the rag layer from a refinery desalter. VSEP has also been successfully deployed for offshore slop water cleanup—even in the presence of challenging emulsions.
VSEP has been used many times in the oil and gas industry including in these applications:
- Filtration of produced water to make boiler feed
- Treatment of desalter effluent
- Purification of stripped sour water for selenium removal
- Oil removal from slop water
- Filtration of frac water for reuse
- Removal of solids from drilling fluids and drill mud
- End of pipe treatment of refinery wastewater
- Treatment of tank bottoms
VSEP needs no pretreatment and can use reverse osmosis membranes to filter oily wastewater.Traditional spiral-wound RO membranes are ineffective in these applications because oil tends to plate out on the membrane surface, quickly leading to fouling. In contrast, VSEP’s vibratory membrane technology prevents this issue. By oscillating back and forth 50 times per second, the membrane surface remains in constant motion, disrupting the formation of oil films. As a result, oil micelles behave like other suspended solids and are unable to adhere to the membrane, allowing for efficient filtration without clogging.
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