Produced Water Treatment

Engineering Consulting Services

Experience Overview

Vista Projects is a demonstrated leader in engineering services for water management. We’ve implemented systems to reduce water use by enhancing water recycling while ensuring that safety and costs are kept at the forefront.

The active facilities engineered by Vista Projects currently filter over 1.3 billion cubic feet of water per year.

Vista Projects has developed utility water, freshwater, and produced water management systems to meet the regulatory demands and water availability for multiple jurisdictions. We are fully versed in many regulatory environments and have successfully adapted to the rapidly changing requirements.

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Vista Projects also has extensive experience with utilities, tankage, and well pad & pipeline development. Our project history includes long-term brownfield programs and multi-phase greenfield expansion projects.

Water Treatment

Vista Projects has a long history of engineering some of the most successful processing facilities in the western Canadian energy sector. Our experience includes designing specialized processes to maximize a facility’s ability to reuse produced water.

Reusing produced water is essential to limiting environmental impacts, lowering operating costs, and gaining regulatory approval, especially for commercial facilities.

Vista Projects helps clients analyze their water to select proven technologies and implement a cost-effective, fit-for-purpose solution.

Contaminated Water: An Avoidable Risk

In processing facilities, common contaminants such as calcium and magnesium can combine with silica to form metallic silicates. These precipitate and stick to facility piping, forming a glass-like insulating barrier on the walls.

The insulating barrier inhibits heat transfer, leading to poor performance, dangerous working conditions, equipment damage and ultimately resulting in failures requiring extensive downtime and repair costs.

Water Filtration

Filtration is a critical component of many treatment systems. Filters are used to remove solids, liquids, or other contaminants from fluids within a process stream.

The use of inappropriate technologies can lead to inefficient operations, high capital costs, and prohibitively expensive operational expenditures. Vista Projects’ experts leverage our extensive experience and industry contacts to carefully select the best technology to meet the applications of our clients.

Filtration Technologies

Filters have been in use since ancient times, however, the criticality of water treatment in the last 200 years has led to an ever-increasing need for filter technologies designed to target specific contaminants.

Vista Projects is well versed in a multitude of filtration technologies and has designed multiple utility and water treatment systems, which target the following contaminants:

  • Solids Removal
  • Liquid Removal
  • Iron, Manganese, and H2S Removal

Highlighted Projects

Secondary Steam Generation

Through extensive consultation with vendors and our clients, Vista has designed a novel water reuse system in which blowdown from a once-through steam generator (OTSG) is used as the feedstock for a secondary OTSG.

After the successful implementation of this high-value design, steam production was drastically increased while wastewater (boiler blowdown) was reduced by 75%.

This system resulted in a substantial net reduction of water usage by the facility.

Wastewater Reuse

Vista’s thorough understanding of wastewater chemistry has led to the successful implementation of wastewater reuse systems. In these detailed systems, recycled water and wastewater chemistry are objectively reviewed and decisions are based upon the specific defined components requiring treatment. In some applications, Vista has identified locations where the blending of wastewater and recycled water meets the downstream requirements. This has resulted in a reduction of water treatment equipment. The reduced water treatment equipment significantly lowers capital cost and operating costs for the facility.

Water Use Reductions

Vista has extensive experience in the operation of filters and ion exchange equipment. By leveraging our knowledge with different equipment suppliers and operating facilities, we successfully revised filtration and ion exchange regeneration sequences, which limited the quantity of wastewater generated. In addition, Vista has been involved in the successful design of a novel chemical reuse program, wherein caustic from a weak acid cation (WAC) exchanger is partially reused for several sequential regenerations. This design led to a reduction in operating costs by decreasing the total chemical and water consumption requirements for ion exchange regeneration.

Reduced Liquid Discharge (RLD) Systems

In systems where RLD is required, Vista has investigated the implementation of mechanical vapor compression evaporators, crystallizers, and thermosyphon reboilers. Implementation of these systems enabled the plant to meet the stringent regulatory demands of the jurisdiction.

Water Treatment Technologies

Vista has implemented a wide variety of water treatment technologies as part of our water management systems.

  • Solids Settling
  • Filtration
  • Lime Softening
  • Ion Exchange
  • Iron & Manganese Removal
  • Induced Gas / Static Flotation

Vista has expertise treating water systems with oil and grease, silica, permanent & temporary hardness, suspended solids, iron, multivalent cations, oxygen, and microbiological contaminants.

Technology Investigation Capabilities

Vista was contracted to investigate existing and new technologies to reduce the wastewater volumes at a water treatment and steam generation plant.

A changing regulatory environment and lack of access to a sufficiently sized disposal system were causing the client to explore new water reduction possibilities.

Vista investigated a wide variety of RLD technologies, as well as zero liquid discharge (ZLD) technologies, and formulated 21 process arrangements to find the most cost-effective option.

Our work included:

  • technology investigations
  • laboratory test design
  • water analysis
  • bench-scale testing
  • capital and operating cost determinations to reach a technology arrangement that was optimized for the client

Conceptual Technology Selection Projects

Clients have trusted Vista with their technology selection for major, industrial water management facilities. These projects considered site-specific water availability and environmental and disposal conditions while ensuring the plant met the area’s regulatory requirements. The technology was recommended based on technical merit, as well as the capital and operating cost considerations. Many of Vista’s industry-leading cost innovations were considered, including piping and equipment modularization, plot plan optimizations, and our data-centric approach to engineering.

Related Brochures

Looking for more information? Download one of our related brochures to learn more about Vista Projects’ engineering consulting services.

Project Experience Overview

Produced Water Treatment

Engineering Capabilities

Our experience includes designing specialized processes to maximize a facility’s ability to reuse produced water. Reusing produced water is essential to limiting environmental impacts, lowering operational costs, and gaining regulatory approval, especially for commercial facilities.

Vista Projects helps clients analyze their water to select one or more proven technologies and implement a cost-effective, fit-for-purpose solution. Some of Vista Projects’ capabilities include the following techniques and technologies.

Ion Exchange (SAC/WAC)

Vessels containing resin remove hardness ions (calcium and magnesium) as well as other multivalent ions.

Application: hardness removal, multivalent ion removal

Lime Softening (Warm & Hot)

Created using a combination of chemicals, a lime sludge bed reduces and removes a variety of contaminants from inlet water.

Application: silica removal, bulk hardness removal, alkalinity reduction

Filtration

Removes particulate matter in water streams and in the final stages of hydrocarbon removal.

Application: hydrocarbon removal, iron removal, suspended solids removal

Gravity Separation

A carefully designed gravity separation system ensures maximum effectiveness of installed residence capacities.

Application: hydrocarbon removal

Induced Gas And Static Flotation

Gas bubbles introduced into a water stream facilitate the flotation of hydrocarbon within the unit. Commonly used as a secondary oil removal process.

Application: hydrocarbon removal

Evaporation

Uses thermal or mechanical energy to create a distilled water stream available for reuse.

Application: total dissolved solids removal

Centrifuges

Removes bulk suspended solids from a water stream, resulting in sludge and clean centrate stream.

Application: suspended solids removal

Membranes

Strips dissolved gas from a water stream, a critical step in meeting water quality requirements for downstream equipment.

Application: dissolved gas removal

Inclined Plate Settler (Lamellar Decanter)

Removes large volumes of solids or particulate matter from a water stream.

Application: particulate removal

Chemical Treatment

Carefully prepared and measured chemicals injected upstream facilitate other separation methods required for the success of downstream processes.

Application: oxygen control, precipitation (e.g. oxidation of iron for filtration), chemical preparation for use (e.g. flocculants)

Market Overview

Produced water treatment and management are increasingly critical factors for the energy industry, as government regulations become stricter. With increasing water scarcity and rising demand from growing populations, industrial facilities are being tasked with the challenges of reducing water usage. This is particularly true for hydraulic fracturing operators who are in need of viable frac water treatment solutions.

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Project Experience Overview​

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Produced Water Treatment

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Data-centric Execution

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