This must the discovery of the decade. Walnut shells are used to purify water from any sort of Contamination and has been a blessing for the Oil & Gas Sector.

1. Water Technologies
Walnut Shell Filters
Siemens Water Technologies
Redesigning for Offshore Use
Michael Howdeshell
Chad Felch
Eric Lorge

2. Slide2
Water Technologies
Geography
-Siemens
-O&G offices

3. Slide3
Water Technologies
Agenda
Walnut Shell Technology Background
Testing in North Sea
Taking Walnut Shell Technology Off-Shore

4. Slide4
Water Technologies
Produced
Water
Water Treatment in Oil Field Industry
Tertiary Separation
 Walnut shell filter
 Coalescing filter
 Cartridge filter
 Sand filter
Secondary Separation
 Dissolved Air Flotation (DAF)
 Dissolved Gas Flotation (DGF)
 Induced Gas Flotation (IGF)
Primary Separation
 Hydrocyclone
 API Separator
 Plate Separator
 Skimmer

5. Slide5
Water Technologies
Separation Technology Spectrum
10,0001,000100101
Oil in Water Concentration (ppm)
Efficiency
API
CPI
DAF, IGF, DGF
Hydrocyclone
Centrifuge
Membrane
Walnut Shell and
Coalescing Filters
1º
2º
3º

6. Slide6
Water Technologies
How Do Walnut Shell Filters Work
 Continuous pressurized media bed
 Bed(s) cycle based on time or ΔP
 Media is recharged using backwash cycles
 Oil is adsorbed not absorbed
 Used to removed SS and free oil
 Walnut shell media have an equal affinity for oil and water
 Very low attrition rate

7. Slide7
Water Technologies
The Siemens Walnut Shell Filter Media
The Black Walnut Shell
 Excellent surface characteristics for
 Coalescence
 Filtration
 High “modulus of elasticity”
 Chemical free oil separation

8. Slide8
Water Technologies
Walnut Shell Global Usage
- Installation
- Void regions

9. Slide9
Water Technologies
Pilot Testing – BP Valhall Platform
Objectives
 Prove walnut shell media can handle North Sea
produced water
 Test efficiency of system
 Suitable for off-shore?
Stavanger
Bergen
Oslo
BP Valhall

10. Slide10
Water Technologies
Pilot Unit Used on BP Valhall Platform

11. Slide11
Water Technologies
Walnut Shell Media Close-ups

12. Slide12
Water Technologies
Backwash Procedure Used in Test

13. Slide13
Water Technologies
Results from Pilot Testing
*
* Measurements conducted with TD500 OiW analyzer

14. Slide14
Water Technologies
Results from Pilot Testing –
Inlet and Effluent Oil Concentrations
45
50
55
60
65
70
8/21/2008 8/22/2008 8/23/2008 8/24/2008 8/25/2008 8/26/2008
Inletoil(ppm)
0
1
2
3
4
5
Effluentoil(ppm)

15. Slide15
Water Technologies
Results from Pilot Testing –
Oil Removal Efficiency
80
82
84
86
88
90
92
94
96
98
100
8/22/2008 8/23/2008 8/24/2008 8/25/2008

16. Slide16
Water Technologies
Moving from On-Shore to Off-Shore
Demonstration Objectives
 Prove walnut shell media can handle North Sea
produced water
 Test efficiency of system
 Suitable for off-shore use?
Off-shore challenges
 Footprint and weight reduction
 Simplify and optimize backwash system




17. Slide17
Water Technologies
Moving from On-Shore to Off-Shore
Tasks
 Reduce external scrubbing
 Increase throughput
 Reduce backwash water
volume

18. Slide18
Water Technologies
Siemens Internal Backwash

19. Slide19
Water Technologies
Improvements for Off-Shore
 Complete turn over and mixing of the media
 Fully fluidize the walnut shell bed
 No rotating equipment or moving parts
 The ability to use a finer walnut shell media to improve oil and solids
removal
 Smaller footprint and weight
 A reduction in backwash water volume
0.72%
0.35%
5%
Sand Filter Old WSF New WSF
ForwardFlowUsedfor
Backwash(%)

20. Slide20
Water Technologies
The Siemens Walnut Shell Filter
Design Considerations
 Ready for off-shore use
 Refinement of the design through
many years of successfully
commissioned installations, most of
which still in operation today
 Direct experience of many
applications for which walnut shell
filters can be appropriate
 No compromise of design to ensure
effluent quality is maintained

21. Slide21
Water Technologies
Summary
Walnut Shell Media
 Efficiently remove oil from North Sea produced water
 Solids do not impact the efficiency
 Suitable for off-shore use
Walnut Shell System
 Reduced footprint through efficient backwash design
and finer shell media
 Reduced weight
 Reduced backwash water volume

22. Slide22
Water Technologies
Thank you for your attention!