Produced water, saline water, or liquid brine (in English, produced water) is a byproduct of crude oil extraction, just like the natural gas that flows through the well. Once the produced water is separated from the crude oil, it is verified that it contains a salt concentration of between 10 and 150 g/l (2.2 to 50 pounds/barrel), in addition to bicarbonates, sulfates, calcium, magnesium, and organic residues.
Uncontrolled discharge generates a huge impact on the environment and can contaminate freshwater sources if surface emissions are not prevented. Managing this contaminating fluid in land operations is complicated and costly, while on-site treatment using vacuum evaporators allows for an efficient and low-cost solution to the problem.
Typically, during crude oil extraction, a significant amount of natural gas is obtained, which, unless it is channeled (gas pipeline) or compressed (LNG) to facilitate transportation and market it as fuel, is usually burned in flares in the field. This available, cheap, and clean energy can be used in vacuum evaporators for brine treatment, to treat produced water, wastewater, etc.
It is also common in some fields to have steam from generators that inject steam to facilitate the extraction of heavy crude oil. Finally, electricity generation is carried out by motor-generators, as well as more sophisticated cogeneration equipment, that is, with the production of electrical fluid and thermal fluid (hot water and combustion gases), which can be utilized.
Any form of available energy in the field can be utilized in vacuum evaporators.
