Metrohm's ion chromatography systems can monitor ionic components in produced water to keep pipes free of scale deposits.
Produced water is water trapped in underground reservoir rocks and is brought to the surface along with the crude oil and gas.
Besides dispersed oil droplets and dissolved organic compounds, produced water contains significant amounts of inorganic cations such as calcium, magnesium, barium and strontium, and anions such as carbonate, bromide and sulphate.
Precipitation of the corresponding salts often leads to the formation of scale deposits that can clog pipes.
For this reason it is important to determine the inorganic constituents of produced water in order to choose the correct dosing of scale inhibitors.
While the anions bromide, sulphate, acetate and butyrate can be reliably determined by suppressed conductivity detection, the cations magnesium, barium and strontium are determined by non-suppressed conductivity detection.
Of the numerous analytical techniques for the determination of ionic species, IC is the best suited in terms of selectivity, flexibility, automation and ruggedness.
