Pentair’s X-flow membranes selected for sea water pretreatment on North Sea oil production vessel

Pentair Water Process Technology has announced the selection of its X-Flow ultrafiltration (UF) membranes as pretreatment for the sulphate removal membranes onboard a production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel in the North Sea's Kraken field.

The Kraken field is situated east of the Shetland Islands and is one of the largest subsea heavy-oil field projects under development in the United Kingdom section of the North Sea.

The Kraken field will be developed with a production vessel from Bumi Armada (top photo), a Malaysia-based international offshore oilfield services provider that is a global player.

Seawater injection
The Kraken field could have reserves of 137 million barrels of heavy oil, with an estimated field life of 25 years.

At its peak, it is expected to produce over 50,000 barrels per day.

The FPSO-vessel is designed to process up to 460,000 barrels per day. Seawater injection is at a rate of a maximum of 275,000 bpd.

Lower life-cycle costs
Using the X-Flow UF membranes as the pretreatment solution rather than conventional pretreatment options, such as multimedia filtration followed by disposable cartridge filters, provides lower life-cycle costs, a smaller footprint and lower installed weight, and improved performance of the downstream Sulphate removal membranes.

"This order confirms again the suitability of Pentair’s X-Flow brand of UF membranes for offshore seawater treatment and we are committed to support the important water treatment needs of our oilfield customers", Eric Leegwater, Pentair’s Business Development Manager for Oil and Gas, said.

Within the oil & gas industry, X-Flow membranes are used in applications like seawater injection, produced water re-injection, silica removal in boiler feed water for steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD), low salinity water injection for oil recovery, re-use of oily waste water treatment on refineries and fresh potable water makers.

About Pentair Water Process Technology
Pentair Water Process Technology is a Dutch-based company of Pentair. Its membranes are used in the field of ultrafiltration in capillary form, and microfiltration and ultrafiltration in tubular form, which makes selective filtration possible

Pentair delivers industry-leading products, services and solutions for its customers’ diverse needs in water and other fluids, thermal management and equipment protection.

With 2013 revenues of 7.5 billion USD, Pentair employs approximately 30,000 people worldwide.

More information
Pentair Water Process Technology 
Enschede, the Netherlands
+31 53 428 73 50
www.pentair.com