Produced Water Absorbents of Ohio launched its Osorb technology at OTC 2013 for the treatment of oil and gas wastewater streams. Osorb is a regenerable granular media, which PWA says removes up to 99% of free, dispersed, emulsified and soluble hydrocarbons, and oilfield chemicals from water, in both on and offshore applications.
It was developed by a professor at the College of Wooster in Ohio and has since undergone field testing through PWA in the US and Far East. Results demonstrated an average 96.2% reduction in Oil in Water (OIW) from 85 to 2.9 ppm (parts per million), PWA says.
As well as oil, which can then be recovered, it also removes other contaminants and can be applied into containers or injected into a flow stream. It can also remove polymers used in EOR applications, allowing them to be reused. At OTC, PWA also announced a memorandum of understanding with Enviro-Tech Systems, LA, to help promote Osorb as an oilfield service.