Treat Produced Water with Fouling-Resistant Membranes Designed for High Oil, Grease & Organics Tolerance
Produced water is one of the most complex and variable separation challenges in upstream oil & gas. Composition shifts from basin to basin and even well to well bringing a mix of emulsified and dissolved oils, suspended solids, organics, surfactants, polymers, and dissolved salts. Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) introduces additional chemical complexity, destabilizing conventional treatment approaches. As disposal costs rise and reuse becomes a strategic imperative, operators need membrane systems that can maintain performance in challenging conditions.
Operators treating produced water for reuse, reinjection, or discharge need membrane systems that can handle complex wastewater composition. While membrane technologies offer a compelling pathway for treatment and reuse, conventional systems often fail to perform reliably in these challenging conditions, resulting in:
- Irreversible fouling from oils, organics, salts and EOR chemicals
- Cleaning protocols that fall short of restoring baseline performance
- Escalating OPEX due to chemical use, downtime, and replacements
- Instability across diverse feedwater profiles and operating conditions
ZwitterCo membranes are engineered to tolerate high oil & grease and organic loads resisting irreversible fouling, enabling consistent operation, extended runtime, and simplified cleanings. ZwitterCo Superfilrtation membranes paired with downstream RO form robust treatment train capable of meeting demanding targets for reuse, reinjection, or environmental discharge without the performance limitations of conventional systems.
Fouling-Resistant Membranes Built for High O&G concentration in Produced Water
Reduce operating costs
- Lower chemicals, energy and water costs
- Reduced downtime
Maintain Stability Under Severe Fouling Conditions
- High feedwater O&G, and Organics tolerance limit
- Pre-treatment solutions for produced water
Achieve Discharge Compliance
- Meet environmental discharge standards under variable feed conditions
Maximize sustainability
- Onsite or outside the oilfield water reuse
- Less freshwater drawdown and lower hauling emissions
Leachate Treatment Solutions
Are you an existing membrane user looking to reduce costs and increase uptime?
Are you considering a membrane solution for discharge compliance or pre-treatment?
Enable Treatment and Reuse of the Toughest Wastewater and Process Streams
Membranes Built with ZwitterCore™
Reliable pre-treatment regardless of variation in composition
Capable of handling extreme levels of O&G and other organics
Compact, fast to implement, high reliability and tolerant of upsets
Elevation membranes for leachate:
Membranes with the Highest Resistance to Organic Fouling
Membranes Built with ZwitterShield™
Shorten cleaning duration and extend time between cleaning cycles
Clean with simple chemicals instead of expensive, formulated cleaners
Reliable operations
Reduce operating cost
Fewer chemicals. Lower costs.
Operators treating produced water with ZwitterCo membranes benefit from lower operating costs through:
- Reduced chemical use during cleaning
- Ability to clean with low-cost commodity chemicals instead of specialty formulations
- Lower water and energy consumption per cleaning cycle
- Longer membrane life due to fewer and less aggressive cleaning cycles
Reliability in High Fouling Environments
Oil? Grease? No problem.
ZwitterCo’s Expedition SF membranes offer a reliable alternative to conventional pretreatment systems for produced water, especially where high oil & grease content overwhelms standard filtration.
Expedition SF membranes can remove contaminants larger than 1 nm and can handle up to 5% FOG and be cleaned with chlorine, maximizing treatment efficiency and producing ideal feedwater for downstream RO.
ZwitterCo Elevation RO membranes serve as a polishing step to remove dissolved salts and low molecular weight organics that pass through pretreatment enabling high-quality water recovery from challenging produced water streams.
Achieve Discharge Compliance
Compliance without compromise.
Expedition SF membranes can reject elevated levels of TSS and FOG from feed water to ensure stable pretreatment performance even with changing produced water quality.
Where tighter discharge or reuse limits apply, ZwitterCo Elevation RO membranes can provide final polishing for salts and low-molecular-weight organics delivering effluent that meets demanding environmental standards.
Maximize Sustainability
Reuse beyond the oilfield.
ZwitterCo membranes make sustainable reuse of produced water possible both within and beyond the oilfield. Treated water can be reused onsite for drilling, completions, or dust control, reducing freshwater demand and disposal needs.
For offsite reuse, ZwitterCo’s membrane systems can produce water suitable for:
- Irrigation
- River or aquifer recharge
- Industrial use (e.g., cooling towers, boiler feed)