Veolia gains Colombian produced-water clean-up contract

Ecopetrol America Inc, the US subsidiary of the Colombian national oil company, has awarded a contract to Veolia to provide equipment and services that will be used to treat the produced water from the Castilla oilfields in the Llanos Basin, southeast of Bogota.

Under the US$ 73 million contract, Veolia will design and supply the equipment and material, supervise installation and commissioning, start-up, pre-operate and assist in the operations.

The technologies implemented by Veolia were selected for their efficiency and robust design, intended for heavy-duty remote areas, where high reliability and low maintenance are required. Their very low energy and chemical consumption will contribute to building environmentally sound water treatment facilities while enabling Ecopetrol to continue its expansion of the Castilla site, thereby increasing production of oil.

Veolia will provide an integrated system to remove and recover oil from the produced water, treat sludge and cool the water prior to discharge. The project is divided into three trains, each with 8 corrugated plate interceptor units, 15 AutoFlot™ induced gas flotation units and 13 PowerClean™ walnut shell filters, followed by cooling towers in the final step.

Veolia will provide engineering and raw materials to interconnect the treatment equipment and automation systems for control. Sludge will be treated by specialized equipment designed to recover liquid and reduce sludge volume.