Aledan, Afrah Bader;
(2023)
Produced water management - A mathematical model to trade-off economic cost and environmental impact for infrastructure utilisation.
Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).
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Abstract
A substantial amount of wastewater, known as produced water (PW), is generated during oil and gas extraction. Given that PW can have a detrimental effect on the environment, it must be appropriately managed and treated before reuse. Globally, PW management is one of the greatest challenges in the oil and gas industry due to the costly treatment methods and large amounts involved, and there is a lack of expertise in the knowledge of PW management. Kuwait is a leading oil producer, and PW management poses a severe threat to the sustainability of Kuwait’s oil fields in terms of cost control and environmental safety. Here, life cycle and economic assessments are used to develop a mathematical framework for analysing trade-offs between the financial costs and environmental impacts of PW management operations. Specifically, a multi-objective mixed-integer linear programming framework is formulated for Kuwait Oil Company’s (KOC) PW supply chain management with different operational and regulatory constraints. A model solution for sustainable operations over the short, mid and long term that aligns with KOC’s strategic policy on PW management is presented. A global sensitivity analysis (GSA) also performed to further assess the economic and operational factors that influence KOC’s PW management. Finally, risk assessment is conducted to identify and evaluate risks associated with PW utilisation. Results indicate that treatment operations account for half of total system costs, and electricity consumption accounts for most of environmental impact, affecting the sustainability of the PW supply chain system most significantly. Moreover, KOC's PW supply chain system is impacted by a number of factors, including discount rates, electricity costs, and water treatment costs. In the case of PW utilisation, several types of risks may be posed that may negatively affect health, technology, the environment, and the economy. The findings of this study can be used to assess and guide PW supply chain management at KOC.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | Ph.D |
| Title: | Produced water management - A mathematical model to trade-off economic cost and environmental impact for infrastructure utilisation |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © The Author 2023. Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms. Access may initially be restricted at the author’s request. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science > Dept of Civil, Environ and Geomatic Eng |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10180182 |
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