OREANDA-NEWS. GE (NYSE: GE) today announced a new water treatment technology for the upstream oil and gas market. GE’s new seawater sulfate removal (SWSR) nanofiltration membrane eliminates almost all sulfate from injection water in offshore oil production.

GE’s SWSR membrane removes sulfate to drastically reduce scale and corrosion in the injection well, which can reduce oil recovery and plug the well. It also has exceptional fouling resistance due to its three-layer membrane design and smooth surface.

The new SWSR series is an advancement of GE's DK series nanofiltration membrane and provides a high transmission of sodium chloride into the permeate water to minimize operating pressures. It offers a physical barrier for any suspended particles including bacteria, pyrogens and colloids. Additionally, the new membrane will help prevent strontium and barium sulfate scale in injection wells and will better mitigate well souring by reducing sulfate.

“We put our 30 years of experience in nanofiltration membrane manufacturing to use in creating our latest innovation for the upstream oil and gas industry. On oilrigs, oil producers use injection water to flood the field and force oil to the producing wells, but if the water is of poor quality, it causes scale and corrosion that plugs and sours the field. GE’s new seawater sulfate removal membranes provide excellent sulfate removal and have superior fouling resistance,” said Yuvbir Singh, general manager, engineered systems—water and process technologies for GE Power & Water.

The new SWSR membrane also can be used in conjunction with GE’s existing reverse osmosis membranes in order to provide water for low salinity flooding, polymer flooding and other forms of enhanced oil recovery.