Significant solids were found in the BP operated Bruce produced water reinjection (PWRI) pipework
during routine intrusive work. The 6” discharge pipework was 50% choked and the suction pipework
30% choked. Analysis later confirmed this scale to be mostly mackinawite (FeS0.93-0.96) with minor
amounts of siderite (FeCO3) and strontium bearing barite (Ba(Sr)SO4). Approximately 1.8 mT was
removed from one 40 meter run of pipework.
The root cause of scale deposition was the alkaline H2S scavenger. A combined treatment of jetting
and online dissolver was used to solve this problem. Treatment implementation was complicated by
the complex nature of the plant and tie backs, and thus had to be closely managed and monitored. A
novel iron chelating agent injected at a few hundred mg/l was used to dissolve remaining scale.
Discovery of the scale, and the rapid treatment and removal program saved the PWRI plant from
total blockage and shut down.