DE-FE0000847

Goal
To identify a reliable and cost-effective pre-treatment methodology for use in processes employed to treat and re-use field-produced brine and fracture flowback waters. The project aims to develop a mobile, multifunctional water treatment specifically for “pre-treatment” of field waste brine by conducting side by side comparisons of the technology in field operations.

Performers
Texas A&M University
Argonne National Laboratory
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Houston Advanced Research Center
Sam Houston State University
Rensselear Polytechnic Institute

Collaborators
New York State Research Development Authority (NYSERDA)
MI SWACO

Background
Shale gas development relies heavily on hydraulic fracturing of each new well in order to make the wells economically viable. Many of the new wells are horizontal wells that require up to 5 million gallons of fresh water for each frac job. Not all regions of the country have sufficient unallocated fresh water to use “new water” for each frac job.

In addition, there are numerous regulatory agency questions and community concerns about development of these new areas, particularly with respect to the safety of the hydraulic fracturing process and its potential to harm the environment. It is clear that the human dimension of the problem of developing Marcellus gas resources can not be neglected.

The challenge is to identify technologies and approaches for treating the frac water that returns to the surface following a frac job (frac flowback water) so that treated flowback water can be reused in subsequent frac jobs, thereby saving other local freshwater supplies. By demonstrating such technologies in field applications, it is expected that policy makers and the populace can make better decisions as to the development of critical energy resources.

Technologies must:

• Be technically practical (e.g., work in remote field settings, offer dependable performance over extended time periods, can be easily moved from one site to another)
• Be acceptable to regulatory agencies (e.g., do not create unacceptable environmental impacts)
• Create water with chemical and physical properties that allow for good frac performance (remove contaminants from different qualities of flowback water, make end-product water suitable to work in a range of geochemical conditions)
• Be affordable (cost of treating water and managing any byproduct residuals is not prohibitively expensive)

Impact
Reuse of frac flowback water and produced brine is a key to the development of the natural gas resource. More than 50 TCF of potential natural gas resources in the Marcellus Shale hinge on finding a solution to the frac flowback and produced water management in an environmentally acceptable manner. Successful completion of the project would provide a system to cost-effectively treat and reuse flowback water for future frac jobs to meet water supply requirements for shale gas wells.

The ability to cost-effectively treat and reuse flowback water for future frac jobs greatly mitigates the issue of new water requirements for shale gas wells. Further, pre-treatment of frac flowback brine is essential in the Marcellus Shale region because of limited deep well disposal facilities to handle discharged brine. The specific benefits of this project will be realized through field evaluations of different pre-treatment technologies that can be moved to shale gas fields to convert highly saline flowback water to moderately saline water and treated by the primary treatment processes.

Accomplishments
This project was started on 10/1/2009. No technical accomplishments made to date.

Current Status (October 2009)
This project was started on 10/1/2009. This is a project with 8 tasks to demonstrate pre-treatment technology in field operations that will remove constituents in high salinity flowback water and produced brines encountered in the Marcellus region. Currently, the project is in its initial phase which initiates with the task of identifying pretreatment technologies for deployment into the field operations. Tests will be conducted using a trailer mounted platform that allows installations of multiple types of purification techniques that are a necessary precursor to the most common methods of flowback brine treatment. The tests shall include performance of the pre-filtration process train to determine operating cost, separation efficiency, product water quality. Following the technology review, a pre-treatment work train to include various treatment techniques which have been found to be successful in both pilot plant and field tests shall be combined. The laboratory testing program shall serve to identify processes most appropriate for the hypersaline flowback and produced brines encountered in the Marcellus region. Specific site assessments and brine sampling for pilot plant tests prior to design shall assure appropriate technology is to be employed. A preliminary engineering model shall be developed to provide early indications of the capital and operating costs that may be used as a template for evaluating the efficiency of the field unit with varying configurations. Towards the end of the initial phase, field test plans shall be developed for field deployment of the mobile unit for each field test site. This plan shall include selection and sequence of field tests.

Project Start: October 1, 2009
Project End: September 30, 2011

DOE Contribution: $466,665
Performer Contribution: $450,000

Contact Information:
NETL – John Terneus (John.Terneus@netl.doe.gov or 304-285-4254)
Texas A&M University– Dave Burnett(burnett@pe.tamu.edu or 979-845-2274)