Shale gas development relies heavily on multi-stage hydraulic fracturing to maximize the economic viability of each new well. In recent years, the industry is aiming at re-use of frac flow back brine to reduce costs and environmental impact of operations. 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) for beneficial re-use in other applications, thereby conserving other local freshwater supplies. Texas A&M University's Global Petroleum Research Institute has been conducting field trials in New York, Pennsylvania and Texas to test new technology to treat brines characteristic of flow back brines and make them amenable for re-use in subsequent oil field operations.  A number of different components have been evaluated during the trials, three types of oil and grease removal, one BTEX removal step, a wide range of micro-filters, and three different nanofilters.  The several treatment techniques which have been found to be successful in both pilot plant and field tests have been incorporated into a single multifunctional process train. The performance of each technique was measured by its separation efficiency, power consumption, and ability to withstand fouling. Overall, the field trials have been a successful example of proving technological concepts needed to process and re-use brine in the oil field.New research and field trials are now underway to identify new analytical technology that can be incorporated into field operations to measure the efficiency of produced water treatments.

Field trials of ultrahigh salinity brine pretreatment: Texas A&M environmentally friendly drilling technology for gas shales

247th National Meeting (2014)

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