Oil and gas production wastewater often contain high levels of salinity, with total dissolved solids concentrations in excess of 200,000 mg/l. These waters can also contain a number of inorganic constituents (Ca, Mg, Ba, Sr) at levels much higher than those observed in other water sources, as well as less-common constituents (Ra, B, and trace metals) with significant animal or plant toxicity. The presence of these compounds can have a substantial impact on treatment processes designed to reclaim these waters for beneficial reuse, as well as impacting the quality and suitability of these waters for livestock and crop application. Sr and B, in particular, can be difficult to remove through conventional treatment options, and their presence in treated effluent could limit reuse options.<br/>This presentation will address options for removing metal cations and boron from produced water to improve overall treatment performance and effluent water quality. Using existing produced water composition data from Kansas, including the Kansas Geological Survey database of brine samples, we will assess the occurrence of these ‘challenging’ elements in produced waters and their potential to escape removal using various treatment approaches. We will then present results on new methods for produced water pretreatment, including selective removal of divalent cations using polyelectrolyte complexes and other precipitative processes, hat could minimize effluent concentrations of these compounds. We will also address how divalent cation removal may impact water quality for irrigation purposes, and possible ways to rebalance the divalent to monovalent cation ratio.

Elemental contaminants in produced water and their impact on treatment and reuse

255th National Meeting (2018)

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