Water Recycling Picks Up in Texas Hydraulic Fracturing Operations

Dow Water & Process Solutions (DW&PS), a business unit of The Dow Chemical Co., and Omni Water Solutions have treated more than 245,000 barrels of flow back and produced water from Texas’ Eagle Ford shale hydraulic fracturing operations.

Already in operation in Karnes County, Texas, since June, Omni’s Hippo mobile water treatment unit—which includes both Dow ultrafiltration and Dow Filmtec Reverse Osmosis (RO) membrane technologies—is being used by another leading operator in Gonzales County, Texas, to reduce water hardness and boron, and enable reuse of the cleaned water for drilling and hydraulic fracturing operations.

The Gonzales County Operator has been using Omni’s Hippo mobile treatment unit in a water recycling project to convert produced water into freshwater, brine and hydro-carbon streams. The project’s goal is to reduce boron levels from 90 ppm to less than 5 ppm in the fresh water stream, so it is compatible with gel frac formulations, and can be reused in subsequent well operations without having to blend in additional fresh water.  

The reuse of produced and flow back water is of high significance to oil and gas operators, particularly due to local water shortages and historically dry conditions in the region. Water reuse allows operators to minimize the use and cost of freshwater resources, while reducing complexities surrounding local wastewater disposal and onsite wastewater trucking.

After the process, fracturing fluids return to the surface and must be effectively cleaned with advanced treatment solutions to remove high levels of solids, organics, and other impurities. Over the longer term, produced water is brought to the surface contaminated with rapidly changing and difficult-to-remove elements such as calcium and boron from the formation rock. By applying an integrated set of advanced treatment technologies with an automated control system, Omni is able to deliver consistent water quality so operators can reuse produced water.

Source: Dow Water & Process Solutions