Document Type
Article
Publication Date
8-2024
Abstract
Produced water (PW) is a bulk portion of byproduct generated during oil and gas extraction operations and can be potentially reused for various purposes. However, the treatment costs and associated environmental issues call for a multitude of factors for proper management. This research aims to evaluate the viability of technologies for treating PW in terms of their technical performance, cost-effectiveness, and environmental considerations. Technologies evaluated include well-established processes such as electrodialysis (ED), electrodialysis reversal (EDR), ion exchange, chemical oxidation, electrocoagulation (EC), chemical coagulation (CC), nanofiltration (NF) etc. Associated case studies have been studied. However, except EC and CC, other technologies fail to purify highly saline PW for beneficial reuses, such as Permian Basin PW. Among those five technologies, EC and CC are most cost-effective processes as their costs are $0.44/m3 and $0.26/m3, respectively. They are the most environmentally friendly as they consume less energy and since the treated water is eligible for onsite reuse, there are no air emission and traffic issues associated with transportation. Whereas, the most expensive one is the NF process and its cost ranges between $0.8337-$4.0407/gallon and the NF process that has been indicated in this paper is not eligible to treat Permian Basin PW up to any of the reuse criteria. Coagulation, flocculation processes and specific electrodialysis setup can be applied as pretreatment. However, there is no sufficient evidence to support their success. Two series of operations have been proposed. One of them is a combined electrocoagulation-microfiltration-membrane distillation process and another one is a series operation consisting of hydrocyclone, coagulation/flocculation, MVC, membrane bioreactor, and UV/H2O2 process. The required costs of these technologies have been discussed and concluded that the PW that contains total dissolved solids (TDS) value exceeding 100,000 mg/L, cannot be treated up to the standard for beneficial purposes like irrigation, livestock feeding at low cost. The estimated cost for the successful series operation is approximately $1.01/bbl. Since such series of operation can provide reusable water for multiple purposes, these can be considered as environment friendly technologies.
Recommended Citation
Afrin, Elora, "Techno-Economic and Environmental Assessments of Produced Water Treatment Technologies for Beneficial Reuse" (2024). Water Resources Science and Technology Theses and Graduate Research Reports. 8.
https://digitalcommons.tamusa.edu/water_theses/8
Comments
Research Project Report (Non-Thesis track)
Submitted to the Department of Mathematical, Physical, and Engineering Sciences, Texas A&M University-San Antonio, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Water Resources Science and Technology.