Water. Desalination + reuse
Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/107986
IDA OIL & GAS CONFERENCE BANFF, CANADA l 12-14 MAY 2013 Inside a module bound for the Alberta oil sands will need to get the oil out. This is where enhanced oil recovery (EOR) techniques like low salinity water flooding come into play. The chemistry of the water is shown to have an impact on its ability to lift oil. Indeed, recent research studies have shown that using lower salinity water for this purpose could increase the overall recovery in a given oil field and reduce the cost of the chemicals used in this process. Desalination technologies must be used at one point or another to achieve the optimal water quality. Unconventional oil and gas production is quite different from the cartoon everyone has seen where oil gushes out of a drilled well. Nevertheless, the techniques developed to collect oil and gas in sand (eg, oil sands) and or shale almost invariably utilize water. That water will need to be treated to: • Fracture the material holding the oil or gas reserve (hydrofracturing, or "fracking") • Be used as a lifting solution for the oil (as in the oil sands) • Be discharged back to the environment; or • Be reused in the process. Treatment of "frac" and "flowback" water presents another challenge for which our industry is developing an array of solutions, all designed to help companies comply with strict environmental regulations. The United States Environmental Protection Agency describes the process this way: "The oil and gas industry uses hydraulic fracturing to enhance subsurface fracture systems to allow oil or natural gas to move more freely from the rock pores to production wells that bring the oil or gas to the surface. The recovered fracturing fluids are referred to as flowback, and they must be treated prior to disposal by discharge into surface water or underground injection. (Both options are strictly regulated.)" Produced water is a term widely used for water that is contaminated by entering into contact with oil or gas during the extraction operations. Since every site presents a different geology, the produced water will vary from region to region and also over time. Indeed, the treatment schemes in the oil and gas world need to be very adaptable to large variations in feed water quality, quantity and temperature. Treatment of produced water represents one of the most exciting opportunities for our industry. Consider this projection: in its 24 May 2011 Water Sector Handbook, Citigroup Global Markets estimated the market size for produced water alone at US$ 8 billion, citing water treatment as "among the fastest growing components of the produced water market." In addition to all the opportunities coming from the exploration and extraction activities, the oil and gas sector also needs technologies to treat drinking and wastewater for the work force dispatched | 46 | Desalination & Water Reuse | February-March 2013 on the oil sites. Many of these sites are in remote and often arid areas, so the camps often represent multiple opportunities for water treatment companies. So how do we get water and oil to "mix" in a figurative sense so that we can take advantage of the tremendous opportunities and needs this market provides? As water reuse and desalination professionals, we need to learn how to speak and interact properly with our colleagues in the oil & gas sector. Oil & gas producers around the world face different – yet similar – challenges. We need to become more educated about their realities so that we can do a better job of providing them with the right solutions. We must aim to design "foolproof " solutions that work in any conditions. In short, we must learn to think from our customers' perspective. The IDA conference on Water Recycling and Desalination for the Oil & Gas Industry in Banff will set the stage for exactly this kind of dialogue. It is a unique opportunity for high-level executives from oil and gas companies to express their daily challenges to top scientists and representatives of our industry who really understand the key aspects in adapting thermal and membrane technologies to the realities of the oil fields. I hope you will join us for this exciting opportunity. l • Guillaume Clairet, PE, MBA, can be reached at Guillaume.Clairet@h2oinnovation.com. • For more information about the IDA conference on Water Reuse and Desalination for the Oil & Gas Industry, please visit www.idadesal.org or contact Karen Zilinek at kzilinek@idadesal.org. CORRECTION Latin America: where modern desalination began In D&WR's November/December 2012, the most interesting article Latin America: where modern desalination began was marred by a number of editing and production errors which were not picked up. D&WR offers our very sincere apologies to author Emilio Gabbrielli, who had gone to considerable trouble on the magazine's behalf to put the article together. A corrected version of the article is available on D&WR's website, www. desalination.biz. Anyone wanting to quote anything from this article is advised to use this version. To view and download it requires registration (free) on the site.