The document describes an on-site, cost-effective wastewater treatment package for the shale oil and gas industry using an integrated process of chemical coagulation, walnut shell filtration, and membrane distillation. The treatment package is energy self-sustaining through the use of geothermal energy and produces high quality water that can be discharged or reused while meeting EPA regulations. It provides a competitive alternative to current evaporation-based and reverse osmosis technologies that are expensive, energy intensive, or unable to treat high-salinity wastewater. Preliminary lab results show the treatment train can operate continuously for over 70 hours with over 99.9% removal of salts, organics, and boron.

1. On-site and Cost-Effective Wastewater Treatment
Package for Shale Oil and Gas Production
Prof. Tiezheng Tong and Prof. Kenneth H. Carlson
Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering,
Colorado State University
2018/09/05

2. Brief Technology Description
² An on-site and cost-effective wastewater treatment package
tailored to the shale oil and gas industry
Integrated treatment process

3. Brief Technology Description
² An on-site and cost-effective wastewater treatment package
tailored to the shale oil and gas industry
Integrated treatment process

4. Brief Technology Description
² An on-site and cost-effective wastewater treatment package
tailored to the shale oil and gas industry
Chemical coagulation
Walnut shell filtration
Membrane distillation

5. Brief Technology Description
² An on-site and cost-effective wastewater treatment package
tailored to the shale oil and gas industry
Energy self-sustained
Geothermal energy

6. Brief Technology Description
² An on-site and cost-effective wastewater treatment package
tailored to the shale oil and gas industry
A modular and
compact package

7. Brief Technology Description
² An on-site and cost-effective wastewater treatment package
tailored to the shale oil and gas industry
Discharge and reuse

8. Market Opportunity Analysis
• The U.S. shale oil output has hit a record of
nearly 7 million barrels per day.
• Colorado rank as 6th in natural gas
production and 7th in petroleum production in
the United States

9. Market Opportunity Analysis
• The U.S. shale oil output has hit a record of
nearly 7 million barrels per day.
• Colorado rank as 6th in natural gas
production and 7th in petroleum production in
the United States
• Total wastewater generation: 775
billion liters from 2005 to 2014
(Kondash, 2015)
• The wastewater volume per well
increased by up to 1440% from 2011
to 2016 (Kondash, 2018)
• Current wastewater management
strategies (e.g., deep-well injection)
are constrained.

10. Market Opportunity Analysis
“Spending on water management in the Permian Basin is likely to
nearly double to more than $22 billion in just five years.”
“But the sheer volume of what’s now being produced has created
an opportunity for specialized water companies to step in”
--- Will Hickey, CEO of Colgate Energy

11. Market Opportunity Analysis
2018/08/22
“Fledgling companies, many backed by private equity, are rushing to
help shale drillers deal with one of their trickiest problems: what to do
with the vast volumes of wastewater that are a byproduct of
fracking wells.”

12. Competitive Landscape
Evaporation-based technology
(mechanical vapor compressor)
• EXPENSIVE!!!
• Highly energy
consumptive
• Only requires
primary energy
(electricity)
Ceramic
membrane
filtration
Ion
exchange
Reverse
Osmosis
• Ceramic membrane filtration
and ion exchange are
complex and expensive
• Reverse osmosis could NOT
be used to treat high-salinity
shale oil and gas wastewater.

13. Cl
-
FeedSolution
(HotSide)
Permeate
(Distillate)
Hydrophobic,
microporous membrane
60-80°C 20°C
• Tolerance of high salinity
• Less costs than mechanical
vapor compressor
• Use of low-grade thermal
energy
Waste Heat
Solar Energy Geothermal Energy
Our Core Technology – Membrane Distillation

14. Our Core Technology – Membrane Distillation
• Present in front of two VPs and one
department director of Caterpillar Inc.
• Discuss using waste heat generated by
pumps and compressors in the oil field to
power membrane distillation for wastewater
treatment.

15. Preliminary Results
• Lab-scale treatment train provides high quality
water products for > 70 hours.
• Salt removal efficiency was > 99.9%, organic
removal efficiency > 99%, and boron removal
efficiency > 99.8%.
• Low fouling and scaling due to pretreatment.

16. Preliminary Results
Novel omniphobic membranes with exceptional wetting resistance in
membrane distillation
1 s etching
PVDF membrane
Etched
PVDF membrane
Omniphobic PVDF
membrane
≤1 hr silanization
17-FAS
Oxidized
Oxidized

17. Preliminary Results
Effective pretreatment by chemical coagulation and walnut shell filtration

18. Preliminary Results
Effective pretreatment by chemical coagulation and walnut shell filtration
Salt removal > 99.9%

19. Preliminary Results
MD desalination showed robust performance for three treatment cycles:
Water Recovery > 80%, water flux decrease < 20%,
salt removal efficiency > 99.9%

20. Preliminary Results
Effective pretreatment by chemical coagulation and walnut shell filtration
BTEX concentration after chemical coagulation + walnut shell filtration + MD
meets the discharge requirement regulated by U.S. EPA

21. Brine
concentrator
Brine
crystallizer
RO
Tong and Elimelech, 2016, Environ. Sci. Technol., 50, 6846-6855
10×
Wastewater Treatment Options

22. Brine
concentrator
Brine
crystallizer
RO
Shale oil and gas wastewater
RO
favorable
Limited by affordable
hydraulic pressure
Tong and Elimelech, 2016, Environ. Sci. Technol., 50, 6846-6855
Wastewater Treatment Options

23. Brine
concentrator
Brine
crystallizer
RO
Shale oil and gas wastewater
RO
favorable
Tong and Elimelech, 2016, Environ. Sci. Technol., 50, 6846-6855
Other technologies?
Wastewater Treatment Options