Bioenergy from Oilfield Produced Water Ben Peterson1, Jay Barlow1, Jason C. Quinn2, Ron C. Sims1

Utah State University Logan, UT 1Biological Engineering2Mechanical and Aerospace Engineeringpeterson.b1993@gmail.comjay.barlow@aggiemail.usu.edujason.quinn@usu.eduron.sims@usu.edu

Background

• Algal biomass is cultivated with a rotating algal biofilm reactor (RABR) developed at USU.

• Reactor materials include polystyrene (above), cotton rope (below left), and cloth pads (below right).

• Alternative reactor designs and materials are under investigation to improve biomass productivity with greater attachment and expanded surface area.

Produced Water

• Industry in the Uintah Basin generated approximately 93 million barrels of produced water in 2013 alone.

• The water has high salinity levels and is contaminated with hydrocarbons and numerous other compounds.

• The experimental water sample was obtained from produced water evaporation ponds in La Pointe, Utah.

• The water was collected in two distinct seasons to diversify water contamination concentrations.

• A 500-gallon sample was gathered for algal biomass cultivation.

Uintah Basin petroleum resources (image: ShaleExperts) Utah produced water lagoon (image: Marc Silver)

Biofilm Reactors Hydrothermal LiquefactionBiomass Harvest Biocrude

Objectives• Provide an alternative product for the hydraulic fracturing industry to

offset the high costs of produced water treatment

• Cultivate algal biomass in produced water with a rotating algal biofilm reactor (RABR) growth system

• Demonstrate remediation of produced water with algae cultivation

• Convert algal biomass to renewable fuels via hydrothermal liquefaction

• Algal biomass is mechanically harvested from the RABR by direct scraping.

• The biomass can be converted into bioproducts including fuels and feeds.

• Algal biomass is composed of a robust biofilm polyculture.

• The biofilm polyculture consists of several species of algae, one of which was isolated from the Great Salt Lake (below).

• Wet algal biomass is converted at high temperature and high pressure in a hydrothermal liquefaction reaction (HTL).

• HTL operating conditions: Temperature: 325 °C Pressure: 14 MPa (2000 psi) Retention time: 60 min

• HTL produces four products: Biocrude (energy product) Gas (energy product) Aqueous (fertilizer product) Solids

• Biocrude chemical composition and energy content are comparable to petroleum crude.

• A yield of 35% afdw was obtained in laboratory HTL tests and 58% of feedstock energy was recovered in the biocrude.

• Biocrude can be refined into an array of drop-in renewable fuels:

BIOCRUDE

RENEWABLE DIESEL

RENEWABLE GASOLINE

The extraction of oil and gas results in large quantities of wastewater, or produced water, with nutrients and residual organic chemicals that represent a significant resource for producing energy-related and value added products. The goal of this project is to demonstrate the production of these products and the simultaneous treatment of the produced water using algae cultivation in a unique engineered system to stimulate economic growth and to enhance human health and the environment in Utah’s Uintah Basin. This poster presents the USU part of the project; BYU (Dr. Hansen) tests biogas production from algae, and the UofU (Dr. Hong) treats produced water with ozone and filtration.