Real Time, Low Costs Technologies for Determining Treated Oil & Gas Produced Water StabilityMaster of Science Research Project Allana Robertson

2

Road Map through Oil & Gas ProjectI. Introduction

A. Statement of ProblemB. Approach to Solve the ProblemC. Research ObjectivesD. Significance of Study

II. Description of WorkA. Research Design

i. Examples of Treatment SystemsB. Operation Strategy and Sampling Locations

Sampling Scheme C. Instrumentation: Experimental Filtration Unit

SetupD. Instrumentation: Chemical Analysis

InstrumentationE. Results & DiscussionF. Findings Related to Objective One:

Microbial Activity Post Continuous Treatment

G. Findings Related to Objective One: Reduction of Microbial Electron Donors and Acceptors

H. Findings Related to Objective One: Reduction of Microbial Electron Donors and Acceptors

I. Findings Related to Objective One: Problems/ Successes

i. Filtration Technology DemonstrationJ. Findings Related to Objective Two:

Equipment FailureK. Findings Related to Objective Two: Storage in

Open and Sealed Containmenti. Examples of Containment

L. Findings Related to Objective Two: Problems/ Successes

III. ConclusionsA. Main IssuesB. Lessons LearnedC. Future Outlook

05/02/2023

Introduction

05/02/20234

I. A. Statement of Problem• Oil & Gas production in arid locations is forcing many companies to

consider produced water reuse. Microbial activity has been overlooked when evaluating produced water quality for reuse. In addition, general standards do not exist for grading produced waters even after treatment.

• Because of this, the following has been documented: • Higher incidence of MIC related corrosion • Larger expenditures on equipment maintenance and replacement • More frequent equipment malfunctions

05/02/20235

I. B. Approach to Solve the Problem• Evaluate the use of membrane filtration to reduce microbial activity in

treated produced waters. Chemical components related to microbial growth will be monitored to determine activity potential in treated produced waters during storage. Results will be adapted to current field procedures during future A&M field trials.

05/02/20236

I. C. Research Objectives • Determine water stability during continuous treatment

• Microbial activity• Reduction of microbial electron donors and acceptors• Reduction of dissolved TIC & TOC• Total hardness reduction (QC)• Microbial nutrient levels post treatment

• Determine water stability during suspended treatment• Short term and Long term equipment failures• Storage in open and sealed containment

05/02/20237

I. D. Significance of Study • Concluding this study, the

following will be understood from the experimental work:

Broader understanding of microbial activity in produced waters.

Better understanding of the need to treat produced waters prior to reuse.

Open access to research data for use in developing treatment process SOP’s.

Enhanced environmental awareness

Description of Work

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II. A. Research Design

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II. A. i. Research DesignExamples of Treatment Systems

NF Treatment System

MF Treatment System

05/02/202311

II. B. Operation Strategy and Sampling Locations• Pre-treatment:

• Two stage pre-treatment process and stored in the MF feed tank

• Microfiltration (MF):• Pretreated water pumped into MF system running in concentrate mode• MF permeate transferred to the NF feed tank in 5 gallon increments

• Nanofiltration (NF): • MF permeate pumped into NF system running in concentrate • NF permeate was collected and stored in 5 gallon increments

Ideally tanks would be used to collect all process waters when running a system with larger flow rates and feed volumes greater than benchtop scale.

05/02/202312

II. B. Operation Strategy and Sampling Locations• Samples were taken from the

following locations:

1 Raw feed2 Pretreat3 MF feed4 MF permeate5 NF feed6 NF permeate

• Single samples were taken of the following: • Raw feed• Pretreat

• Replicate samples were taken of the following: • MF feed • MF permeate• NF feed • NF permeate

05/02/202313

II. B. Operation Strategy and Sampling Locations

Run Number of Replicates for MF Concentrate

Number of Replicates for MF Permeate

Number of Replicates for NF Concentrate

Number of Replicates for NF Permeate

Failure Trial 3 4 1 1

Trial 1 2 4 2 2

Trial 2 3 3 3 3

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II. C. Instrumentation: Experimental Filtration Unit Setup• See Handout

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II. D. Instrumentation: Chemical Analysis InstrumentationField Technologies• HACH HQ40d• HACH 2100P Turbidometer• Fischer Scientific Accumet AP74

DO meter• Bactiquant-WATER Meter Laboratory Benchtop• HACH Spectrophotometer DR

5000• GE InnoVox TOC Analyzer

Commercial Laboratory • Potassium • Alkalinity• Carbonate• Bicarbonate• Total phosphorus• Total dissolved iron • Sulfate• Magnesium• Calcium• Total hardness• Chloride

05/02/202316

II. D. Instrumentation: Chemical Analysis InstrumentationNew Microbial Field Technology• Bactiquant-WATER meter

• Total active biomass• Mobile, field ready • Yields results in 10-30 minutes

05/02/202317

II. E. Results & DiscussionTreatment of Produced Water

• Continuous Processing Trialsi. Trial 1ii. Trial 2

• Failure Testi. Minor and major equipment failuresii. Storage during failures

05/02/202318

II. F. Findings Related to Objective One: Microbial Activity Post Continuous Treatment

i. Trial 1 ii. Trial 2

a. Reduction of total biomass activity • Continuous processing yields best results for

reduction of microbial activity• Linear decline in microbial activity with each

processing step• MF treatment reduces raw water microbial

populations• NF treatment reduces microbial populations

from contamination during open air processing

MF_Raw_Feed

Pretreated MF_Permeate NF_Permeate0.1

1

10

100

1000

10000

100000

1000000

171.40

3.57 5.44 3.25

174,381.20

22,255.60

68.80

0.15

58,815.00

2,041.30303.70

0.83

Failure TestTrial 1Trial 2

Bact

iqua

nt V

alue

(m

l^-1

)

05/02/202319

II. G. Findings Related to Objective One: Reduction of Microbial Electron Donors and Acceptors

i. Trial 1 ii. Trial 2

b. Reduction of microbial nutrients• Metabolic cycling of electron donors• Total soluble iron exhibited the highest

reduction

MF_Raw

_Fee

d

Pretre

ated

MF_Per

meate

NF_Per

meate

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

18.91

0.01

10.02251.925.70

10.051.37 0.04

Trial 1 Total Soluble IronTrial 2 Total Soluble IronTrial 1 Ammonium, Ammonia, NitriteTrial 2 Ammonium, Ammonia, NitriteSp

ecie

s (m

g/l)

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II. H. Findings Related to Objective One: Reduction of Microbial Electron Donors and Acceptors

i. Trial 1 ii. Trial 2

b. Reduction of microbial nutrients• Metabolic cycling of electron acceptors. • Improved water quality as a result of

increased DO levels

MF_Raw_F

eed

Pretre

ated

MF_Per

meate

NF_Per

meate

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

0.730.73

0.7375 0.550.31

0.330.32 0.20

0.04

3.37

2.332.61

0.040.04 0.04 0.04

2.07

2.72

5.46255.72

0.79

2.97

5.37

Trial 1 ManganeseTrial 2 ManganeseTrial 1 NitrateTrial 2 NitrateTrial 1 Dissolved Oxygen Trial 2 Dissolved Oxygen Trial 1 SulfateTrial 2 Sulfate

Spec

ies

(mg/

l)

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II. I. Findings Related to Objective One: Problems/ Successesiii. Problems/Successes

• Problems• Lack of digital flow meter integration• Inconsistent replicate numbers

• Successes• Larger volume of permeate from new NF treatment system• Data collected during all 3 treatments was consistent

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III. I. i. Filtration Technology Demonstration

Raw Produced Water

MF Permeate Water

MF Permeate Water

NF Permeate Water

5 minutes after

collection

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II. J. Findings Related to Objective Two: Equipment Failure

i. Minor and Major Equipment Failures

• Minor equipment failure• 1 hour downtime• Total biomass activity

• Major equipment failure• 4 day downtime• Total biomass activity

Raw Feed Pretreated MF Permeate Minor Failure

Stored Water Major Failure

NF Permeate1

10

100

1000

171.40

3.575.44

11.83

3.25

Bact

iqua

nt V

alue

(m

l-1)

05/02/202324

II. K. Findings Related to Objective Two: Storage in Open and Sealed Containment

ii. Storage During Failure• Storage in simulated open air

containment• Elevated total biomass activity levels

• Storage in simulated sealed containment• Lower total biomass activity levels

0 40

5

10

15

20

25

2.77

4.68

20.6

Sealed Water SampleOpen Air Water Sample

Time (days)

Bact

iqua

nt V

alue

(m

l-1)

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II. K. i. Findings Related to Objective Two: Examples of Containment

Sealed ContainmentOpen Air Containment

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II. L. Findings Related to Objective Two: Problems/ Successes

iii. Problems/Successes• Problems

• Replicate sampling • NF system limited the volume of NF treated permeate • MF and NF systems are analog not digital• Data appears to be collected in a scattered pattern, not consistent • Select HACH field kit analysis appeared to be inconsistent with commercial laboratory

• Successes• Data supported steady state assumption• Data analysis re-directed chemical analysis efforts• Commercial laboratory results made testing more manageable per trial• Bactiquant analysis was consistent throughout the trial • Replicate averaging yielded consistent chemical ion data for data analysis.

Conclusions

29

05/02/202328

IV. A. Main Issues• Down Market

• Oil & Gas companies must cut production costs to survive.

• Maintenance costs for maturing and matured producing wells are rising

• Environmental Awareness• Water supplies in arid oil & gas producing locations • Reuse without treatment and treatment standards• Oil & Gas currently experiencing pre-regulation phase

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IV. B. Lessons Learned

• Treatment of raw produced water prior to use in drilling and completions is necessary to lower maintenance costs• Reduced MIC corrosion• Reduced reservoir plugging

• General treatment guidelines will be needed to guide companies during treatment assessment and design • Pretreatment-necessary• Treatment levels- recommended according to need• Quality control throughout treatment process- necessary

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IV. C. Future Outlook• 2017 market increase (hopefully)

• Everyone can go back to work!

• Publication of Produced Water Treatment Guidelines

• Increased produced water reuse• Reduced MIC• Reduced scaling

• Ease of tensions between municipal and Oil & Gas

05/02/202331

Midland, TX April, 2015Northeast, TX Area8 Years Ago

05/02/202332

Special Thanksto

Committee Members

Dr. Xingmao “Samuel” MaAssociate Professor Zachry Department of Civil EngineeringSpecialty: Environmental Engineering

Dr. Bill BatchelorR.P. Gregory ’32 Chair ProfessorZachry Department of Civil EngineeringSpecialty: Environmental Engineering

David BurnettHarold Vance Department of Petroleum EngineeringTEES Associate Research Scientist Director of Technology GPRI

05/02/202333

Special Thanksto

Technical Support

Petroleum Engineering Staff for helping with technical logistics

Jennifer Fichter for inviting me attend her microbial field trial and sharing data

GPRI Staff for helping run filtration equipment and transport raw produced water.

Mikah Bradford for networking and connecting me with Jennifer Fichter

Ecolyse microbiologists for help with metagenomic analysis of raw SWD water. Also without their help, the amazing results achieved from Jennifer’s field trial would not have been possible.

Thank you for supporting our research by providing SWD water at no cost for all treatment runs.

Questions?

05/02/202335

V. A. Findings Related to Objective One: Reduction of Dissolved Organic Carbon i. Trial 1 ii. Trial 2

c. Reduction of total dissolved organic carbon

• TOC levels increase during the failure test

• TOC levels decrease during both trial 1 and trial 2.

• Post MF treatment, produced water contains roughly 84-88% TOC

• Post NF treatment, produced water contains roughly 45-54% TOC

MF_Raw

_Fee

d

Pretre

ated

MF_Per

meate

NF_Per

meate

0.00%

20.00%

40.00%

60.00%

80.00%

100.00%

120.00%

140.00%

36.69%

98.75%

126.26%100.00%

86.94%84.16%

54.19%

104.43%

88.75%

45.84%

Failure Test Total Organic CarbonTrial 1 Total Organic CarbonTrial 2 Total Organic Carbon

% T

otal

Org

anic

Car

bon

05/02/202336

V. B. Findings Related to Objective One: Reduction of Dissolved Inorganic Carbon i. Trial 1 ii. Trial 2

c. Reduction of total dissolved inorganic carbon

• TIC appears to decline as treatment progresses for all three trials.

• Post MF treatment, produced water contains roughly 91-94% TIC

• Post NF treatment, produced water contains roughly 66-67% TIC

MF_Raw

_Fee

d

Pretre

ated

MF_Per

meate

NF_Per

meate

0.00%

20.00%

40.00%

60.00%

80.00%

100.00%

120.00%

100.00%

12.92%

68.41%

42.92%

102.37%91.97%

66.18%

92.67%

94.25%

67.56%

Failure Test Inorganic CarbonTrial 1 Inorganic CarbonTrial 2 Inorganic Carbon

% T

otal

Inor

gani

c C

arbo

n

05/02/202337

V. C. Findings Related to Objective One: Total Hardness Reduction i. Trial 1 ii. Trial 2

d. Reduction of total hardness• Calcium and magnesium appear to

decline linearly with respect to treatment stages.

• Produced waters exhibit reduced scaling potential post treatment with NF technology.

• Total hardness reduction acts as QC for treatment scheme

MF_Raw

_Fee

d

Pretre

ated

MF_Per

meate

NF_Per

meate

0

10000

20000

30000

40000

50000

60000

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

35000

29185.71

21648.92

29130.77

22278.24

2045.27 2057.76 2039.45 1503.36

4817.96 4134.39 4857.08 1570.99

Trial 1 Calcium-CaCO3Trial 2 Calcium-CaCO3Trial 1 Magnesium-CaCO3Trial 2 Magnesium-CaCO3Trial 1 Total Hardness-CaCO3Trial 2 Total Hardness-CaCO3

Har

dnes

s S

peci

es-C

aCO

3 (

mg/

l)

05/02/202338

V. D. Findings Related to Objective One: Microbial Nutrient Levels Post Filtration Treatment with MF and NF Systems

Nanofiltration   Failure Test Trial 1 Trial 2 Carbon: 100.00% 100.00% 100.00%

Nitrogen: 21.27% 146.36% 23.35%

Sulfur: 1.36% 60.56% 3.31%

Phosphorus: 1.61% 20.76% 3.48%

Sulfate: 4.07% 181.30% 9.92%

Iron: 0.02% 3.63% 0.02%

Manganese: 0.09% 1.04% 0.11%

Oxygen: 3.29% 10.80% 3.13%

Microfiltration  Failure Test Trial 1 Trial 2 Carbon: 100.00% 100.00% 100.00%

Nitrogen: NA 85.12% 16.25%

Sulfur: 17.12% 85.93% 4.40%

Phosphorus: 3.30% 14.54% 3.41%

Sulfate: 51.24% 257.28% 13.18%

Iron: 0.10% 12.83% 0.47%

Manganese: 0.45% 0.94% 0.11%

Oxygen: NA 6.99% 1.01%