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Using excess natural gas for reverse osmosis-based flowback water treatment in US shale fields

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  • Kar, Aritra
  • Bahadur, Vaibhav

Abstract

This work addresses three significant issues associated with hydraulic fracturing in US shale fields: flaring/venting of excess natural gas, disposal of flowback water and freshwater procurement. Flaring/venting of excess gas is a significant contributor to global emissions. This work presents a novel utilization concept, wherein excess gas is used onsite to power reverse osmosis (RO)-based treatment of flowback water to supply freshwater for oilfield operations. This study details technical and techno-economic analyses of the above concept. An analytical model is extended and improved to quantify RO-based freshwater production for flowback water of different salinities. The technical performance of RO systems is analyzed and compared with two competing gas utilization technologies (thermal desalination, atmospheric water harvesting). The use of these technologies in the top eight US shale fields is analyzed, and a techno-economic analysis of RO-based water treatment is conducted. Results indicate that this concept will significantly benefit the Eagle Ford and Niobrara shales. It can meet 200% of water requirements and reduce wastewater disposal by 60% in the Eagle Ford. Furthermore, such RO-based projects can have favorable payback periods of as low as one year. Importantly, this waste-to-value concept has worldwide relevance since the underlying issues are present globally.

Suggested Citation

  • Kar, Aritra & Bahadur, Vaibhav, 2020. "Using excess natural gas for reverse osmosis-based flowback water treatment in US shale fields," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 196(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:196:y:2020:i:c:s0360544220302528
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2020.117145
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Chaitanya, Bathina & Bahadur, Vaibhav & Thakur, Ajay D. & Raj, Rishi, 2018. "Biomass-gasification-based atmospheric water harvesting in India," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 165(PB), pages 610-621.
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    Cited by:

    1. Ning Lin & Mariam Arzumanyan & Edna Rodriguez Calzado & Jean-Philippe Nicot, 2025. "Water Requirements for Hydrogen Production: Assessing Future Demand and Impacts on Texas Water Resources," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(2), pages 1-25, January.
    2. Huang, Feifei & Pu, Chunsheng & Gu, Xiaoyu & Ye, Zhengqin & Khan, Nasir & An, Jie & Wu, Feipeng & Liu, Jing, 2021. "Study of a low-damage efficient-imbibition fracturing fluid without flowback used for low-pressure tight reservoirs," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 222(C).
    3. Wan, Xuesong & Zhang, Weiwei & Deng, Ke & Luo, Maokang, 2024. "Shale gas completion fracturing technology based on FAE controlled burning explosion," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 296(C).
    4. Kim, Sungil & Kim, Tea-Woo & Hong, Yongjun & Kim, Juhyun & Jeong, Hoonyoung, 2024. "Enhancing pressure gradient prediction in multi-phase flow through diverse well geometries of North American shale gas fields using deep learning," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 290(C).
    5. Ewa Knapik & Katarzyna Chruszcz-Lipska & Łukasz Łukańko & Sławomir Wysocki, 2021. "Reuse of Flowback Water from Hydraulic Fracturing for Drilling Mud Preparation and Secondary Hydrocarbon Recovery," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-22, September.

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