Flowback And Produced Waters

Produced waterâ€"water from underground formations that is brought to the surface during oil and gas productionâ€"is the greatest volume byproduct associated with oil and gas production. It is managed by some combination of underground injection, treatment and subsequent use, treatment and discharge, or evaporation, subject to compliance with state and federal regulations. Management of these waters is challenging not only for industry and regulators, but also for landowners and the public because of differences in the quality and quantity of produced water, varying infrastructure needs, costs, and environmental considerations associated with produced water disposal, storage, and transport. Unconventional oil and gas development involves technologies that combine horizontal drilling with the practice of hydraulic fracturing. Hydraulic fracturing is a controlled, high-pressure injection of fluid and proppant into a well to generate fractures in the rock formation containing the oil or gas. After the hydraulic fracture procedure is completed, the injected fluid is allowed to flow back into the well, leaving the proppant in the newly created fractures. As a result, a portion of the injected water returns to the surface and this water is called "flowback water" which initially may mix with the naturally occurring produced water from the formation. The chemistry and volume of water returning to the surface from unconventional oil and gas operations thus changes during the lifetime of the well due to the amount of fluid used in the initial stage of well development, the amount of water naturally occurring in the geologic formation, the original water and rock chemistry, the type of hydrocarbon being produced, and the way in which production is conducted. The volume and composition of flowback and produced waters vary with geography, time, and site-specific factors. A workshop was conducted by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to highlight the challenges and opportunities associated in managing produced water from unconventional hydrocarbon development, and particularly in the area of potential beneficial uses for these waters. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop.

Hydraulic Fracturing Impacts and Technologies: A Multidisciplinary Perspective serves as an introduction to hydraulic fracturing and provides balanced coverage of its benefits and potential negative effects. Presenting a holistic assessment of hydraulic fracturing and its environmental impacts, this book chronicles the history and development of unconventional oil and gas production and describes the risks associated with the use of these technologies. More specifically, it addresses hydraulic fracturing’s use and dependence on large amounts of water as a fracturing medium. It examines the limits of reusing flowback and produced water, explores cost-effective ways to clean or effectively dispose of water used in fracturing, and provides suggestions for the efficient use, discovery, and recycle potential of non-potable water. Utilizing a team of experts from industry and academia, the text provides readers with a multiple lens approach—incorporating various perspectives and solutions surrounding this evolving technology. This book: Leads with an overview of hydraulic fracturing operations and technologies Considers a variety of legal issues associated with hydraulic fracturing Summarizes human health and environmental risks associated with hydraulic fracturing operations Discusses the analytes chosen by researchers as possible indicators of groundwater contamination from unconventional drilling processes Presents strategies for reducing the freshwater footprint of hydraulic fracturing Discusses water treatment technologies and solutions to recycle and reuse produced waters, and more Hydraulic Fracturing Impacts and Technologies: A Multidisciplinary Perspective brings together experts from disciplines that include petroleum, civil, and environmental engineering; environmental sciences chemistry toxicology; law; media; and communications; and provides readers with a multidisciplinary outlook and unbiased, scientifically credible solutions to issues surrounding hydraulic fracturing operations.

A state-of-the-art review of scientific knowledge on the environmental risk of ocean discharge of produced water and advances in mitigation technologies. In offshore oil and gas operations, produced water (the water produced with oil or gas from a well) accounts for the largest waste stream (in terms of volume discharged). Its discharge is continuous during oil and gas production and typically increases in volume over the lifetime of an offshore production platform. Produced water discharge as waste into the ocean has become an environmental concern because of its potential contaminant content. Environmental risk assessments of ocean discharge of produced water have yielded different results. For example, several laboratory and field studies have shown that significant acute toxic effects cannot be detected beyond the "point of discharge" due to rapid dilution in the receiving waters. However, there is some preliminary evidence of chronic sub-lethal impacts in biota associated with the discharge of produced water from oil and gas fields within the North Sea. As the composition and concentration of potential produced water contaminants may vary from one geologic formation to another, this conference also highlights the results of recent studies in Atlantic Canada.

This all-new revised edition of a modern classic is the most comprehensive and up-to-date coverage of the "green" process of desalination in industrial and municipal applications, covering all of the processes and equipment necessary to design, operate, and troubleshoot desalination systems. This is becoming increasingly more important for not only our world's industries, but our world's populations, as pure water becomes more and more scarce. "Blue is the new green." This is an all-new revised edition of a modern classic on one of the most important subjects in engineering: Water. Featuring a total revision of the initial volume, this is the most comprehensive and up-to-date coverage of the process of desalination in industrial and municipal applications, a technology that is becoming increasingly more important as more and more companies choose to "go green." This book covers all of the processes and equipment necessary to design, operate, and troubleshoot desalination systems, from the fundamental principles of desalination technology and membranes to the much more advanced engineering principles necessary for designing a desalination system. Earlier chapters cover the basic principles, the economics of desalination, basic terms and definitions, and essential equipment. The book then goes into the thermal processes involved in desalination, such as various methods of evaporation, distillation, recompression, and multistage flash. Following that is an exhaustive discussion of the membrane processes involved in desalination, such as reverse osmosis, forward osmosis, and electrodialysis. Finally, the book concludes with a chapter on the future of these technologies and their place in industry and how they can be of use to society. This book is a must-have for anyone working in water, for engineers, technicians, scientists working in research and development, and operators. It is also useful as a textbook for graduate classes studying industrial water applications.

Advances in Natural Gas: Formation, Processing, and Applications is a comprehensive eight-volume set of books that discusses in detail the theoretical basics and practical methods of various aspects of natural gas from exploration and extraction, to synthesizing, processing and purifying, producing valuable chemicals and energy. The volumes introduce transportation and storage challenges as well as hydrates formation, extraction, and prevention. Volume 1 titled Natural Gas Formation and Extraction introduces natural gas characteristics and thermo-physical properties. The book discusses various formation and synthesize techniques from non-renewable sources (coal, oil shale, etc.) and renewable sources (biomass, sewage, algae, etc.) of natural gas as well as its extraction techniques from different reservoirs. It also covers related environmental challenges of natural gas, economic assessment of its extraction and production technologies, health. Introduces natural gas characteristics and properties Describes different renewable/non-renewable sources for natural gas production and extraction Includes various methods and technologies for extracting and producing natural gas with related challenges

Natural gas is considered the dominant worldwide bridge between fossil fuels of today and future resources of tomorrow. Thanks to the recent shale boom in North America, natural gas is in a surplus and quickly becoming a major international commodity. Stay current with conventional and now unconventional gas standards and procedures with Natural Gas Processing: Technology and Engineering Design. Covering the entire natural gas process, Bahadori's must-have handbook provides everything you need to know about natural gas, including: Fundamental background on natural gas properties and single/multiphase flow factors How to pinpoint equipment selection criteria, such as US and international standards, codes, and critical design considerations A step-by-step simplification of the major gas processing procedures, like sweetening, dehydration, and sulfur recovery Detailed explanation on plant engineering and design steps for natural gas projects, helping managers and contractors understand how to schedule, plan, and manage a safe and efficient processing plant Covers both conventional and unconventional gas resources such as coal bed methane and shale gas Bridges natural gas processing with basic and advanced engineering design of natural gas projects including real world case studies Digs deeper with practical equipment sizing calculations for flare systems, safety relief valves, and control valves

Since the first edition of Fracking was published, hydraulic fracturing has continued to be hotly debated. Credited with bringing the US and other countries closer to "energy independence," and blamed for tainted drinking water and earthquakes, hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") continues to be one of the hottest topics and fiercely debated issues in the energy industry and in politics. Covering all of the latest advances in fracking since the first edition was published, this expanded and updated revision still contains all of the valuable original content for the engineer or layperson to understand the technology and its ramifications. Useful not only as a tool for the practicing engineer solve day-to-day problems that come with working in hydraulic fracturing, it is also a wealth of information covering the possible downsides of what many consider to be a very valuable practice. Many others consider it dangerous, and it is important to see both sides of the argument, from an apolitical, logical standpoint. While induced hydraulic fracturing utilizes many different engineering disciplines, this book explains these concepts in an easy to understand format. The primary use of this book shall be to increase the awareness of a new and emerging technology and what the various ramifications can be. The reader shall be exposed to many engineering concepts and terms. All of these ideas and practices shall be explained within the body. A science or engineering background is not required.