Cost of recovering produced and flowback water

Recovering, treating and reusing produced and flowback water eliminates the strain that well fracturing-related demand creates on freshwater supplies, especially in areas where freshwater is scarce, water quality is inconsistent, or it is logistically complex to deliver water to a location. The primary challenge with recycling produced water is that it requires filtration, and the filtration costs can exceed the access and disposal costs associated with using freshwater.

New technology consisting of an environmentally friendly gelling agent and cross-linker enables fracturing with 100-percent produced or flowback water–either filtered or unfiltered–without sacrificing stimulation performance. The bipolymer, cross-linking system does not require filtering or treatment and is not affected by produced or inconsistent water quality typically associated with fracturing applications.

As a result, the technology can help oil and gas companies save significant costs by using produced or flowback water instead of freshwater in their well completion and stimulation fracturing operations, eliminating the costs associated with produced water disposal and treatment. Treated fluids imitate the conductivity and permeability of freshwater, which helps protect the target formation from damage.

https://www.aogr.com/web-exclusives/exclusive-story/technology-reclaims-produced-water