Shale Gas Fracturing was the Hot Topic May 27, 2010

There is potentially enough shale gas in Pennsylvania to change the energy outlook for the U.S. However, lots of water is necessary to fracture the shale and allow the gas to be captured.

A major cost of the gas that is extracted will be in treating the water which flows back from the well. The Hot Topic yesterday focused on the treatment needs and issues. Joe Umholtz and Lynn Haas of MWH provided details on the permit needs and tightening regulatory scrutiny. Pennsylvania will be implementing a rule limiting total dissolved solids to 500 mg/liter. There will also be regulations on metals.

Chuck Kozora of Aquatech displayed examples of a new mobile treatment train which would process 50 gpm.  The resultant distilled water would have a variety of uses. The solids would all be concentrated for easy landfill disposal.

The Bios, Abstracts and Photos can be viewed as follows:

BIOS, PHOTOS, ABSTRACTS - MAY 27, 2010

The individual slides can be viewed in the Universal Decision Tree as follows: