1. Fresh Water in Dry Regions: Desalination Answers
David Burnett, GPRI Department of Petroleum Engineering, Texas A&M University
Dr. C. Allan Jones, Director
Dr. Bill Harris,
Dr. Bill Fox,
Texas Water Resources Institute, Texas A&M University
Dr. Gene Theodori
Program in Rural Sociology & Community Services
Texas A&M University

2. A&M Water Resources: The State of Texas Program
Rural Community Outreach
“Drought proofing” projects
Critical Habitat/ Rangeland – Grassland Protection
Remediation, restoration of rangelands & wetlands
Small Farm/ Ranching Operations
High value use. Small volumes
Dispersed water sites
Oil and Gas Production Operations
Oil Field Brine Desalination

3. State of Texas Partners
Texas Water Development Board*
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
Texas Railroad Commission *

4. The A&M Program: What We Do
Saline Water Injection into Oil and Gas Zones
Desalination
Brine disposal represents a significant fraction of the cost of operating a desalination facility.
In the oil and gas industry, high salinity brines are routinely injected into formations for pressure maintenance and secondary recovery by water flooding.
Gas
Oil
Surface
Water
Oil
Gas
Water
Disposal
Well
Water
For more Info see:

5. Lack of Fresh Water Resources

6. Brine Desalination Process Centrifuge/ hydrocyclones
TECHNICAL ISSUES
Brine Desalination Process
m filters
Chemical
addition
Recycle
Brine Water
Concentrate
RO System
Pump
Permeate
Organoclay
polish
Centrifuge/ hydrocyclones
RO Post Treatment

7. Filtration and Reverse Osmosis: Definitions
TECHNICAL ISSUES
Filtration and Reverse Osmosis: Definitions
Micro Filtration (MF) (10-0.1mm)
Bacteria, suspended particles
Ultrafiltration (UF) ( mm)
Colloids, macromolecules
Nanofiltration (NF) (5e-3-5.e-4 mm)
Sugars, dyes, divalent salts
Reverse Osmosis (RO) (1.e-4-1e-5 mm)
Monovalent salts, ionic metals
Water

8. Short Courses & Workshops March 21-24, 2005 College Station, TX
Original 15th Annual Practical Membrane & Separations Technology Short Course: Fundamentals, New Developments, Applications and Pilot Plant Demonstrations
Organized by Separation Sciences Program Food Protein Research & Development Center Texas Engineering Experiment Station The Texas A&M University System College Station, TX
March 21-24, College Station, TX

9. Facilities: Separation Sciences Laboratory

10. Facilities: Waste Water Treatment Program

11. Facilities: Produced Water Treatment Program

12. Koch Portable RO Unit

13. Texas A&M Portable Desalination Rig

14. Texas A&M Mobile Test Truck
For more Info see:

15. Texas A&M Desalination: The “A” Team
Texas A&M University System
Texas A&M Engineering (TEES)
A&M Ag Engineering
Texas Water Resource Institute (TWRI)
A&M Intl Agriculture Program
Global Petroleum Research Institute (GPRI)
State and Federal Partners
Texas Railroad Commission (TRRC)
Texas Water Development Board
Texas Department of Agriculture
U.S. Department of Energy
U.S. Environmental Protection Council
U. S. Department of the Interior (BLM)

16. Texas A&M Partners: How We Function
Identifying the problems, setting goals
Example: Roadmap of technology needs for cost effective oil field brine use
Creating and managing the programs
Example: TWDB Evaluation of Oil & Gas Industry Technology
Working to solve community needs
Example: Department of Rural Sociology Partnership with Howard Co. (Tx) Community College

17. Premise:
Fresh water resources from desalination of wastewater including oil field brine.
Advantages
Demand for fresh water is increasing its value.
Proximity of the water resource to the place of use.
Disposal of waste brine into depleted oil & gas zones.
Disadvantages
Additional cost of demineralization of water.
The (probable) salinity of the produced brine.
Environmental compliance issues.

18. GPRI Field Operations at Burlington Resources
Burlington Resources performs water fracs in the Barnett Shale using water from the Trinity River.
Demonstration units are to be used to treat the frac water for re-use.
For more info see:
barnettlinks.html

19. Task 2: Development in the Barnett Shale
Fresh Water from the Trinity River used for Fracturing Treatments
Devon Energy ~ 20 to 30/month
Burlington Resources ~ 20 /month
Other Operators ~ 30/month
Each Treatment is ~ 25,000 Bbls
Recovery Water Handling ~ 80,000,000 gal/m. .
Data from Burlington Resources

20. Texas A&M Portable Desalination Rig

21. Texas A&M Portable Desalination Rig

22. Texas A&M Portable Desalination Rig

23. Oil Field Brine Conversion: Historic McFaddin Ranch & O’Connor Oil Field
Test Site

24. Fresh Water from Oil Field Brine for Livestock Watering
Test Site
Test Site

25. Texas A&M Programs in San Angelo Area
Evaluating Beneficial Use of Treated Produced Water
in Arid and Semi-arid West Texas
Pilot Testing Water Treatment Technologies in Semi-Arid Regions: Addressing Non-Point Source Pollution through Water Treatment an Ecological Restoration
Low Power Water Purification Units for Remote Communities

26. Thank You to Our Supporting Agencies
Texas A&M University Desalination Project
Acknowledging
GPRI Sponsoring Companies BP
Burlington Recourses
Key Energy
Tarlton Mfg.
Total
Contractors
Polymer Ventures
Costner Industries Texas
Agencies
Texas Water Resources Institute Stripper Well Consortium
Ground Water Protection Council Texas Water Development
Texas Railroad Commission U. S. Department of Energy
Photographs Courtesy CMGC Foundation