A Comprehensive Review on the Characteristics, Challenges and Reuse Opportunities Associated with Produced Water in Fracturing Operations

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mustafa Ahmed Alkhowaildi ◽  
Mohamed Mahmoud ◽  
Mohammed Abdullah Bataweel ◽  
Bassam Tawabini
Keyword(s):  
Hydraulic Fracturing ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Base Fluid ◽  
Produced Water ◽  
Waste Product ◽  
Field Trials ◽  
Critical Parameters ◽  
Hydration Time ◽  
Fracturing Fluids

Abstract Amid the rise in energy demand over recent years, natural gas from tight reservoirs has been targeted abundantly around the globe by different oil operators. Hydraulic fracturing technology has been instrumental in the successful exploitation of energy from tight formations. The process is associated with enormous usage of water. Hydraulic fracturing requires as little as 500,000 gallons of freshwater, and up to 6 million gallons per well depending on the type of well and the number of stages treated. Now operators, as well as service companies worldwide, have shown a desire to use produced water in field operations to enhance economics and reduce their environmental footprint. Reusing produced water in field operations appears to be a win-win proposition by transforming the industry's biggest waste product into a resource. This paper highlights the recent findings in published articles about formulating a fracturing fluid from produced water as a base fluid. The rheological properties and fluid performance requirements, such as proppant carrying capacity, mixing, fluid efficiency, ability to crosslink and break, and cleanup after treatment, will be evaluated in detail. This paper identified the critical parameters associated with high TDS fluids (produced water) such as pH, hydration time, ionic strength, and suspended solids, collected the corresponding optimal ranges for these parameters in laboratory tests, and reported some of the validity of the findings under actual conditions in field trials around the world. Most studies demonstrated the feasibility of using untreated produced water as a base fluid for crosslinked gel-based hydraulic fracturing. Through adjusting the hydration time, the gel loading, and the amount of breakers applied, it is conceivable that crosslinked gels with optimal rheological characteristics can be formulated with untreated produced water. Multiple generations of guar- and CMHPG-based crosslinked fracturing fluids, developed with 100% untreated produced water, exhibited optimal viscosities exceeding 200 cp at 40 s−1 for at least 60 minutes. The ability to provide fracturing fluids with high-salinity produced water can be a successful water conservation approach and an attractive solution for enhancing operation economics. Some studies indicated that using produced water can be better than freshwater because the produced water is more compatible with the reservoir and may be less likely to cause conditions such as salinity shock, which can damage the formation. More studies are needed to understand the associated technical challenges further.

Silica Gel Fracturing Fluids an Alternative to Guar Systems that Allows the use of West Texas Produced Water

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carl Harman ◽  
Michael McDonald ◽  
Paul Short ◽  
William Ott
Keyword(s):  
Hydraulic Fracturing ◽  
Silica Gel ◽  
Fumed Silica ◽  
Produced Water ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Field Trials ◽  
Permian Basin ◽  
West Texas ◽  
Fracturing Fluids ◽  
The Cost

Abstract The use of freshwater, near freshwater, or treated water in hydraulic fracturing represents an ever-increasing cost in the Permian Basin. Environmental concerns add to the pressure to develop methods to use significantly higher volumes of produced water in hydraulic fracture fluids. To solve the challenge of viscosifying untreated, high total dissolved solids water a move was made away from organic-based viscosifiers to silica-based technology. Fumed silica is highly effective as a viscosifier for high-density brines that has demonstrated excellent low-end rheology, exceptional suspending ability, and a nominal filter cake. However, the high cost of fumed silica and operational challenges have precluded commercial adoption. This paper describes thatsimilar rheology is achievable at a fraction of the cost using a silica gel. The focus of the paper is on the field trials in West Texas where untreated produced water was viscosified with silica gel and run as alternatives to a standard 20 lb/Mgal crosslinked guar fluid made with fresh water. Low cost and operational efficiencies were obtained bypreparingthe silica gel on-location using standard and readily available hydraulic fracturing equipment. Procedures for making the silica gel-based frac fluid were similar to those of making a crosslinked guar fluid. Field trials have demonstrated that silica-gel carries high loadings of 20/40 mesh sand even at low pump rates. Production data from the trials has varied from exceeding expectations to being similar to existing production results.On a chemical cost basis, silica gel is comparable to a borate-cross-linked guar frac fluid. The economics tip very much in favor of silica gel when factoring in the savings using untreated produced water.

Pilot-Scale Evaluation of Natural-Gas-Based Foam at High Pressures, Temperatures

2021 ◽  
Vol 73 (06) ◽  
pp. 60-61
Author(s):  
Chris Carpenter
Keyword(s):  
Natural Gas ◽  
Base Fluid ◽  
Produced Water ◽  
Tap Water ◽  
Pilot Scale ◽  
Test Facility ◽  
Foaming Agent ◽  
Scale Evaluation ◽  
Fracturing Fluids ◽  
Water Based

This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights of paper SPE 201611, “A Pilot-Scale Evaluation of Natural-Gas-Based Foam at Elevated Pressure and Temperature Conditions,” by Griffin Beck, Swanand Bhagwat, and Carolyn Day, Southwest Research Institute, et al., prepared for the 2020 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, originally scheduled to be held in Denver, 5–7 October. The paper has not been peer reviewed. The complete paper presents recent results from a rigorous pilot-scale demonstration of natural-gas (NG) foam over a range of operating scenarios relevant to surface and bottomhole conditions with a variety of base-fluid mixtures. The NG foams explored in these investigations exhibited typical shear-thinning behavior observed in rheological studies of nitrogen- (N2) and carbon-dioxide- (CO2) based foams. The measured viscosity and observed stability indicate that NG foams are well-suited for fracturing applications. Test Facilities Two test facilities were used to explore properties of NG foams at a variety of relevant operating conditions to determine whether NG foam is a suitable alternative to typical water-based fracturing fluids. Pilot-Scale Foam-Test Facility. The pilot-scale foam-test facility (PFTF) is a single-pass pilot plant used to generate and characterize foams at conditions relevant to surface and reservoir conditions. The facility is capable of generating aqueous and oil-based foams using a variety of gases for the internal phase [e.g., methane (CH4), N2, and CO2]. Foams can be characterized at pressures up to 7,500 psi and temperatures up to 300°F. A key benefit of the PFTF is that it can be used to demonstrate new or challenging foaming processes before large-scale or field demonstrations. Further, these processes can be evaluated at conditions relevant to the final application. The test facility consists of three subsystems: a base-fluid system to pressurize and heat the liquid/viscosifier/surfactant mixture, a gas system to pressurize and heat the liquefied gas stream, and the foam test sections to measure various fluid properties of the NG foam. Laboratory Foam-Test Facility. Tests performed on the PFTF were limited to foams generated with pure CH4 and tap water. Additional laboratory tests were conducted to investigate the effects of multiconstituent natural gas mixtures and produced water on foam stability. For these tests, the aqueous base fluid for the foam half-life and foam rheology experiments was prepared from either de-ionized water, tap water, or a synthetic produced water based on a water sample from the Permian Basin. Foam fracturing fluids also typically contain a gelling agent and a foaming agent. The gel was prepared by slow addition of guar to a stirred water sample followed by 30 minutes of mixing to ensure complete hydration. The foaming agent was added and stirred in gently. Three foaming agents were used in this study: anionic Foamer A, nonionic Foamer B, and zwitterionic Foamer C.

In vitro cytotoxicity assessment of a hydraulic fracturing fluid

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Madeleine E. Payne ◽  
Heather F. Chapman ◽  
Janet Cumming ◽  
Frederic D. L. Leusch
Keyword(s):  
Coal Seam ◽  
Hydraulic Fracturing ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Produced Water ◽  
Coal Seam Gas ◽  
Fracturing Fluid ◽  
Human Health Risks ◽  
Fracturing Fluids ◽  
Hydraulic Fracturing Fluid

Environmental context Hydraulic fracturing fluids, used in large volumes by the coal seam gas mining industry, are potentially present in the environment either in underground formations or in mine wastewater (produced water). Previous studies of the human health and environmental effects of this practice have been limited because they use only desktop methods and have not considered combined mixture toxicity. We use a novel in vitro method for toxicity assessment, and describe the toxicity of a hydraulic fracturing fluid on a human gastrointestinal cell line. Abstract Hydraulic fracturing fluids are chemical mixtures used to enhance oil and gas extraction. There are concerns that fracturing fluids are hazardous and that their release into the environment – by direct injection to coal and shale formations or as residue in produced water – may have effects on ecosystems, water quality and public health. This study aimed to characterise the acute cytotoxicity of a hydraulic fracturing fluid using a human gastrointestinal cell line and, using this data, contribute to the understanding of potential human health risks posed by coal seam gas (CSG) extraction in Queensland, Australia. Previous published research on the health effects of hydraulic fracturing fluids has been limited to desktop studies of individual chemicals. As such, this study is one of the first attempts to characterise the toxicity of a hydraulic fracturing mixture using laboratory methods. The fracturing fluid was determined to be cytotoxic, with half maximal inhibitory concentrations (IC50) values across mixture variations ranging between 25 and 51mM. When used by industry, these fracturing fluids would be at concentrations of over 200mM before injection into the coal seam. A 5-fold dilution would be sufficient to reduce the toxicity of the fluids to below the detection limit of the assay. It is unlikely that human exposure would occur at these high (‘before use’) concentrations and likely that the fluids would be diluted during use. Thus, it can be inferred that the level of acute risk to human health associated with the use of these fracturing fluids is low. However, a thorough exposure assessment and additional chronic and targeted toxicity assessments are required to conclusively determine human health risks.

scholarly journals Supramolecular dynamic binary complexes with pH and salt-responsive properties for use in unconventional reservoirs

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (12) ◽  
pp. e0260786
Author(s):  
Bhargavi Bhat ◽  
Shuhao Liu ◽  
Yu-Ting Lin ◽  
Martin L. Sentmanat ◽  
Joseph Kwon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hydraulic Fracturing ◽  
Self Assembly ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Unconventional Reservoirs ◽  
Binary Complex ◽  
Fracturing Fluid ◽  
Zero Shear Viscosity ◽  
Fracturing Fluids ◽  
Binary Complexes ◽  
Alkaline Conditions

Hydraulic fracturing of unconventional reservoirs has seen a boom in the last century, as a means to fulfill the growing energy demand in the world. The fracturing fluid used in the process plays a substantial role in determining the results. Hence, several research and development efforts have been geared towards developing more sustainable, efficient, and improved fracturing fluids. Herein, we present a dynamic binary complex (DBC) solution, with potential to be useful in the hydraulic fracturing domain. It has a supramolecular structure formed by the self-assembly of low molecular weight viscosifiers (LMWVs) oleic acid and diethylenetriamine into an elongated entangled network under alkaline conditions. With less than 2 wt% constituents dispersed in aqueous solution, a viscous gel that exhibits high viscosities even under shear was formed. Key features include responsiveness to pH and salinity, and a zero-shear viscosity that could be tuned by a factor of ~280 by changing the pH. Furthermore, its viscous properties were more pronounced in the presence of salt. Sand settling tests revealed its potential to hold up sand particles for extended periods of time. In conclusion, this DBC solution system has potential to be utilized as a smart salt-responsive, pH-switchable hydraulic fracturing fluid.

Microbial Community Changes in Hydraulic Fracturing Fluids and Produced Water from Shale Gas Extraction

2013 ◽  
Vol 47 (22) ◽  
pp. 13141-13150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arvind Murali Mohan ◽  
Angela Hartsock ◽  
Kyle J. Bibby ◽  
Richard W. Hammack ◽  
Radisav D. Vidic ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Microbial Community ◽  
Hydraulic Fracturing ◽  
Shale Gas ◽  
Produced Water ◽  
Gas Extraction ◽  
Fracturing Fluids ◽  
Community Changes

scholarly journals In situ transformation of hydraulic fracturing surfactants from well injection to produced water

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (10) ◽  
pp. 1777-1786 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brandon C. McAdams ◽  
Kimberly E. Carter ◽  
Jens Blotevogel ◽  
Thomas Borch ◽  
J. Alexandra Hakala
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Hydraulic Fracturing ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Produced Water ◽  
Unconventional Reservoirs ◽  
Oil And Gas Development ◽  
Hydrocarbon Recovery ◽  
Fracturing Fluids ◽  
Unconventional Oil And Gas

Chemical changes to hydraulic fracturing fluids within fractured unconventional reservoirs may affect hydrocarbon recovery and, in turn, the environmental impact of unconventional oil and gas development.

scholarly journals Supramolecular Viscosity Modifiers With Salt-responsive and Ph-switchable Characteristics for Hydraulic Fracturing Applications

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuhao Liu ◽  
Yu-Ting Lin ◽  
Martin L. Sentmanat ◽  
Joseph Kwon ◽  
Mustafa Akbulut ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hydraulic Fracturing ◽  
Self Assembly ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Low Molecular Weight ◽  
Binary Complex ◽  
Solution System ◽  
Fracturing Fluid ◽  
Zero Shear Viscosity ◽  
Fracturing Fluids ◽  
Alkaline Conditions

Abstract Hydraulic fracturing has seen a boom in the last century, as a means to fulfill the growing energy demand in the world. The fracturing fluid used in the process plays a substantial role in determining the results. Hence, several research and development efforts have been geared towards developing more sustainable, efficient, and improved fracturing fluids. Herein, we present a dynamic binary complex (DBC) solution, with potential to be useful in the hydraulic fracturing domain. It has a supramolecular structure formed by the self-assembly of low molecular weight viscosifiers (LMWVs) oleic acid and diethylenetriamine into an elongated entangled network under alkaline conditions. With less than 2 wt% constituents dispersed in aqueous solution, a viscous gel that exhibits high viscosities even under shear was formed. Key features include sensitivity to pH and salinity, and a zero-shear viscosity that could be tuned by a factor of ~280 by changing the pH. Furthermore, its viscous properties were pronounced in the presence of salt. Sand settling tests revealed its potential to hold up sand particles for extended periods of time. In conclusion, this DBC solution system has potential to be utilized as a smart salt-responsive, pH-switchable hydraulic fracturing fluid that can be prepared using seawater.

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