New System Treats Natural Gas "Frac" Water
Industrial WaterWorld
March/April 2010
A New Mexico company has begun operating a new water purification
system that can remove salts and other contaminants from "frac"
water used in gas well drilling, allowing the water to be used
repeatedly and then discharged to a local river or stream.
The new "frac" technology being used to access gas reserves in the
Marcellus shale in Pennsylvania requires up to two million gallons of
water per well to be injected into the ground at tremendous pressure.
When that water flows back to the surface, it returns with high amounts
of total dissolved solids, or naturally occurring salts that dissolve
in frac water, and must be disposed of in an environmentally safe
manner. To date, this dirty salty water has been trucked off-site to
commercial and municipal sewer treatment plants.
The new water treatment unit, built by Altela Inc. of Albuquerque,
started purifying water recently at a well head operated by BLX Inc., a
natural gas producer in western Pennsylvania. The mobile
AltelaRain® system is 45 feet long and 8 feet wide – similar in
size to a semi-tractor trailer. It is continuously converting the
brackish frac water into water that is less than 50 mg/liter in salt
concentration.
"Altela's new technology has created a unique opportunity for PA's
shale-gas industry to beneficially re-use and expand water supplies.
The natural gas industry can now become a key element of environmental
sustainability and stewardship here in the northeastern Unites States,"
said Stanerdell, President of BLX.
Altela has patented its new desalination process. The innovation that
allows the process to be so economical is centered around its
non-pressurized technology, for which it can use inexpensive plastics,
rather than corrodible metal, to purify brackish waters.
Its recent success in the Marcellus builds upon the company's prior
installations in the western United States and Canada, including
receiving the first-ever water discharge regulatory permit
to place treated oil-field water directly into Canada,
including receiving the first-ev- er water discharge regulatory permit
to place treated oil-field water directly into er water
discharge regulatory permit to place treated oil-field water directly
into place treated oil-field water directly into the most pristine
reach of the Colorado River.