OriginOil is hitting the road this month to showcase its electro water separation (EWS) technology for potential licensees. The company wants to contribute to the growing trend of recycling frac flowback and produced water, and will be demonstrating its system during the “Thousand Barrel Roadshow” event in May and June.
The one-piece CLEAN-FRAC system uses electro water separation technology and includes three different processes: electrocoagulation, electro-oxidation and elctroflotation. The electrocoagulation phase uses reactor tubes and pulses of DC current to break down the emulsion of oil and water, forming larger droplets of oil that are easier to remove from water.
In the electro-oxidation phase, oxidizing agents are produced and kill bacteria and break down the molecular chain of other soluble organic materials. Electroflotation then brings the oil and other particles to the surface for removal.
Commercial-scale processing
The smaller CLEAN-FRAC system has done well in testing, and Bill Charneski, general manager of OriginOil’s Petro Division, says he is confident the larger commercial systems will work just as well. “We’ve tested water from all over the U.S., process and flowback water, and have been very successful at removing over 99 percent of oil, over 99 percent of the suspended solids and 99 percent of the bacteria that’s in the water.”
A small footprint creates a low operating cost and improved compliance with regulations governing frac water recycling. “There are regulatory pressures and there are a lot of environmental pressures for operators to recycle water,” Charneski. “And there’s a lot of money to be saved by recycling the water versus buying the water and disposing of the water, so there’s a real economic benefit.”
The larger P1000 system can treat 1,000 barrels per day of contaminated water. An even larger system is in the works. The goal of the demonstrations is to prove that the technology can process water on a commercial scale.
“If we can do 1,000 barrels, we can easily do 5,000 a day,” Charneski says. “And so we want to be able to demonstrate the fact that it’s commercially viable, that it will scale up to that level.
“We want to be able to show testing, and say here’s what the water contaminate was prior to our process and here’s what it is after our process. And show that in fact it performs and does everything we say in terms of removing oil and solids and bacteria. And we want to show our investors that it works.”
On the road again
The first stop for the Thousand Barrel Roadshow is May 27 near Grand Junction, Colo., right before the Water Management for Shale Plays West 2014 conference in Denver. Industrial Systems, a current licensee of the CLEAN-FRAC system, will demonstrate the system using flowback water from a local disposal well.
The Roadshow will make a few more stops at locations in Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana, and will do a final demonstration in late June with licensee Pearl Blue in California.
Charneski is confident the results will speak for themselves. “By the time we’ve showed what this process can do, we will show that it works and that it is the best system,” he says. “And the acceptance of it will grow.”
For more information and to schedule a custom demonstration, visit www.originoil.com.
