Evaluation of the freeze-thaw/evaporation process for the treatment of produced waters. Quarterly technical progress report, April 1--June 31, 1995

The cost of treating the water produced in association with oil and natural gas has prevented the completion of wells in economically marginal formations and has caused low-productivity wells to be prematurely shut-in. An economical method for treatment, disposal, and/or reuse of these waters on a commercial-scale would assist the oil and natural gas industries in continuing to provide reasonably priced fuels to the consumer by allowing for economic production from marginal, unconventional, and depleted reserves. A treatment process that could produce water of suitable quality for reuse would also be advantageous for municipal, industrial, and agricultural development in the arid western US where there is significant oil and natural gas production. The natural processes of freezing and evaporation can be coupled to effectively and inexpensively treat waters produced in association with natural gas. This document delineates research conducted, during the time period from 4/1/95 to 6/30/95, for evaluating the technical and economic feasibility of this water treatment process. The research required for development of this process can be completed in two tasks: Task 1--Literature Survey and Preliminary Economic Analysis; Task 2--Laboratory-Scale Process Evaluation and Field Demonstration of the Process. The main work this quarter focused on a re-evaluation of process economics based on lab-scale process simulation results