Remediation of Water Produced in Resource Extraction

Oil and gas extraction activities result in the production of large volumes of wastewater. These waters may be extremely saline (>100,000 ppm) and they may be contaminated with oil and other substances like pathogens such as sulphate reducing bacteria. Standard reverse osmosis purification is challenged in dealing with these waters, because the membranes cannot tolerate oil and because high salinities raise osmotic pressure beyond the normal operating conditions of the technology. The treatment and disposal or reuse of this water is thus challenging, and it requires a multi-staged process in which oil is separated and recovered prior to the removal of contaminants from the water. This project will investigate and develop technologies for the remediation and reuse of produced water. This will encompass both oil/water separation, removal of sulphate reducing bacteria (SRB) and desalination technologies in permissible ranges appropriate to actual produced waters. Water produced during oil production in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will be a particular focus, but worldwide conditions will also be considered. In addition, water from natural gas fracking operations will be examined for potential remediation technology development.