(294d) Modeling and Techno-Economic Optimization of Desaliantion Technologies for Produced Water Treatment

Owing to advancements in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, unconventional oil and gas industry has seen a great boom in North America. However, this unprecedented growth of the shale gas production is accompanied with serious environmental challenges regarding the large volume of hypersaline produced water management. Several technologies capable of treating high salinity produced water with high recovery ratio are currently being investigated. This talk will present an optimization-based techno-economic comparison of several different technologies for treatment of shale gas produced water. The technologies and optimization models are developed assuming that the produced water with 10% salinity is concentrated to a final brine with 30% salinity for a 0.5 million gallons per day (MGD) plant. Sensitivity analysis is performed to analyze the effect of input parameters on the system performance and economics. Tradeoffs between various desalination technologies for treatment of shale gas produced water will be discussed.