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Produced Water Treatment and Valorization: A Techno-Economical Review

Author

Listed:
  • Ramon Sanchez-Rosario

    (Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The University of Texas at El Paso, 500 W. University Ave, El Paso, TX 79968, USA)

  • Zacariah L. Hildenbrand

    (Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The University of Texas at El Paso, 500 W. University Ave, El Paso, TX 79968, USA)

Abstract

In recent years, environmental concerns have urged companies in the energy sector to modify their industrial activities to facilitate greater environmental stewardship. For example, the practice of unconventional oil and gas extraction has drawn the ire of regulators and various environmental groups due to its reliance on millions of barrels of fresh water—which is generally drawn from natural sources and public water supplies—for hydraulic fracturing well stimulation. Additionally, this process generates two substantial waste streams, which are collectively characterized as flowback and produced water. Whereas flowback water is comprised of various chemical additives that are used during hydraulic fracturing; produced water is a complex mixture of microbiota, inorganic and organic constituents derived from the petroliferous strata. This review will discuss the obstacles of managing and treating flowback and produced waters, concentrating on the hardest constituents to remove by current technologies and their effect on the environment if left untreated. Additionally, this work will address the opportunities associated with repurposing produced water for various applications as an alternative to subsurface injection, which has a number of environmental concerns. This review also uses lithium to evaluate the feasibility of extracting valuable metals from produced water using commercially available technologies.

Suggested Citation

  • Ramon Sanchez-Rosario & Zacariah L. Hildenbrand, 2022. "Produced Water Treatment and Valorization: A Techno-Economical Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-18, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:15:y:2022:i:13:p:4619-:d:846562
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dong, Xiao & Trembly, Jason & Bayless, David, 2017. "Techno-economic analysis of hydraulic fracking flowback and produced water treatment in supercritical water reactor," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 777-783.
    2. Ebenezer T. Igunnu & George Z. Chen, 2014. "Produced water treatment technologies," International Journal of Low-Carbon Technologies, Oxford University Press, vol. 9(3), pages 157-177.
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    Cited by:

    1. Ewa Knapik & Grzegorz Rotko & Marta Marszałek, 2023. "Recovery of Lithium from Oilfield Brines—Current Achievements and Future Perspectives: A Mini Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-28, September.

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