The De Nora blog: Water Made Easy

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Mobile Treatment Units for disinfection of produced water in the Oil & Gas industry

Mobile Treatment Units (MTU's) are the safest and most effective oil field water treatment solution on the market today. A MTU is a self-contained system for the on-site generation of sodiium hypochlorite, an effective oxidizer that can be used to disinfect water used in hydraulic fracturing operations and do the heavy lifting in recycling produced water. MTU's are build in  standard C-containers, which are air-conditioned for a safer and more comfortable working environment, and the system comes with all of the equipment needed to generate and inject sodium hypochlorite as well as the testing equipment needed to monitor water treatment operations.

Over the past decade, the industrial offshore and marine market space has shown an ever-increasing interest in more advanced, alternative treatment technologies to replace traditional biological wastewater treatment schemes. Yet, due to misinformation in the market and unwarranted finger-pointing, many industry decision-makers have yet to pull the trigger.

In 2009, the city of San Benito, TX completed the construction of a new six-million-gallon-per-day (MGD) microfiltration plant, which replaced a plant that had been in operation since 1928. The new facility is considered one of the most modern and innovative water treatment plants in the region and has been recognized for its use of microfiltration and solar power. Its chlorination system, while more traditional than these technologies, was selected for its cost-efficiency, reliability and flexibility.

On offshore Oil & Gas production and extraction facilities, the sewage treatment system often manages an enormous amount of raw wastewater, i.e., …human sewage. The untreatable or separated wastes from these systems are commonly referred to as “screened or filtered raw biomass”, or, “wet waste sludge.”

There are various options available for removing arsenic from groundwater; these processes range from ion exchange and activated alumina to reverse osmosis, coagulation and filtration. Each of these technologies have their own pros and cons, but in cases where arsenic treatment is the main treatment objective, adsorption is the ideal technology from a cost and ease of operation standpoint. 

With longer laterals being drilled and stages being added, well completion by hydraulic fracturing (frac) now requires an ever-increasing amount of water for every well that is drilled and completed. Ensuring that the water used in frac is free of bacteria is a critical part of the overall treatment and conditioning of water before it is sent downhole. This is especially true as more operators are using recycled flowback and produced water for completion activities.

Arsenic occurs naturally and is found in rocks and soil before being released into water supplies through erosion. Certain industrial practices, such as the production of paints and dyes, metals, soaps, drugs and wood preservatives, have the potential for releasing arsenic into the environment as a byproduct of the process.