# Removing Boron and Benzene from Produced Water

Bob Goltz, Produced Water Treatment Specialist Dow Energy & Water 

## May 2014

# Agenda

• Dow’s comprehensive solutions across the oil and gas value chain

• Focus today on water treatment issues

–

• Boron removal for recycle and reuse of Produced Water

• Benzene one of BTEX class of water 

## soluble oil

• How do we remove them

• What does it cost

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# Solutions Across the Oil and Gas Value Chain

Solutions for:

• Drilling

• Cementing

• Stimulation • Phase separation

• Asset integrity

• Flow assurance • Gas injection

• Chemical flooding

• Thermal recovery applications • Offshore flow
assurance

• Gas recompression

• Gas dehydration

• Gas compressor engines

• Gas pipeline line heaters • Onshore and offshore gas processing

• LNG

• Gasification

• Acid gas enrichment/sulfur plants

• Ammonia synthesis • Acid gas removal

• LPG treating

• Isomerization and reformer regeneration

• Heat transfer

Our brands:

• EMBARKTM

• CELLOSIZETM

• ANTISOLTM

• POLYOXTM • DEMTROLTM

• ROMAXTM

• ACCENTTM

• AQUCARTM ELEVATETM

ROMAXTM DOW FILMTECTM DOW IntegraPac TM • NEPTUNETM

• HYPERLASTTM

• NORKOOLTM

• DESITHERMTM • UCARSOLTM

• SELEXOLTM

• NORKOOL DESITHERMTM

• DOWTHERMTM

• SYLTHERM †

• SulFerox ®

• UCARSORBTM • AMINE MANAGEMENT SM Program

• UCARSOLTM

• SELEXOLTM

• UCARSEPTM

• ISOFORMTM

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# Products That Truly Perform for the End

- user

DOWTM EDI Module FILMTECTM

RO Modules
DOWEXTM / AMBER TM 

## IER 

## DOWTM Ultrafiltration Module ADSORBSIATM Media

# Water Problems for Produced Water Recycle

5 

## The Problem

Treatment Option Boron selective ion exchange resin

• Selective removal of Boron only

• Removal to <1 ppm

• Concentrated waste for disposal

• Automated systems offered Water Soluble Oils

- BTEX

– semi soluble & semi volatile so evaporates from water into the air Benzene Carcinogen

– Regulatory If recovered can be sold to defray treatment cost

OPTIPORETM regenerable adsorbent “Engineered activated carbon”

• Removal to ppb levels

• Steam regenerated to recover BTEX

• Hydrocarbons sold to defray cost of treatment Boron is the cross linker used to “fix or set” the proppant into position.

“Snot Balls”

- Cross linked Guar

- cause problems. Need to remove boron to recycle produced water

# Boron Selective Ion Exchange Resin

BSR is regenerated with acid, producing a concentrated boron waste for disposal
Depending on boron concentration in feed water, waste can be 1

- 3% of feed water
Cost of treatment can be <$0.10 per barrel

# Special Testing of AMBERLITETM IRA 743 for Boron Removal from Produced Water

Feed water

• 55.9 ppm B 

## Treated water

• 0.065 ppm B

• 99.9% removal

Location Feed B (ppm) Treated B (ppm)

CO 20.6 0.9

JK 21.3 0.9

MM 15.2 1.4

GW 33.4 0.4

OK 63.7 0.1
Eagle Ford 55.9 0.06

# Ongoing Monitoring of Media Life

High Sierra Anticline Disposal Facility Boulder, WY Dow Boron Selective Resin has been in service for 3 years

Resin Properties New Resin

Sales Spec Vessel A Vessel B Vessel C

WRC, % 51

- 59 58.0 57.8 57.9 TEC, meq/mL 0.70 0.81 0.90 0.76

SSC, meq/mL -- 0.00 0.00 0.00

WBC, meq/mL -- 0.81 0.90 0.76

TEC as rec'd, meq/mL -- 0.83 0.82 0.79
Organics, g C/ft 3 -- 45 138 76



# Looks like brand new after 3 years!

# Regenerable Adsorbent DOWEXTM OPTIPORETM L493
Good/fast adsorption capacity Suited for steam regeneration Simple process (adsorption) 

## No waste Recovery of salable product (BTEX, phenols, etc) 

## Less expensive $0.02

– 0.10 /brl

# Schematic of OPTIPORE treatment0

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500 mg/l

Liters 

## Toluene

Effluent
Influent 

# Toluene data



# 99.9% Removal at 600 BV

# Neptune Water Treatment Facility

Treated Water for surface discharge >90% Raw Water Multi Media Filter

DOWEXTM OPTIPORETM L493

Acid/air strip CO2 Soften w/ DOWEXTM MAC

- 3

FILMTECTM SW30HRLE

- 370/34i

Waste Water for deep well disposal <10% 

### Commissioning in June 2014 This first job.... 25,000 bpd or 1 MM gpd

GE building system for Encana Site will be 2% of US gas production

Beneficial reuse of the water.

Ground Breaking Nov. 2013 Salable Oil

# Beneficial Reuse of Produced Water

Remove the

• Particulate

• Free and dispersed oil

• Dissolved organics

• Hardness/scale formers

• Boron removal

• RO if needed TEQUATICTM Fine Particle Filter

NASA Earth Observatory/NOAA NGDC 2012

# Recovery of NGLs from Flared Gas

# Thank 

# You

®TM Trademark of The Dow Chemical Company (“Dow”) or an affiliated company of Dow SM Service mark of The Dow Chemical Company † Dow is a distributor of SYLTHERM, a registered trademark of Dow Corning Corporation

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# Bob Goltz Dow Water & Process Solutions 989

- 636

- 2023 HRGoltz@Dow.com