www.tetratech.com

Water Management for Shale Plays

West 2014

Treating Produced Water to Generate

Beneficial Reuse Byproducts

Stephen Hughes, P.E.

May 29, 2014

Denver, Colorado
Presentation Agenda

 Natural Gas and Flowback & Produced Water Generation 

the Marcellus & Utica Plays

 Non-Recycled Flowback/Produced Water Treatment and

Disposal Options and $/bbl Fees

 Summary and Conclusions

 Future Considerations
85% Natural Gas Production in Marcellus

& Utica Plays in Pennsylvania

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

T

C

F

p

er Ye

ar

Actual & Forecasted Unconventional Natural Gas Production in Pennsylvania

Sources: PADEP; Miscellaneous Research Reports; Estimated 1,600 Natural Gas Wells Drilled Annually 2014 - 2018
Flowback & Produced Water Generation

in Pennsylvania

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Millio

n

s

of B

arrels

p

er Ye

ar

Actual & Forecasted Produced and Flowback Water Generated in Pennsylvania

Produced

Flowback

Sources: PADEP; Miscellaneous Research Reports; Estimated 1,600 Natural Gas Wells Drilled Annually 2014 - 2018
Non-Recycled Flowback & Produced Water

in Pennsylvania

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Millio

n

s

of B

arrels

p

er Ye

ar

Produced and Flowback Water Not Recycled in Pennsylvania

Produced

Flowback

Sources: PADEP; Miscellaneous Research Reports; Estimated 1,600 Natural Gas Wells Drilled Annually 2014 - 2018
Total and Non-Recycled Flowback/Produced

Water in Pennsylvania - 2010 to 2018

2010 2018

Total

million

bbls

Non-Recycled

million bbls

Total

million

bbls

Non-Recycled

million bbls

Flowback

Water 5.0 0.7 8.1 0.5

Produced

Water 4.4 1.2 44.2 6.9

Total 9.4 1.9 52.3 7.4
Brine Disposal Wells in PA, WV and OH

Estimated

No. of

Wells

Typical

Injection Rate

(bbl/day)

Regulatory

Primacy

(UIC Program)

Pennsylvania 7 500 - 1,000 USEPA

West Virginia 70 500 - 1,500 WVDEP

Ohio 200 500 - 1,500 ODNR
Unconventional Gas Well and Injection Well

Map
Non-recycled Flowback/Produced Water -

Disposal and/or Treatment Options

1 - Brine Disposal Wells

 Utilize UIC Class IID injection wells in OH, WV and PA

2 - Thermal Treatment

 Generates a high quality distillate that can be used as frac

water or other industrial applications

 Also generates a brine concentrate that can be:

- disposed of in injection wells

- solidified and disposed of in landfills

- used to manufacture beneficial reuse byproducts
1 - Injection Well Disposal Option

Considerations

 Cost effective and safe option for brine disposal

$3 to 5/bbl (commercial well fee)

 PA only has 7 injection wells – long permit application

review (USEPA) and challenging geologic conditions

 Major interest in PA to convert depleted conventional gas

wells into injection wells

 Trucking costs from NE PA to OH injection wells

$12 to 14/bbl

 Seismic events in OH are a concern
2 - Thermal Treatment Processes

Thermal treatment systems can include following processes

 Pretreatment processes to remove suspended solids,

heavy metals, NORM and organics

 Mechanical evaporator that generates a brine concentrate

and high quality distillate

 Crystallizer that converts the brine concentrate to dry salt

cake for landfilling or beneficial product development

 Beneficial product manufacturing processes that

manufacture reusable products such as road salt and

industrial chemicals
2a - Thermal Treatment and Brine Injection or

Landfill
2a - Thermal Treatment and Brine Injection or

Landfill

 Injection well disposal of brine concentrate

 Landfill Disposal of solidified brine concentrate

- Dried salt grout generated from blending with Portland

cement, etc.

- Solidified brine must meet TCLP and paint filter test

landfill regulations

- Concerns about filling landfills with large quantities of

salt grout containing NORM could limit this option in

future
2b - Thermal Treatment and Salt Production
2b - Thermal Treatment and Salt Production

 Extensive pretreatment required to remove NORM to meet

road salt or industrial product standards

 Major storage requirements may be needed since road sal

only needed ~4 months/year

 Flooding the market with large quantities of salt could

depress the product’s regional market value and make it

difficult to set a consistent $/bbl fee charged to E&Ps

 Even though the salt could meet required standards, public

opinion may be against using it on roads or in water

softeners
2c - Thermal Treatment and

Industrial Chemicals Production
2c - Thermal Treatment and

Industrial Chemicals Production

 Chemical manufacturing processes added to thermal

treatment to generate industrial chemicals such as

hydrochloric acid, caustic soda and bleach

 Extensive brine pretreatment processes required to satisfy

chemical product specifications

 Rail access is required to delivery chemicals to market

 Since markets for chemicals are large and stable, predicab

$/bbl fee can be established

 Sale of high value chemicals allows cost-competitive $/bbl 
Non-recycled Flowback/Produced Water -

Thermal Treatment Options - Estimated $/bbl Fees

Thermal Treatment Options Est. Fee

charged to E&P

Brine Concentrate Disposal via Injection Well $8 - 12/bbl1

Brine Concentrate Solidification & Landfill $12 - 16/bbl

Beneficial Product – Salt $7 - 14/bbl2

Beneficial Product – Industrial Chemicals $6 - 12/bbl

Notes: 1 - Fees above don’t include transportation costs to deliver flowback/produced water to treatment facilities or brine

concentrate to injection wells. 2 - Fee for road salt option does not include storage costs during non-winter months.

It is estimated that there are currently 10 thermal treatment

facilities operating or being planned in PA with design

capacities ranging from 1,000 to 10,000 bbl/day
High Sierra Energy

Resource Recovery Project

 Produced Water Treatment Plant and Chemical

Manufacturing Facility planned for NE PA (Bradford Co.)

 Extensive pilot Testing, market studies, site selection,

preliminary design and business plan completed

 Equipment providers selected

 Negotiating chemical marketing arrangements (E&Ps

interested in direct purchase of HCL)

 PADEP supports project (Environmentally Sustainable)

 Patents pending on system arrangement and processes to

achieve required brine quality
Summary and Conclusions

 Estimated volumes of non-recycled flowback/produced wat

in PA could increase from

1.9 mmbbl (2010) to 7.4 mmbbl (2018)

 Minimizing transportation costs is a key component in:

- developing cost-competitive disposal and/or treatment

options

- reducing public concerns regarding heavy truck traffic

 The thermal treatment option that manufactures industrial

chemicals is potentially the most environmentally sustaina

and cost- competitive option
Future Considerations

 Approximately 8,000 natural gas wells have been drilled in

the Marcellus and Utica Plays in Pennsylvania to date

 With the Marcellus and Utica Plays over 90,000 sq. miles,

potentially 80,000 wells could be developed in the footprin

 As more wells go into production, non-recycled produced

water will become by far the predominant water manageme

challenge in the plays

 It is anticipated that brine disposal wells and/or thermal

treatment facilities located in or near producing well fields 

be needed to effectively respond to this challenge