Project No.: 0172.09.038.082 Page 1 of 2 

Project Name: Shale Gas 

TELEPHONE CALL RECORD 

 Incoming 

 Outgoing 

Date: 9/26/11 Time: 5:00 am 

 pm 

CBI? 

 Yes 

 No 

Company Name: Drake Water Technologies ERG Staff Name: Brent Ruminski 

Contact Name: Ron Drake Contact Phone Number: 406-449-2440 

General Subject: Drake Water Technologies: IonFlo 

TOPICS DISCUSSED AND ACTION TAKEN 

I called Drake Water Technologies on 9/26/11 at 5 PM. I was redirected to Ron Drake, the inventor of IonFlo. 

Mr. Drake was available to discuss the IonFlo Technology in detail. 

General: We first discussed that the unit was recently upgraded to a design of 300 gpm, corresponding to 

10,000 bpd, (old system was 8,500 bpd design). The system is composed of 3 treatment modules. Each module 

is a single 3-chambered fiberglass overflow tank. The 3-module system is fed by a single low pressure pump. In 

addition, each module is equipped with a small chemical metering pump to feed regenerate solutions. 

Auxiliaries include 1 holding tank for acid regenerate, 1 holding tank for base regenerate if necessary, and a 

vent blower for the system enclosure. The unit is skid mounted with an internal heater for the winter and is fully 

mobile. 

Operation: The figure below shows the general flow diagram of the Ionflo. Regeneration of the resin occurs in 

a counter current fashion (the resin and regenerate acid flow in opposite directions). The ion exchange takes 

place co-current (both the resin and influent wastewater flow in the same direction). The resin is separated from 

the wastewater via settling and media filtration in the resin separator tank, then the resin is regenerated. 

Source: http://www.drakewater.com/ 

Pretreatment: Only TSS removal is necessary. Only grit and large (>250 micron) particulate removal are 

required. Silt, clay and colloidal size particles pass through the process without adverse effect. No other 

pretreatment requirements were discussed. 

Need to return call by / at/between and . Signature: ___________________________ 
Effectiveness: Can handle up to 10,000 mg/L influent TDS. However, typical design for IonFlo for CBM 

treatment in the Powder River Basin was for 4,000 to 5,000 mg/L influent TDS. Effluent TDS is on the order of 

500 mg/L. Theoretically, there is no limit to influent TDS removal. Influent TDS is only limited to 10,000 mg/L 

because of economics. This is due to the increased need for regenerate acid, which increases the costs 

dramatically. 

Waste Stream: With normal influent TDS concentrations (4,000 to 6,000 mg/L) the waste stream is about 1 to 

3 percent of influent flow. However, if influent TDS increases to 10,000 mg/L, the waste stream can be as high 

as 8 to 9 percent of influent flow. The final regenerate waste stream is 12 to 15% Na2SO4 by mass. 

Regenerate: Typically used sulfuric acid in the Powder River Basin. (For costs, see the O&M Costs) 

Energy Usage: Energy required for 10,000 bpd design is about 6 kW when running at full capacity. In the 

winter, they must run the heater to keep the wastewater lines from freezing, which consumes an additional 6 

kW. This would be approximately 144 kWh (6 kW x 24 hr) for 420,000 gallons of water in the summer and 288 

kWh (12 kW X 24 hr) for 420,000 gallons of water in the winter. Mr. Drake later said the power consumption 

is less than 15 kW. The temperature only has a minimal effect on the kinetics of the ion exchange reactions. 

Capital Costs: Drake Technologies offers the 300 gpm/10,000 bpd unit with capital costs that just under 

$400,000. Drake Technologies also licenses units to larger companies that rent the technology out, but 

additional costs were not reported because the margin for the larger company is unknown. 

O&M Costs: Resin: $250/ft3

 (about $8.8 per L). One tank setup (100 gpm) requires 200 L of resin, therefore 

the full size system holds 600 L of resin at one time. The full “inventory” of resin (the 600 L) must be replaced 

about once a year but Drake Technologies assume twice a year for any economic calculations for customers. 

Regenerate: In the Powder River Basin, the regenerate acid costs were on the range of $95-$130 per ton but 

prices are extremely volatile. Regenerate acid represents 70 to 80 percent of the total O&M costs. One can 

calculate the O&M costs by starting with the influent NaCl concentration and determine the final mg/L. Then 

you can write the equilibrium reaction of the NaCl, resin, and regenerate. Balancing the equation would lead 

you to the stoichiometric regenerate requirement. However, in practice this number is multiplied by 0.8 to due 

to inefficiencies. 

Disadvantages: Mr. Drake said that the Higgins Loop damages resin frequently for mechanical reasons. IonFlo 

handles the resin more carefully but some degradation of the resin still occurs due to osmotic stress from 

frequent loading and regeneration cycles. The resin can increase or decrease in size by about 8 percent given 

typical temperature changes. This leads to mechanical stresses that gradually degrade the resin. Therefore, resin 

must be replaced at least once per year. 

Powder River Basin CBM: In the Powder River Basin the high concentration of bicarbonate eliminates the 

need for anion exchange resins. The reason is explained by the equation below. After the sodium cations are 

removed, the hydrogen cations are free to react with bicarbonate anions. This reaction leads to the formation of 

carbon dioxide and water. 

Other notes:

Mr. Drake referred to a paper he wrote published by the Ultrapure journal. At the end of the call, Mr. Drake 

gave me his email for any further questions. He also offered to take a look at anything we draft for corrections. 

The two email addresses are: Zeus1@bresnan.net , Ron@Drakewater.net. 

Need to return call by / at/between and . Signature: ___________________________ 
From: Brent Ruminski 

To: Ron@Drakewater.net; Zeus1@bresnan.net 

Date: 9/28/2011 3:30 PM 

Subject: Drake Ion Exchange 

Ron, 

 

I want to thank you the time you took to discuss your ion exchange technology. Since then, I came up with a few topics that we 

may have covered but I was interested in some more brief explanation. I summarized a few quick notes below in a list. 

 

1. The reason the heater is required in the winter (just so water does not freeze or for performance) 

2. How effect the technology is at removing radioactive materials (e.g., radium) 

3. the source of power for the little energy that is required, because it is on a trailer are generators used, or 3 phase plug in, any 

alternative energy sources) 

4. I need clarification on why an anion resin is not needed. I understand it is because of the bicarbonate. What is the overall or 

global reaction that occurs that removes anions without the use of anion resins. And at what lower range concentration of 

bicarbonate would this not work. 

 

Thank you, 

 

Brent 

 

From: "Ron Drake" <zeus1@bresnan.net> 

To: "'Brent Ruminski'" <Brent.Ruminski@erg.com> 

CC: <vivian4@qwestoffice.net> 

Date: 9/28/2011 4:26 PM 

Subject: RE: Drake Ion Exchange 

Greetings Brent - Answers to your questions are interleaved in red font 

below. -- Ron 

Ron Drake, PE (MT & WY) 

Drake Water Technologies, Inc. 

7492 Commerce Ct., Suite B 

Helena, MT 59602-8790 

Office: 406-449-2440 

Cell: 406-431-6316 

From: Brent Ruminski [mailto:Brent.Ruminski@erg.com] 

Sent: Wednesday, September 28, 2011 1:31 PM 

To: Zeus1@bresnan.net; Ron@Drakewater.net 

Subject: Drake Ion Exchange 

Ron, 

 

I want to thank you the time you took to discuss your ion exchange 

technology. Since then, I came up with a few topics that we may have covered 

but I was interested in some more brief explanation. I summarized a few 

quick notes below in a list. 

 

1. The reason the heater is required in the winter (just so water does 

not freeze or for performance) - Water temperature has only a minor effect 

(slightly slower reaction kinetics) on system performance. The heater is 

needed to prevent freezing of lines and vessel water inventory during 

shut-down in sub-freezing weather. 

2. How effect the technology is at removing radioactive materials 

(e.g., radium) - Radium is the heaviest element in the alkaline earth series 
in the periodic table, and therefore is nearly quantitatively removed by 

commercially available strongly acid cation exchange resins in the IonFlo 

system. 

3. the source of power for the little energy that is required, because 

it is on a trailer are generators used, or 3 phase plug in, any alternative 

energy sources) - IonFlo systems have been successfully operated at remote 

sites using grid supplied power and also using small (240 VAC, 50 A) MG 

sets. Total power requirement is less than 15 kW for 10,000 bbl/d 

throughput, including space heating during the winter. The main service 

panel is wired for 240 VAC single phase power delivered through a 70 A main 

breaker. 

4. I need clarification on why an anion resin is not needed. I 

understand it is because of the bicarbonate. What is the overall or global 

reaction that occurs that removes anions without the use of anion resins. 

And at what lower range concentration of bicarbonate would this not work. - 

CBM produced water in the PRB is predominantly (>95 mol%) sodium 

bicarbonate. Cation exchange resin, in the acid form, exchanges hydrogen 

ions for sodium ions, lowers the water pH, and decomposes the bicarbonate 

ions, first to carbonic acid, and then to water and carbon dioxide according 

to the following chemical equation: 

 

Sodium is removed and bicarbonate is decomposed as long as there is 

bicarbonate ion in the water. When the bicarbonate is exhausted, additional 

cation exchange will depress the pH of the water, which would then need to 

be neutralized with base or, preferably, undergo anion exchange to remove 

non-bicarbonate anions and restore the pH to neutral. 

 

 

Thank you, 

 

Brent