Mississippi Lime Production & 

Produced Water Congress 2013

 Re-Using Produced Water 

John Dees PE 

Consultant for Reeder Energy in 

Reservoir/Production Engineering 

Oklahoma City, OK 6/26/2013 
Re-Using Produced Water

Exploring the Viability of Monetizing 

 

Produced Water by Re-Using It in 

 

Hydraulic Fracturing 
Re-Using Produced Water

Accessing the cost of recycling produced 

water for frac jobs as a viable alternative 

to paying for disposal 
Fracturing with Fresh Water

• Consider the cost of water for hydraulic 

fracturing 

– Basic cost of the supply water 

– Cost of transportation to the well site 

– Cost of treatment to make the water 

compatible using biocide treatment 

• and/or use other chemicals 

– Cost of disposal after recovery, post frac 

 (Please note spelling is without the k) 
Cost of Fresh Water for Fracturing 

• Surface run-off water 

– lowest cost 

• Treated municipal water cost more 

– but requires less clean-up 

– filtered and chlorinated 

• Transportation to the well site 

– can be more costly if further away 

• Simple biocide treatment 

– may still be required (example in KS) 

• FR for fresh water 

– very effective at 0.25 gpt 

• Polymer gels and complexed fluid 

– easily prepared with minimum pH control and crosslinker 
Fracturing with Produced Water

• Consider the cost of recycled water for hydraulic fracturing 

– Basic cost of the supply water 

! becomes zero 

– Cost of transportation 

! to the well site may be reduced 

– Cost of treatment to make the water compatible 

! biocide treatment and/or other chemicals 

! FR chemicals change, Biocide can change, Polymers, Xlinkers 

– Cost of water storage after recovery post frac 

 (again without the k) 

– Cost / risk of spilled salt water 
Cost of Produced Water for Fracturing 

• Determine the current cost of produced water 

disposal 

– Cost of trucking 

• from producer to disposal well 

– Cost of spills if any 

– Cost of injection into the disposal well 

– Cost of the disposal well and its operation 

– Cost of any disposal well conditioning 

• treatment pre and post injection 
Cost of Produced Water for Fracturing 

• Produced water is lower cost than surface run-off 

water 

– no purchase cost 

– Oklahoma produces 22 BW per 1 BO 

• Produced water treatment cost are more than 

municipal water 

– due produced requiring more clean-up 

• Transportation to the well site 

– if further away can be more costly 
Cost of Produced Water for Fracturing 

• Two stage biocide treatment can be required 

– Flash kill and long term control with two different 

chemicals 

– Ie, Quaternary Amines and Glutaraldehyde 

• FR for produced water is less effective 

– usually requires more than the 0.25 gpt of fresh water 

– Ie, Anionic (fresh) & Cationic (salty) polyacrylamide 
Cost of Produced Water for Fracturing 

• Polymer gels & complexed fluid 

– are less easily prepared 

– with more pH control and crosslinker 

– sometimes required to adjust crosslink time 

• Scaling tendency increases 

– scale inhibitors must be considered 

– Polyphosphates are used to sequester iron, calcium, and 

magnesium 
Re-Using Produced Water

Evaluating whether the costs saved 

 

by not having to source fresh water 

 

for the frac outweigh the cost of disposal 
Evaluate the True Water Cost 

• Consider any positive issues 

• Consider any negative issues 

– Formation Damage? 

– Well Productivity? 

– Increased Scaling? 

– Rock Compatibility? 
Positive issues? 

• How about selling iodine? 

• How does it work? 
Iodine Recovery from Brine 

• A process at pH 7-9 fluid oxidixed with chlorine 

– iodine capture with extraction and air blasting 

– or anionic resin exchange 

• Currently domestic production is 1.5 million kilograms 

– Mostly with 3 plants in NW Oklahoma 

• Current value is ~$6.00 per pound 

– and the largest amount (45%)goes into cattle feed 

• At 1200 ppm in some OK brine the process works 

• Seawater is 60 ppb, 

– Appears not worth it even at 100 ppm 
Reduced disposal costs making 

money off iodine recovery 

• Process of iodine recovery is very idealistic 

• Economics for the process in 2012 

– showed a lack of revenue for the cost of recovery for 

Haynesville Shale produced saturated brine 

• Economics for iodine recovery were evaluated 

for the Mississippian in 2012 

– with similar non-economic results 
How about less than positive issues? 

• How about formation damage? 

• Well productivity loss? 

• Scaling increases? 
Formation Damage? 

Will the water cause plugging of the 

formation face? 

Does it cause a quick precipitate to form? 

Will it scale on the production cycle? 
Well Productivity? 

Will it reduce flow capacity into the well bore? 

Can it plug natural fractures? 

Can it reduce proppant conductivity? 
Scaling Tendency? 

• Will it increase scale on production? 

– Seen in the Haynesville Shale 

– Seen in in Kansas/Mississippian water 

– Expected increase in Oklahoma scale 

• Formation water is already saturated 

• Water properties are ripe for more scale 
Re-Using Produced Water

My Goal: Investigating the impact of 

re-using produced water on the reservoir 

rock to prevent negative impact on 

production rates 

 
Solutions to: How to reduce the 

negative impact on production? 

• Biocide, biocide and more biocide 

– Wells were lost to sulfate reducing bacteria 

– Use a good amount of the good stuff 

• With a safety margin 

• Scale Control 

– Well operating expense goes up with scale 

• Wells OPEX goes up with remedial acid cleanups 

• “More Better” to scale control up front 

– (According to Garth Brooks on shirts) 
What can be done to reduce 

formation damage? 

• Filtration 

– Socks 

– Bag 

– Settling ponds 

– Flocculants 

• Chemicals substance added to the suspended particles in 

water to enhance particle settling and separation 

• Biocides 

• Scale Inhibitors 

• Supplement of fresh water by dilution of the 

solution 
Re-Using Produced Water

Exploring how to treat produced 

water to allow for use in fracs with 

minimum damage to the reservoir 

 
How to treat produced water?

• See the previous slides 

• Biocide 

• Scale Control 

• pH control 

• FR for the exact fluid 

– Hardness 

– Salinity, TDS 
Re-Using Produced Water

Comparing experiences between 

 

fresh water and recycled water fracs to 

 or refute re-using produced water as 

an economical technique 
How about some experience? 

• Recycled water in the Haynesville Gas 

Shale went to 15% 

• Recycled water in the Tuscaloosa Marine 

Shale exceeds 25% 

• Just believe with me on this, 

– the Mississippian is no different 

• Good decisions depend on your economics 

• Expect to use all possibilities 
Our Topic was Re-Using 

Produced Water

Exploring the Viability of Monetizing 

 

Produced Water by Re-Using It in 

 

Hydraulic Fracturing 
Thank you for listening 

• And, now its time for your questions