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Project No.: 0172.09.038.082 Page 1 of 2

Project Name: Shale Gas CBI?

Yes

No

TELEPHONE CALL RECORD

Incoming

Outgoing

Date: 10/26/11 Time: 11:00 am

pm

Company Name: Fountain Quail ERG Staff Name: Brent Ruminski

Contact Name: Jaime Roman Contact Phone Number: (817) - 491 - 8650

General Subject: Fountain Quail NOMAD Evaporator 

TOPICS DISCUSSED AND ACTION TAKEN

On October 26, 2011 at 11 AM I called Fountain Quail and spoke with an operator. I explained what I was 

looking for and she redirected me to Jaime Roman, a manager at Fountain Quail. The following is information 

Jaime was able to provide me.

Jaime first explained how shale gas wastewater is challenging to treat because the quantity and quality of 

flowback can change day to day. The original NOMAD evaporator unit design was mobile, for natural gas 

application, but the unit may also be permanent. The unit treats approximately 2,500 bpd and is capable of 

treating influent TDS up to 80,000 mg/L. The unit can handle higher influent TDS concentrations but water 

recovery decreases dramatically, which makes the unit less economically feasible. 

The NOMAD evaporator uses mechanical vapor compression technology. The unit requires a boiler, at start-up,

to initiate evaporation/boiling. After evaporation/boiling is initiated, the boiler is shut off and energy, supplied 

by a natural gas engine, runs a mechanical compressor to continue the operation (in more of a steady state 

operation). Jaime said that a recent study with Gas Technology Institute (GTI) concluded that the entire system 

consumes about 100 SCF of natural gas per barrel of treated wastewater. 

The NOMAD evaporation unit requires a clarification unit for pretreatment in order to remove TSS. Jaime 

explained that they tested other TSS removal technologies including dissolved air flotation, electro-coagulation, 

rotary vacuum drum, and membrane systems, but clarification is the most cost effective pretreatment option 

available. Therefore, Fountain Quail offers two mobile units to operators: the NOMAD evaporator and the 

ROVER clarifier. An onsite technician (from Fountain Quail) is required to run the two units due to the change 

in quality and quantity of flowback and produced water. Jaime commented that the technician would spend 

most of his/her time adjusting operating parameters of the ROVER (the mobile clarifier) since the NOMAD 

(evaporator) is a more automated unit.

The company has offered the NOMAD and ROVER to shale operators nationwide. Jaime specifically 

mentioned the Barnett and Marcellus shale gas plays. Customers can either rent the two units and are charged a 

monthly lease or they can sign a contract where they are charged per barrel of treated wastewater. Another 

option customers have is to buy the unit outright, in which case Fountain Quail would offer onsite technical 

support for a limited amount of time until the customer is comfortable operating the unit.

At the end of the conversation, Jaime sent me an email containing two case studies. In his email, Jaime also 

summarized the technical capabilities of the NOMAD evaporator and gave some background on the Fountain 

Quail company. The following list contains technical capabilities of the NOMAD evaporator outlined in the 

email:

• Barnett shale wastewater recovery (45,000 mg/L TDS) – 85 %
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• Marcellus shale wastewater recovery – 75%

• Fayetteville shale wastewater recovery – 95%

• The Eureka Resrouces Facility in Williamsport, PA treats flowback and produced water for re-use with 

two NOMAD Evaporators. The operation currently exceeds the new DEP discharge regulations (500 

mg/L TDS and 25 mg/L chlorides). Customers of this site include Range Resources, XTO, and 

Chesapeake. 

• Fountain Quail recently received the first and only NPDES permit in the state of Arkansas that allows 

surface discharge of treated water.

Jaime also informed me that GTI would be publishing a detailed case study/report on the NOMAD unit after 

they analyzed its performance onsite at a shale gas well. He gave me another contact from their office that 

would be willing to set up a site visit to the Williamsport site in Pennsylvania. The contact is Brent Holldorson 

at (817) - 491 - 8650, extension 223.