ASSESSMENT OF COILCHEM’S WATER TREATMENT TECHNOLOGY

D. Steven Tipton, PE

ALL Consulting, LLC

August 26, 2015

CoilChem, LLC is conducting a pilot test of their water treating technology for Brigham Resources, 

LLC at their Salty Brigham 10 1SW location in Pecos County, Texas. David Essman, a corporate 

sales representative for CoilChem invited me to see the test. Gavin James, a civil engineer for 

ALL Consulting and I visited the site on August 19, 2015. At the time, CoilChem was normally 

processing approximately 20,000 barrels of produced water per day to be used by Brigham for 

their hydraulic fracturing operations. For our visit the treatment 

rate had been reduced to approximately 10,000 BWPD so we 

could view the inside of their weir tank while it was operating. 

As can be seen in Figure 1, water samples that were collected at 

our request, show the water has been cleaned from dirty black 

to clear. According to Danny Wesley, CoilChem’s president, the 

processed water meets Brigham’s requirements for use in their 

slick water hydraulic fracturing; however, when asked, CoilChem 

could not provide us the water treatment specifications that 

Brigham is requiring them to meet.

In Brigham’s field produced water is either pumped 

through a pipeline gathering system or trucked to a 

100,000 barrel settling pit where it gravity flows into a 

pretreatment pit. The pit shows evidence of 

considerable oil and iron sulfide floating on the surface 

(see Figure 2). Based on conversations with Danny 

Wesley, Brigham skims the pit from time to time to 

collect the oil. Water then moves into the second or 

pretreatment pit. Based on CoilChem’s extremely 

small amount of oil recovery from the produced water 

the majority of oil is caught in the settling and 

pretreatment pits. Most of the large suspended solids are probably being caught in the same 

pits.

The water is pumped from the pretreatment pit to CoilChem’s processing equipment where it is 

cleaned using an accelerated oxidation process. The flow rate of the water is measured via a 

turbine meter, a pH probe senses the pH of the water while metering pumps inject either acid or 

caustic soda to bring the pH of the water to 8 or above. Once this occurs a small volume of 

hydrogen peroxide is introduced into the water and the oxidation reduction potential (ORP) is 

measured. Adjustments to the chemicals are made until the redox potential reaches a value of 

at least a positive ORP with the pH at or above 8. At a pH above 8 the hydrogen peroxide begins 

Fig. 1 Comparison of produce water 

before and after treatment

Figure 2, Settling pit
to convert the soluble Fe2+

to its insoluble form (Fe3+) thus allowing the iron to be more readily 

removed by coagulation and precipitation in the weir tank.

The peroxide treatment also aids in destroying bacteria and removing dissolved solids such as 

organic pollutants, BOD, COD and reducing toxicity levels. This oxidative process additionally 

disrupts the water by releasing an oxygen molecule during the iron conversion process and 

producing a varying amount of hydroxyl free radicals. This not only destroys and converts many 

of the dissolved solids but it causes a reduction in the density of the water thereby helping the 

small droplets of oil that are contained within the water to separate away from the main body of 

the water. 

The water is passed through a square tubing bundle (reactor) making 

directional changes within the bundle to further aid in the oil and solid 

particles disassociation from the water and eliminating the need for 

retention tanks commonly used in conventional water treatment. 

The square tubing is used for the reactor and pressure conduit 

because the square shape generates a 

cavitation effect helping to destroy bacteria 

and further disassociate the solids from the 

water. The reactor is designed to operate at 

50 psig to keep the hydrogen peroxide in solution thereby reducing the 

dosage requirements and enabling the oxidizer longer contact time with 

elements within the water As the water is pumped through the reactor 

at full rate, the peroxide get distributed throughout the fluid. The

operating pressure prevents hydrogen sulfide (H2S) from vaporizing out 

of the water thereby enabling the oxidizer to contact and destroy the H2S before it can reach a 

gaseous state.

Once the reaction phase is completed, the water flows into the weir 

tank where the converted iron generates a pin flock that allows the 

solids to agglomerate and separate. This tank provides directional 

changes within the weirs that allow the solids to gravitationally 

separate. The solids sink to the bottom of the weir tank and are 

purged every hour. Thirty to forty yards of solids are being removed 

from the produced water per week. 

After the fluid passes through the weirs the 

fluid moves through a coalescing media that is made in such a way that

the droplets of the oil that have been pushed out of phase by the 

hydrogen peroxide can coalesce or group together and float to the top 

where they can be skimmed as clean usable oil. During the time of our 

visit to the site the coalescing media was not being used since the oil 

was being separated from the produced water in the settling and 

pretreatment pits.

Fig. 2 Square tube bundle

Reaction Zone

Figure 3, Flow diagram of the 

reaction zone.

Fig. 4 Weir tank

Fig. 5 Removed Solids
After the water has been cleaned, a biocide is added when it is pumped from the weir tank to 

the storage pit. CoilChem is using their BC 1000 biocide at a dosage rate of 100 ppm. This acts 

as a preservative to prevent bacteria growth until the water is used.

When we arrived on location we were met by Danny Wesley the president of CoilChem. I asked 

him to walk us through the treatment process from where the produced water enters Brigham’s 

recycle pits, flow though the pits, processing by CoilChem and storage in the primary recycle pit.

In my opinion, CoilChem’s water treatment technology is sound for removal of suspended solids, 

iron, small amounts of oil, iron sulfide, hydrogen sulfide and bacteria from produced water. The 

processed water should be compatible with most pressure pumping company’s slick fracturing 

chemistry. As can be seen in Figure 1 the treated water is very clear and Figure 7 shows the iron 

has been reduced from 2.86 mg/l to .01 mg/l and the total suspended solids have been reduced 

from 1312 mg/l to .34 mg/l. No other support has been provided to show removal of other 

contaminants or bacteria.

CoilChem representatives told me that their water treatment process can be combined with 

other technologies to make the processed water compatible with any type of frac chemistry. For 

instance, their process can be combined with Dow’s boron removal technology (Amberlite IRA 

743 ion exchange media) to process produced water for use where operators are doing borate 

cross linked gel completions and the produced water contains boron above 50 ppm. I have seen 

the Amberlite remove boron from produced water to levels less than 1 ppm; however, I have 

seen other vendors use the product and not be successful in having their fluid work with the frac 

vendors. I have also seen water processed and the Amberlite used where the frac chemistry 

worked just fine. If CoilChem is going to market the more complex water treatment processes 

then they will have to show positive results from pilot tests and frac vendors chemistry.

The following appendices provide more detailed information about CoilChem’s treatment 

process and pictures of the test site we visited. 

Acknowledgement: I would not have been able to write this assessment without the generous 

help of Jerry Noles and David Essman with CoilChem, LLC.

Fig. 6 Water treatment flow diagram
Fig. 7 Basic water chemistry before and after treatment
Appendix 1

CoilChem Technology Write-Up

Jerry Noles, CEO

CoilChem, LLC

CoilChem process for treating Oilfield waters: injection, frac recycle, produced waters, flowback 

or pit waters - The water treatment process introduced by CoilChem is very simple, consisting of 

5 process steps:

1. Oxidation – CoilChem selected Hydrogen Peroxide as the oxidant to accomplish the key 

changes in the water quality to ensure consistently successful treatment for suspended 

solids and oil removal (to < 1NTUs and less than detectable Oil & Grease).

2. Reaction Time – a few minutes of “organized” turbulence inside a specially design 

Reactor.

3. Coalescence – A simply constructed chamber with widely available plastic media 

separates clean oil from, the water, leaving the solids behind.

4. Separation – Ultra-clean water is produced by pumping the water through a separation 

tank where specially designed weirs allow suspended solids to gravitationally separate. 

Directional changes and decreased velocity aid in particle separation. This process is 

accelerated by the particle destabilization that occurs by the shift in pH and the oxidizer 

introduction in the reactor phase. 

5. Passive Solids Dewatering – removed every hour from the system by purging from a 

bottom manifold incorporated within the separation tank. The solids are allowed to settle 

and the water is drawn off of a specially design dewatering roll-off – ready for disposal.

The following provides some brief explanations of the core steps in the CoilChem water 

treatment process – why it works, why it works so well, why it meets cost reduction objectives 

for our clients in this difficult environment.

Oxidation

The CoilChem process for treating oilfield and other waters begins with the addition of hydrogen 

peroxide. The hydrogen peroxide accomplishes several important tasks, as shown in the table 

below:
Oxidizing Iron

Converting Iron divalent to trivalent cations – The first step in removing suspended solids is to 

neutralize the surface, electrical charges which prevent them from combining to form larger 

particles. Most particles, encountered in water systems, have mixed charge sites on the surface 

but are net negatively charged – preventing the particles from joining and becoming larger. The 

charge neutralization process is called Coagulation. “Chemical Coagulants” are positively 

charged chemicals added to effect the neutralization of the predominantly negative charges on 

suspended particles. Such products include ferric chloride, ferrous sulfate or even aluminum 

sulfate or polyaluminum chloride. Electrocoagulation (EC) adds iron by corroding steel anodes 

(or aluminum for Al3+).

Almost all Produced Waters contain iron, by adding hydrogen peroxide, the iron already in the 

water is oxidized to a trivalent cation. Rather than buying iron coagulants (chemicals or EC) and 

then having to pay to dispose of that same iron – the CoilChem process uses the iron already 

present.

The reaction with divalent iron is as follows:

Fe2+ + H2O2→ Fe3+ + HO• + OHAdditional and significant benefit to the full treatment is provided by the formation of the 

hydroxyl radical.

Oxidizes Hydrogen Sulfide

Many wells are contaminated with hydrogen sulfide which poses a health risk to personnel 

working at the site. Because the CoilChem process adds hydrogen peroxide and controls the feed 

of the peroxide to maintain a given Oxidation Reduction Potential (ORP), any sulfide 

contaminants, (H2S, FeS, etc.) in the water are removed. CoilChem process eliminates sulfides in 

oilfield waters.

Hydrogen sulfide removal is very fast with hydrogen peroxide. Chlorine dioxide is much more 

expensive than hydrogen peroxide and more readily consumed when sulfides are present:
Oxidant Lbs. Oxidant per pound of 

H2S

Chlorine Dioxide 1.5 to 3.4 Lbs. ClO2/Lb. H2S

Hydrogen 

Peroxide 1.0 Lbs. H2O2/Lb. H2S

Hydrogen peroxide is typically shipped as a 30% or 50% solution and fed neat. Chlorine dioxide 

typically requires onsite generation using either two or three reagents – all presenting handling 

concerns. At roughly half of the price of most chlorine dioxide costs – hydrogen peroxide is an 

excellent choice and a powerful oxidizer.

Breaks Residual Polymers

The standard means of breaking the organic polymers used in Fracing and Completions is by 

oxidation – with bleach or other oxidant (inorganic or organic peroxides). The polymers coming 

back with water to be treated will materially impair the performance of most, current, water 

treatment process technologies. Using hydrogen peroxide oxidation as the first step in the 

CoilChem process means that the process can take 100% Flowback or other waters heavily 

contaminated with polymers like guar or p-acrylamides. By controlling the dosage rate of the 

peroxide to maintain a specified ORP, the process automatically ensures the polymers have been 

sufficiently degraded.

CoilChem process can easily manage waters with high concentrations of oilfield polymers.

Kills Bacteria

Hydrogen peroxide is an excellent bactericide. Even waters with significant levels of biological 

activity are made effectively sterile by the peroxide addition.

CoilChem process reduces or eliminates feed of biocides

Destabilizes Dissolved Organics

The standard means of removing dissolved organics is by oxidation followed by particulate 

filtration. Flotation cells are commonly used in refinery wastewater treatment. Water going to 

the flotation cell is typically treated with chemical oxidant followed by a coagulant or flocculants. 

The dissolved organics when destabilized form a particulate which is readily removed by 

gravitational separation, flotation or filtration.

Some particularly, environmentally problematic species, like phenols, are safely destroyed by 

oxidation reducing any associated long-term liability for their discharge.

CoilChem Reaction Zone – the “Coil” in CoilChem

The “Coil” in CoilChem is a specially designed, patented, serpentine tube bundle for mixing of 

chemicals evenly throughout the fluid body, the bundle is designed to prevent the oxidizer from 

boiling out of the water while maximizing mixing and turbulence of the passing water. Ensuring 

effective mixing and contact of the various reagents in the water with their respective targets, 
reactions are driven to completion quickly. The “Coils” were designed, and remain quite popular, 

as hydration units to maximize polymer efficiencies in fracing and completion applications. Full 

polymer hydration is achieved in only a few minutes versus hours in stagnant or lightly mixed 

make-down tanks.

In the CoilChem Reaction Zone, the oxidation and coagulation reactions are completed and 

process of flocculation has begun. Tiny floc particles are visible in the weir system just 

downstream of the Reaction Zone.

Depending on the application, the pipe coil Reactor, is made of mild carbon steel, PVC or other 

material.

Coalescence

Downstream of the Reaction Zone, the water enters the Coalescer where, by passing the forward 

flow through high surface area, plastic media, droplets of oil are brought together and separated 

from the water. From Wikipedia:

Coalescence (physics), the merging of two or more droplets, bubbles or particles into one

The Separation velocity (Vs) of oil droplets from water is described by the following equation 

(Stoke’s Law)

Reaction Zone – demonstrated performance 

in rapid & full polymer hydration ensure 

efficient oxidation reactions go to 

completion.

Patented performance...
We learn from that equation that the delta in density between the fluid and the droplet is not 

nearly as important as the particle size in determining separation velocity. Vs increases with the 

square of the particle size – the coalescer causes the oil particles to combine forming larger 

particles – dramatically increasing the rate of separation.

The picture above is the media in the CoilChem coalescer – not the many channels through which 

the fluids must pass – the constant directional changes encourage collosions of droplets.

Solids

Solids are drawn off of the separation (weir) tank and collected in phase separating roll-offs as 

pictured below. This material primarily composed of Iron and Suspended solids is purged from 

the bottom of the separation tank once every 30 min to one hour. The solids accumulate and 

are vacuumed out and disposed of in land fill applications by the customer. The volume of the 

solids is typically between 30 to 40 yards per week.
Appendix 2

Photo Log of the CoilChem/Brigham Pilot Test Site

Pecos County Texas

August 19, 2015

Water flowing into Brigham’s settling pit from their gathering system.
Brigham’s settling pit. Note the material which has dropped out of the water.

Truck unloading station at Brigham’s settling pit.
Brigham’s pretreatment pit.

CoilChem water treatment equipment.
CoilChem chemical mixing equipment (center)

CoilChem weir tank (center)
CoilChem dewatering box for collecting solid waste.

Suspended solids removed from produced water.
Square tube bundle – “Reaction Zone” where chemicals are mixed into the water.

Chemical totes connected to “Reaction Zone” tube bundle.

Reaction Zone
Chemical tote containing Caustic Soda connected to the “Reaction Zone”

Chemical tote containing Hydrogen Peroxide connected to the “Reaction Zone”
Top of weir tank with covers removed showing weirs working.

Top of weir tank with covers removed showing coalescing media on the right. 

Note there is no oil in the water to be recovered.

Coalescing Media
Final Product – clean water from dirty produced water.