Ecosphere Water Recycling Program Approved by Texas RR Comm.
Ecosphere Technologies, Inc., announced on Aug. 8 that the Texas Railroad Commission approved its water recycling program with Devon Energy.
(More information on this approval can be found at http://www.rrc.state.tx.us/news-releases/2008/072908.html.)
"We are excited to begin this water recycling pilot program with Devon Energy and look forward to helping conserve vital water resources to produce clean energy," said Dennis McGuire, president and co-chief executive officer of Ecosphere.
Following the approval, the company shipped a mobile high-volume, 300,000 gallon per day Ecosphere Ozonix unit in two 40-foot containers to Devon Energy.
"Devon will contract with Ecosphere Technologies of Stuart, Fla., to operate the pilot project in Johnson County," the Texas Railroad Commission release said. "The project will use a pre-treatment process to remove waste constituents before the water is run through a series of membranes to remove salts. The process will also treat produced water that is released from the shale with natural gas. The recycled water will then be reused to hydraulically fracture the Barnett Shale formation. The water treatment system is projected to produce 75 percent reusable fracture fluid and 25 percent high concentrate and solids. The concentrate will be used as a drilling fluid or disposed of in an authorized facility."
Commissioner Elizabeth Ames Jones from the Texas Railroad Commission said, "The process being tested in this unique pilot program will use a low-energy and low-cost, pre-treatment system to remove most of the contaminants before the water is filtered through membranes. Innovations like this system will help the oil and gas industry to find economical ways to transform a waste product into a reusable fluid."