The search for energy to meet present demands and future forecasts is becoming more intense and more diversified than ever, but despite this diversification of sources to meet the energy demand globally, fossil energy remains the prime energy source today and in the foreseeable future. An increasingly important issue in the problem of meeting future energy needs is the critical need to protect the environment. Increasing energy demand goes hand-in-hand with an increasing awareness of environmental issues such as global warming, especially as they pertain to E&P operations. Emphasis is increasingly placed on reducing the impact of E&P operations on the environment to minimal levels. Produced water represents a very large percentage of the waste streams generated from O&G operations. Management of wastes generated from E&P operations represents a significant cost to those in the industry, costs of treatment. Disposal of produced waters could range from about $0.01 to more than $5 per barrel of produced water, amounting to a global industry cost of $50 billion per year. Disposal costs and the cost for procuring resources such as water for hydraulic fracturing are likely to continue to rise. , It is necessary that there be cost effective technological solutions that reduce the volume of the waste being disposed.
Membrane Technology in Produced Water Management
The prospects of using membranes in the treatment of drilling wastes has been the subject of several studies. Texas A&M has extensive experience with the use of membranes for the desalination of the produced water. Presently research is extending the investigation to include drilling wastes and other E&P waste streams such as hydraulic fracturing flowback water. Produced water, with its wide range of chemical and physical characteristics, can cause operational problems, such as. fouling of or loss of flux through the membrane surface, poor rejection characteristics, and membrane failure due to chemical reactions with the membranes. Fouling is a major operational factor that requires periodic cleaning [1-8]. Produced water and oily water can cause severe fouling problems on most membranes. Membranes can be fouled by four groups of materials: minerals, organics, particles and colloids, and microbiological growth. Any of these four types of membrane fouling, or a combination of types, could occur during produced water treatment.