Patent attributes
Systems and methods have been developed for reclaiming water contaminated with the expected range of contaminants typically associated with produced water in order to produce a treated water having a quality adequate for reuse as a fracturing water. The system includes anaerobically digesting the contaminated water, followed by aerating the water to enhance biological digestion. After aeration, the water is separated using a flotation operation that effectively removes the spent friction reducing agents and allows the treated water to be reclaimed and reused as fracturing water, even though it retains levels of contaminants, including boron and methanol, that would prevent its discharge to the environment under existing standards. The treated water has had a sufficient amount of the gellation-inhibiting contaminants, such as acrylamide friction reducing compounds, removed to allow the treated water to be an economically viable fracturing water.
