Water Management for Oil Sands and Oil Shale Development in Utah: Challenges and Solutions

Transcription

1 Water Management for Oil Sands and Oil Shale Development in Utah: Challenges and Solutions Steve Burian, Eric Jones, Andy Hong, and Ramesh Goel Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering University of Utah

2 Integrated Water Management The word rival comes from the Latin rivalis, one using the same brook as another (Worster, 1985:105) Flood Control M&I Fish & Wildlife Hydropower Wastewater & Water Quality Coordination Navigation Mining/ Extraction Parks & Rec. Irrigation

3 Integrated Water Management The word rival comes from the Latin rivalis, one using the same brook as another (Worster, 1985:105) Wastewater & Water Quality Flood Control M&I Fish & Wildlife Conference goal: to generate collaboration among Hydropower technical, socio-economic and environmental constituencies to understand Coordination the issues and to seek solutions Navigation Mining/ Extraction Parks & Rec. Irrigation

4 Uinta Basin Water Management Flood Control M&I Fish & Wildlife Hydropower Wastewater & Water Quality Coordination Navigation Mining/ Extraction Parks & Rec. Irrigation

5 Uinta Basin Water Management Flood Control M&I Fish & Wildlife Hydropower Wastewater & Water Quality Coordination Navigation Mining/ Extraction Parks & Rec. Irrigation

6 Uinta Basin Water Management Flood Control M&I Fish & Wildlife Agricultural, municipal, and energy sectors Hydropower Navigation in Uintah and Duchesne Counties are expected Coordination Wastewater to significantly & increase their demand for Water Quality water in the near future. Mining/ Extraction Parks & Rec. Irrigation

7 Uinta Basin Water Management Agricultural, municipal, and energy sectors in Uintah and Duchesne Counties are expected to significantly Flood increase M&Itheir demand Fish & for Control Wildlife water in the near future. Hydropower Wastewater & Water Quality Coordination Navigation Mining/ Extraction Parks & Rec. Irrigation (NETL)

8 Water Impact of Oil Shale and Oil Sands Development? Industrial Water Demand Municipal Water Demand Energy Water Demand Water Quality (Surface and Groundwater)

9 How Much Water is Needed? (OTA 1980) (Wilson et al. 2006)

10 How Much Water is Needed? (OTA 1980) (Wilson et al. 2006)

11 How Much Water is Available? Surface water sources are the Colorado, Green, and White Rivers Average annual flow in the Green River is 3800 cfs (2.8 mil acft/yr) Groundwater: Ferron Sandstone Member, Mesaverde Group Aquifer, Blackhawk Formation, etc.

12 How Much Water is Available? >10,000 Water Rights exist in Uinta Basin Uinta Basin closed to new appropriations of surface water GW restricted: Small Domestics, Temporary Use (1-yr), and Fixed Time (up to 20-yrs) applications

13 What is Impact on Water Quality? Produced water - high salinity, metals, nutrients, and acutely toxic organic pollutants (aromatic and phenol hydrocarbons) may impact on surface and groundwater Groundwater impacts from in-situ processes Quantity of produced water generated globally has been increasing; more interest in reuse (USGS) (USGS)

14 Developing Water Solutions Improve Estimates Demand Strategies Technological Innovation Urban Water Conservation Alternative Energy Generation Efficiency/Cost Effective Supply Strategies Reuse Groundwater Water Quality Strategies Technological Advances Treatment Flexible Management Exchanges

15 Improving Demand Estimates Subdivision into demand sectors Temporal and spatial distribution of demands New estimates of in-place resources Scenario planning Urban growth - site specific & sustainable Water conservation & efficiency Energy efficiency Alternative energy Technological advances

16 Improving Demand Estimates Subdivision into demand sectors Temporal and spatial distribution of demands New estimates of in-place resources Scenario planning Urban growth - site specific & sustainable Water conservation & efficiency Energy efficiency Alternative energy Technological advances Uinta Basin population = 40,516 County population: Dagget 921, Duchesne 14,371, Uintah 25,244 Population growth rate has remained constant except oil booms

17 Projecting Growth

18 Urban Water-Energy Conservation If urban growth follows energy and water efficiency trends (sustainable development): 235 gpcd to 135 gpcd to 100 gpcd Reduced energy demand = reduced water demand

19 Urban Water-Energy Conservation If urban growth follows energy and water efficiency trends (sustainable development): 235 gpcd to 135 gpcd to 100 gpcd Reduced energy demand = reduced water demand

20 Urban Water-Energy Conservation If urban growth follows energy and water efficiency trends (sustainable development): 235 gpcd to 135 gpcd to 100 gpcd Reduced energy demand = reduced water demand

21 Urban Water-Energy Conservation If urban growth follows energy and water efficiency trends (sustainable development): Where 235 is most gpcd cost to 135 effective gpcd to source 100 gpcd of water? Reduced energy demand = reduced Is there water a regionally demandcost-effective approach?

22 Supply Strategy - Efficiency Developing a water management model for Uinta Basin Incorporating water rights and reservoir information Assessing potential infrastructure developments (reservoirs, pipelines, and groundwater), efficiency of transmission, and resilience to climate variability

23 Supply Strategy New Sources Uinta Basin closed for surface water allocation Historical water rights Groundwater small domestic, fixed time and temporary more than likely to come from groundwater (unless able to show diversion of surface water will not impact senior right) Deep groundwater (recent development in NM) possible with desalination (The State Engineer of Utah has jurisdiction over all water regardless of depth) Reuse (treatment and water right)

24 Produced Water Treatment Developing biological treatment approach Prototype testing of heightened ozonation treatment (HOT) Integrated treatment approach for reuse

25 Biological Treatment Process Dr. Goel and his students have genetically identified bacteria, enriched/isolated the bacteria of interest and bioaugmented a bioreactor Microbial tools revealed bacteria community associated with genus Pseudomonas and genus Burkholderia Preliminary treatment results have been positive A B

26 Integrated Biological Process The approach employs physical, chemical and biological processes Biological treatment employs state of the art membrane technology Pretreatment Research emphasis Dissolved Air Floatation Ferric Chloride Assisted coagulation Electrochemical oxidation Membrane bioreactor Remove dispersed oil, suspended solids, part of the organic pollutants Remove ammonia Turn refractory organic matters into small molecular compounds Remove small organic compounds Remove small particles

27 HOT Produced Water Treatment Rising O 3 O 3 O 3 O 3 Expanding Bubble O 3 O 3 O 3 Interface Gas bubbles expand, expanding coalesce, and rise O 3 flows in to fill the expanding gas bubble Oil (dispersed & dissolved) Expanding gas-liquid interface Oil accumulated at the interface

28 HOT Testing - Refinery Wastewater Wastewater: Suspended & dissolved oils (COD = 600 mg/l; turbidity = 190 NTU Treatment: 20 pressure cycles of ozonation followed by rapid sand filtration ( mm size) in 30 min Outcomes: No suspended oil (or surface oil sheen) Products of biodegradable soluble organic acids (COD = 110 mg/l; turbidity = 6 NTU; BOD 5 /COD ratio = 0.57) Approach has also been used to treat contaminated sediments in marine environments demonstrating potential even in high salinity conditions

29 Heightened Oil Sands Extraction (HOSE) A new, clean hot-water extraction technology 1) High product yield 95% of bitumen extraction from oil sands 2) Reduced heating energy Extraction temperature as low as 65 o C; most process heat is recovered and reused. 3) Rapid process speed Bitumen release and recovery in single step; total contact time for bitumen release and recovery is <20 min. 4) No surfactant or caustics are necessary. 5) No problematic tailing or middling. Only end products are: a. Clean spent sands with excellent gravitational settling characteristics, containing little residual organics and suitable as construction material. b. Process water that is recycled and reused requiring little treatment. 6) Tested successfully for Utah oil sands and both high and low grade Canadian oil sands. 7) Low water demand 50 gal per bbl 8) Estimated total operation cost - $7.50/bbl 9) Production rate 2,400 bbl/day/vessel UU Patent/TCO #U-4313

30 HOSE Testing HOSE Oil sand samples (12% bitumen by wt.) from Asphalt Ridge, Utah (left in picture) and collected bitumen (right in pic.). Depleted, settled oil sands (left in pic.) and collected bitumen via pressure cycles (right in pic.). Extraction conditions: T = 85 o C; P = 100 psi; 20 cycles; total extraction time: 10 min.

31 HOT & HOSE Technology Status IP UU Technology (U-3996); UU Technology (U-4313) Inventor: Andy Hong, P.E., Professor In Publications: Z. Cha, A. Hong. AIChE Annual Meeting, Nov. 4-9, 2007, Salt Lake City, UT. Z. Cha, X. Cai, R. Levey, and A Hong. 27th OSS, Oct , 2007, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO Z. Cha; P.K.Andrew Hong. ACS 62nd Northwest Regional Meeting, June 17-20, 2007, Boise, Idaho. Z. Cha, A. Hong 2007 AWWA Spring water Quality Symposium, May 10, Salt Lake City, Utah R. Goel, S. Burian, A. Hong, G. Nash, D. Murphy. AICHE 2007 Annual Meeting, Salt Lake City, UT. A. Hong, Z. Cha AEHS Conference, March 9-12, San Diego, CA Site/pilot demonstration partner wanted

32 Integrating HOT and Biological Potential for Reuse: produced water from extraction and processing, produced water from nearby oil and gas operations, municipal wastewater treatment plant effluent Technology: Drs. Goel and Hong are developing an integrated treatment train that will optimize the energy use and biomass reduction and when used in combination with desalination can produce water of reuse quality Recycle Produced Water Pretreatment Optimized Ozonation (HOT) Biological Treatment (MBR) Reverse Osmosis Reuse/ Disposal Nutrients

33 Conclusions Developing an integrated demand side, supply side, and water quality protection approach to water management Urban development in Uinta Basin following sustainable concepts will cost-effectively reduce water demand Bench-scale biological treatment process validated HOT prototype treatment and HOSE bitumen extraction tested successfully Need partners to continue to advance progress Steve Burian, Eric Jones, Andy Hong, and Ramesh Goel Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering University of Utah