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Fracking Tries for a Greener Footprint

Posted August 03, 2016 12:00 AM by Engineering360 eNewsletter

The environmental complaints lodged against hydraulic fracturing are varied: groundwater contamination, large volume water use in water-deficient regions, air pollution. But the industry is adopting technology developments that alleviate some of these concerns as shale formations are exploited for oil and gas. Engineering360 takes note of a West Texas operation where brackish groundwater is mixed with produced water from fracking sites; no freshwater is consumed from municipal or commercial sources. Chemically inert proppants, instead of more ecologically harmful diesel and gasoline additives, are also being increasingly deployed to keep hydraulic fractures open.

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James Stewart
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Safety - Hazmat - New Member United States - US - Statue of Liberty - New Member Engineering Fields - Chemical Engineering - Old Hand

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#1

Re: Fracking Tries for a Greener Footprint

08/05/2016 4:15 PM

This is clearly a big deal in areas where water resources are being squeezed to the last drop.

More work needs to be done on squeezing pure, potable water out of produced water no matter how salty it starts out. I think Forward Osmosis can play a role in this, as could something new based on Pollack's discoveries about deeper exclusion zones near a Nafion membrane. Perhaps even combination of the exclusion effect with Forward Osmosis (as a means of reducing surface concentration polarization) could propel FO into the forefront of recovering large production of the new oil - water.

It could be a simple experiment to try. Any takers?

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