Primary Author / Conference Presenter:
Mark Faucher
ALL Consulting
Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA

Co-Authors:
Gavin James, ALL Consulting, Tulsa, OK

Evaporation technology and efficiency continue to evolve. The improvements in operational costs and system effectiveness expand the role evaporation can play in formulation of an effective, flexible, and environmentally sound produced water management strategy.
Saltwater disposal wells (SWDs) and recycling are typical elements central to strategy formulation. A marked increase in the duration of Class II Injection well permitting timeframes and costs has coincided with increasing demand for disposal capacity. Increased seismic activity has also contributed to reduced volumes and pressures permitted. Regulators are subjecting existing SWD operators to reductions in disposal volumes and/or maximum surface injection pressures in seismically affected areas. In addition, water recycling volumes have increased in several basins, but not enough to meet the increasing volumes of water requiring storage for reuse and/or disposal.
Produced water storage impoundments with enhanced evaporation offer an operator the additional tools to manage disposal capacity as well as storage to help buffer unexpected increases in volume or unplanned decreases in downhole capacity. Enhanced evaporation technology has continued to improve in efficiency and environmental compliance.
This presentation will review:
• the improvements in current enhanced evaporation technology,
• the flexibility provided by incorporating enhanced evaporation into the overall water management planning and design phase,
• operational characteristics and installation considerations, and
• economic cost/benefit estimate to water management facilities.