iDST: An integrated decision support tool for treatment and beneficial use of non-traditional water supplies – Part II. Marcellus and Barnett Shale case studies

Development of unconventional gas resources is currently one of the most rapidly growing trends in the oil and natural gas industry. Exploration of shale gas requires significant quantities of water for hydraulic fracturing. Meanwhile, large volumes of produced water are generated during gas production. Treatment and beneficial use of hydraulic fracturing flowback and produced water provides opportunities for sustainable unconventional gas operations while minimizing impacts to environment, local water resources, and public health. Considering the broad variety of treatment technologies and the wide spectrum of flowback and produced water qualities, selecting appropriate treatment and management options involves a complex decision-making process that requires understanding of treatment technologies, water quality, reuse requirements, and consideration of multiple criteria, constraints, and objectives. This study presents an integrated decision support tool (iDST) to assist in selection of treatment technologies and evaluation of the feasibility of potential water reuse options. The Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania and the Barnett Shale in Texas were selected as case studies to demonstrate produced water treatment technologies and beneficial reuse options considering realistic site-specific conditions, assumptions, and future projections such as well numbers and locations, water demands, flowback and produced water quality and quantity, disposal availability, and costs. The iDST provides an interactive user interface to select suitable technologies for produced water treatment and reuse based on user preference, target water quality, and current disposal options.