Produced Water Evaporation Ponds

摘要

The problem to be solved is the need to dispose of millions of gallons of production water (brine water) generatedrnannually from the Rocky Mountain Region oil and gas industry in an environmentally safe, low cost, and efficientrnmanner. A technology that is effective and safe is the evaporation of the water in lined containment ponds afterrnseparation and removal of the sludge component from the production water.rnA project near Cisco, Utah was designed and constructed to evaporate production water in a series of lined ponds. Thernproduction water from oil and gas wells in the area is trucked to the site for disposal. The water is evaporated in pondsrnlined with high density polyethylene (HDPE) as the top layer by using a combination of factors that are favorable to thernevaporative process, including the following:rn1. Natural characteristics of the site, including the arid climate, windy conditions, and numerous sunny days,rn2. The top liner in the ponds is black HDPE, which creates a hot surface, andrn3. The HDPE liner was used to protect the surface and ground waters of the area and to assist with thernevaporation of the water (evaporation is enhanced due to the black color of the liner).rnThe project is interesting in that the facility provides oil and gas production companies in the area with a single largerncommercial alternative to production water disposal versus numerous small ponds that may service only one well pad, orrnexpensive re-injection wells. The regulatory agencies like it for centralization and protection of the state's waters. Thernfacility protects surface waters in the area due to the large capacity of the ponds, 2 feet of freeboard, and secondaryrncontainment in case of catastrophic failure.