Produced Water Characterization

THESIS
PRODUCED WATER QUALITY CHARACTERIZATION AND PREDICTION FOR

WATTENBERG FIELD
Submitted by
Huishu Li
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
In partial fulfillment of the requirements

For the Degree of Master of Science
Colorado State University
Fort Collins, Colorado
Spring 2013
Masters Committee:
Advisor: Kenneth H. Carlson
Sybil Sharvelle
John Stednick
Copyright by Huishu Li 2013

All Rights Reserved
ABSTRACT
PRODUCED WATER QUALITY CHARACTERIZATION AND PREDICTION FOR

WATTENBERG FIELD
Produced water is the major Exploration &Production waste in oil and gas production
operations on most onshore and offshore platforms. There are some concerns about the
environmental impacts of produced water, because of the potential danger of large volume of
water disposal by shale plays. Produced water is a complex mixture of dissolved and particulate
inorganic and organic matters ranging from near freshwater quality to concentrated saline brine.
The most abundant inorganic chemicals are calcium, magnesium, sodium and chloride. Other
inorganic components, such as barium, strontium, boron, sulfate, carbonate and bicarbonate are
also present in the produced water but at high concentrations. The dominant organic chemicals in
most produced water are soluble low molecular weight organic acids and some aromatic
hydrocarbons. Constituents of produced water vary a lot depending on a number of factors,
including geographic locations, characteristics of formations (i.e. the depth of formation,
porosity and permeability of formation rocks/sands, water content) and injected fracturing fluid.
Since water is becoming a big issue in some arid areas and as regulations become more
restrictive for disposal and reinjection, produced water reuse/recycle will be a solution to reduce
the wastewater production and alleviate environmental effects. The main objective of this study
was to statistically evaluate the produced water quality and to provide an assessment on the
spatial distribution of specific groundwater quality parameters. Produced water samples were
collected at 80 sample points (producing oil and gas wells) from May to August in 2012. pH,
ii
conductivity, alkalinity, turbidity, total organic carbon, total nitrogen, and barium were tested at
Colorado State Universitys Environmental Engineering lab; total dissolved solids (TDS),
calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, strontium, boron, chloride and sulfate were measured
in ACZ Laboratories Inc., Colorado. All the produced water samples were acidic with pH
ranging from 5.1-6.8. TDS, cations, anions and organic carbons tested in our study varied a lot.
Maps showing the spatial distributions of these parameters were made using ArcGIS. Linear
correlations between chloride, conductivity/TDS, and cations (log) were shown, which made it
possible to estimate unknown parameters. Spatial and temporal trends of pH, TDS and total
organics together with inner relationships of ion concentrations could allow us to make
predictions of produced water qualities. This project was the first phase of the development of a
GIS application that will provide a tool that can benefit industry when making decisions
regarding produced water recycling.
Keywords: produced water, Wattenberg filed, water quality, spatial interpolation, GIS
application
iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
First and foremost, I would like to acknowledge the support of my advisor, Dr. Kenneth H.
Carlson for the valuable guidance and advice. He provided me this great opportunity getting
involved in this project as an international student and inspired me greatly to work and study on
my topic. His willingness to motivate me and my colleagues contributed to our projects.
Deepest gratitude is also due to the members of the supervisory committee, Dr. Sybil
Sharvelle and Dr. John Stednick rendered their help during the period of my project work.
I also wish to express my gratitude to all the colleagues in our project team, Ashwin
Dhanasekar, Bing Bai, Ildus Mingazetdinov, and Stephen Goodwin, without whose help this
study would not have been successful. Special thanks to Mary Wedum who helped me with the
academic writings.
Last but not least I wish to avail myself of this opportunity, express a sense of gratitude and
love to my friends and my beloved parents for their manual support, strength, help and for
everything Place.
iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 1
Chapter 2 Literature Review ........................................................................................................... 4
2.1 Unconventional natural oil and gas Shale oil and gas development .................................. 4
2.2 Current drilling and fracturing technology............................................................................ 8
2.3 Produced Water ................................................................................................................... 10
2.3.1 Water Volume ............................................................................................................ 11
2.3.2 Water Quality ............................................................................................................. 13
2.4 Produced Water Impact ....................................................................................................... 24
2.5 Water Management ............................................................................................................. 25
2.6 Produced Water Treatment.................................................................................................. 30
2.7 Oil and gas production history in Wattenberg Field ........................................................... 33
2.8 Research Objectives ............................................................................................................ 36
Chapter 3 Methods and materials ................................................................................................. 38
3.1 Water Sampling ................................................................................................................... 38
3.2 Water sample analyses ........................................................................................................ 47
3.2.1 Water quality test parameters...................................................................................... 47
3.2.2 Water quality measurements ....................................................................................... 52
3.3 Produced water quality by U.S.G.S survey ......................................................................... 57
3.3.1 Produced water quality for the United States ............................................................. 57
v
3.3.2 Produced water quality for the state of Colorado ....................................................... 67

3.4 Spatial Interpolation ............................................................................................................ 69
3.4.1 Kriging ........................................................................................................................ 71
3.4.2 Thiessen polygons ....................................................................................................... 72
Chapter 4 Results and Discussions ............................................................................................... 73
4.1 Produced water characteristics in Wattenberg field ............................................................ 73
4.1.1 Chemical and physical characterization...................................................................... 73
4.1.2 Correlations of Ions..................................................................................................... 77
4.1.3 Water chemistry vs. formation geology ...................................................................... 94
4.1.4 Water quality temporal trend ...................................................................................... 96
4.2 Spatial distribution of major produced water qualities in Wattenberg field ....................... 99
Chapter 5 Conclusions ................................................................................................................ 108
References ................................................................................................................................... 109
Appendix
Appendix 1 .............................................................................................................................. 115
Appendix 2 .............................................................................................................................. 119
Appendix 3 .............................................................................................................................. 120
Appendix 4 .............................................................................................................................. 121
Appendix 5 ............................................................................................................................. .122
vi
LIST OF TABLES
Table 2.1, Shale gas endowments of North America...................................................................... 6
Table 2.2, Shale gas resources within the United States................................................................. 7
Table 2.3, Reserves of shale oil worldwide .................................................................................... 7
Table 2.4, Estimated water needs for drilling and fracturing wells in four major shale gas plays.. 9
Table 2.5, Annual onshore produced water generated in the United States ................................. 11
Table 2.6, Physical and chemical properties comparison between formation water (conventional)
and lab water ................................................................................................................................. 13
Table 2.7, 5-day flowback quality comparison between Marcellus shale and Barnett shale ....... 16
Table 2.8, Volatile and semi-volatile concentrations for major shale plays ................................. 16
Table 2.9, Common inorganic compounds in produced water ..................................................... 21
Table 2.10, Organic matters in produced water from conventional oil and gas ........................... 21
Table 2.11, Conventional produced water quality from a natural gas well .................................. 22
Table 2.12, Typical produced water qualities for conventional natural gas produced water
(NGPWs), conventional oil PWs (OPWs) and shale gas PWs (SGPWs) ..................................... 23
Table 2.13, Water disposal options by gas basin .......................................................................... 27
Table 2.14, Typical values for produced water quality compared to some criteria ...................... 28
Table 2.15, Unit processes and their application to produced water treatment ............................ 30
Table 2.16, Treatment efficiency and characteristics of the raw water ........................................ 32
Table 2.17, Representative power costs of desalination of oil field brine .................................... 32
vii
Table 3.1, Depth, pressure and temperature of Niobrara-Codell interval and estimates of water
released in Wattenberg field ......................................................................................................... 43
Table 3.2, Water quality vs fracturing performance ..................................................................... 47
Table 3.3, Common oilfield scales ............................................................................................... 48
Table 3.4, Scale forming salts list ................................................................................................. 49
Table 3.5, Water quality test parameters for produced water reusing .......................................... 52
Table 3.6, Costs of certified labs in CO ........................................................................................ 53
Table 3.7, Water parameters tested in the certified lab, in the CSU lab and on-site .................... 53
Table 3.8, Laboratory analyses and analytical methods suggested by EPA ................................. 56
Table 3.9, Extended laboratory analytical methods ...................................................................... 57
Table 3.10, Pearson correlation coefficients (58,654 valid data) ................................................. 58
Table 3.11, Statistical analysis ...................................................................................................... 59
Table 3.12, TDS ranges of produced water in Colorado .............................................................. 67
Table 4.1, Produced water characteristics of shale gas produced water in Wattenberg field ....... 75
Table 4.2 Produced water characteristics from three other shale plays and Wattenberg field ..... 76
Table 4.3, Shale plays comparisons .............................................................................................. 77
Table 4.4, Ratios of measured TDS over calculated TDS ............................................................ 81
Table 4.5, Organics ....................................................................................................................... 91
Table 4.6, F-test and t test results between real test data and estimated values.......................... 101
Table 4.7, Geological characters of major shale reservoirs in Wattenberg field ........................ 107
viii
LIST OF FIGURES
Fig 2.1, U.S. natural gas production, 1990-2035 (trillion cubic feet) ............................................. 5
Fig 2.2, Estimated recoverable natural gas for major shale basins (TCF) in 2006 and 2008 ......... 6
Fig 2.3, Flowback rate for Marcellus shale gas play .................................................................... 10
Fig 2.4, Constituents of produced water ....................................................................................... 14
Fig 2.5, TDS, chloride and sodium change over time in Wattenberg field, 2012 ........................ 17
Fig 2.6, Conductivity change with produced flow volume at Marcellus shale (20,000 intervals) 17
Fig 2.7, Image of water injection ................................................................................................. 26
Fig 2.8, Range of applicability vs. cost ......................................................................................... 29
Fig 2.9, Barnett Shale play brine desalination process ................................................................. 31
Fig 2.10, Top U.S. gas fields by 2009 gas production .................................................................. 33
Fig 2.11, Oil and gas production for greater Wattenberg field from 1999 to 2010 ...................... 34
Fig 2.12, Wattenberg field divided by townships ......................................................................... 35
Fig 2.13, Productive Areas-Great Wattenberg Area, 2005 ........................................................... 36
Fig 3.1, Number of new drilled wells by year .............................................................................. 39
Fig 3.2, Accumulative production activity of major formations, 2005 ........................................ 41
Fig 3.3, Typical depth of major oil/gas producing formations ..................................................... 43
Fig 3.4, Map of sampled wells ...................................................................................................... 44
Fig 3.5, Separator tank (separator) and field water sampling ....................................................... 46
ix
Fig 3.6, Scale deposition locations in offshore injection well ..................................................... 51

Fig 3.7, A thermometer on a separator ......................................................................................... 54
Fig 3.8, Correlations between major cations, chloride and TDS .................................................. 59
Fig 3.9, Distributions of produced water parameters .................................................................... 60
Fig 3.10, Trend analysis ................................................................................................................ 62
Fig 3.11, Estimated metal concentrations using U.S.G.S database .............................................. 64
Fig 3.12, Average pH and TDS value changes with sampled depth............................................. 66
Fig 3.13, Water quality prediction State of Colorado (database: U.S.G.S) .................................. 68
Fig 3.14, Values of TDS and pH of produced water at different sample well depths (database:
U.S.G.S) ........................................................................................................................................ 69
Fig 3.15, TDS prediction by Thiessen polygon and Kriging Models ........................................... 71
Fig 4.1, Detected frequencies........................................................................................................ 74
Fig 4.2, plot of TDS vs.sodium and chloride ................................................................................ 78
Fig 4.3, plot of TDS vs. calcium, magnesium, strontium and potassium ..................................... 79
Fig 4.4, plot of TDS vs. calcium, magnesium, strontium and potassium ..................................... 80
Fig 4.5, Plot of chloride, total dissolved solids and sodium ......................................................... 83
Fig 4.6, Plot of calcium versus magnesium & strontium .............................................................. 84
Fig 4.7, Plot of calcium and barium .............................................................................................. 85
Fig 4.8, Sr:Ca and Mg:Ca molar ratio (mg/L) in water versus TDS ........................................... 86
Fig 4.9, Plot of log Cl- (meq) versus log MCl2 (meq) .................................................................. 88
Fig 4.10, Organic compounds present in produced water ............................................................ 90

Fig 4.11, Plot of TOC and COD ................................................................................................... 92
Fig4.12, Plot of pH and TOC ........................................................................................................ 93
Fig 4.13, pH and TDS changes with well depth ........................................................................... 94
Fig 4.14, TDS and pH changes with time ..................................................................................... 97
Fig 4.15, COD changes with time................................................................................................. 98
Fig 4.16, Comparison between tested and prediction values ...................................................... 100
Fig 4.17, pH interpolation maps ................................................................................................. 103
Fig 4.18, TDS maps .................................................................................................................... 104
Fig 4.19, North-south and east-west cross section view map of shale reservoirs: (a) north-south
cross section map; (b) east-west cross section map .................................................................... 106
xi
Chapter 1 Introduction
Driven by new drilling technologies and hydraulic fracturing development, shale oil and gas is
increasingly an unconventional natural gas source due to its abundant reserves and increasing
fuel prices. One of the key challenges associated with shale oil and gas production is its
environmental impact and the interplay between generated wastes and the environment. During
the hydraulic fracturing process, a large amount of fluid, comprised of water and other added
chemicals, is injected into the shale formations to extract shale gas, and as a result, a large
amount of wastewater, known as flowback and produced water will return to the surface
together with the hydrocarbons. This released water, which usually contains formation water and
fracture fluid, is high in dissolved solids, metals, and oil and grease, and can contaminate ground
water or surface waters. Since environmental constraints have become stricter, adequate water
treatment needs to be applied prior to surface disposal through underground reinjection or
beneficial reuse to manage the excessive solids, metals and organic matter.
On the other hand, well drilling and completion require a large amount of water, and most of
this fresh water comes from surface water, groundwater or municipal water. Since water is
becoming an important issue, not only for water deficient regions, water reclamation is on the
rise in the United States, and the techniques involved in this can be used in the shale oil and gas
industry also.
Reusing produced water can reduce the demand for fresh water and change the waste into
usable water resources. Appropriate treatment is a key factor to determine whether produced
water recycling is economical or not, which will depend on the produced water quality and
quantity. Water quality analysis is necessary to choose the best treatment processes for
recycling. Since the chemical constituents of produced water, such as organic matter and total
dissolved solids (TDS) vary with different formations and geological locations, it is impossible
to implement the same treatment design at different locations. Therefore, treatment technologies
would need to be customized for each area according to the water quality and quantity.
Meanwhile, to ensure that the reused water performs well as a fracture fluid and to prevent
side effects, all the key water quality parameters involved should be determined and tested.
It is important to know the spatial and temporal behavior of produced water. Even though
there are quite a few studies which investigate treatment methods for produced water, only a few
papers have researched water quality characteristics and their spatial distribution and temporal
variation. There is no research which combines the ArcGIS tools with water quality to predict the
water quality for a specific point in order to study the water quality changes with time. Only a
few shale gas plays are reusing flowback and produced water as fracture fluid or have a clear
water quality standard.
This research aims to establish both a spatial and temporal water quality analysis, and to
develop GIS tools to present the water quality distribution in order to recommend the best
practical method of produced water recycling treatment. In this study, we focus on the flowback
and produced water quality generated in the northern part of Wattenberg field in northern
Colorado. Some chemical and physical tests will be conducted to examine the common
constituents in the produced water. Also, we will study the differences in water quality over time,
which may be attributed to the characteristics of the formations where the produced water
originated.
A thorough overview of shale oil and gas (especially shale gas) development and applications
of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracture on the shale gas industry will be presented in
Chapter 2. Water issues associated with shale oil/gas production, such as water demand for
drilling and hydraulic fracture, produced water generation, produced water characteristics, and
wastewater management, are summarized in chapter 2 as well as a brief geological introduction
of Wattenberg field and the shale formation in Wattenberg field. The sampling plan, sample
method, water sample measurement and analysis will be discussed in Chapter 3. Chapter 4
includes the results of many of the tests, and discusses the results of produced water quality,
spatial distribution and temporal changes of major water components present in the produced
water. Further GIS applications needed to establish a user-friendly interface web-based tool for
water quality inquiries are also described.
Chapter 2 Literature Review
2.1 Unconventional natural oil and gas Shale oil and gas development
Exploration and development of new resources of oil and gas has become a hot topic in recent
years. Also, horizontal drilling and multi-stage fracturing technologies have made the production
of oil and gas from unconventional resources possible, with very low permeability and low
porosity.1
Among many unconventional natural oil and gas sources, shale and tight sands are considered
to be the best newly developed oil and gas sources because of significant successes in extraction
and production. (Figure 2.1) One kind of unconventional development that has gained attention
and contributed to this increase is natural gas from shale formations which extend across the
continental United States. Many gas companies are diverting their attention from the relatively
easily accessible conventional reservoirs in order to gain access to the large volumes available
the in shale formations even though they are difficult to develop.2
Fig 2.1, U.S. natural gas production, 1990-2035 (trillion cubic feet)3
Additions to natural gas production associated with shale gas activity have been instrumental
in boosting overall wet gas proved reserves. Shale gas accounted for more than 90 percent of
total net additions. Key shale states in 2009 include Arkansas (the Fayetteville Shale), Louisiana
(the Haynesville), Oklahoma (the Woodford), Pennsylvania (the Marcellus), and Texas (the
Barnett and Haynesville/Bossier).4 The 11 percent increase in U.S. proved natural gas reserves
took place during a low-price environment that resulted in negative revisions to existing reserves.
This underscores the major improvements in shale gas exploration and production technologies
(horizontal drilling coupled with hydraulic fracturing) and efficiency. Natural gas from shale
represented 21 percent of U.S. gas reserves in 2009, with the majority coming from five major
shale areas (see Figure 2.2).5
Fig 2.2, Estimated recoverable natural gas for major shale basins (TCF) in 2006 and 20086
North America has a large amount of shale gas, totaling about 5,146 Tcf (146 trillion cubic
meters).7 In the five major shale gas basins, Barnett basin, Fayetteville basin, Woodford basin,
Haynesville basin and Marcellus basin, up to 3,760 trillion cubic feet of shale gas is stored
underground and over 12% of the total shale gas is a recoverable resource.
Table 2.1, Shale gas endowments of North America
Gas Shale Basins

U.S. (5 Basins)
Canada (2 Basins)
Resource
Tcf
Tcm
Endowment
3,760
107
1,380
39
Recoverable
TcfResource
Tcm
475
13
240
7
Table 2.1 makes a summary of shale gas endowments of North America. This table includes
the total shale gas of 5 basins (Barnett, Fayetteville, Woodford, Haynesville and Marcellus) in
the United States and 2 basins in Canada. Even though North America has an abundant
6
endowment of shale gas, only a very small percentage of the available shale gas in the five major
basins in the United States is being used. Detailed information of shale gas resources for five
major shale plays in the United States is listed in table 2.2.
Table 2.2, Shale gas resources within the United States
Resource Endowment Produced/Proved Undeveloped Recoverable

Barnett
250
19 (Tcf)
39 (Tcf)
(Tcf)
Reserves
Resource
Fayetteville
320
3
50
Woodford
300
2
34
Haynesville
790
1
130
Marcellus
2,100
200
Total
3,760
25
453
China is estimated to hold 15-30 trillion cubic meters of shale gas reserves, equal to or greater
than those in the United States, 8 and the reserve of shale oil is about 31,567 billion tons. 9
Worldwide, the estimate of shale gas endowment is 16,110 Tcf (456 Tcm), about 40% of which
would become recoverable, that is 6,350 Tcf.10
Table 2.3, Reserves of shale oil worldwide11
Continents
Rate of recovery
African
Asia
Australia
and
Europe
Zealand
North America
South America
Total
Known reserves (109 bbl)

25-100
10-25
5-10
100
Little
Little
90
14
New Little
1
70
6
600
1600
2200
50
750
910
2400
2200
Total reserves (109 bbl)

25-100
10-25
5-10
4000
80,000
450,000
5500
110,000 590,000
1000
20,000
100,000
1400
26,000
140,000
3000
50,000
260,000
2000
40,000
210,000
17,000
325,000 1,750,000
Worldwide, although only a few shale oil reserves are known currently, North America, Africa
and Asia have the biggest shale oil extraction potentials.
2.2 Current drilling and fracturing technology
Commercially productive gas shale reservoirs in the United States are found at altitudes
between 500 and 11,000 feet, with poor porosity and permeability. Owing to the applications of
new technology and field practices, shale gas production has experienced a great expansion.
Though it has long been known that natural gas was embedded in shale rocks, it was only in
2002 and 2003 that the combination of two technologies working together hydraulic fracturing
and horizontal drilling made recovering shale gas economically feasible and desirable.12
Hydraulic fracturing has proven to be the technology key to facilitating economic recovery of
natural gas from shale. Hydraulic fracturing is a formation stimulation practice used to create
additional permeability in a producing formation to allow natural gas to flow more easily toward
the wellbore for purposes of production. Hydraulic fracturing can be used to overcome natural
barriers to the flow of fluids. Barriers may include naturally low permeability common in shale
formations or reduced permeability resulting from near wellbore damage caused by drilling
activities. While methods of hydraulic fracturing continually change (mostly changes in the
design process and updates to additives and propping agents), this technology is utilized by the
natural gas industry to increase production and to support an ever increasing demand for
energy.13
Water required for drilling and fracturing depends largely upon the type of wells being drilled.
Usually, horizontal wells need much more water than vertical and directional wells due to the
long distance. For each stage of a hydraulic fracture, an average of 5,000 gallons (119 bbl;
diluted acid stage) up to 50,000 gallons (1190 bbl; prop stages) of frac fluid is needed, which
means that the entire fracture operation would require approximately 2-4 million gallons of
8
water, 3 million gallons (71,428 bbl) being most common. 14 A typical horizontal shale well
requires a maximum of approximately 600,000 gallons (14,000 bbl) for drilling and 2-4 million
gallons of water for hydraulic fracturing. For vertical and directional wells, water needed for
fracturing is between 100,000 and 1,000,000 gallons (2,300 23,000 bbl). Also, substantial
amounts of water are needed for hydraulic fracturing, usually several times more than for
drilling.15 Table 2.4 shows the estimated water needs for drilling and fracturing in four major
shale gas plays.16
Table 2.4, Estimated water needs for drilling and fracturing wells in four major shale gas plays
Shale gas play
Volume
of
drilling Volume of fracturing Total volumes of
water per well (gal)
Barnett shale
400,000
2,300,000
Fayetteville shale
60,000
2,900,000
Haynesville shale
1,000,000
2,700,000
Marcellus shale
80,000
3,800,000
*volume data are approximate and may vary between wells

2,700,000
3,060,000
3,700,000
3,880,000
One of the challenges of the hydraulic fracturing process is the fact that it relies on the use of
chemical additives to ensure that the fracturing functions well. Water consumed by hydraulic
fracturing contains more than 99% water and sand, with extremely low probability of fracture
fluid migration from the shale up to fresh water zones. Although the percentage of chemical
additives in typical hydraulic fracture fluid is usually less than 0.5 percent by volume, the
quantity of fluid used in these hydro-fractures is so large that the additives in a three million
gallon hydro-fracture operation will be considerable.
2.3 Produced Water
Produced water is the largest wastewater stream in the oil exploration and production process.
During well drilling and completion, some water will return to the surface, known as the
fracturing flowback or produced water (a water based solution that flows back to the surface
during and after the completion of hydraulic fracturing). There is no established way to define
flowback and produced water. Sometimes they are identified according to the time of
occurrence, the rate of return or the chemical composition. 17 Most of the flowback occurs
quickly in the first seven to ten days, sometimes even shorter, while the rest can occur over a
three to four week time period. Having a murky appearance from high levels of suspended
particles (see figure 2.3), produced water often appears weeks after production and can last for
years, with high TDS levels.
Fig 2.3, Flowback rate for Marcellus shale gas play
Both flowback and produced water are comprised of fracture fluid and formation water, but
they have different concentrations of chemical components.
10
2.3.1 Water Volume
In 2007, onshore production in the United States generated an estimated 3.3 million m3 of
PWs.18 In the shale oil and gas plays, almost 2-30 barrels per day per well of produced water is
co-generated with oil and gas, and this continues throughout the lifetime of a well.
Khatib and Verbeek 19 estimated that in 1999, about 77 billion barrels of produced water were
generated worldwide for the whole year, which represents more than 200 million barrels per day
for the entire world. Produced water volume annual estimates for onshore oil and gas wells in the
United States for the years 1985, 1995, and 2001 were 21 billion bbl, 18 billion bbl, and 14
billion bbl, respectively. 20 Annual produced water volumes generated from the oil and gas
industry are in the range of 15 to 20 billion barrels (1 bbl = 42 U.S. gallons), equivalent to a
volume of 1.7 to 2.3 billion gallons generated daily. 21 In 1995, about 18 billion barrels of
produced water was generated by U.S. onshore oil and gas operations.22
Table 2.5, Annual onshore produced water generated in the United States
1985
1995
2002
Total PW, 1000 bbl
20,608,505 17,922,200 14,160,325
Re-injection, 1000 bbl
16,488,424 Percent of re-injection, % 92%
Discharge, 1000 bbl
1,433,776 Percent of discharge, %
8%
-
2007
20,995,174
19,945,416
95%
1,049,758
5%
Different shale plays in diverse basins have different geological characteristics and occur in
areas with very different water resources and water demand. For instance, in the Eagle Ford
basin, located in Texas, there is nearly no flowback water after hydraulic fracturing, while in the
Marcellus shale play, the flowback water is between 20 to 40 percent of the initial injected water
volume.23
11
Fifteen to twenty-five per cent of the total volume of injected frac fluid will return to the
surface within 30 days after hydraulic fracture as flowback, and produced water will be
continuously generated and reclaimed to the surface over the lifetime of a shale oil/gas well, at
the rate of 2-10 bbl/day. Total volume of flowback and produced water was estimated at about
25 million barrels in 2011.24
It is estimated that more than 2 million gallons of water per well is being used in fracturing
operations, and most of the water then is re-injected for disposal. Over 50% of this produced
brine can be reused in subsequent well fractures, and 24% can be recovered as fresh water for
beneficial use.25 The volume of recovery is between 20 to 40% of the volume that was initially
injected into the well. The rest of the fluid remains absorbed in the shale gas formation. A typical
flowback of drilling fluids might run 40,000 bbl. After the initial 3-4 week post-fracturing
recovery of drilling fluids, an additional 10,000 to 30,000 bbl of produced water may flow for up
to two years. 26 Typically, 500,000 to 600,000 gallons per well will be generated in the first 10
days in Barnett, Fayetteville and Marcellus shale plays, representing 10% to 15% of the total
water used in fracturing and drilling; 250,000 gallons per well is usually produced in the first 10
days in Haynesville shale play, which is only 5% of the total water injected.
The volume of produced water from oil and gas wells will not remain constant, and it
increases with the age of the crude oil and natural gas well. API had calculated a water-to-oil
ratio of approximately 7.5 barrels of water for each barrel of oil produced for the conventional
hydrocarbon productions. For the survey of 2002 production prepared for this white paper, the
water-to-oil ratio was calculated to have increased to approximately 9.5. For crude oil wells
reaching the end of their lives, Weideman27 reports that water can comprise as much as 98% of
12
the material brought to the surface. In these stripper wells, the amount of water produced can be
10 to20 bbl (barrel) for each barrel of conventional crude oil produced.
2.3.2 Water Quality
Produced water is derived from seawater but with higher dissolved solids or other metal ions
due to physical and chemical reactions with formation rocks. It is characterized as highly saline
water which is comprised of formation water (water trapped within shale formations or
reservoirs) (shown in table 2.6) and fracture fluid (a mixture of fresh water and some chemical
compounds to create fractures and keep underground shale formations overpressured).
Table 2.6, Physical and chemical properties comparison between formation water (conventional) and lab
water28
Lab water
Temperature (F)
82
pH
4.43
TDS (mg/L)
51
EC
105
Color (PtCo)
0
Oil and grease (mg/L) 0
PO43- (mg/L)
0
2SO4 (mg/L)
0
Cl- (mg/L)
<0.01
Iron (mg/L)
0.05
Zinc (mg/L)
0
Manganese (mg/L)
0
Formation water
82
6.10
120
241
10.0
4.35
0
9.02
0.1
0.28
0.9
0.002
Formation water
185
9.34
430
850
3.0
1.4
0
6.74
0.1
0.16
0
<0.01
Chemical composition of produced water is complex, including dispersed oil, dissolved

hydrocarbons, organic acids, phenols, metals, and traces of chemicals added in the separation
and production line. 29 Several studies have been presented on the chemical and physical
characteristics of produced water.
13
Produced water
constituents
inorganic
organic
insoluble &
separable
partical
soluble
non-ionic
carboxylic
acids
non-ionic
cations
Na+ , K+
Ca2+ , Mg2+ ,
Fe2+ , Ba2+ ,
Sr2+ , and
other divelant
dissolved
anions
ionic
phenol and
other
compounds
Fe3+ , B4+ and

othermultivalent,
chlorides
carbonate
&
bicarbonate
multi-valant
anions, such as
SO4 2-, PO4 3-
Fig 2.4, Constituents of produced water
As shown in figure 2.4, produced water is primarily comprised of soluble organic carbon and
dissolved inorganic ions. Soluble organic carbons mainly exist as carboxylic acids and phenol,
etc. Inorganic matter can be classified into two groups, cations and anions. Cations in produced
water include monovalent ions such as sodium and potassium, divalent cations such as calcium,
magnesium, strontium, barium and iron, and multivalent cations such as boron. Chloride,
carbonate/bicarbonate, sulfate and phosphate are the major anions in produced water.
14
The chemical composition and physical properties of produced water vary considerably
depending on the geographic location of the field, the geological formation from which the oil or
gas is produced (i.e. the depth of formation, porosity and permeability of formation rocks/sands,
water content and different formations such as shale, tight sands or coal-bed), the chemical
additives added during fracturing, and the type of hydrocarbon production (such as petroleum
and methane). 30 Concentrations of TDS, ions, and even organic matter can vary by multiple
orders of magnitude for different basins and fields. For example, in Barnett shale plays, TDS will
increase from 50,000 ppm initially to 140,000 ppm, and chlorides will begin increasing from
25,000 ppm up to 80,000 ppm after a period of production, but with a low concentration of total
suspended solids (TSS). The same produced water quality situation happens in Marcellus, where
TDS could reach a high level (more than 120,000 ppm) after long term production but with low
TSS and moderate scaling tendency. In the Fayetteville shale play, on the other hand,
concentrations of TDS and chloride of produced water are much less than in Barnett, with only
up to 10,000 ppm of chloride and 15,000 ppm of TDS, with low calcium and magnesium as well.
Different from these two shale plays, produced water from Haynesville shale has high TSS (up to
350 ppm), TDS, chloride and a high potential of scaling (high in calcium and magnesium). 31
As an extended explanation of water quality variation, table 2.7 compares water qualities of 5day flowback generated in Marcellus and Barnett shale plays. All of the parameters listed in this
table range widely. Averages of alkalinity, TDS, TOC (total organic carbon) and BOD
(biological oxygen demand) are significantly different in the 5-day flowback produced by
Marcellus and Barnett shale plays.
15
Table 2.7, 5-day flowback quality comparison between Marcellus shale and Barnett shale
Marcellus shale play
Barnett shale play
5-day flowback
range
median
range
median
pH
5.8-7.2
6.6
6.6-8.0
7.1
alkalinity
48.8-327
138
238-1630
610
TDS
38,500-238,000
67300
23,600-98,900
36100
TSS
10.8-3,220
99
36.8-253
133
TOC
3.7-388
62.8
9.5-99.1
18.1
BOD
0-794
2.8
92.6-1480
319
Oil and grease
0
<5
<4.8-1720
<5
Additionally, organic carbons also vary in different shale plays (table 2.8). Six major organic
compounds (BTEX, phenol and pyridine) are discussed and compared in this table. Organic
concentrations are varied in the six shale plays and even in the same play but at a different period
of time.
Table 2.8, Volatile and semi-volatile concentrations for major shale plays
Barnett
Fayetteville
first 30 days
long term
first 30 days
long term
< 1-97
4.37-1,600
< 1-140
< 1-1.05
Ethyl benzene
< 1-249
< 1-102
< 1-11
ND
Toluene
1-578
8.8-3,250
< 1-117
ND
Xylene
<3-2,480
< 3-2,630
< 3-60.1
< 3-4.86
Phenol
ND-1,160
12-31
ND
ND-32
Pyridine
ND-264
12-758
ND-534
ND-92
Benzene
Haynesville
Marcellus
first 30 days
long term
first 30 days
long term
Benzene
< 1-3,460
76-3,140
< 1-1,950
< 1-513
Ethyl benzene
< 1-1,470
2.5-839
< 1-164
< 1-51.6
Toluene
2.6-11,400
84-11,300
<1-3,190
< 1-918
Xylene
12-10,700
31-14,500
< 2-1,970
< 3-439
Phenol
ND-971
250-3,720
ND-459
ND-34
Pyridine
ND-971
ND-15.5
ND-459
ND-56
In addition, produced water quality will change over time for one well due to the change of
pressure, temperature or physical/chemical reactions during the extraction of oil and gas.
16
14000
TDS
Chlorides
concentration (mg/L)
12000
Sodium
10000
8000
6000
4000
2000
0
6/20
6/22
6/24
6/26
6/28
6/30
7/2
Fig 2.5, TDS, chloride and sodium change over time in Wattenberg field, 2012
conductivity (S/cm)
250000
200000
150000
100000
50000
0
0
50000
100000
150000
200000
250000
flow volume (bbl)
Fig 2.6, Conductivity change with produced flow volume at Marcellus shale (20,000 intervals)32
Conductivity is a reflection of TDS, and both figures (figure 2.5 and figure 2.6) showed
increasing trends either with the increasing of well production time or the water production
volume.
17
Salts
Salinity is one of the most concerning aqueous constituents of either conventional or

unconventional oil and gas produced water. Dissolved solid concentration of produced water,
which can represent the salinity, may range from a few parts per thousand to the saturated level,
and most produced water, especially shale gas produced water, has greater salinity than seawater,
probably as a result of the water flowing through semipermeable shale units. Similar to seawater,
produced water is usually dominated by sodium and chloride but at much greater levels than
seawater, due to the evaporation of seawater in the formation reservoir. The other major ions
present in produced water are calcium, magnesium, potassium and bicarbonate. In most cases of
produced water quality studies, there is much more calcium than magnesium because of the
exchange of calcium and magnesium during the process of dolomitization,
(
and the activity ratio of magnesium to calcium decreases with the increase of reservoir
temperature.
The concentration of sulfate and carbonate are low in most produced water, which allows the
presence of a relatively high concentration of barium and strontium. Barium and strontium
originate from the interaction of formation water with different types of rocks. For example, the
typical mass concentration of strontium is 600 mg/kg in limestone, 20mg/kg in sandstone and
300 mg/kg in shale; while average barium mass concentration is 10 mg/kg in limestone and 580
mg/kg in shale.33 Other ions such as phosphate, nitrite, ammonium and sulfide concentrations are
usually low, but in some produced waters are at elevated concentrations. 34
18
Metals
Metals present in produced water are in the form of dissolved ions or particles. Some studies
have found that produced waters tend to contain zinc (Zn), lead (Pb), manganese (Mn), iron (Fe)
and barium (Ba) at concentrations widely exceeding the norms specified in regulations. Other
well-known heavy metal pollutants like cadmium, chromium, nickel, vanadium and copper
exhibit only low amounts, which are less than the defined standards. 35 The metal contents
reported vary, but they are often dominated by barium and iron.
Organics
Some studies show that the dissolved hydrocarbons are dominated by the volatile aromatic
fraction of the oil, namely benzene, toluene, ethyl-benzene and xylene (BTEX). The polynuclear
aromatic
hydrocarbons
(PAHs)
are
dominated
by
naphthalene,
phenanthrene
and
dibenzothiophene (NPD) and their C1-C3 alkyl homologues, but also compounds with higher
molecular weight are reported, such as chrysene and benzo(a)pyrene. The phenols reported may
be alkylated up to C7. For most fields, the organic acids are reported to be dominated by C1-C6
acids.
To determine the effect that various drilling conditions might have on water-soluble organic
(WSO) content in produced water, Bostick37 used a simulated brine containing the major
inorganic compounds found in the Gulf of Mexico and contacted this water with crude oil to
investigate the effects of aqueous physical parameters, such as water cut, pH of produced water,
19
salinity, pressure, temperature, the type of crude oil sources and content of the water soluble
organics in produced water. 36 They characterized the quantitative properties of the soluble
organics and some inorganics present in the produced water generated by offshore oil wells in
the Gulf of Mexico. Low molecular-weight acids, such as formic, acetic, and propionic were the
most commonly found organic acids. Results showed that pH was the physical parameter that
had the most influence on the concentration of soluble organics, while other parameters such as
salinity, temperature and pressure had little effect on the soluble organics present in the produced
water.
Produced water from conventional oil and gas plays
The U.S. Geological Survey (U.S.G.S.) published an extensive database containing an analysis
of the major ions and total dissolved solids in produced water from conventional oil and gas
wells in mainland U.S.A. They measured TDS, inorganic ions including sodium chloride (76%
of the produced water), sodium bicarbonate, sodium sulfate, magnesium sulfate, magnesium
chloride, arsenic, boron, silica, strontium, and calcium. They also measured total organic
contents, including low molecular-weight aromatic hydrocarbons, such as benzene, ethyl
benzene, toluene, phenol, and xylene, as well as total volatile organics and semi-volatile
organics. TSS was also measured, including total polar compounds, volatile fatty acids, total
recoverable oil and grease, 2-butanone, benzoic acid, bis (2-chlorethyl) ether, hexanoic acid,
methylene chloride, m-xylene, naphthalene, N-decane, N-dodecan, N-hexadecane, Ntetradecane, p-cresol, phenol.37 (Table 2.9 and Table 2.10)
20
Table 2.9, Common inorganic compounds in produced water

Constituent Units Low High
Median
Number of data points considered
TDS
mg/L 1000 400,000 32,300
33,189
Sodium
mg/L ND
150,000 9,400
33,189
Chloride
mg/L ND
250,000 29,000
33,189
Barium
mg/L ND
850
Unknown Unknown
Strontium
mg/L ND
6,250
Unknown Unknown
Sulfate
mg/L ND
15,000 500
33,189
Bicarbonate mg/L ND
15,000 400
33,189
Calcium
mg/L ND
74,000 1,500
33,189
*ND: non-detected (below detection limit); unknown, information was not provided by reference.
Table 2.10, Organic matters in produced water from conventional oil and gas
Constituent
Low High Medium Technique (method)
TOC (mg/L)
ND
1,700 unknown UV Oxidation/IR (EPA 415.1)
TSS (mg/L)
1.2
1,000 unknown Gravimetric (EPA 160.2)
Total volatile organics (mg/L)
0.39 35
unknown GC/MS (EPA 1624 Rev B and EPA 24&
CLP) column/IR
Total polar compounds (mg/L)
9.7
600
unknown Florisil
Volatile fatty acids (mg/L)
2
4,900 unknown Direct GC/FID of water
Total recoverable oil and grease
6.90 210.0 39.8
Unknown
(mg/L) (mg/L)
Benzene
ND
27
10
EPA Method 1624 and 624
Ethyl Benzene (mg/L)
ND
19
1.8
Toluene (mg/L)
ND
37
9.7
m-xylene (mg/L)
0.015 0.611 0.137
Unknown
Methylene chloride (mg/L)
1.41 1.71 0.179
Unknown
*ND: non-detected (below detection limit); unknown, information was not provided by reference.
Produced water from gas production has higher concentrations of TDS, low molecular-weight
aromatic hydrocarbons (such as benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene) and heavy metal
(such as iron, magnesium and barium) components than produced water from oil sites. 38
21
Table 2.11, Conventional produced water quality from a natural gas well
Analytes
pH
Conductivity
TDS
Total hardness
Alkalinity
Conc.
8.450.22 10,551934
5,520718
12423 mg/L as 23520 mg/L
Cations
Al
B
Ba
Ca
K
Mg
Na
Si
Sr
S/cm 2.00.5 29.55.3
mg/L 6.91.1 CaCO
CaCO3
3
Conc.
0.110.21 3.80.3
11.11.9
2250327 as 2.70.6
Anions
Cl
Br
I
(mg/L)
Conc.
3,306854
5117
508
Organics
DOC
UVA-254
Oil and grease
Specific UVA
(mg/L)
(mg/L)
Conc.
1.750.20 mg/L 10.04.3 mg/L
0.700.41 mg/L
4.00.45 L /(m mg)
Concentration of total dissolved solids (TDS) of natural gas produced water is almost 400
times greater than the oil produced water. TDS in produced water is mainly attributed to the
solids in the formation water. The possible reason could be that gas can be dissolved in water
much faster and more easily than oil can, so more solids, most of which are metals in the form of
cations, combine with the gas and dissolve in the natural gas produced water than in the oil
produced water, thus causing a high level of TDS. Meanwhile, since the formation process and
extraction of natural gas is usually associated with water, and interplays between natural gas,
formations, and water would be more notable than those between oil and water, gas produced
water may dissolve more solids than oil produced water. Additionally, formations with high
temperature will result in formation water with high concentrations of dissolved solids because
increased temperature leads to increased solubility, thereby causing more solids to be dissolved
in the produced water.
Produced water from unconventional oil and gas
22
In contrast to conventional oil and gas wells, the produced water from unconventional oil and
gas wells comes in large volumes in the early stages of production. Water quality varies by
formation types, such as tight sand, coal-bed methane or shale.
Table 2.12, Typical produced water qualities for conventional natural gas produced water (NGPWs),
conventional oil PWs (OPWs) and shale gas PWs (SGPWs)39
Constituents
NGPWs (mg/L)
Min
Max
pH
3.1
7
Conductivity (S/cm) 4,200 586,000
Alkalinity
0
285
Nitrate
Phosphate
Sulfate
1.0
47
Oil and Grease
2.3
60
Ra226 (pCi/g)
HCO3
Al
0.4
83
B
ND
58
Ba
0.091 17
Br
0.038 349
Ca
ND
51,300
Cl
1400 190,000
Cu
0.02 5
F
Fe
ND
1,100
K
0.458 669.9
Li
0.038 64
Mg
0.9
4300
Mn
0.45 6.5
Na
520
120,000
Sr
0.084 917
Zn
0.02 5
*ND: non-detected (below detect limit)
OPWs (mg/L)
Min Max
5.18 8.9
838 1469
300 380
1
2
8
0.1
15
13,686
92
9.7
3501
0.06
SGPWs (mg/L)
Min
Max
1.21 8.36
3,000 350,000
160
188
ND
2,670
ND
5.3
ND
3,663
0.65
ND
ND
0.12
0.07 7.4
ND
ND
4
52,920 0.65
36
238,534 48.9
0.33 2.68
ND
ND
0.1 0.5
ND
1.6 42.6
0.21
ND
2
5.96
1.08
1.4 8.1
ND
405 126755 10.04
0.05 2.2
0.03
6.3 17.4
ND
1.031
4,000
5,290
24
4370
10600
83,950
212,700
15
33
2,838
5,490
611
25,340
96.5
204,302
1,310
20
Shale gas produced water has a wide range of pH from 1 to 9, while typical produced water
from conventional gas production is acid. Gas produced brine has greater TDS than oil produced
water, and produced water from shale plays has even higher TDS than conventional gas
23
produced water. Low concentrations of sulfate in the shale gas produced water compared with oil
produced water and conventional gas produced water allow for relatively high concentrations of
dissolved barium, magnesium, strontium and iron. High total alkalinity as well as minimal
precipitation can mostly be attributed to the high concentration of bicarbonate present in shale
gas produced water, and due to the pH, a low concentration of carbonate ions appear in shale gas
produced water.
2.4 Produced Water Impact
As the development of drilling and fracturing in areas which are not traditional oil or gas
production fields increases, companies involved in the development of shale gas exploration are
being required to use environmentally friendly drilling and hydraulic fracturing, which involves
reusing a larger amount of produced water, reducing methane emissions, and using green
fracture fluids.
The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that 149 million barrels of drilling wastes,
17.9 billion barrels of produced water and 20.6 million barrels of other associated wastes were
generated in 1995 from exploration and production (E&P) operations. Almost 99% of the U.S.
E&P waste volume is produced water.40
In the process of hydraulic fracturing, treatments which are used to stimulate gas production
from shale have raised environmental concerns over excessive water consumption, drinking
water well contamination, and surface water contamination from both drilling activities and
fracture fluid disposal.41
24
One of the major issues associated with hydraulic fracturing is the returning water
containing clays, chemical additives, dissolved metal ions and total dissolved solids (TDS).
Along with the introduced chemicals, hydro-frac water is in close contact with the rock during
the course of the stimulation treatment, and when recovered may contain a variety of formation
material, including brines, heavy metals, radio nuclides, and organics that can make wastewater
treatment difficult and expensive. The formation brines often contain relatively high
concentrations of sodium, chloride, bromide, and other inorganic constituents, such as arsenic,
barium, other heavy metals, and radio nuclides that significantly exceed drinking water
standards. Meanwhile, produced water from gas production has higher contents of low
molecular-weight aromatic hydrocarbons, such as benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene
(BTEX), and they are more toxic than those from oil operations.42
A drop in temperature and pressure would release these dissolved gases into the atmosphere as
water is flowing to the wellhead with the extraction of oil and gas. BTEX are a group of more
toxic gases than carbon dioxide, and they contribute to the greenhouse effect. Therefore,
releasing them would become one of the more serious environmental concerns of the shale gas
industry.
2.5 Water Management
The management of produced water presents many challenges and can pose significant costs
to operators. Current techniques for produced water management include several methods such
as underground injection either for increasing recovery or disposal, produced water treatment
and discharge, evaporation, reuse and beneficial use.
25
Especially for water-parched areas, the large quantities of water consumed during hydraulic
fracturing could make shale gas production economically unsustainable as injected water during
hydraulic fracturing containing lots of chemicals would contaminate the underground water. The
large volumes of flowback water and produced water which are released with shale gas
production can pollute the groundwater and surface water if not treated properly (see figure 2.7).
Fig 2.7, Image of water injection 43
Water is injected into target formations through injection wells and spread throughout the
nearby areas.
Produced water is currently trucked from wells to central treatment facilities and injection
wells, and this transportation cost will be a significant part of the entire disposal cost. Hence,
optimizing water management to reduce the environmental and economic impacts of produced
26
and flowback water and finding the best practical strategies for water is essential if shale gas
production is to remain economical and sustainable.
Table 2.13, Water disposal options by gas basin
Shale play
Barnett
Fayetteville
Haynesville
Marcellus
Class UIC
Local
Distant
Local
Limited/exploring
Water treatment
No
Evaluating
No
Yes
Reuse
Yes
Evaluating
No
Evaluating
Produced water reuse is taking place in Barnett shale play while this process is under
evaluation for Fayetteville and Marcellus. Currently, approximately 230,000 gallons of produced
water is reused in the Barnett shale play, which makes up to 6% of total water needed to
hydraulically fracture a new well, and therefore less water (concentrated brine) is injected into
the injection well onsite.44
Typically, the primary water management practice is to re-inject produced water.This process
uses saltwater disposal wells to return the water underground into porous rock formations similar
to those from which it came. These formations are separated from treatable groundwater by
thousands of feet of multiple layers of impermeable rock. However, underground injection of
produced water is not always possible, as suitable injection zones may not be available. In those
cases, produced water can be managed through reuse (filtration and blending), advanced process
recycling (chemical treatment followed by distillation), and waste reduction (via evaporation) or
processed through water treatment facilities. Most of the produced water is re-injected for
disposal; more than 50% of this produced brine can be reused in subsequent well fractures. As
much as 24% can be recovered as fresh water for beneficial use.
According to APIs 1995 study, approximately 92% of all produced water generated was
being re-injected underground. 71% of this produced water was injected for enhanced recovery,
27
and 21% was injected for disposal. The remaining 5% of produced water volume was either
treated and discharged or beneficially used. For the last 3% of the produced water, percolation
and evaporation ponds were the identified method of disposal. 45
In 2007, on the other hand, nearly 95.2% - 98%, or more of produced water was re-injected,
with about 55% injected to maintain formation pressure and increase the output of production
wells, and the other 40% injected for disposal. The remaining 2-4.4% of the produced water was
managed through evaporation ponds, offsite commercial disposal, beneficial reclamation and
other methods. 46
Class UIC wells are the primary means for management of produced water from shale gas.
In areas new to O&G development, commercial UIC wells may not yet be available. Some areas
(e.g. Marcellus Shale play) are geologically challenged with limited available injection zones.
Beneficial reuse of produced water is to use this renovated water for irrigation, livestock water
and industry water use (i.e. well drilling, hydraulic fracturing, pressure sustaining and secondary
oil recovery). Table 2.14 lists the water quality criteria for drinking, irrigation and livestock.
Table 2.14, Typical values for produced water quality compared to some criteria47
parameter
End use criteria (ppm)
CBM water
Non-CBM
Drinking Irrigation Livestock
(conventional gas well) Water
pH
6.5-8
6.5-8
7-8
6.5-8
TDS, mg/L
500
2,000
5,000
4,000-20,000* 20,000-100,000
Benzene, ppb 5
5
5
<100
1,000-4,000
SAR*
1.5-5
6
5-8
Highly varied Highly varied
Na+, mg/L
200
See SAR 2,000
500-2000
6,000-35,000
Barium, mg/L
0.01-0.1
0.1-40
Cl-, mg/L
250
1,500
1,000-2,000
13,000-65,000
HCO3 , mg/L 150-2000
2,000-10,000
*total dissolved solid (TDS) range estimated for the lower 50 percentile
**SAR=sodium absorption ration a function of a ratio of Na to Ca and Mg level
Beneficial reuse for drinking has the most critical standard of water quality followed by use
for irrigation, livestock and CBM (coal-bed methane) water, while for conventional gas wells,
28
standards of water quality are much lower compared with livestock and other produced water
reuse methods. Taking cost into consideration, reuse produced water for gas (or oil) well water
would be both economically beneficial and feasible.
Well head generation makes the resource available on site, lowering transportation and
trucking costs. Therefore, the market for treating produced water on site to meet water quality
standards for use makes economic sense.
Fig 2.8, Range of applicability vs. cost
Capital cost of treatment for reuse of produced water will depend largely upon water quality
(mainly TDS) (shown in figure 2.8). For produced water with high TDS, more than 260,000
mg/L, treatment for reuse will not be recommended due to its elevated cost (also shown in table
2.17).
Water used for fracturing (frac water) is usually fresh water containing low salt concentrations
and low concentrations of soluble salt products such as barium and silica. Lower concentrations
of soluble salts is an important consideration because precipitation of these salts in the formation
29
would block fractures and lower formation permeability. Treated produced water used to
supplement water quantities for hydraulic fracturing lowers the use of fresh water sources for
well development and creates a more sustainable water use cycle within the well drilling
operation.
2.6 Produced Water Treatment
Produced water always contains high concentrations of TDS, metal ions as well as oil and
grease. To ensure the injected produced water is confined in the injection zone in a manner that
does not contaminate the water bearing geologic formation, produced water needs to be treated
before injection. Therefore, to meet the UIC and RCRA (Resource Conservation and Recovery
Act) regulations, removal of TDS, TOC, oil/grease, hardness, and metal ions (including
ammonia and boron) are the main treatment goals. Table 2.15 shows the unit processes and their
application to produced water treatment.
Table 2.15, Unit processes and their application to produced water treatment
Treatment method
APT separator
Deep bed filter
Hydroclone
Induced gas flotation
Ultra-filtration
Sand filtration
Aeration &
sedimentation
Precipitation Softening
Ion exchange
Biological treatment
Activated carbon
Reverse osmosis
Deoilin
g
Suspend
solids
removal
Iron
removal
Ca & Mg
removal
softening
Soluble
organic
removal
Trace
organics
removal
Desalination
& Brine
volume red
Adjustment
of SAR
Silicate &
Boron
removal
Distillation
Freeze thaw evaporation
Electrodialysis
Chemical addition
30
= indicates that the technology is applicable as a potential remedy as indicated by data collected from
pilot or commercial scale units.
In addition to reinjection, some shale gas plays are trying to reuse the produced water. In the
Barnett shale play, along with some traditional water sources (ground water, surface water and
public water supplies), some new sources of water are being applied, like the treated waste water
from municipal treatment plants and recycled water from hydraulic fracturing processes. (Figure
2.9)
To increase the number and types of water sources, it was planned that at least 30% of the
total Chesapeake Barnett Shale water would come from treated waste water from water treatment
facilities, totally 1.25 million gallons per day, and that up to 80% of the used water recovered
over the life of the well could be recycled through municipal water treatment facilities.
Fig 2.9, Barnett Shale play brine desalination process
To meet water reuse requirements, the produced brine water will go through serial treatment
facilities, hydrocyclones, filters, reverse osmosis (RO) membranes and the RO post treatment.
31
Table 2.16, Treatment efficiency and characteristics of the raw water
Constituent
Alkalinity, as CaCO3
Bicarbonate
Carbonate
Hydroxide
Conductivity
Magnesium
Silicon
Calcium
Potassium
Sodium
Boron
Silica
pH
Total Dissolved Solids
Raw feed
188
230
<1.2
<1
33000
73
78
1055
124
11570
87
1664
6.1
38300
RO filter
34
41
1
1
2270
1
2
23
5
416
34
4
7
1291
Removal Rate
82%
81%
n/d
n/d
93%
99%
97%
98%
96%
96%
61%
99%
97%
RO treatment cost of Barnett Shale play is less than the cost of oil field produced water, which
indicates the feasibility of RO membrane treatment to treat gas well produced water.
Table 2.17, Representative power costs of desalination of oil field brine
Salinity of feed brine,
TDS (mg/L)
Contaminated surface water,
1,500 TDS
Gas well produced water,
3,600 TDS
Oil well produced brine,
50,000 TDS
Gas well produced brine,
35,000 TDS
Power costs Kw Hr per 1,000 gal. Permeate

Pre-treatment RO desalination Operating cost,
Operating cost,
$ per 1,000 gal
$ per bbl
$0.65
$1.25
$1.90
$0.08
$2.5
$2.00
$4.5
$0.19
$2.20
$6.00
$8.20
$0.34
$2.00 (est.)
$4.2 (est.)
$6.20 (est.)
$0.26
The cost of produced water reuse is much higher than treating contaminated surface water,
because the high TDS present in the produced water makes the membrane treatment procedure
cost more. Pre-treatment costs are almost the same for produced waters with different TDS
concentrations, while RO desalination costs and operation costs are positively related to TDS
32
concentration. Therefore, the higher the TDS concentration in the produced water, the higher the
cost of produced water reuse will be.
2.7 Oil and gas production history in Wattenberg Field
Wattenberg field, located in northeast Colorado, is one of the largest natural gas deposits in
the United States. (Figure 2.10) 48 It has been the site of conventional petroleum production for
over forty years (since 1970), but recently it has become known for natural gas extraction and
production.
Fig 2.10, Top U.S. gas fields by 2009 gas production49
In Wattenberg basin, which is located in the Denver DJ basin, the average depth of wells is
between 7,000 and 8,000 feet.
50
33
Wattenberg field has a long history of producing oil and gas, beginning four decades ago in
1970. At first, petroleum companies started producing oil from the D-J sandstone formation
mainly in Weld County, located northeast of Denver, but recently more and more wells have
been drilled to extract natural gas. It was estimated that 1.6-2.4 trillion cubic feet of natural gas
could be extracted from Wattenberg field at a time when energy companies could only use
conventional approaches from relatively high permeability formations. However, due to the
development of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing technologies, unconventional natural
gas is becoming the major form of gas production in Wattenberg field, including shale gas and
tight sandstone. Approximately 5.2 trillion cubic feet of natural gas are stored in the deep
formations in Wattenberg filed, which is equivalent to one year of Americas homes gas
supply.51 Production of oil and gas has been increasing in the Wattenberg area (see figure 2.11).
Fig 2.11, Oil and gas production for greater Wattenberg field from 1999 to 2010
We applied the Public Land Survey System (PLSS) to subdivide and describe the land in
Wattenberg field. Wattenberg field was subdivided by this rectangular system of survey, named
townships, each of which is approximately a 6-square mile rectangle containing 36 sections52
(shown in figure 2.12). Each township is identified with a township and range designation.
34
Township designations indicate the location north or south of the baseline, and range
designations indicate the location east or west of the Principal Meridian.
Fig 2.12, Wattenberg field divided by townships
Wattenberg field takes up an area of about 50 square miles from townships 2S to 7N, ranges
61W to 59W. However, in this study, the wells in Wattenberg field belonging to Noble Energy
are located mainly within the rectangular area from townships 7N to 2S and range from 62W
to 69W.
35
Fig 2.13, Productive Areas-Great Wattenberg Area, 2005
Fig 2.14, Noble well density in Wattenberg
Production activities in greater Wattenberg field in 2005 are shown in Figure 2.1353 and Noble
producing oil/gas wells are shown in Figure 2.14. Previous oil and natural gas production from
Wattenberg field has come from the J-Sand, a 1.3-Tcf reservoir with some 30 million bbl of
condensate in reserves. Typically, operators have produced from the Codell and Niobrara
formations together using bridge plugs to separate fracture treatments. Because payout often was
questionable from these zones, they got a late start.
2.8 Research Objectives
Water produced during oil and gas extraction comprises the most important part of the waste
with respect to volume, and this produced water can be considered a potential benefit stream for
the industry. Well drilling and completion operations require a large amount of fresh water, and
this demand can be satisfied by reusing/recycling produced water. Since limited water is
available in most of Colorado, supply and management of this resource is an essential issue for
36
the Wattenberg field located in the northeast part of the state. Reclaimed water can be used for
agriculture, hydraulic fracturing or surface water augmentation, but the treatment processing
required will vary widely depending on the quality of the water. Also, since geological
characteristics of the formations have a range of spatially diverse characteristics, produced water
properties can vary significantly throughout the field. To assure appropriate treatment plant
design throughout the region of interest, it is necessary to understand the spatial distribution of
produced water characteristics. In our study, produced water will be sampled and tested, and
water chemical data will be collected at individual wellheads. Geographic Information Systems
(GIS) modeling will be utilized to make spatial analyses of produced water quality and create
several data layers, such as the key water parameter layer and the scaling potential index. The
primary objectives of the study are:
1. Design data and sample collection plan to effectively model water quality in the Wattenberg
field.
2. Collect water samples from oil and gas wells in the Wattenberg field and analyze samples
for determined set of quality parameters.
3. Determine spatial variability of key water quality parameters using GIS tools.
37
Chapter 3 Methods and materials
The assessment of produced water quality for the Wattenberg field was conducted in four
phases:
(1) field work and sampling
(2) water sample analysis
(3) statistical and spatial analysis overview of produced water data
(4) development of spatial prediction methods
3.1 Water Sampling
Sampling Sites
The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) has posted yearly and
monthly production reports with the first production dates for oil and gas wells from 1999 to
2011 on its official website, and the following analysis is based on these reports. Also, Noble
Energy Company provided significant amounts of data.
Wells are identified mainly by their first production year, but information about each well is
combined with oil/gas/water production data. If there is no production data of oil or gas before
the first production date for a well, this well is defined as new in this year. On the other hand, if
there is production data before the first production date, then we consider this well as a refracturing well of this year.
38
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
8000
8000
horizontal wells
7000
7355
vertical wells
6803
total wells
6000
5862
5000
7000
6000
5000
4309
4000
4558
3768
3306
3000
4000
3000
2000
2000
1000
1000
113
127
122
174
118
123
0
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Fig 3.1, Number of new drilled wells by year
The number of wells drilled in the year from 1999 to 2011 is shown in figure 3.1. In the period
from 1999 to 2004, newly drilled wells were less than 120 per each year. A great expansion of
drilling occurred in 2005. Only 123 wells were drilled in 2004, but 3,306 were drilled in 2005,
and the number of wells drilled continued to increase from 2005 till 2011. All the wells drilled
before 2011 are vertical wells and in 2011, Noble Energy Inc. began to drill horizontal wells.
There is little information available about wells drilled or produced before the year 1999, such as
produced water volume and production formation. Since most of these wells are no longer
producing oil and gas, our target shale oil and gas wells are the producing wells drilled after
1999, or the wells drilled from 2000 to 2011. Figure 3.1 shows the number of wells drilled from
1999 to 2011 and total number of wells drilled by Noble Energy Inc., for each year. The number
of newly drilled shale oil and gas wells has increased over time (from 1999 to 2011), which is
39
due to the development of shale oil and gas production. There was a huge jump in 2005, when
over 3000 wells were drilled as compared with the 123 wells drilled in 2004. According to the
drilling and fracture information offered by Noble Energy Inc. and COGCC (Colorado Oil and
Gas Conservation Commission, http://cogcc.state.co.us/), the major wells drilled before 2011
were vertical wells, but in the year 2011, a total of 115 horizontal wells (green column in figure
3.1) were drilled, and this number is projected to increase in future years. With more shale oil
and gas wells being drilled, especially horizontal wells which produce a great amount of
produced water, more produced water will be generated and therefore, it is of great importance to
investigate the water quality characteristics and find the best-practice method to treat these
produced waters.
Since limited water quality data is available for previous years and even no water quality data
for some old wells, it is hard to use existing data to make a statistical analysis. Compared with
the wells drilled before 2000, wells drilled after 2000 have more valid information about
produced water. For this reason, we decided to collect water samples from wells drilled during
the 12-year period from 2000 to 2011.
An equal number of water samples were taken for each year from 2000 to 2011 to make a
temporal trend analysis of produced water qualities. For example, if a total of 120 samples were
taken, we would have randomly selected 10 wells for the year 2000, 10 wells for 2001, and so
forth.
Another factor which impacts the water qualities and characteristics is the production
formation characteristic. According to the production data from COGCC, Niobrara chalk
formation, Codell formation, J Sandstone, D Sandstone and Sussex formation are the top five
active producing formations in the Wattenberg field of Denver Bain (shown in figure 3.254).
40
180
786
Sussex/Shannon
1302
Codell/Niobrara
D Sandstone
J Sandstone
other
1524
220
Fig 3.2, Accumulative production activity of major formations, 2005
41
Due to the different characteristics of formations (e.g. organic content, permeability), the
constituents of produced water will be different. J sandstone formation covers 600,000 acres at
depths from 7,600 feet to 8,400 feet (2,318 m to 2,562 m). The tight sand has porosity between
8% and 12% with permeability between 0.05 mD and 0.005 mD. The Codell-Niobrara
combination is about 400 feet (122 m) shallower.
Depths of producing wells in Wattenberg field of Noble Energy Inc. until 2011 were between
6800-8500 feet. Hence, most wells produced oil, gas and water coming from multiple intervals,
so produced waters were a mixture of formation water from multiple intervals (see figure 3.3).
Though it is impossible to take produced water samples from only one particular formation,
since all the Noble wells studied were producing oil and gas from both Niobrara-Codell interval
and J Sandstone, we assumed that the formation geological characteristics had similar effects on
all the produced waters to be sampled.
42
Fig 3.3, Typical depth of major oil/gas producing formations
It is well known that some water exists in the dissolved phase in gas in the reservoirs. The
pressure and temperature of the formation along with the geological properties of formation
rocks determine water volume as well as water quality. Table 3.1 shows the average depth,
temperature and pressure of the Niobrara-Codell interval and typical water content in this
reservoir. Also, water dissolved in gas will increase with the increasing of temperature and
pressure.
Table 3.1, Depth, pressure and temperature of Niobrara-Codell interval and estimates of water released in
Wattenberg field
Reservoir
Average Temperat Pressure
Solubility of
Water
Water released
depth
ure (F)
(psi)
(ft)
water in gas
retained
at seperator
(1b/mmcf)
(1b/mmcf)
bbl/mmcf
480
33
1.25
Niobrara7,091
240
4,254
Codell
43
*1b/mmcf=pounds of water/million cubic feet of gas
Fig 3.4, Map of sampled wells
Wells were selected randomly by ArcGIS 10.0. Geographic information of the sampled wells
is shown in figure 3.4 with three-dimension images and a two-dimension map. Both the
boundary in the 2D map and the light pink area in the 3D image represent Wattenberg field as
defined by COGCC.
All the producing wells are classified by the first production year regardless of whether they
are new or re-fracturing wells, and the produced water quality, in terms of TDS, pH or calcium is
44
presented for each year. Therefore, any changes in produced water quality for different years will
be available. Wells selected for sampling are listed in Appendix 1.
Field Sampling Schedule
According to Appendix 2, for the analyses test, including anions (carbonate/bicarbonate,

sulfate and chloride), alkalinity, TDS and TOC, the minimum size of sample will be 500 mL; for
the analyses of the Tier 3 test, including cations (calcium, magnesium, barium, iron, potassium
and sodium), the minimum size of sample will also be 500 mL.
As recommended by US EPA sample collection and preservation, two 500 mL plastic (HDPE)
bottles of produced water were collected at each well site. One 500 mL bottle of sample water
was shipped to the certified lab to measure trace metals (Tier 3), and the other 500 mL bottle of
produced water was used for tests of anions, organic, and other water parameters (Tier 2) at the
CSU Environmental Engineering labs. Samples were refrigerated until the analysis and filtered
through a 0.45-m filter before the test (Standard Method 3005).
Sample well sites can be located via GPS by longitude and latitude. The water test worksheet
format is shown in Appendix 3 and Appendix 4.
All the produced water samples were collected from separator tanks. (Figure 3.5) Oil, gas and
water were separated in these separators due to their different density. Water and oil present in
the liquid phase, and water settles at the bottom of the separator tank, with oil on top of the
water. Gas exists in the gas phase, and it is transported to the central collection site by pipelines.
45
Fig 3.5, Separator tank (separator) and field water sampling
But in the field, some separators were hard to find because they were not located at the well
heads and we lacked the actual locations of the separators. In addition, water side valves on some
separators were corroded and therefore very difficult to open, so finally we collected 66 samples
rather than the 90 samples we had planned. The following results and discussions will be based
on these 66 samples.
46
3.2 Water sample analyses
3.2.1 Water quality test parameters
The objectives for reuse treatment include: petroleum hydrocarbons removal, friction reducers
and other polymer additives removal, inorganic scale forming compounds removal, and bacteria
disinfection. In reusing produced water and fracturing flowback, one of the most critical issues is
the potential of decreasing or failure of well performance caused by excessive amounts of some
chemicals and bacteria.
Heavy metal compounds could adhere to well holes, producing pipes, or other surface
facilities causing scaling. Oil and gas scales are hard mineral compounds that precipitate from
brine solution and may adhere to solid surfaces in the reservoir, production tubing, or surface
facilities. Scale accumulation will constrict fluid flow, limit production, and possibly cause
damage to downhole equipment, such as electrical submersible pumps (ESPs). Safety may be
compromised by scale deposition in subsea safety valves, and some scales constitute a health
hazard, because they are naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) that may be
expensive and dangerous to remove and dispose of.
Table 3.2, Water quality vs fracturing performance
Concern
Water Parameter
Impact
Friction reducer
effectiveness
Scaling
Multivalent Ions
CaCO3, CaSO4, BaSO4, SrSO4, FeSO4
(Fe,
Ca, Mg, Ba, Sr)
FeCO3
Sulfate reducing bacteria
Can impair effectiveness and drive up horsepower

costs
Equipment
and line fouling, loss of formation
permeability
Sour formation (H2S) safety
Iron
(Fe)(High TDS, chlorides)
Salinity
Sand, silts, clays, scale particles
Formation plugging (Iron oxides)
Bacteria
Metals
Suspended solids
47
Formation damage, loss of permeability
Table 3.2 shows the various dangerous impacts of chemicals. Scaling, oxidized metal
compounds and solids cause plugging and fouling. Among these actors, metal ions and scale
anions (sulfate and carbonate) are the primary chemicals which can have side effects on well
performance. Wellbores or pipes can be plugged by sediments due to the precipitation taking
place when barium sulfate, calcium sulfate, or calcium carbonate is present.55
The chemical conditions of different types of brine cause the various precipitations. Table 3.3
lists some common scale-forming compounds and reasons which cause these scales in the oil and
gas plays.56 The top three common kinds of well scaling in the oil and gas industry are calcite
(CaCO3), calcium sulfate (CaSO4) and barite (BaSO4).57
Table 3.3, Common oilfield scales
Name
Chemical formula
Primary variables
Calcium carbonate
Partial pressure of CO2, temperature, total dissolved salts,

pH
Calcium sulfate:
Temperature, total dissolved salts, pressure
Gypsum
Hemihydrate
Anhydrite
Barium sulfate
Temperature, pressure
Strontium sulfate
Temperature, pressure, total dissolved salts
Iron compounds:
Corrosion, dissolved gases, pH
Ferrous carbonate
Ferrous sulfide
Ferrous hydroxide
48
Scale and precipitation occur not only in the equipment and facilities, such as pumps, tubing,
flow lines and pipes, but also in the formation. Impairment of permeability of oil and gas bearing
formations is also due to scale formation.
The premise of scaling is that water must be supersaturated, which means ions dissolved in
water have exceeded what is thermodynamically possible; as a result, salts begin to precipitate.
Super saturation can occur in many ways either by changes in environmental conditions (pH,
temperature and pressure), or a mixture of two incompatible waters. pH, temperature and
pressure are the main factors affecting solubility, and super saturation levels are different under
various pH, temperature and pressure conditions, up to orders of magnitude differences. For
instance, blending of injected seawater, which is rich in sulfate ions, and reservoir water, which
contains a lot of divalent cations, such as calcium, barium and strontium, would lead to metalsulfate precipitation. Scale potentials are reported as saturation level (degree of super saturation).
Table 3.4 describes the ratio of the observed water chemistry to the water chemistry at
equilibrium, for the reactants involved.
Table 3.4, Scale forming salts list
Salt
Calcium carbonate (CaCO3)
Calcium fluoride (CaF2)
Calcium orthophosphate (CaHPO4)
Calcium sulfate (CaSO4)
Strontium sulfate (SrO4)
Barium sulfate (BaSO4)
Silica, amorphous (SiO2)
Saturation concentration, mg/L

8
29
68
680
146
3
120
During the drilling process, high pressure is applied to create fractures, but this pressure
increase will also drive the immigration of solids towards the wellbore causing some nearby
areas to get clogged by those mud solids.
In addition, temperature and pressure changes

49
occurring during oil and gas production leads to a large gradient of pressure and temperature
near the wellbore and surface, under which conditions precipitation will take place.
Two types of scaling occurring during oil and gas operations are carbonate scale and sulfate
scale. Typical carbonate scale is carbonate calcium, and it is sometimes accompanied by iron
carbonate.
Carbon dioxide dissolved in water will be present as three terms, dissolved CO2 gas,
carbonate, and bicarbonate. Carbonate combined with calcium, iron or other metal ions will
form scales. Usually carbonate scale is influenced largely by pH, temperature and pressure. For
example, calcite scale formation (CaCO3) is usually a result of the pressure drop during gas and
oil production. Because this pressure drop removes the carbon dioxide from the solution, the pH
of the solution will increase and cause calcite precipitation. Also, a secondary consequence of the
pressure drop is that the solubility of the calcite goes down with the decrease in pressure. 58
Deposition of calcium carbonate could also be the result of the combination of calcium and
bicarbonate, which is one major cause of scale in oilfield operations.59
(
Also, an increase of pH and temperature results in less calcium carbonate dissolved in water,
which means that more calcite will precipitate under high pH and high temperature.
Another major scale-forming compound is sulfate salt, including CaSO4, BaSO4 and SrSO4.
These sulfate salts tend to precipitate under high temperature, with the exception of barium
sulfate, which shows the opposite trend. High pressure will dissolve more salts than a low
pressure solution.60
50
Solubility of sulfate salts and calcium carbonate can be estimated and scale potential can also
be predicted. Calcium carbonate scale potential indices calculated are based upon the most
accurate estimate of the carbonate species distribution. The results are reliable even in the
presence of free hydroxide alkalinity and high silica levels.
Fig 3.6, Scale deposition locations in offshore injection well 61
Figure 3.6 gives the possible locations in which precipitation could be taking place in an
offshore injection well. It is an illustration of which places are the most likely to have scaling
issues throughout the whole operation system and the probable reasons for the scale. Usually,
precipitations happen in places where two distinct waters meet (locations a, c, d, e, f, g, h, I, j,
and k) or temperature/pressure changes (locations b, e, h and k). The locations in an onshore oil
and gas well and production system which are at highest risk for having the most scaling
potential will be the same as those shown in figure 3.6.
51
Hence, in order to prevent well scaling and plugging and to ensure that the reused water
performs well during the hydraulic fracturing, metal cations (scaling-form metals) should be
measured before treatment, including calcium, magnesium, barium, iron and strontium. In
addition, anions, such as sulfate and carbonate/bicarbonate, which would combine with these
cations to create scale, also need to be analyzed. Integrated information about metal ions and
scale anions will provide basic knowledge of the scale potential of certain produced water.
High TDS increases friction in the hydraulic fracturing process, and high solids can plug wells
and decrease biocide effectiveness. Iron oxide will also cause plugging.
Boron is another water parameter of concern for produced water reuse. Since boron is added
into the fracturing fluid as a cross-link chemical in the hydraulic fracturing process, the
concentration of boron present in the reclaimed water would affect the fracturing crosslinkers
performance. Therefore, boron has also been put into the key parameters list. All the parameters
listed in table 3.5 were the major concerns in this study, and it is important that those water
parameters be measured.
Table 3.5, Water quality test parameters for produced water reusing
Inorganic compounds Organic compounds
Na
Ba
Total Organic Carbon
Ca
Sr
Total Carbon
2Mg HCO3 /CO3
Fe
SO42B
PO43-
3.2.2 Water quality measurements
52
Others
pH
Electric Conductivity (EC)
COD
TDS
Total Nitrogen
Calcium, magnesium, sodium, chloride, alkalinity as CaCO3 (quality insurance and ion
balance requirement) and total dissolved solids (TDS) were measured by a certified laboratory.
Table 3.6, Costs of certified labs in CO
Lab
Metals
City of Fort
Collins, Lab
ACZ Laboratories,
Inc.
Accutest Mountain
States
CO Department of
Public Health and
Envir. Lab.
TDS
Anions
$235
Metals, only
Metals
and
Anions
Metals
&
Anions
&TDS
Metals &
Anions
&TDS
&Volatile
organics
$135
$235
$235
$235
$370
Volatil
e
organi
cs
$43.2
$8.8
$36.8
$123
$43.2
$80
$88.8
$211.8
$70
$12
$67
$125
$70
$137
$149
$274
$114
$15
$80
$100
$114
$194
$209
$309
*Metals include calcium, magnesium, barium, iron, sodium and potassium

*Anions include carbonate/bicarbonate, sulfate, phosphate and chloride
Table 3.6 shows the capital costs charged by four certified labs in state of Colorado having the
certifications to test metals, TDS, anions and organics. Finally, we choose ACZ laboratories Inc.
to do the analysis of calcium, magnesium, barium, strontium, sodium, potassium, chloride,
alkalinity and TDS (shown in table 3.7).
Table 3.7, Water parameters tested in the certified lab, CSU Environmental Engineering lab and on-site
ACZ
CSU lab
On site
Analysis
Na, Ca, Mg, Sr, Ba, B, Cl- ,SO42- , PO43-, TDS, HCO32pH,
Conductivity, TC, TN, TOC,
/CO3Electric
2+
Temperature
Fe Hardness
TDS
Tier 1: produced water temperature was read from thermometers on the separate tanks (figure
3.7) and documented on the worksheet (Appendix 2).
53
Fig 3.7, A thermometer on a separator
Tier 2: all the water samples were brought to Environmental Engineering lab of Colorado
State University and the pH was tested immediately by EPA 150.1 using Fisher Scientific
Accumet AB15 Basic and Bio-Basic pH/mV/C Meter. For the determination of the dissolved
elements, water samples were filtered following standard method 200.7 section 8.2. They were
filtered through a 0.45 m pore diameter membrane filter after the pH test, because filtration
should be tested at the time of collection or as soon thereafter as practically possible. For
dissolved wet chemistry methods (Chloride, Phosphorus, TDS and Sulfate) samples were filtered
through Whatman Glass Microfibre Filters 934-AH.
Dissolved ferrous was tested using HACH method 8146, adapted from standard methods for
the examination of water and wastewater, 15th edition 201 (1980). The 1-10 phenanthroline
indicator in the Ferrous Iron Reagent reacts with ferrous iron (Fe2+) in the sample to form an
orange color in proportion to the iron concentration. Ferric iron (Fe3+) does not react. The ferric
iron concentration can be determined by subtracting the ferrous iron concentration from the
results of a total iron test. Test results are measured at 510 nm by a Model DR/2500 Laboratory
54
Spectrophotometer. The detective range of Fe2+ is 0.02 to 3.00 mg/L with 95% confidence limits
of distribution from 1.98 to 2.02 mg/L.
Total carbon (TC), inorganic carbon (IC), total organic carbon (TOC) and total nitrogen (TN)
was measured by SHIMADZU TOC-VWS/TOC-VWP. TC is first converted to carbon dioxide
heated under UV illumination by adding phosphoric acid and the oxidant (persulfate). The area
of carbon dioxide signal is measured and converted to total carbon concentration using a preprepared calibration curve. Inorganic carbon is first acidified with phosphoric acid and then
heated to carbon dioxide. This carbon dioxide is detected by the NDIR and the sample IC
concentration is measured in the same way as TC. The total organic carbon concentration is the
difference between total carbon and inorganic carbon.
COD was tested using HACH method 8000 (high range plus), adapted from standard methods
5220D. The results in mg/L COD are defined as the milligrams of O2 consumed per liter of
sample under the conditions of this procedure. The sample is heated for two hours with sulfuric
acid and a strong oxidizing agent, potassium dichromate. Oxidizable organic compounds react,
reducing the dichromate ion (Cr2O72) to a green chromic ion (Cr3+). When 20015,000 mg/L
colorimetric method is used, the amount of Cr3+ produced is determined using Model DR/2500
Laboratory Spectrophotometer with a wavelength of 620 nm. The detective range of COD is 200
to 15,000 mg/L with 95% confidence limits of distribution from 7850 to 8150 mg/L.
As EPA suggested, inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) was
used to determine metals and some nonmetals in the solution, following Method 200.7. Chloride
was tested by EPA Method 300.1. Total hardness as CaCO3 was calculated by following equation
(
55
TDS can be measured using EPA 160.1 or Standard Method 2540B. Titration is used to
measure bicarbonate and carbonate concentration, following Standard Method 2320B.
The following table 3.8 and table 3.9 present the analyses that were performed on each
produced water sample and the respective laboratory method suggested by USEPA and Standard
Methods:
Table 3.8, Laboratory analyses and analytical methods suggested by EPA
Analyst
USEPA Methods
Major cations:
Dissolved sodium, calcium, magnesium,
potassium, iron
Major anion:
Chloride, sulfate, carbonate, bicarbonate,
nitrate, nitrite
Dissolved metals:
Arsenic, barium, cadmium, chromium, lead,
selenium, manganese
Fluoride
Bromide
Chloride
EPA Method
6010
Ammonia
Sulfate
pH
Total dissolved solids (TDS)
Total suspended solids (TSS)
Alkalinity
Dissolved methane
Benzene, toluene, ethybenzene, xylenens
(BTEX)
Conductivity
Oil and Grease
Standard
Methods
Method
detection limit
4500- Cl- -B;

HACH titration
method
4500-NH3 D
4500- SO4-2
4500-H* B
2540 B
2540 B
2320 B
10-10,000 mg/L
500-100,000
mg/L
0.03 mg/L
0.1 mg/L
0.01 SU
0.1 mg/L
0.1 mg/L
2 mg/L as
CaCO3
2510 B
0.1 S/cm
-5 mg/L
EPA
300/SM2320B
EPA 353
EPA Method
6010
EPA 300
EPA 300
EPA 150.1
EPA 160.1
RSK 175
SW846 8260B
SM2510B
1664 A
56
Table 3.9, Extended laboratory analytical methods

Parameter
Metals and metalloids
(mg/L)
Methods and Method detection limit (mg/L)

Inductively coupled plasma-atomic emissions spectrometry (ICP-AES):
200.7
Cu
0.005
Fe
0.006
Mg
0.001
Cd
0.003
Zn
0.02
3.3 Produced water quality by U.S.G.S survey
3.3.1 Produced water quality for the United States
To address the environmental concerns caused by produced water, the U.S. Geological Survey
initiated an investigation on produced water quality, which was sampled from the 1960s to the
1980s. Unfortunately, this data does not reflect current water quality.
Although much of the information in this database cannot be examined and checked, and the
sample analysis would not be standardized compared with modern standard water tests, this
database can still provide some tendencies in water constituent differences from different
geological areas. Because of the lack of detailed produced water quality information, this
database with specific ion concentrations (calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, chloride,
bicarbonate and sulfate) and water quality parameters such as TDS and pH in almost every major
oil and gas basin in the United States, can be used as a background tool to understand how
produced water varies in major components and in different geological areas on a large scale.
Also, after real field data of produced water quality for Wattenberg field or maybe for an even
larger area can be acquired, we can make comparisons between this U.S.G.S produced water
57
database and the new database to find out how the chemical and physical attributes of produced
water have changed.
Throughout 34 states in the United States, a total of 58,706 produced water samples from 1921
to 1980 were collected and measured. Water samples without TDS values were eliminated since
TDS is one of the major parameters which impacts produced water quality, choice of treatment
technology, and estimation of operation cost. Finally, a statistical analysis was made based on
the remaining 58,654 pieces of valid data. Ordinary Kriging was used to predict the major water
parameters of concern based on the 53,336 data points provided by the U.S.G.S.
Correlations between individual water quality parameters were tested by the SPSS Pearson
Correlation Method, and correlation coefficients are listed in Table 3.10.
Table 3.10, Pearson correlation coefficients (58,654 valid data)
pH
TDS
Ca
Mg
K
Na
Cl
SO42HCO3-
pH
TDS
Ca
Mg
K
Na
Cl
1.000 -0.635 -0.559 -0.456 -0.110 -0.570 -0.642
1.000 0.783 0.662 0.201 0.866 0.999
1.000 0.668 0.192 0.584 0.792
1.000 0.109 0.445 0.672
1.000 0.193 0.197
1.000 0.864
1.000
SO42- HCO30.126 0.446

-0.090 -0.403
-0.185 -0.319
-0.047 -0.270
0.001 -0.032
-0.109 -0.358
-0.120 -0.412
1.000 0.030
1.000
The fact that the correlation coefficient between TDS and chloride is very significant (0.999)
indicates that there is a positive correlation. Concentrations of sodium, calcium, magnesium and
chloride might have negative effects on pH, but bicarbonate has a positive effect on pH.
58
50000
2
log MCl2 (meq/L)
TDS, mg/L
40000
30000
20000
y = 1.5775x + 341.08
R = 0.999
10000
1.5
1
0.5
y = 0.9597x - 2.8021
R = 0.93
0
0
2.5
10000 20000 30000 40000

chloride, mg/L
3.5
4.5
log Cl (meq/L)
5.5
Fig 3.8, Correlations between major cations, chloride and TDS
There is an exceptionally close correlation between chloride and total dissolved solids (TDS)
(i.e., R2 = 0.999). This is as expected since chlorides are the predominant anion in produced
water. TDS levels range from approximately 1002 mg/L to nearly 400,000 mg/L. Regional
distribution of the TDS levels appears to vary significantly, with differences of several
magnitudes. A Kriging interpolation can only use data values greater than 0, so our statistical
analysis of water quality only included those data having values more than 0.
Table 3.11, Statistical analysis
Count
Min
Max
Mean
Std. Dev.
1-st quartile
2-rd quartile
TDS
23,904
1,002
399,290
88,343
86,680
11858
144400
pH
16,323
5.00
8.98
7.18
0.88
6.57
7.90
Ca
23,809
1
74,185
4936.4
7,368
312.5
6946.9
Mg
23431
1
33056
1090.9
1,651
75.0
1608.8
Na
23,909
0.44
146,770
24,218
26,126
2906.9
42624
K
8,104
0.74
28,022
2424
3,956
49
3291.9
Cl23,396
2
249,490
53,003
54,062
5098
88003
HCO323,344
1
14,000
739.1
993
159
965.7
SO4222,030
1
15,000
1,291
1,691
140
1839
Ordinary Kriging, Universal Kriging, CoKriging and other Kriging methods are available in
ArcGIS 10.0. Distribution pattern is a key factor affecting which one of the Kriging methods to
use. We tested all the water parameters distributions by using ArcGIS 10.0 QQplot (a plotting
method that evaluates whether the tested data follow normal distribution) and got Normal
QQplot curves. (Figure 3.9) pH and TDS followed normal distribution with no transformation,
59
and other tested parameters in the U.S.G.S. database, mainly inorganic ions (cations and anions
included), fit normal distribution after log transformation. Therefore, it is feasible to use the
Ordinary Kriging interpolation since all data followed normal distribution with or without
transformations.
60
Fig 3.9, Distributions of produced water parameters

60
Trend analysis is the second step of the two preparations necessary for Kriging interpolation.
ArcGIS 10.0 has a trend analysis tool to help us decide the order of trend to remove before
Kriging and trend of curves of each water parameter. This is shown in Figure 3.10.
61
Fig 3.10, Trend analysis
62
Produced water components vary a lot with geological locations in our maps. Cations and
TDS concentrations show a declining trend from east to west and a slightly increasing trend from
north to south. All the anions except chloride show the opposite trend, increasing from east to
west and decreasing from north to south with pH showing the same trends as anions (except
chloride). The chloride changing trend is similar to the cations, indicating that chloride is the
major anion present in the produced water.
After completion of the distribution analysis and trend analysis, the U.S.G.S. data then can be
added into ArcGIS Map 10.0 and Ordinary Kriging, the geo-statistical analysis program we
chose, can proceed.
63
Fig 3.11, Estimated metal concentrations using U.S.G.S database

64
All the prediction maps (pH excluded) were clipped to the U.S lower 48 states boundary.
From the prediction maps, we can see that the concentrations of calcium, magnesium, potassium,
bicarbonate and sulfate are less than 10,000 mg/L in most produced waters, but the sodium
concentration for most areas is more than 10,000 mg/L. Sodium, calcium and chloride are the
prevailing ions in produced water, making it Na-Ca-Cl based water. TDS is mainly determined
by sodium and chloride. Usually membranes are used to remove TDS, especially RO membrane,
and the membrane treatment cost largely depends on the TDS level in the influent stream. Since
desalination costs are a function of water salinity, produced water with less than 10,000 TDS
(total dissolved solids) will be the best candidate for membrane treatment.62 High TDS will cause
membrane scale and shorten the lifetime of the membranes.
In the areas having lots of cations, such as calcium, magnesium and sodium, chloride is the
dominant anion; while in those areas with high concentrations of sulfate and bicarbonate, sodium
is the major cation.
65
180000
8
Well Number
160000
average TDS
average pH
140000
120000
100000
4
80000
3
60000
44422 43306
40000
40660
35469
28069
22206
20000
17614
12763
9252
6423 4178
2193 1286
706
416
253
123
68
40
26
12
Fig 3.12, Average pH and TDS value changes with sampled depth
Well upper depth was defined as the depth of the top of the sampled interval (Number, Long
integer; Null entries: 10,853); lower depth was the depth of the bottom of the sampled interval.63
Wells were divided into different strata groups, such as 0-1000, 1000-2000 feet etc., according to
the upper and lower depth. Next, average pH values were calculated within each group to
represent the pH of this stratum. (Fig 3.12) For example, a well, having upper depth of more than
1000 feet and lower depth of less than 2000 feet was classified in the stratum 1000-2000. We
can see from figure 3.12 that pH decreased as the sampled depth increased, which indicates that
produced water becomes more acidic as depth increases. With the transmission of produced
water from deeper reservoirs to shallower reservoirs or to the surface, pH will increase as a result
of the change in the carbonate equilibrium:
66
( )
The loss of ambient pressure during this transport will cause dissolved carbon dioxide to
release from water systems, driving this reaction to the right. Therefore, more acidic produced
water will appear in the deep formations.
3.3.2 Produced water quality for the state of Colorado
We extracted produced water quality data of Colorado from the U.S.G.S survey database and
analyzed the water quality characteristics.
Table 3.12, TDS ranges of produced water in Colorado
TDS , mg/L
<5,000
5,000-10,000
10,000-20,000
20,000-30,000
30,000-40,000
40,000-50,000
50,000-60,000
60,000-70,000
70,000-80,000
80,000-100,000
>100,000
Average TDS
Number of Wells
534
370
477
204
99
53
45
50
17
29
120
25376
Percentage
26.73%
18.52%
23.87%
10.21%
4.95%
2.65%
2.25%
2.50%
0.85%
1.45%
6.01%
In approximately 45% of the produced water in Colorado, TDS is less than 10,000 mg/L,
which is treatable by membranes. Most produced water with TDS less than 30,000 mg/L has the
potential to be reused as fracturing fluid by blending it with fresh water.
67
Fig 3.13, Water quality prediction State of Colorado (database: U.S.G.S)
We used the ordinary Kriging prediction method to predict pH values for Colorado, based on
the U.S.G.S. data. Since some wells have been sampled at different times and have multiple pH
values, we take the average of all the pH values and use the mean for each well. Also, we have
eliminated some data points without pH, and as a result, we worked with 856 total valid data
points. The prediction map indicates that pH is between 7 and 8 for most parts of Colorado,
68
120000
9.00
Well Numbers
TDS
8.00
pH
100000
7.00
80000
6.00
5.00
60000
4.00
40000
3.00
30135 29766
28633
26134
2.00
22289
20000
18332
14749
10773
7658
1.00
5139
3304
1617
930
534
331
204
98
61
34
20
0.00
Fig 3.14, Values of TDS and pH of produced water at different sample well depths (database: U.S.G.S)
The TDS level went up as the sampled depth increased, which was the opposite trend of pH
values. With the increase in depth, temperature and pressure increased (geothermal gradient
250C/km), causing more solids to dissolve in the water. Produced water samples were collected
from different formations, such as Niobrara formation, Dakota formation, Codell sandstone
formation, etc.
3.4 Spatial Interpolation
The characteristics of produced water quality closely relate to the geographic locations and
formation properties. Assessing the performance of some spatial interpolation methods to
69
estimate the contents of produced water components, therefore, is one way to understand the
change of produced waters by location.
Spatial interpolation is defined as the procedure of estimating the values of some target
properties at unobserved locations based on the set of observed values at known locations. The
value of using a geo-statistical analysis tool such as Kriging and Vonoroi involves the estimation
of physical and chemical characteristics for locations within the target area that are not
sampled.64 The inferred values are estimates of what the values should be at a particular location;
therefore, the accuracy of spatial analysis relying on the interpolation of known data is subject to
a degree of uncertainty. 65 Most spatial interpolation methods (geo-statistical analysis) can be
achieved in ArcGIS 10.0. Different interpolation methods can generate different predictions at
the same locations. For example, two TDS level maps of produced water (Figure 3.14) resulted
from two different interpolations performed on the same dataset (U.S.G.S produced water
database): Thiessen polygon and Kriging.
70
Fig 3.15, TDS prediction by Thiessen polygon and Kriging Models
3.4.1 Kriging
Kriging is a technique of making optimal, unbiased estimates of regionalized variables at

unsampled locations using the structural properties of the semivariogram and the initial set of
data values (David 1977), allowing the differentiation between water quality spatial variability to
be presented in illustrations. It has been used in soil science, atmospheric science and
groundwater studies (Ahmed 2003). For each estimated point, the adjacent points provide a
weighted contribution to the estimate, depending upon the semi-variogram function.66
71

Where
is the predicted amount of the variable in the desired point,
dependent quantity to ith sample and
is the weight of the
is the amount of variable in point i.
The ordinary kriging interpolation method was applied to estimate the value of each un-sampled
point. Variables with different sampling events were averaged and used.
3.4.2 Thiessen polygons
Thiessen polygons, also known as the Voronoi Diagrams, are an exact method of interpolation
that assumes that the values of unsampled locations are equal to the value of the nearest sampled
points. This method is commonly used in the analysis of climatic data when the local
observations are not available, and so the data from the nearest weather stations are used.
Thiessen polygons define the individual regions of influence around each of a set of points
such that any location within a particular polygon is nearer to that polygons point than to any
other point, and therefore, has the same value.67 A major difficulty with the Thiessen-polygon
approach is that the measures are assumed to be more homogenous within units (polygons) and
to change values only at the boundaries. Since there is only one observation per polygon, no
within-area variation can be estimated.68
72
Chapter 4 Results and Discussions
4.1 Produced water characteristics in Wattenberg field
4.1.1 Chemical and physical characterization
Produced water contains similar inorganic components as seawater, rich in sodium and
chloride ions. Dresel and Rose 69 explained the origin of the produced brines were a mixture of
seawater and fresh water after some physical (evaporation, mixing or filtration) and chemical
reactions (such as precipitation, mineralogical exchanges in rocks and etc.). When considering
the chemical concentrations of the brine, electro-neutrality must be maintained and charge
balances were used in this study to assure adherence to this principle. The charge balance can be
described as:
Ci is molality of ion i, and Mi is charge of ion i. Charge balance within 5% is acceptable. Meq
is the abbreviation of milliequivalents to represent the amount of substance in the water. The
charge balance table is shown in Appendix 5. All of the produced water samples having the
charge balance agree within 10%. 54 samples out of total 66 samples have the charge balance no
greater than 5% and 12 samples have the charge balance exceeding 5% but less than 10%.
Samples having charge balance greater than 5% are the diluted water samples with excessive
73
anions. This pattern might indicate unaccounted-for cations that need to be included in our future
study.
Detected frequencies
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
12%
10%
0%
0%
0%
Fig 4.1, Detected frequencies
Major cations contained in produced water were sodium, calcium, magnesium, strontium,
barium and boron, and minor cations were iron and potassium (detected frequencies shown in
figure 4.1). Most of the cations, except boron originally came from formation water and the
reaction with formation rocks. Usually, boron was added in the fracture fluid as the crosslinker
( (
) ) to maintain fracture fluid viscosity when ambient temperature increased. Therefore,
with the mixture of formation water and fracture fluid, some boron ions will dissolve in this
water and return to the surface as produced water. Chloride and bicarbonate are the primary
74
anions in produced water in Wattenberg field. Very low concentrations of phosphate and sulfate
are present in the reclaimed brine. In our test, only 8 samples out of 65 water samples had sulfate
concentrations above the detectable limit. Since pH for all the produced water samples was
below 7, carbonate was nearly zero and most inorganic carbon existed as bicarbonate and
carbonic acid. A summary of the produced water quality measured in our study is shown below.
Table 4.1, Produced water characteristics of shale gas produced water in Wattenberg field
Analyte
Mean (mg/L)
Standard Error
Median
Standard Deviation
Minimum (mg/L)
Maximum (mg/L)
Range
Confidence Level
(95%)
Analyst
Mean (mg/L)
Standard Error
Median
Standard Deviation
Minimum (mg/L)
Maximum (mg/L)
Range
Confidence Level
(95%)
Analyst
Mean (mg/L)
Standard Error
Median
Standard Deviation
Minimum (mg/L)
Maximum (mg/L)
Range
Confidence Level
(95%)
Analyst
Mean (mg/L)
Standard Error
Median
Standard Deviation
Minimum (mg/L)
pH
TDS
5.91
18285
0.0485
1535
5.93
17900
0.391
12376.83
5.1
790
6.8
51200
1.7
50410
0.097
3067
Ca
Mg
Ba
Fe
Sr
B
381.00
43.00 18.00
81.00
55.00
14.00
35.00
4.24
2.09
11.24
5.46
0.99
301
34
13.9
47.5
44.8
14.8
282.21
34.18 16.84
90.65
44.01
7.96
13.3
0.5
0.277
0.55
1
1.1
1170
140
60
424
183
41.2
1156.7
139.5 59.723 423.45
182
40.1
69.93
8.47
4.17
22.46
10.91
1.97
2Cl
HCO3
SO4
10799.00
196.00
4.00
897.93
13.57
1.37
10000
169
0
7239.35
109.38
11.01
370
0
0
29000
631
60
28630
631
60
1793.82
27.10
2.73
Total carbon
Inorganic
Total organic carbon
519.00
15.00
504.00
carbon
75.978
1.952
75.455
319.2
9.823
312.231
612.556
15.741
608.338
108.3
0
89.6
75
Na
5755.00
470.49
5790
3793.24
239
15200
14961
939.92
K
116.00
15.18
82
122.37
3.2
700
696.8
30.32
Total
36.00
nitrogen
2.906
33.1
23.426
0.88
COD
2711
290
1980
2340
480
Maximum (mg/L)
Range
Confidence Level
(95%)
4383.6
4275.3
151.78
58.98
58.98
3.90
4357.332
4267.732
150.74
179.98
179.1
5.80
13946
13466
580
All the produced waters in this study came from vertical wells in Wattenberg field and water
qualities varied significantly. The average TDS of produced water in Wattenberg was 18,285
mg/L with an average pH of 5.9. Ion concentrations were in various ranges as were the organics.
Table 4.2 Produced water characteristics from three other shale plays and Wattenberg field
Parameter
Unit
Fayetteville
Marcellus
Barnett
North Wattenberg
Sodium
mg/L
5362.6
24445.0
12453.0
5754.8
mg/L
Magnesium
77.3
263.1
253.0
42.9
mg/L
Calcium
256.3
2921.0
2242.0
380.6
mg/L
Strontium
21.0
347.0
357.0
55.4
mg/L
Barium
0.8
679.0
42.0
18.2
mg/L
Iron
27.6
25.5
33.0
80.7
2mg/L
SO4
149.4
9.1
60.0
3.5
mg/L
HCO3 1281.4
261.4
289.0
196.0
mg/L
Cl8042.3
43578.4
23797.5
10798.6
mg/L
TDS
15,219
72,533
39,570
18,285
* Water quality data source for Fayetteville, Marcellus and Barnett was from Fountain Quail
Water Management Inc.70
* Water quality in north Wattenberg field is from this study.
* Water quality varies:
Brackish TDS: 5,000 35,000 ppm
Saline TDS: 35,000-50,000 ppm
Brine TDS:
50,000-150,000 (or plus 150,000) ppm
Produced water from Fayetteville and Wattenberg shale plays, known as brackish water
with TDS between 5,000 ppm to 35,000 ppm, had less salinity (TDS) compared with PWs from
Marcellus and Barnett. Cations such as magnesium, calcium, barium and strontium increased
dramatically with increasing TDS, while sulfate showed a decreasing trend as TDS went up.
Fayetteville produced water had an abundance of bicarbonate and sulfate, indicating a high scale
potential. A high concentration of bicarbonate suggested acid water produced by Barnett shale
76
and compared with Fayetteville, sulfate scale would not pose much of a problem in reusing their
produced water.
Table 4.3, Shale plays comparisons
Age
Depth (feet)
Thickness (feet)
TOC (%)
Fayetteville
Mississippian
4,000-6,500
50-300
2-4
Marcellus
Devonian
5,000-8,500
50-300
4-6
Barnett
Mississippian
6,000-9,000
200-500
3-8
Niobrara
Cretaceous
6,000-10,000
150-500
1-8
Table 4.3 shows a comparison of the geologic characteristics of the four shale plays discussed
above. The depth of the Barnett shale formation is 6,000 to 9,000 feet, Marcellus is similar and
the Fayetteville is somewhat shallower. The Niobrara shale formation is found between 6,000
and 10,000 feet deep. The Wattenberg field is part of the Niobrara shale play. Deep shale
formations in Marcellus and Barnett might be a reason that caused a high concentration of total
dissolved solids.71
4.1.2 Correlations of Ions
TDS vs. ions
Origin 8.6 (a computer program for data analysis and graphing) was applied in our study to
make correlations and curve fittings. As the primary quality parameter, TDS is closely related to
ion concentrations, including all the cations and anions measured in this study. Figures 4.2 to 4.4
show the correlations between TDS and other ions.
77
Fig 4.2, plot of TDS vs.sodium and chloride
78
Fig 4.3, plot of TDS vs. calcium, magnesium, strontium and potassium
79
Fig 4.4, plot of TDS vs. calcium, magnesium, strontium and potassium
Chloride and sodium had the closest correlations with TDS with R2 of linear fittings of both
parameters greater than 0.95, followed by strontium, magnesium, calcium, barium and boron
with R2>0.70, which also indicated good linear correlations. Potassium, iron and bicarbonate had
the lowest linear correlations with TDS, R2<0.10.
Meanwhile, TDS was calculated by alkalinity, cations and anions by the following equation:
For quality assurance, the acceptable range of ratio of measured TDS divided by calculated
TDS should be between 1.0 and 1.2, and majority of our data were in the acceptable range.
80
Table 4.4, Ratios of measured TDS over calculated TDS
Residue TDS
@180C
Calculated
TDS
Ratiomeasured/cal
culated
Residue TDS
@180C
Calculate
d TDS
Ratiomeasured/c
alculated
LINDBLAD 20-25
13900
13700
1.01
LUNDVALL 30-111-1Z
2570
2310
1.11
KODAK 34-(21-25)
29400
28100
1.05
GOLDBERG N24-(2-7-8)
18000
16000
1.13
STROMBERGER 13-31
21500
21500
1.00
OLSON USX 0 29-25
22500
22300
1.01
KODAK 34-(11/12/15)
35200
33200
1.06
EDWARDS 15-11-15-14
8400
7870
1.07
KODAK 34-(23/31/32)
23500
23300
1.01
EDWARDS 31-15-32-15
17500
15400
1.14
SCHAEFFER 17-(31/32)
24100
23900
1.01
GOLDBERG N 14-20D
25700
26600
0.97
BOOTH USX EE 23-15
38600
37000
1.04
COULSON 19-(32-34)
34100
31700
1.08
WALCKER 12-23
51200
45100
1.14
SMITH 1 & 9-5
12100
11400
1.06
STATE BOOTH 36-11
4470
4270
1.05
LEY 1 & DEITRICH 6-10
6450
5950
1.08
KOHLHOFF USX AB 7-(01/02P)
45900
40600
1.13
COLEMAN 23-29D
3310
2990
1.11
WELLS RANCH 25-68-1HZ
17300
15300
1.13
STINAR 13-32
1160
1120
1.04
HARRINGTON 2-30
6070
5810
1.04
ELLIOT USX 31-(9-10)
35700
34800
1.03
WALCKER VSX AB 1-7 1-8
36300
36000
1.01
BERNHARDT 0 13-7
7380
6820
1.08
FURROW 15-99HZ
48200
45300
1.06
MORFORT 4-10
5340
5050
1.06
JOHNSON 13-15 13-23
15700
15700
1.00
JERKE G 7-28
17900
17200
1.04
ROUSSE 05-05 05-06
19100
18500
1.03
CONNELL C 4-11
1710
750
1.13
NAT'L HOG FARMS 12-21
39100
19000
2.06
NIKOLORIC N5-5/W20
17400
1570
1.09
WELLS RANCH AE 32-03 32-04

WELLS RANCH USX BB1-(11 2 7 8
1)
WELLS RANCH USX HA 35-9 15
16
31400
29300
1.07
COX PMC 8-6
20100
16000
1.09
21800
21400
1.02
RUDOLPH 2-(31 32)
13900
20000
1.01
18100
16100
1.12
GOLDBERG N 11-(12 25)
15000
12400
1.12
HAMILTON 25-10B
5130
4970
1.03
KAMMERZELL 4-14 13-4
850
14100
1.06
THISTE DOWN B 31-24D
12200
11700
1.04
SATER C 23-28D
25100
24100
1.04
LANDVALL J 30-19
2010
1910
1.05
THOUTT #1
12800
12300
1.04
WELLS
WELLS
81
UPRC 31-14/31116/BERNHARDT J
12500
11900
1.05
SAMUEL J 7-9 7-15
12500
12100
1.03
SCHANK 2J 35-21
790
706
1.12
CONNELL C 4-29
10100
9450
1.07
SCHMIER B 32-30D
17600
18100
0.97
AURORA USX AB 25-(11/25)
32800
32200
1.02
WELLS 34-3/43-3
23300
23700
0.98
HOWARD USX A 9-13
19600
20100
0.98
WR USX AA 25-(9/10/15/16)
23900
22700
1.05
HOWARD USX A9-(9/14/15/23)
24800
24700
1.00
RYANN STATE 16-23
3890
3830
1.02
COOPER 23-1-20
22500
22400
1.00
FERGUSON B 24-30
5030
4900
1.03
COOPER 23-15
18500
18600
0.99
PATRIOT B 16-(9-16)
9310
9250
1.01
MCDANIEL 32-15/42-15
22700
22000
1.03
ALLES F 33-29 D
1450
1390
1.04
DINNER 15-(42/43)
23000
22400
1.03
HAMILTON 25-(13/14/15)
9730
9640
1.01
WR USX AA 23-(1/2/7/8)
28100
28400
0.99
WEBSTER B 6-(1/2/8)
12500
13000
0.96
82
Fig 4.5, Plot of chloride, total dissolved solids and sodium
Level of total dissolved solids (residual) of produced water was mainly determined by
concentration of sodium chloride (figure 4.5).
83
Fig 4.6, Plot of calcium versus magnesium & strontium
Calcium, magnesium, barium and strontium were classified as belonging to a group of

alkaline earth metals but varied a lot in their abundance. Being abundant in rocks and soil,
particularly limestone and dolomites, calcium and magnesium were the most common soluble
metal ions in produced water. Although the concentrations of strontium and barium were one to
two orders of magnitude lower than those of calcium and magnesium in water and rocks and are
less soluble, they are still found in sandstone and igneous rocks in appreciable concentrations.
Compared with calcium, magnesium and strontium, the concentration of barium was low.
84
Fig 4.7, Plot of calcium and barium
Figure 4.6 and 4.7 show the relationships between the alkaline earth metals. Magnesium,
strontium and barium increased with increasing calcium, and among these three metals,
magnesium and strontium had closer relationships with calcium, shown in figure 4.3, R2>0.95
than barium, R2=0.64. The linear correlations of calcium, magnesium and strontium can be used
to estimate metal ions concentrations by using one of the three parameters.
85
Fig 4.8, Sr:Ca and Mg:Ca molar ratio (mg/L) in water versus TDS
Sr:Ca and Mg:Ca ratios increased as TDS increased following an exponential trend line, rising
rapidly as TDS increased from several hundred to 20,000 ppm and gradually increasing after
TDS reached 20,000 ppm. This trend could be applied to explain the water quality differences
from Fayetteville, Marcellus, Barnett and Wattenberg. Although TDS for PWs generated from
Marcellus and Barnett, varied a lot with TDS of Marcellus at almost 2 times that of Barnett PW,
concentrations of calcium, magnesium and strontium either varied very little or were at almost
the same level. According to our trend lines, TDS of both Marcellus and Barnett exceeded
20,000 ppm and therefore Sr:Ca and Mg:Ca ratios did not change a lot as TDS increased. But a
86
comparison between Fayetteville and Marcellus shows that the calcium, magnesium and
strontium of Marcellus were nearly ten times greater than they were in Fayetteville, while TDS
was only 4.7 times greater.
Produced water has an origin that is related to seawater. After certain chemical (precipitation,
oxidation) and physical (evaporation, filtration and etc.) interactions with formation rocks over a
long period, seawater becomes formation water, and when combined with fracturing fluid during
the hydraulic fracturing process, it is returned to the surface as produced water. Even though this
water has been through a series of reactions, some chemicals originating from seawater or
formation rocks will present in the produced water.72
Carpenter
73
used MCl2 to represent the conservative compounds during the evaporation of
seawater to the point of precipitation of carnallite (KMgCl3.6H2O).MCl2. MCl2 is primarily the

amount of alkaline earth charge balanced by chloride (except for barium) but barium is added for
its abundance in our water samples.
In the process of seawater evaporation, concentration of chloride does not change a lot and
therefore can indicate the degree of evaporation. MCl2 here represent these dissolved species
which would form some different mineral species or precipitate during the process of
evaporation. Hence, plots of MCl2 versus Cl are plots of concentrations versus the level of
evaporation and the comparison of plots of MCl2 versus Cl and the evaporation plot of seawater
could indicate the relationship of produced water to seawater.
87
Fig 4.9, Plot of log Cl- (meq) versus log MCl2 (meq)
Here, we use this MCl2 to represent the total concentration of divalent cations, including
calcium, magnesium, barium, strontium and iron, since concentrations of sulfate and carbonate
are negligible based on our observations and hence these ions will not affect MCl 2 as much as
these divalent cations do. The linear correlation (R2=0.9089) between chloride and the sum of
divalent cations is very high and the deduced equation could be used to estimate total
concentration of divalent cations by known chloride concentration.
Given a value for chloride, sodium, calcium, magnesium, strontium, or total dissolved solids,
the remainder of these parameters can be estimated using figures 4.5 through 4.7 and figure 4.9.
88
Besides the inorganic ions, total organic carbon (TOC), total nitrogen (TN) and chemical
oxygen demand (COD) were also measured to investigate the dissolved organic compounds in
produced water. Concentrations of total carbon (TC), inorganic carbon (IC), total organic carbon
(TOC), total nitrogen (TN) and COD are presented in figure 4.10 shown as columns with
different
colors
and
plot
of
TC
and
TOC
89
is
also
included
in
this
figure.
Fig 4.10, Organic compounds present in produced water

90
Table 4.5, Organics
average
min
max
TC
IC
TOC
TN
COD
519.4
14.88 504.493
36.24
2711
108.3
0
89.6
0.88
480
4383.6
58.98 4357.332
179.98
13946
Overview of organic concentrations is shown in table 4.5.

Total carbon varies a lot for different produced water samples, with the minimum
concentration of 108.3 mg/L and the maximum of 4383 mg/L, and organic carbon represents
almost 99% of the total carbon. This indicates that the produced water contains a far greater
amount of dissolved oil and gas contents than the combination of inorganic carbon, including
bicarbonate, carbonate and dissolved carbon dioxide.
91
TOC-COD
18000
TOC-COD
16000
Linear (TOC-COD)
14000
COD (mg/L)
12000
10000
y = 3.3175x + 1036.9
R = 0.7437
8000
6000
4000
2000
0
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
TOC (mg/L)
Fig 4.11, Plot of TOC and COD
COD/TOC ratio varied for different pollutants, ranging from 175%-665%. There was 1.2 to 8
times more carbon that can be oxidized by the strong oxidizing agent potassium permanganate
(KMnO4) than there was carbon bound in organic compounds. The average COD/TOC ratio in
our study was 656% with a minimum ratio of 238% and maximum of 2465%. The plot of TOC
and COD is shown in figure 4.11, with linear tendency R2=0.7437.
Dispersed oil, BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene), NPD (napthalene,
phenanthrene, dibenzothiophene, and C1-C3 substituted homologues), and PAH (polyaromatic
hydrocarbons), organic acids, phenol and substituted phenols are the main soluble organic
compounds which contribute to the total organic carbon concentration in produced water.
McFarlanes (2002) water characterization study showed that among all of the aqueous physical
92
parameters, pH had the greatest effect on the solubility of organics derived from oil and organic
compounds. The soluble organic concentration will go up if pH increases.73
Fig4.12, Plot of pH and TOC
Fig 4.12 shows the increasing trend of organic carbons as pH increases, which is the same as
McFarlanes observation but with different correlation patterns. Both studies indicate that more
organic carbon tends to dissolve in the produced water if the pH value is high and a small change
in pH will result in a relatively obvious change in the amount of organics.
93
4.1.3 Water chemistry vs. formation geology
Geological properties of formations are another influential factor leading to the differences in
produced water quality. Although there are numerous complicated geological characteristics,
well depth was studied for its impact on produced water quality (e.g. pH and TDS). Well depth is
also an indicator of temperature, deeper wells generally have a higher temperature.
We use MTD, measured total depth, to represent well depth, and MTDs were accessed from
ESER (http://www.eser.org/) and COGCC (http://cogcc.state.co.us/) websites. MTD is plotted
versus pH and TDS in Figure 4.13.
Fig 4.13, pH and TDS changes with well depth

94
The highest TDS occurred from 7100 to 7400 feet below ground in figure 4.13. pH showed a
slightly increasing trend as the depth increased but in general no significant correlations were
found. Depth was a direct reflection of temperature and pressure. Being Na-Cl-Ca type water,
the pH of shale produced water in our study was dominated by the following two reactions:
(
( )
( )
( )
( )
( )
The increase of pH occurring during the transport of produced water from reservoir to surface
was a result of pressure change. Generally speaking, pressure goes up with the increase in depth.
When produced water flows from a deep shale formation to the surface, the decreasing pressure
will result in the reduction of carbon dioxide in the gas causing reaction (1) to go to the right.
Therefore, as hydrogen decreases, the pH goes up. If the water is saturated with calcite (
),
the loss of carbon dioxide will lead to calcium precipitation according to reaction (2).
( )
( )
pH could be calculated by the known temperature and derived from reaction (3).74
Meanwhile, since reaction (1) is exothermic reaction, rising of temperature will stimulate this
reactions go to the right. Increasing of depth results in the increasing of temperature, which
motivate reaction (1) go to the right and leave less hydrogen in water, leading to the increasing of
pH.
Overall, pressure and temperature affect pH simultaneously but do the opposite. The slightly
increasing trend of pH shown in figure 4.13 indicates temperature is the dominant controlling
factor of pH.
95
One impact of depth on TDS could be explained by dissolution of materials. As water

percolates downwards, it would dissolve ionic and non-ionic particles from minerals. Thus,
water leaves the upper formation to the underlying formation will be rich in salts.
Temperature can also affect TDS due to evaporation process. Since evaporation rate is high
under high temperature, water molecules evaporate rapidly under a high temperature and salts
will remain in the produced water causing the increasing of salinity level.
pH is another factor influencing total dissolved solids in water. Usually, hydrogen ion is small
and it is able to enter into mineral structure disrupting the boundaries within minerals. Those
broken constituents will dissolve in water and contribute to a higher concentration of total
dissolved solids. In addition, water with low pH, which is acidic, tends to dissolve solids in the
rocks.
In the natural system, factors that influence water qualities are much more complicated than
what we have discussed due to complex reactions between water and formation rocks.
4.1.4 Water quality temporal trend
Produced water samples in our study were collected from oil-gas-water separator tanks, which
usually had multiple pipelines connected to several wellheads. As a result, the water in these
separator tanks was the mixture of reclaimed water from different wells and therefore it was hard
to get the temporal information from these mixed water samples. So in order to investigate
operation time effects on the produced water quality, we selected water samples coming from the
separator tanks that were only connected to one well. Ultimately, 31 water samples were valid
for this temporal analysis. Age of well was defined by the operation year, which referred to
96
the length of one wells production time, and we used operation years to represent the producing
period by year. For example, wells having first production date in the year 2012 were defined to
have one operation year, while wells having first production date in the year 1999, were defined
as having 14 operation years.
Also, we averaged the pH or TDS values for those samples having the same production years.
For instance, if three wells began to generate produced water in the year 2000, water quality in
this year would be the average of these three wells.
Fig 4.14, TDS and pH changes with time
97
There was no obvious trend of pH according to our data except a slightly decreasing trend
with time. TDS increased for the first 3 years of operation and then decreased thereafter.
Being comprised with formation water and fracturing fluid, produced water quality can reflect
the formation water components and concentrations. Also, formation water is somehow related
to groundwater.
Model
Pow2P2
Equation
Adj.
R-Square
y = a*(1 + x)
COD
4024.7809
1762.62976
COD
-0.31813
0.2408
0.05874
5000
Value
Standard Err
COD (ppm)
4000
3000
2000
1000
10
12
14
16
years of operation (year)
Fig 4.15, COD changes with time
Figure 4.14 and figure 4.15 show the declining trends of pH and COD with time. As
previously discussed, a higher concentration of organic carbon correlates with increased pH
98
values and COD had a linear relation with TOC. Therefore, with the decline of pH, produced
water will have less COD as well as TOC concentrations.
4.2 Spatial distribution of major produced water qualities in Wattenberg field
Because of the lack of a useful database of produced water quality, U.S.G.S produced water
quality database might be a source to predict produced water qualities in Wattenberg field.
U.S.G.S database was added into ArcGIS 10.0 to create ArcGIS maps and then water quality
predictions can be done using the Kriging method. Based on the geographic location (longitude
and latitude) of a well, values of water quality can be calculated by Kriging. The difference
between the estimated values based on the U.S.G.S database and the real tested results from this
study will indicate the fitness of the prediction method (Kriging). TDS and pH are the essential
parameters of produced water and so we compared predicted and tested values of TDS and pH,
which are shown in figure 4.16.
99
Fig 4.16, Comparison between tested and prediction values
F tests and t-tests were applied to determine whether the variances and means of test values
and prediction values are the same or not. Our tested pH values were 1-3 pH units less than the
Ordinary Kriging estimated pH values by U.S.G.S. database (table 4.6).
100
Table 4.6, F-test and t test results between real test data and estimated values
F-test
Mean
Variance
Observations
F
P(F<=f) one-tail
F Critical one-tail
T-test
Hypothesized Mean
Difference
df
t Stat
real TDS
16285
220988818
26
24.74
estimated TDS
20664
8932041
26
<0.05, variances
4.05E-12
different
1.96
Real TDS and estimated TDS
0
27
-1.47
P(T<=t) one-tail
0.076
>0.05, means same
P(T<=t) two-tail
0.152
>0.05, means same
real TDS
5.99
0.079
30
10.64
estimated TDS
7.60
0.007
30
<0.05, variances
4.47E-09
different
1.86
Real pH and estimated pH
0
34
-29.95
2.518E26
5.036E26
>0.05, means
different
>0.05, means
different
This pH drop may have been due to the sampling time and methods between our study and the
U.S.G.S. survey. Most of our produced water samples were from wells with the first production
date later than 1999, while all the produced water data collected by U.S.G.S were before 1980.
As shown above, pH will decrease along with well operational years, which could be the best
possible explanation. Also, different sources of produced water may contribute to the differences
in TDS. Produced water obtained in the U.S.G.S produced water survey were mainly from
conventional oil and gas production sources with high permeability and large pore size, but
produced water in our study came from shale formations which had low permeability and smaller
pore size. A difference in the physical properties of the formations would impact the reactions
between formation water and formation rocks, thereby resulting in different characterizations of
PWs. Though our tested TDS values were slightly less than the estimated TDS values, they did
not show the obvious differences as those shown by pH.
101
Because of the similar geological situation within Wattenberg field, we could make
predictions of water qualities, such as pH and TDS, based on known data, using ArcGIS tools.
As described in the previous chapter, Kriging can be applied for spatial interpolation allowing
water quality predictions throughout a producing field. Since one water sample contained
produced waters from different oil/gas wells, as a result, produced water quality results will be
the same for those wells and this is a similar situation as one application of a Voronoi map.
Therefore, a Voronoi map is useful to represent water quality distribution in Wattenberg field.
For example, a separator tank is the data collection station and all the wells connected to this
separator tank are the controlling points. The data collection station and all the controlling points
comprise one region with same water qualities and will be colored the same in a Voronoi map.
Based on our chemistry analysis, pH and TDS were the most important parameters impacting
other aqueous properties. pH and TDS distribution and prediction maps are shown in figure 4.17
and figure 4.18. Our produced water samples were collected from north Wattenberg field, with
latitudes from 40.70 to 40.19 (north to south) and longitudes from 105.12 to 104.85 (west to
east), which ranges from 62W to 68W and townships from 4N to 7N.
102
Fig 4.17, pH interpolation maps
103
Fig 4.18, TDS maps
pH gradually increased from north to south and most produced water from the northern part of
Wattenberg field had pH less than 6, indicated by blue, green and light yellow areas in the pH
prediction map. TDS of produced water on the northern edge of Wattenberg field was higher
than TDS of the central part. If the geographic location of one well is given, we can get the water
quality from TDS and pH Kriging prediction maps and future treatment design could be based on
104
these predictions. More valid data is necessary to get better predictions with higher accuracy.
These predictions can be used for the produced water reuse treatment design.
For one application, usually, there is the TDS limit for the wastewater treatment either for
reuse or reinjection, high saline produced water could not be treated directly unless it is diluted.
In this case, produced water with low TDS could be used as the dilution water to dilute the high
TDS produced water to meet the treatment requirement. We can use this TDS prediction map to
choose the nearest well with low estimated TDS.
For another possible application, if a treatment facility is designed to reuse produced waters
from some nearby oil/gas wells, each individual produced water quality could be estimated using
the pH and TDS prediction map and therefore the influent quality will be calculated by each
segments quality and quantity.
Additionally, both the prediction methods and prediction maps can be uploaded into ArcGIS
online to create web-based GIS water quality predict tools. User can get the predicted produced
water quality information by giving the latitude and longitude of one well, which could help the
public monitor water qualities or oil and gas companies make decisions on water treatment
design.
105
Fig 4.19, North-south and east-west cross section view map of shale reservoirs: (a) north-south cross section map; (b) east-west cross section map
106
Maps of depths of Niobrara, Codell and J Sandstone with a north-south cross section and an
east-west cross section are shown in figure 4.19. Most of the produced water collected in our
study came from Codell and the Codell-Niobrara interval with a few wells producing from the J
sandstone. North of the township 4N, the depths of Niobrara, Codell and J Sand become greater.
Depth impacts the level of solids dissolved in the produced water. The deeper the formation, the
more TDS would be expected in the produced water within a certain range. In addition to the
impact depth has on water quality, geological characteristics of formations will also affect
produced water composition.
Table 4.7, Geological characters of major shale reservoirs in Wattenberg field
Depth (feet)
Thickness (feet)
Porosity (%)
Permeability (mD)
Other
Codell
7,100-7,300
14-16
8 to12
0.022
Abundant pore-filling
clay, calcite cements,
and iron oxide
Niobrara
6000-7000
20-30
10-14
<0.1
J standstone
8000-10000
25
0.01-0.1
Marine sandstone
Produced water from shale gas wells producing oil, gas and water from Niobrara shale had
more dissolved solids than did those from Codell sandstone and J sandstone. This result was in
agreement with U.S.G.S produced water survey.
107
Chapter 5 Conclusions
Chemical components and physical properties of produced water from shale gas production
wells in Wattenberg field were determined in this study. Results were compared with chemical
compositions of produced water from Fayetteville, Marcellus and Barnett shale fields. Produced
water from shale gas wells in Wattenberg field was Na-Cl-Ca type water. Dominant ions in the
produced water were chloride, sodium and calcium and minor ions were magnesium, strontium,
barium, iron, potassium and bicarbonate. The concentration of sulfate was low in the produced
waters in this study. Plots of TDS, chloride and sodium, calcium, magnesium and strontium,
chloride and MCl2 indicated good correlations among these chemical parameters. Some of these
linear relationships can be used to estimate unknown parameters. Among the aqueous
parameters, TDS and pH used to relate the produced water quality and other water quality
parameters. Based on observations in Wattenberg field, TDS will decrease with time after 1-2
years of operation. Depth is another factor causing different TDS and pH. Overall, TDS and pH
showed an increasing trend with depth increasing while in this study, pH increased slightly with
increasing depth; TDS increased with depth increasing but TDS would decrease when depth
reached 7200 feet and became greater. Spatial distribution of TDS and pH also showed different
trends in Wattenberg field which might relate to the formation depth and other geological
characters of formations. ArcGIS 10.0 was used to interpolate pH and TDS of produced water in
Wattenberg field, and the map showing produced water qualities was also published online. A
future study will focus on the completion of produced water samples from shale gas wells in
Wattenberg field and establish a more comprehensive database on temporal changes in produced
water qualities.
108
References
1
H. Johnson and A. G. Dore, January 2010, Unconventional oil and gas resources and the
geological storage of carbon dioxide: overview, Geological Society, London, Petroleum Geology
Conference, Vol. 7:1061-1063
2
Warlick, D, November 2006, Gas shale and CBM development in North America., Oil and Gas
Journal, Vol. 3, Issue 11
3
AEO 2012 Early Release Overview, available online at

http://www.eia.gov/forecasts/aeo/er/pdf/0383er%282012%29.pdf
4
U.S. Crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids reserves, November 2010, U.S. Energy
Information Administration, available online at
http://205.254.135.7/pub/oil_gas/natural_gas/data_publications/crude_oil_natural_gas_reserves/c
urrent/pdf/table14.pdf
5
Richard M. Pollastro (Task Leader), Ronald J. Hill, and Thomas A. Albrandt, et al., March
2004, Assessment of Undiscovered Oil and Gas Resources of the Bend Arch-Fort Worth Basin
Province of North-Central Texas and Southwestern Oklahoma, U.S. Geological Survey, Fact
Sheet 2004-3022, available online at http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2004/3022/
6
http://blogs.reuters.com/commodity-corner/2009/04/30/rising-estimates-of-us-shale-reservesmay-cap-natural-gas-prices/
7
Colorado School of Mines, Potential Gas Committee reports unprecedented increase in

magnitude of U.S. natural gas resource base, June 18, 2009, available online at
http://www.mines.edu/Potential-Gas-Committee-reports-unprecedented-increase-inmagnitudeof-U.S.-natural-gas-resource-base
8
Zhang Jinchuan, Xu Bo, 2008, Exploration potential of shale gas resources in China, Natur.
Gas IND. , Vol. 28(6):136-140
9
X.M. Jiang, X.X. Han, Z.G. Cui, 2007, Progress and recent utilization trends in combustion of
Chinese oil shale, Energy and Combustion Science, Vol. 33:552-579
10
H-H. Rogner, 1997, An assessment of world hydrocarbon resources, Annu. Rev. Energy
Environ. Vol. 22:217-62, available online at http://hassler-j.iies.su.se/courses/climate/Rogner.pdf
11
Chuck Boyer, Bill Clark, Valerie Jochen, Rick Lewis and Camron K. Miller, Autumn 2011,
Shale Gas: A Global Resource, Oilfield Review, Vol. 23(3): 28-39
12
The SEAB Shale Gas Production Subcommittee Ninety-Day Report, August 11, 2011,
available online at http://www.shalegas.energy.gov/resources/081111_90_day_report.pdf
109
13
J. Daniel Arthur, 2008, Hydraulic Fracturing Considerations for Natural Gas Wells of the
Fayetteville Shale, Copyright , ALL Consulting, available online at
http://www.aogc.state.ar.us/ALL%20FayettevilleFrac%20FINAL.pdf
14
Satterfield, J., M. Mantell, D. Kathol, F. Hiebert, K. Patterson, and R. Lee, September 2008,
Chesapeake Energy Corp. Managing Water Resources Challenges in Select Natural Gas Shale
Plays, presented at the GWPC Annual Meeting
15
Modern Shale Gas Development in the United States: A Primer, pp. 58-59
16
White paper: U.S. Shale Gas -An Unconventional Resource. Unconventional Challenges,
Halliburton, 2008, available online at
http://www.halliburton.com/public/solutions/contents/shale/related_docs/H063771.pdf
17
Vidic, 2010, Sustainable Water Management for Marcellus Shale Development, available
online at http://www.temple.edu/environment/NRDP_pics/shale/presentations_TUsummit/VidicTemple-2010.pdf
18
Clark, C.E., Veil, J.A., 2009, Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in the
United States, ANL/EVS/R-09/1, Prepared by the Environmental Science Division Argonne
National Laboratory
19
Khatib, Z., and P. Verbeek, 2003, Water to Value Produced Water Management for
Sustainable Field Development of Mature and Green Fields, Journal of Petroleum Technology,
Jan., pp. 26-28
20
Clark, C.E., and J.A. Veil, September 2009, Produced Water Volumes and Management
Practices in the United States, , prepared by the Environmental Science Division, Argonne
National Laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Fossil Energy, National
Energy Technology Laboratory
21
J.A. Veil, SPE, and C.E. Clark, Argonne National Laboratory, August 2011, Produced Water
Volume Estimates and Management Practices, SPE Production & Operations, Volume 26 (3)
22
John A. Veil, Markus G. Puder, Deborah Elcock, Robert J. Redweik, Jr., Argonne National
Laboratory, January 2004, A white paper describing produced water from production of crude
oil, natural gas, and coal bed methane, U.S. Department of Energy, available online at
http://119.4iranian.com/uploads/prodwaterpaper_1270.pdf
23
Daniel M. Jarvie, Ronald J. Hill, Tim E. Ruble, and Richard M. Pollastro, April 2007,
Unconventional shale-gas systems: The Mississippian Barnett Shale of north-central Texas as
one model for thermogenic shale-gas assessment, The American Association of Petroleum
Geologists, AAPG Bulletin, Vol.91(4):475499
110
24
Wendel, K., Shale Gas Wastewater Landscape in Pennsylvania, submitted to Oil and Gas
Journal, 2011
25
http://www.rpsea.org/forums/produced_burnett.pdf
26
http://www.waytogoto.com/wiki/index.php/Flowback_water
27
Weideman, A., 1996, Regulation of Produced Water by the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency in Produced Water 2: Environmental Issues and Mitigation Technologies, International
Produced Water Symposium, M. Reed and S. Johnsen, eds., Plenum Press, New York
28
JOEL, AMAJUOYI and NWOKOYE, June 2010, Characterization of Formation Water

Constituents and the Effect of Fresh Water Dilution from Land Rig Location of the Niger Delta,
Nigeria, J. Appl. Sci. Environ. Manage., Vol. 14 (2) :37 41
29
Tibbetts, Buchanan, Gawel, Large, R, 1992, A Comprehensive Determination of Produced

Water Composition, In: Produced Water, J.P. Ray and F.R. Englehart (eds.), Plenum Press, New
York
30
Joanna McFarlane, Debra T. Bostick, and Huimin Luo, Characterization and modeling of
produced water, available online at
http://www.ornl.gov/adm/directorates/nuclear_science_technology/pprf/index.htm
31
Matthew E. Mantell, 2010, Produced Water Reuse and Recycling Challenges and
Opportunities Across Major Shale Plays, Chesapeake Energy, available online at
http://www.epa.gov/hfstudy/09_Mantell_-_Reuse_508.pdf
32
Timothy C. Svarczkopf, Dalton R. Weaver, Jon M. Bender and Jesse J. Strickler, February
2012, Fracturing fluid water reuse system and method, Pub. No.: US 2012/0024525 Al
33
Wedepohl, K. H., ed., 1970, Handbook of geochemistry, Vol. 2/2, Berlin, Springer-Verlag
34
Anderson MR, Rivkin RB, Warren P, 2000, The influence of produced water on natural
populations of marine bacteria, Proceedings of the 27th annual toxicity workshop, Can Tech Rep
Fish Aquat. Sci. Vol. 2331:91-98
35
Mejri Houcine, Boussiga Haifa, March 2002, Solution For Heavy Metals Decontamination in
Produced Water / Case Study in Southern Tunisia, Society of Petroleum Engineers, available
online at http://www.onepetro.org/mslib/servlet/onepetropreview?id=00074003
36
D.T. Bostick, H. Luo, and B. Hindmarsh, 2001, Characterization of soluble organics in

produced water, Oak Ridge National Laboratory Technical Memorandum, ORNL/TM-2001/78
111
37
Benko and Drewes, 2008, Produced water in the western United States: geographical
distribution, occurrence, and composition, Environmental Engineering Science, Vol. 25(2):239246
38
Pei Xu*, Jrg E. Drewes, Dean Heil, May 2008, Beneficial use of co-produced water through
membrane treatment: technical-economic assessment, Desalination, Vol. 225( 1): 139-155
39
Bethany Alley, Alex Beebe, John Rodgers Jr., and James W. Castle, 2011, Chemical and
physical characterization of produced waters from conventional and unconventional fossil fuel
resources, Chemosphere 85:7482
40
http://epa.gov/osw/nonhaz/industrial/special/oil/oil-gas.pdf
41
Anthony Andrews, Unconventional Gas Shales: Development,Technology, and Policy Issues
42
Jacobs, R.P.W.M., R.O.H. Grant, J. Kwant, J.M. Marqueine, and E. Mentzer, 1992, The
Composition of Produced Water from Shell Operated Oil and Gas Production in the North Sea,
Produced Water, J.P. Ray and F.R. Englehart (eds.), Plenum Press, New York
43
Emily Brown, Jackie Travers, and Marvin Resnikoff, March 2009, White Paper, Proposed
NPDES Permit for Oil and Gas Exploration, Development, & Production Facilities Located
Within Territorial Seas of Louisiana (LAG260000), available online at http://leanweb.org/ourwork/water/produced-waters/produced-waters-white-paper
44
Chesapeake Energy, March 2011, Produced water management options, EPA hydraulic
fracturing study technical workshop #4 water resources management, available online at
http://www.epa.gov/hfstudy/09_Mantell_-_Reuse_508.pdf
45
Veil, J.A, et al., 2004, A White Paper Describing Produced Water from Production of Crude
Oil, Natural Gas, and Coal Bed Methane, prepared by Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne,
Illinois for the U.S. Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory, January
46
Clark, C.E., and J.A. Veil, 2009, Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in the
United States, ANL/EVS/R-09/1, prepared by the Environmental Science Division, Argonne
National Laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Fossil Energy, National
Energy Technology Laboratory, September, ANL/EVS/R-09/1
47
Tom Hayes, and Dan Arthur, 2004, Overview of emerging produced water treatment
technologies, The 11th Annual International Petroleum Environmental Conference, available
online at http://ipec.utulsa.edu/Conf2004/Papers/hayes_arthur.pdf
48
Robert J. Weimer, Stephen A. Sonnenberg, and Genevieve B.C. Young, 1986,

WATTENBERG FIELD, DENVER BASIN, COLORADO, AAPG Studies in Geology 24,
Geology of Tight Gas Reserviors, pp. 143-164
112
available online at http://www.searchanddiscovery.com/documents/98003/index.htm

49
http://www.eia.gov/oil_gas/rpd/topfields_gas.pdf
50
COGA, Water Use Fast Facts, http://www.coga.org/pdfs_facts/WaterUse_Fast_Fact.pdf
51
Strategic Energy Resources: Denver-Julesburg BasinWattenberg Field, Colorado, available

online at
http://www.api.org/policy/exploration/upload/StrategicEnergyResources_Wattenberg.pdf
52
http://www.nationalatlas.gov/articles/boundaries/a_plss.html
53
http://pttc.mines.edu/casestudies/Wattenberg/Wattenberg.pdf
54
http://pttc.mines.edu/casestudies/Wattenberg/Wattenberg.pdf
55
http://www.onepetro.org/mslib/servlet/onepetropreview?id=00021439
56
Moghadasi, J., Jamialahmadi, M., Muller-Steinhagen, H., Sharif, A., Ghalambor, A.,
Izadpanah, R. M. and Motaie, E., 2003, Scale Formation in Iranian Oil Reservoir and Production
Equipment during Water Injection, The 5th International Oilfield Scale Symposium and
Exhibition. January 29-30. Aberdeen, UK: SPE 80406, 1- 14
57
Moghadasi, J., Sharif, A., Kalantari, A.M. and Motaie, E., 2006, A New Model to Describe
Particle Movement and Deposition in Porous Media, SPE 99391, presented at 15th SPE Europe
Conference and Exhibition, Vienna, Austria
58
Collins, R. I., Duncum, D.S., Jordan, M. M. and Feasey, D. N., 2006, The Development of a
Revolutionary Scale Control Product for the Control of Near-Well Bore Sulfate Scale within
Production Wells by the Treatment of Injection Seawater, The 2006 SPE Oilfield Scale
Symposium. 31 May- 1 June. Aberdeen, UK: SPE 100357, 1- 20
59
Moghadasi, J., Jamialahmadi, M., Muller-Steinhagen, H., Sharif, A., 2004, Formation Damage
Due to Scale Formation in Porous Media Resulting From Water Injection, The SPE International
Symposium and Exhibition on Formation Damage control. February 18-20. Lafayette, Louisiana:
SPE 86524, 1- 11
60
Collins, 2005, Prediction the location of barium sulfate scale formation in production systems,
The SPE international symposium on oilfield scale, May 11-12, Aberdeen, UK:SPE 94366, 1-6
61
Jordan, M. M., Collins, R. I. and Mackay, J. E., 2006, Low-Sulfate Seawater Injection for
Barium Sulfate Scale Control: A life-of-Field Solution to a Complex Challenge, The 2006 SPE
International Symposium and Exhibition on Formation Damage Control. February 15-17.
Lafayette, LA: SPE 98096, 1-23
113
62
David B. Burnett, Potential for Beneficial Use of Oil and Gas Produced Water, available at
online
http://www.circleofblue.org/waternews/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/beneficialuses-producedwater.pdf
63
http://energy.cr.usgs.gov/prov/prodwat/descript.txt
64
Ceron, J.C., Espinosa, R.J., Bosch, A.P., 2000. Numerical analysis of hydrogeochemical data:
a case study (Alto Guadalentin, southeast Spain). Appl. Geochem. 15, 10531067, PII: S08832927(99)00105-5; Lin, Y.B., Lin, Y.I., Liu, C.W., Tan, Y.C., 2006, Mapping of spatial multiscale sources of arsenic variation in groundwater on ChiaNan floodplain of Taiwan. Sci. Total.
Environ. 370, 168-181
65
Chiles J P and Delfiner P 1999 Geostatistics: Modeling Spatial Uncertainty. New York, John
Wiley and Sons
66
Fernandes, P.G., Carreira, P., da Silva, M.O., 2008. Anthropogenic sources of contamination
recognition sines coastal aquifer (SW Portugal). J. Geochem. Explor., Vol. 98: 1-14.
doi:10.1016/j.gexplo.2007.10.003
67
Heywood I, Cornelius S, Carver S, 1998, An Introduction to Geographical Information

Systems, New Jersey, Prentice Hall
68
Gold C M, 1991, Problems with handling spatial data: the Voronoi approach. Canadian
Institute of Surveying and Mapping Journal, Vol. 45: 65-80
69
P. Evan Dressel, 2010, Chemistry and origin of oil and gas well brines in western
Pennsylvania
70
http://www.fountainquail.com/news/presentations/assets/IOGCC_Shale_Gas_Water_Mngt.pdf
71
http://www.searchanddiscovery.com/documents/98003/index.htm
72
Carpenter A.B., 1978, Origin and chemical evolution of brines in sedimentary basins, in
Johnson, K. S., and Russell, J. A., eds., Thirteenth Annual Forum on the Geology of Industry
Minerals; Oklahoma Geological Survey Circular 79, pp: 60-77
73
McFarlane, J., D.T. Bostick, and H. Luo, 2002, Characterization and Modeling of Produced
Water, presented at the 2002 Ground Water Protection Council Produced Water Conference,
Colorado Springs, CO, Oct. 16-17
74
Carrels and Christ, 1965, Solutions, minerals, and equilibria: New York, Harper and Row,
page 450
114
Appendix
Appendix 1
Well_name
Date
API
latitude
longitude
year
Formatio
n1
Formation
2
Formation
3
Lindblad 22-20
22-Jun
05-123-11341
40.475482
-104.803269
1983
CODL
Lindblad 20-25X
22-Jun
05-123-26734
40.477139
-104.806445
2011
NB-CD
KODAK 34-21
22-Jun
05-123-22082
40.448449
-104.882545
2004
NB-CD
NBRR
CODL
KODAK 34-22
22-Jun
05-123-22202
40.449503
-104.886666
2004
NB-CD
NBRR
CODL
KODAK 34-24
22-Jun
05-123-22080
40.445287
-104.881159
2004
NB-CD
NBRR
CODL
KODAK 34-25
22-Jun
05-123-23959
40.446629
-104.885515
2008
CODL
NB-CD
NBRR
22-Jun
05-123-20316
40.485102
-104.844994
2001
CODL
22-Jun
05-123-26334
40.485219
-104.849149
2008
CODL
22-Jun
05-123-26235
40.482451
-104.847551
2008
CODL
Stromberger 1-3
22-Jun
05-123-10110
40.480612
-104.842993
1997
NB-CD
SUSS
JSAND
KODAK 34-15
22-Jun
05-123-23932
40.446550
-104.875470
2007
NB-CD
NBRR
CODL
KODAK 34-11
22-Jun
05-123-22097
40.448366
-104.872542
2004
NB-CD
NBRR
CODL
KODAK 34-12
22-Jun
05-123-22084
40.448361
-104.876330
2004
NB-CD
NBRR
CODL
KODAK 34-32
22-Jun
05-123-21649
40.441696
-104.885887
2004
CODL
KODAK 34-31
22-Jun
05-123-22096
40.441267
-104.880950
2004
CODL
NB-CD
KODAK 34-23
22-Jun
05-123-22081
40.445339
-104.886821
2004
NB-CD
NBRR
CODL
Schaeffer 17-31
22-Jun
05-123-24117
40.485670
-104.803740
2008
CODL
Schaefer 17-32
22-Jun
05-123-25388
40.485502
-104.809114
2008
CODL
Harrington 2-30
22-Jun
05-123-10610
40.464087
-104.823391
1999
CODL
JSAND
SUSS
BOOTH USX EE
23-15P
28-Jun
05-123-30198
40.554832
-104.627767
2010
NB-CD
NBRR
CODL
WALCKER 12-23
28-Jun
05-123-29579
40.589611
-104.504455
2011
NB-CD
28-Jun
05-123-31225
40.604654
-104.494022
2011
NB-CD
28-Jun
05-123-31301
40.604180
-104.489920
2011
NB-CD
LYNS
28-Jun
05-123-23126
40.535420
-104.604270
2005
NB-CD
NBRR
CODL
28-Jun
05-123-31169
40.578300
-104.571270
2011
NB-CD
28-Jun
05-123-31198
40.578210
-104.566460
2011
NB-CD
28-Jun
05-123-31249
40.568360
-104.527110
2010
NB
28-Jun
05-123-25954
40.540768
-104.503180
2007
NB-CD
NBRR
CODL
Stromberger 1331
Stromberger 1332
Stromberger 1335
WALCKER USX AB
01-07P
WALCKER USX AB
01-08P
STATE BOOTH
36-11
KOHLHOFF USX
AB 17-02P
KOHLHOFF USX
AB 17-01P
FURROW USX
AB15-99HZ
AURORA USX AB
25-25
115
Formation
4
AURORA USX AB
25-11P
JOHNSON A 1315
JOHNSON A 1323
HOWARD USX A
9-13
HOWARD USX A
09-14D
HOWARD USX A
09-15D
HOWARD USX A
09-09D
HOWARD USX A
09-23
NBRR
CODL
NB-CD
NBRR
CODL
2007
NB-CD
NBRR
CODL
-104.550060
2011
NB-CD
40.496950
-104.549970
2011
NB-CD
05-123-33527
40.496960
-104.549900
2011
NB-CD
29-Jun
05-123-33526
40.496960
-104.549820
2011
NB-CD
COOPER 23-1-20
29-Jun
05-123-30426
40.472140
-104.516710
2010
NB-CD
NBRR
CODL
COOPER 23-15
29-Jun
05-123-25310
40.475300
-104.512640
2008
NB-CD
NBRR
CODL
MCDANIEL 32-15
29-Jun
05-123-23547
40.487910
-104.533900
2006
CODL
MCDANIEL 42-15
29-Jun
05-123-23538
40.488000
-104.529110
2006
CODL
DINNER 15-42
29-Jun
05-123-21997
40.484882
-104.647788
2004
NB-CD
NBRR
CODL
DINNER 15-43
29-Jun
05-123-20032
40.480665
-104.647709
2001
CODL
29-Jun
05-123-29403
40.516405
-104.581845
2009
NB-CD
NBRR
CODL
29-Jun
05-123-29405
40.516436
-104.575912
2009
NB-CD
NBRR
CODL
WR USX AA 23-1
3-Jul
05-123-29493
40.477642
-104.396499
2009
NB-CD
NBRR
CODL
WR USX AA 23-2
3-Jul
05-123-25803
40.477565
-104.401367
2008
NB-CD
NBRR
CODL
WR USX AA 23-7
3-Jul
05-123-29491
40.473599
-104.401575
2009
NB-CD
NBRR
CODL
WR USX AA 23-8
3-Jul
05-123-25808
40.473830
-104.396785
2008
NB-CD
NBRR
CODL
3-Jul
05-123-20809
40.386706
-104.447915
2002
CODL
DK-J
DKTA
JSND
3-Jul
05-123-20815
40.390330
-104.444000
2002
JSND
NB-CD
DKTA
JNBCD
WELLS 34-3
3-Jul
05-123-21013
40.423064
-104.420673
2002
JSND
NB-CD
CODL
WELLS 43-3
3-Jul
05-123-21157
40.426896
-104.415543
2003
JSND
NB-CD
CODL
WR AE 32-03
3-Jul
05-123-30469
40.448623
-104.349084
2010
NB-CD
NBRR
CODL
WR AE 32-04
3-Jul
05-123-30480
40.448625
-104.354246
2010
NB-CD
NBRR
CODL
WR USX AA 25-9
3-Jul
05-123-29419
40.455679
-104.377943
2009
NB-CD
NBRR
CODL
3-Jul
05-123-25738
40.455682
-104.382691
2008
NB-CD
NBRR
CODL
3-Jul
05-123-29421
40.452000
-104.382760
2009
NB-CD
NBRR
CODL
3-Jul
05-123-25742
40.452058
-104.377973
2008
NB-CD
NBRR
CODL
WR USX BB 1-1
3-Jul
05-123-30474
40.433773
-104.378192
2009
NB-CD
NBRR
CODL
WR USX BB 1-2
3-Jul
05-123-26768
40.433863
-104.382860
2008
NB-CD
NBRR
CODL
WR USX BB 1-7
3-Jul
05-123-26101
40.430561
-104.382805
2008
NB-CD
NBRR
CODL
WR USX BB 1-8
3-Jul
05-123-26769
40.430368
-104.377510
2008
NB-CD
NBRR
CODL
ROUSE USX A 0505

ROUSE USX A 0506
NAT'L HOG
FARMS 12-21
NAT'L HOG
FARMS 21-21
WR USX AA 2510
WR USX AA 2515
WR USX AA 2516
28-Jun
05-123-30351
40.542888
-104.500382
2010
NB-CD
29-Jun
05-123-26645
40.481240
-104.496580
2008
CODL
29-Jun
05-123-26611
40.482426
-104.493852
2008
29-Jun
05-123-24494
40.495090
-104.562070
29-Jun
05-123-33524
40.496960
29-Jun
05-123-33522
29-Jun
116
WR USX BB 1-17
3-Jul
05-123-25108
40.431694
-104.379745
2007
NB-CD
NBRR
CODL
3-Jul
05-123-29530
40.441415
-104.396483
2009
NB-CD
NBRR
CODL
3-Jul
05-123-29528
40.437518
-104.401704
2009
NB-CD
NBRR
CODL
3-Jul
05-123-25884
40.437410
-104.396641
2008
NB-CD
NBRR
CODL
3-Jul
05-123-25051
40.439530
-104.399010
2007
NB-CD
NBRR
CODL
SAMUEL J 7-9
2-Aug
05-123-25604
40.411950
-104.818590
2005
NB-CD
CODL
NBRR
SAMUEL J 7-15
2-Aug
05-123-25605
40.411960
-104.818480
2005
CODL
UPRC 31-11I6
2-Aug
05-123-18024
40.340040
-104.767830
1999
NB-CD
CODL
NBRR
UPRC J31-14
2-Aug
05-123-22425
40.350760
-104.825340
2004
CODL
2-Aug
05-123-29252
40.355131
-104.824011
2009
NB-CD
CODL
NBRR
2-Aug
05-123-29102
40.355075
-104.823957
2009
NB-CD
CODL
NBRR
2-Aug
05-123-18983
40.390201
-104.839146
1999
CODL
2-Aug
05-123-18984
40.387350
-104.838550
1999
CODL
2-Aug
05-123-21109
40.386284
-104.833841
2002
NB-CD
CODL
NBRR
2-Aug
05-123-26443
40.358183
-104.747850
2008
NB-CD
CODL
NBRR
2-Aug
05-123-26533
40.376077
-104.824964
2007
CODL
2-Aug
05-123-18111
40.368312
-104.825642
2006
NB-CD
CODL
4-Aug
05-123-30115
40.397941
-104.866134
2010
NB-CD
CODL
NBRR
EDWARDS 15-11
4-Aug
05-123-21339
40.405170
-104.872910
2004
CODL
BERNHARDT O
13-7
4-Aug
05-123-20183
40.313270
-104.836920
2001
CODL
EDWARDS 31-15
4-Aug
05-123-22324
40.405020
-104.876606
2004
NB-CD
EDWARDS 32-15
4-Aug
05-123-22917
40.401990
-104.876162
2005
NB-CD
Rudolph 2-31
4-Aug
05-123-21102
40.427697
-104.861065
2003
CODL
Rudolph 2-32
4-Aug
05-123-21263
40.427685
-104.865815
2003
CODL
Coulson 19-32
4-Aug
05-123-23444
40.383120
-104.943420
2006
CODL
Coulson 19-34
4-Aug
05-123-29134
40.380240
-104.937620
2008
NB-CD
CODL
NBRR
4-Aug
05-123-21165
40.397813
-104.866132
2006
CODL
4-Aug
05-123-23795
40.396110
-104.865016
2006
CODL
4-Aug
05-123-31240
40.267040
-105.039020
2010
NB-CD
CODL
NBRR
4-Aug
05-123-25148
40.266933
-105.043290
2007
NB-CD
CODL
NBRR
4-Aug
05-123-24414
40.280568
-104.918625
2009
CODL
MONFORT 4-10
16-Aug
05-123-20250
40.332290
-104.770250
2001
NB-CD
CODL
NBRR
KAMMERZELL 414
16-Aug
05-123-20096
40.335960
-104.787470
2000
NB-CD
CODL
NBRR
WR USX AA 3509
WR USX AA 3515
WR USX AA 3516
WR USX AA 3523
BERNHARDT J 3121
BERNHARDT J 3122D
GOLDBERG N 242
GOLDBERG N 247
GOLDBERG N 248
SCHANK J 35-21
LUNDVALL J 3019
LUNDVALL 3011H6
GOLDBERG N 1420D
GOLDBERG N 1412
GOLDBERG N 1425
ELLIOT USX S 3109P
ELLIOT USX S 3110
OLSON USX O 2925
117
JSAND
KAMMERZELL 134
16-Aug
05-123-13584
40.335329
-104.791614
1999
NB-CD
CODL
SMITH 1
16-Aug
05-123-11922
40.332290
-104.562670
1999
NB-CD
NBRR
CODL
SMITH 9-5
16-Aug
05-123-17348
40.328196
-104.561960
1999
NB-CD
NBRR
CODL
CONNELL C 4-11
16-Aug
05-123-21176
40.339913
-104.557673
2003
NB-CD
NBRR
CODL
NBRR
JERKE G 7-28
16-Aug
05-123-25212
40.334165
-104.701545
2007
NB-CD
COLEMAN C 2329D
17-Aug
05-123-30836
40.303459
-104.524935
2011
NB-CD
SATER C 23-28D
17-Aug
05-123-30804
40.303100
-104.514670
2012
NB-CD
THOUTT 1
17-Aug
05-123-11079
40.303200
-104.548620
1999
NB-CD
NBRR
CODL
COX PM C 8-6
17-Aug
05-123-14174
40.329156
-104.576884
1999
NB-CD
CODL
NBRR
LEY 1
17-Aug
05-123-11921
40.335840
-104.591110
2000
NB-CD
CODL
NBRR
DEITRICH 6-10
17-Aug
05-123-17359
40.338918
-104.590856
2009
NB-CD
CODL
NBRR
CODL
NBRR
DEITRICH 6-23
17-Aug
05-123-24010
40.337653
-104.588561
2006
NB-CD
NIKOLORIC C 5-5
& 20
17-Aug
05-123-20235
40.343180
-104.581280
2002
JSAND
STINAR C 13-32
17-Aug
05-123-30941
40.312978
-104.508936
2010
NB-CD
CODL
NBRR
CONNELL C 4-29
17-Aug
05-123-24872
40.348040
-104.559760
2007
NB-CD
CODL
NBRR
17-Aug
05-123-25398
40.308660
-104.549629
2008
NB-CD
CODL
NBRR
25-Jul
05-123-25119
40.391613
-104.508652
2007
NB-CD
CODL
NBRR
PATRIOT B 16-9
25-Jul
05-123-14928
40.397913
-104.547986
1999
CODL
PATRIOT B 16-10
25-Jul
05-123-14929
40.397536
-104.552004
1999
CODL
PATRIOT B 16-15
25-Jul
05-123-14930
40.393370
-104.552492
1999
CODL
PATRIOT B 16-16
25-Jul
05-123-14931
40.393400
-104.547873
1999
CODL
PATRIOT B 16-11
25-Jul
05-123-15244
40.397522
-104.556647
1999
CODL
PATRIOT B 16-13
25-Jul
05-123-15245
40.393660
-104.562240
1999
CODL
PATRIOT B 16-14
25-Jul
05-123-15246
40.393610
-104.557310
1999
CODL
PATRIOT B 16-12
25-Jul
05-123-15564
40.397440
-104.562450
1999
CODL
ALLES F 33-29D
25-Jul
05-123-30281
40.362560
-104.670680
2009
NB-CD
CODL
NBRR
THISTLE DOWN B
31-24D
25-Jul
05-123-28057
40.351701
-104.592762
2009
NB-CD
CODL
NBRR
HAMILTON 25-13
25-Jul
05-123-15393
40.364240
-104.618020
1999
CODL
NB-CD
NBRR
HAMILTON 25-14
25-Jul
05-123-15394
40.364260
-104.613701
2002
NB-CD
CODL
HAMILTON 2515B
25-Jul
05-123-16497
40.364210
-104.609950
1999
NB-CD
NBRR
CODL
Webster B 6-1
25-Jul
05-123-13852
40.433427
-104.587268
1988
NB-CD
CODL
NBRR
Webster B 6-2
25-Jul
05-123-13494
40.433626
-104.589919
1987
CODL
NBRR
NB-CD
CODL
RYANN STATE 1623

FERGUSON B 2430
Webster B 6-8
HAMILTON 2510B
SCHMIER B 3230D
25-Jul
05-123-18576
40.429080
-104.585000
1999
NB-CDLYONS
25-Jul
05-123-15392
40.368350
-104.608550
2002
NB-CD
NBRR
CODL
25-Jul
05-123-29003
40.360926
-104.580839
2009
NB-CD
CODL
NBRR
118
Appendix 2
Sample Containers, preservation and holding time requirements

Parameter
pH
Volume (mL)
25
Container
G, P
Preservation
None
Cations
(major cations, trace
elements)
Anions
Chloride
Sulfate
Alkalinity (CaCO3)
BOD-5 day
BOD- long term
COD
Total & total volatile
Turbidity
250
Field rinse, HNO3

pH<3
250
100-200
50-100
200
500-1000
500
50-250
100
100-250
P
G, P
G, P
G, P
G, P
G, P
G, P
G, P
G, P
VOC
2 to 4
40 ml vials
G vials/TLS
Total organic carbon (TOC)
125
Total dissolved solids (TDS)

Oil and Grease
1000
G only wide
mouth
Field rinse
Cool 4C
Cool 4C
Cool 4C
Cool 4C
Cool 4C
H2SO4 pH<2
Cool 4C
Cool 4C
Store in dark
HCl pH<2
No headspace
Cool 4C
6 C
Store in dark
HCl or H2SO4 to
pH<2
Cool 4C2 C
H2SO4 pH<2
119
Holding time
Immed. & onsite
180 days
28 days
28 days
14 days
48 hrs
24 hrs
28 days
7 days
48 hrs
14 days
28 days
7 days
28 days
Appendix 3
Tier 1 On-Site Water Test Worksheet
Organization/tester name
Well name
Well ID#
______________________
Well location
(Longitude)/
Sample Depth
feet
Sample Formation:
Niobrara
Date
(MM/DD/YY)
Sample Start Time
Codell
J Sand
D Sand
Turbidity, NTU
DO, mg/L %
saturation
(AM/PM)
Water
Temp, F
Sampling volume:
Todays weather
(Latitude) (GPS)
(AM/PM) : End Time
Air temperature:
Well
ID#
(1-120)
Conductivity
pH
mL
:
sunny
partly cloudy
overcast
light rain
heavy rain
Yesterdays weather:
sunny
partly cloudy
overcast
light rain
heavy rain
COMMENTS:
120
Appendix 4
Tier 2 CSU Lab Water Test Sheet

Well
ID #
Chemical Analysts
Level
Test Method or Test

equipment
TSS, mg/L
TDS, mg/L
TOC, mg/L
Sulfate (SO4), mg/L
Carbonate (CO3),
mg/L
Bicarbonate
(HCO3), mg/L
Chloride (Cl), mg/L
Phosphate (PO4),
mg/L
Oil and Grease
BETX(optional)
Alkalinity
Tester Name
Well ID#
Test Date
(1-120)
/
Well API#
(05-123-XXXX)
(M/D/Y)
Test Start Time
(AM/PM) ; Test End Time
Air temperature
Sampling volume
mL
Signature:
121
(AM/PM)
Appendix 5
Charge Balance
Test_
no
1-10
1-11
1-12
1-13
1-14
1-15
1-16
1-17
1-18
1-19
1-20
1-21
1-22
1-23
1-24
1-25
1-26
1-27
1-28
1-29
1-30
1-31
1-32
1-33
1-34
1-35
1-36
1-37
1-38
2-01
2-02
2-03
2-04
2-05
2-06
2-07
2-08
2-09
2-10
HC
SO4 catio anio charge
Ca Mg Ba
Fe
Sr B
Sr
K
Cl2223. ns
247. balance
389 37 9.8 79. 50. 9.9 441 52 870 O122
0 ns
5%
3
6
5 11
5 16. 930
0 23 175
0 182
42 496.
39
776 85 40.
38
0 466.
3%
3
5
5
0
7
00
99
59
44.
98.
13.
682
137
347.
388.
669 73
19
87
140
0
6%
5 13
9 21.
9 107
0 21 210
00 201
54 595.
72
941 10 52. 64.
0 540.
5%
2
9
5
7
5
00
4
00
41
63
450 57
38 18. 68. 14. 799 22 144 185
0 388. 409.
3%
5 99.
5 19.
2 779
0 15
5 150
00
48 424.
20
697 76 21. 47.
98
0 395.
4%
2 113
5 28.
7 4.4
1 180
0 35
0 360
00
07 102.
70
200 16 4.5
85
0 96.8
3%
1
8
0
0
9
94
56.
12.
11
124
233
601.
662.
783 94
25
77
346
0
5%
6
5 16
5 29. 152
00 10 282
00 293
30 800.
88
111 13 57.
30
0 747.
3%
0
9
5
7
1
00
1
00
07
22
604 69 9.1 135 89. 20. 117 12 230 504
50 562. 657.
8%
1
1
2 145
00 41
8 251
00 230
49 74.5
53
107 14 2.8
25 14.
4
0 73.3
1%
2 25. 15
9 26. 136
0 10 255
0 224
7 722.7
980 11 58.
0 667.
4%
8 52.
2
5
6
3
00
5
00
92
93
117 14
18
25.
147
290
727.
822.
45
90
230
60
6%
0 73
0 46.
3 142 84.
3 22.
5 110
00 68 202
00 355
61 575.
38
567
0 530.
4%
8
.5
2
9
00
00
69
59
293 31 20. 39. 43. 12. 517 48 100 165
0 250. 284.
6%
3
7 57.
9 17.
8 686
0 42 126
00 169
74 358.
77
373 43 30.
43
0 331.
4%
3 20. 58.
6 21.
1 869
0 14 152
00 269
24 433.
17
419 48 27.
0 416.
2%
6
5
7
3
0
0
00
79
15
23.
58.
737
143
359.
406.
434 42
65
20
99
179
0
6%
6 65. 53.
1 19. 605
0 12 118
00 216
62 336.
28
410 40 8.1
0 301.
6%
1
5
9
6
0
8
00
13
38
501 48 13. 300 68. 17. 726 93 140 119
0 366. 396.
4%
9 249 85.
2 18.
5 718
0 11 143
00
10 404.
84
561 60 18.
87
0 366.
5%
3 94. 48.
3 15
4 631
0 50
5 116
00 174
13 330.
78
338 34 19.
0 305.
4%
6
9
1
0
00
75
05
20.
62.
20.
954
181
458.
515.
424 52
184
81
308
0
6%
6 280 38.
5 16.
8 645
0 18 116
00 328
49 332.
58
261 31 28.
0 318.
2%
7
3
8
0
1
00
30
57
220 40 27. 424 47. 14. 775 13 155
0
0 376. 437.
7%
1 294 73.
4 22.
9 983
0 62
4 185
00 294
98 526.
20
426 59 27.
0 476.
5%
7 151 85.
1 41.
6 740
0 18 145
00 334
24 414.
64
301 37 27.
0 367.
6%
6
2
2
0
5
00
68
47
15.
20.
721
19
133
348.
382.
284 35
122 42
435
0
5%
5 107 26 17
4 564
0 69
3 970
00 631
71 284.
27
188 21 4.2
20 268.
3%
3
0
0
98
15
292 33 18. 1.2 44. 9.8 408 45 750 101
0 200. 213.
3%
5 52. 36.
8 11. 408
0 52 740
0 159
87 211.
20
259 24 12.
0 200.
3%
1
8 81.
1 14.
4 528
0 21 980
0 140
81 278.
33
515 54. 15.
83
0 275.
1%
1 0.2
1 32.
6
8
0
2
0
77
72
13. 0.5
13.4
12.2
1 1.6 248
7 370 110
0
5%
3 2.5 0.7
77 50.
2 3.2 3.7 670 7.3 114 105
4 33.8
4
26.
0 34.1
0%
5
54
4
0
2
8
82. 6.9 2.0 108 8.8 2.8 732 24. 138 128
0 42.2 41.0
2%
8 67.
7
7 17. 936 58
1 164
0 217
9 466.2
533
60
93 84.
0 453.
1%
6 6.2
4 5.9
4 252
0 50 490
00 100
35 139.
14
275 25.
37 37.
0 131.
3%
4
5
0
0
16
85
22.
6.5
55.
29.
214
420
114.
121.
244
7
78
172
0
3%
3 9.5
8
2 56.
4 13 481
0 57 940
0 180
42 268.
29
412 59.
74
0 258.
2%
1
4
6
0
7
0
30
09
122
2-11
2-12
2-13
2-14
2-15
2-16
2-17
2-18
2-19
2-20
2-21
2-22
2-23
2-24
2-25
2-26
2-27
2-28
2-29
2-30
2-31
2-32
2-33
2-34
2-35
2-36
2-37
155
931
399
954
791
127
21.
3
200
43.
8
264
94.
7
414
231
421
421
377
24.
4
226
78
82
224
22
212
170
262
92.
4
360
21
11
3
38
99.
9
10
6
11.
7
1.7
29.
3
3.9
28.
7
5.2
48
25
43
43
28
1.8
22
6
8
22
1
22.
2
19
27
8.3
32
8.5
7
27.
6
14.
6
39.
8
28.
5
6.4
5
1.1
5
5.1
2
1.0
6
1.3
2
0.8
4
26.
6
10.
1
32.
8
2.4
1
4.9
0.3
99
13.
4
3.2
6
5.6
2
5.9
1
0.3
4
17.
6
5.6
8
1.9
4
3.1
9
8.9
2
352
14.
5
114
.5
97
198
58.
2
12.
5
34.
8
12.
6
125
113
.5
1.2
5
45.
8
27.
2
49.
8
112
.5
18.
4
23.
6
5.2
8
2.0
9
10.
35
2.9
2
26.
2
13.
8
0.5
5
5.7
1.3
21
13
7
56.
7
14
4
12
3
14.
6
2.4
4
25
5.1
8
37.
3
6.5
5
60.
6
32.
2
53.
3
16.
7
41.
4
1.9
5
32.
8
9.3
5
11
32.
6
1.5
7
31.
1
20.
7
35.
4
11.
5
47.
4
11.
1
21.
2
12.
2
21.
2
14.
8
5.3
1.1
19.
4
2.4
13.
8
4.5
22.
9
13.
2
19.
9
8.6
24.
3
2.1
10.
5
5.2
1
5.5
10.
9
2.9
6
10.
7
9.9
7
10.
7
6.1
17.
6
432
0
997
0
470
0
114
00
723
0
168
0
239
380
0
533
599
0
100
0
852
0
426
0
692
0
197
0
579
0
386
317
0
128
0
172
0
303
0
446
406
0
288
0
408
0
169
0
592
0
14
2
70
0
89
73
68
27
11.
3
26
3
17
10
9
11
21
4
21
1
13
9
13
4
75
3.2
35
31
11
82
22
48
44
7
13
9
77
98
123
750
0
197
00
870
0
220
00
139
00
310
0
430
690
0
930
107
00
180
0
146
00
740
0
122
00
360
0
960
0
630
590
0
233
0
299
0
580
0
800
720
0
600
0
830
0
300
0
115
00
334
217
123
184
173
149
74
298
68
160
125
350
199
331
142
187
114
105
148
124
102
132
140
158
143
123
144
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
6
0
0
23
0
10
30
20
10
218.
32
519.
23
239.
87
568.
75
380.
21
85.5
4
12.8
1
193.
48
27.6
0
289.
33
54.8
2
410.
97
211.
69
339.
14
119.
05
288.
92
19.7
2
157.
54
63.2
3
82.2
9
152.
12
22.3
8
196.
10
151.
49
201.
14
83.5
4
288.
38
217.
02
559.
22
247.
41
623.
56
394.
90
89.8
8
13.3
199.4
51
27.3
304.5
43
52.8
417.2
55
211.
99
349.
54
103.
87
273.
85
19.6
168.4
14
68.2
1
86.3
165.7
27
24.9
205.7
38
171.
93
236.
77
86.8
326.4
84
0%
4%
2%
5%
2%
2%
2%
2%
0%
3%
2%
1%
0%
2%
7%
3%
0%
3%
4%
2%
4%
5%
2%
6%
8%
2%
6%

Produced Water Characterization

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Produced Water Characterization

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Produced Water Characterization

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

THESIS

PRODUCED WATER QUALITY CHARACTERIZATION AND PREDICTION FOR

In partial fulfillment of the requirements

Copyright by Huishu Li 2013

PRODUCED WATER QUALITY CHARACTERIZATION AND PREDICTION FOR

3.3.2 Produced water quality for the state of Colorado ....................................................... 67

Fig 3.6, Scale deposition locations in offshore injection well ..................................................... 51

Fig 4.10, Organic compounds present in produced water ............................................................ 90

Chapter 2 Literature Review

Gas Shale Basins

Resource Endowment Produced/Proved Undeveloped Recoverable

Known reserves (109 bbl)

Total reserves (109 bbl)

2.2 Current drilling and fracturing technology

Shale gas play

drilling Volume of fracturing Total volumes of

water per well (gal)

water per well (gal)

water per well (gal)

2.3 Produced Water

Fig 2.3, Flowback rate for Marcellus shale gas play

2.3.1 Water Volume

2.3.2 Water Quality

Chemical composition of produced water is complex, including dispersed oil, dissolved

Fe3+ , B4+ and

Fig 2.4, Constituents of produced water

flow volume (bbl)

Salinity is one of the most concerning aqueous constituents of either conventional or

Produced water from conventional oil and gas plays

Table 2.9, Common inorganic compounds in produced water

Produced water from unconventional oil and gas

2.4 Produced Water Impact

2.5 Water Management

Fig 2.7, Image of water injection 43

Fig 2.8, Range of applicability vs. cost

2.6 Produced Water Treatment

Fig 2.9, Barnett Shale play brine desalination process

Table 2.16, Treatment efficiency and characteristics of the raw water

Power costs Kw Hr per 1,000 gal. Permeate

2.7 Oil and gas production history in Wattenberg Field

Fig 2.10, Top U.S. gas fields by 2009 gas production49

Fig 2.12, Wattenberg field divided by townships

Fig 2.13, Productive Areas-Great Wattenberg Area, 2005

Fig 2.14, Noble well density in Wattenberg

2.8 Research Objectives

Chapter 3 Methods and materials

3.1 Water Sampling

Fig 3.1, Number of new drilled wells by year

Fig 3.2, Accumulative production activity of major formations, 2005

Fig 3.3, Typical depth of major oil/gas producing formations

*1b/mmcf=pounds of water/million cubic feet of gas

Fig 3.4, Map of sampled wells

Field Sampling Schedule

According to Appendix 2, for the analyses test, including anions (carbonate/bicarbonate,

Fig 3.5, Separator tank (separator) and field water sampling

3.2 Water sample analyses

3.2.1 Water quality test parameters

Can impair effectiveness and drive up horsepower

Formation plugging (Iron oxides)

Formation damage, loss of permeability