As researchers turn on the tap to find new ways of reducing the oil industry’s dependence on water, some Alberta companies are also focusing their attention on what they see as promising new developments in water recycling.

A number of studies, still in their early stages, are now looking at the possibility of slowing the need to continuously tap into the province’s watertable without hindering Alberta’s economic oil and gas engine.

At the University of Calgary, cutting the amount of water needed in oilsands production is just one aspect of Tom Harding’s research.

The former oil industry employee, currently a professor and department head of the university’s department of chemical and petroleum engineering, notes that large amounts of freshwater are used in surface mining in the Athabasca oilsands’ hot-water extraction process.

According to Harding, projects utilizing the steam-assisted, gravity-drainage process require three barrels of water – converted to steam – to produce one barrel of oil or bitumen. Calling the need to reduce the amount of water used in oil recovery an important area of research, he speculates that the use of gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2) or the addition of liquid hydrocarbon solvents could play a pivotal role.

Further, the use of CO2 might be able to aid the industry in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Instead of being released into the atmosphere, they would be diverted underground.

But that is only one aspect of the work, which also includes an evaluation of water-recycling technologies for oilfield-produced waters and a look at water-purification methods to see if they’re of sufficiently high quality to allow for its usage in agricultural purposes.

Meanwhile, oil industry consultant Bruce Peachey is trying to identify the main water-related issues for the water- management portion of the Alberta Energy Research Institute’s energy innovation network initiative.

Looking at identifying and prioritizing where new technologies are needed, Peachey also hopes to build a business case for them. His work, which started in August, will continue into the first quarter of 2005.

These projects, as well as a host of others, come as the industry finds the spotlight shining on its use of water.

“We were the first sector out of the gate” in addressing water usage, said David Pryce, vice-president of Western Canadian operations for the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers.

Referring to the province’s Water for Life consultation, designed to find a strategy for water sustainability, Pryce said that even though the sector is a smaller player when it comes to the issue – other industries, such as agriculture, use much more freshwater in Alberta – it can still make an important contribution.

For the record, Pryce added, “we are licensed to use 4.6 per cent of the licensed amount of water in the province, but we actually only use 1.9 per cent.”

He emphasized that the oilpatch is ready and willing to respond to recent recommendations in the Water for Life’s final report on the use of water for oilfield injection.

“It’s clearly important,” said Pryce, “that everybody should be accountable for the proper use of water.”

At the same time, at least two companies are trying to ensure that water is not taken for granted.

Calgary-based Aqua-Pure Ventures Inc. says it is excited about its new modular and transportable evaporator system that can easily be moved between oilfield sites.

The mobile oilfield evaporator transforms expensive-to-dispose-of oilfield wastewater into a useful product by turning a liability into a resource for industrial reuse, says Aqua-Pure process engineer Patrick Horner.

Through mechanical vapour recompression evaporation, the wastewater is boiled to produce steam, which is later condensed into pure distilled water. The energy required to boil the wastewater is added to the system via a steam compressor. A sophisticated heat-exchanger configuration ensures the majority of the energy put into the system is recovered, Horner says.

Aqua-Pure project manager Brent Halldorson says the mobility of the new system is critical.

“We’re pushing evaporators into a new market where they’ve never been before,” says Halldorson. “The new mobile unit of which we’re building the first right now – scheduled for delivery in January 2005 – is for the Barnett Shale area, which is immediately north of Dallas. Water is a major issue there, they’re in a desert and they’re taking freshwater anywhere they can find it (for gas-drilling operations).

“With the mobile unit, they’ll have the ability to treat the wastewater they produce at their site without the need to transport it. They’ll be recycling 80 per cent to 90 per cent of the water that would go for disposal and they’ll be able to use it right away to frac their gas wells.”

The product is designed to create 2,000 barrels per day of freshwater from 2,300 barrels per day of wastewater. For the Barnett Shale project it will also mean substantial cost savings by not having to haul the wastewater to offsite disposal wells and, at the same time, ease its use of scarce freshwater sources.

Other benefits include the fact that the system is self- contained and runs entirely off natural gas produced onsite, meaning no electric power is required.

“What we see in Texas is that the high cost for the disposal of oilfield wastewater, coupled with the scarcity of freshwater, tends to make recycling more economic than disposal,” says Halldorson. “We’re also seeing that this trend is occurring in Alberta, though to a lesser extent. But we believe that what is going on in Texas now will soon be going on in Alberta as well.”

Aqua-Pure expects to build and install 20 to 30 mobile units during the next several years for the U.S. market and foresees the product’s usage extended to other applications such as remote coalbed methane sites.

In Alberta, Aqua-Pure’s evaporative wastewater treatment technology is being used by Newalta, which is in the process of a development program that’s targeting innovative recycling processes for industrial and oilfield wastewater.

Newalta, a Calgary-based operation, has also begun a global search for processing technology and expects to build demonstration facilities next year as it moves to finalize its selections.

(Laura Severs can be reached at laura@businessedge.ca)