Passive remediation of coalbed natural gas co-produced water using zeolite

Abstract

Abstract:Coalbed natural gas (CBNG) co-produced waters can contain sodium (Na þ ) concentrations that may be environmentally detrimental if discharged to receiving bodies of water or applied to land surfaces. A field demonstration and companion laboratory studies were conducted to evaluate the use of a Bear River zeolite (BR-zeolite) for mitigating impacts associated with Na þ in CBNG waters. Bench-scale kinetic and adsorption isotherm studies were performed to determine both the rate and extent of sodium Na þ adsorption and assess the effects of bicarbonate (HCO 3 ) and chloride (Cl -) anions. Results of these studies showed that the adsorption of Na þ on BR-zeolite followed the Langmuir adsorption model with maximum adsorption equal to 21 and 18 g Na þ /kg zeolite with 0.0012 and 0.0006 L/mg Langmuir co-efficients (K L ) for sodium bicarbonate and sodium chloride, respectively. The kinetics study indicated that the sorption of Na þ was inversely related to the size of the zeolite particles with significantly greater adsorption for smaller particles. The field demonstration evaluated the effectiveness of BR-zeolite for mitigating infiltration losses from Na þ in CBNG waters. The field site utilized 12 open boreholes, each installed to a depth of approximately 1.8 m. Each borehole was lined with a 3.0 m long, 15 cm diameter schedule 40 PVC pipe and fitted with an automatic data logging pressure transducer for measuring water levels over time. The BR-zeolite was found to mitigate much of the deleterious effect that high sodium adsorption ratio (SAR ¼ 27 (mol/m 3 ) 1/2 ) CBNG co-produced water had on soil permeabilities.

Adsorption as a Process for Produced Water Treatment: A Review

“…The adsorption was also examined in a field site to evaluate the usefulness of zeolites. This test reported that treated PW lowered the damage caused to the soil by Na + ions [120] . In the toluene study, the investigation was conducted in a column and batch experiments.…”

“…Non-natural adsorbents such as the commercially available ones were also investigated for the treatment of PW. Belbase et al [120] and Ma et al [121] used zeolite as an adsorbent for the removal of sodium cation (Na + ) and toluene respectively. For the Na + study, PW from coalbed natural showed that Na + adsorption was dependent on the zeolite size.…”

Removal of ions from produced water using Powder River Basin coal

“…Zeolite was used to manufacture ion exchange resin/sorbent to remove cations and anions present in water (Jiménez et al 2018). Studies showed that natural or modified zeolite was able to remove hardness and sodium in produced water (Belbase et al 2013;Zhao et al 2008Zhao et al , 2009. However, major applications of zeolite in produced water treatment focus on the removal of organic components such as benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (BTEX) compounds (Ranck et al 2005).…”

Geotechnical laboratory characterization of sand-zeolite mixtures.

“…Zero-valentiron (ZVI) was the first and mainly used in PRB as the reactive material for converting contaminants to nontoxic or immobile species, dehalogenating hydrocarbon sand precipitating anions and oxyanions for grounder water remediation, (United States Environmental Protection Agency, 1998;Scherer et al, 2000;Tratnyek et al, 2003;Gillham et al, 2010); Microorganisms or the material which stimulates the growth of microbes, such as humic materials and oxides, were commonly proposed as biological materials for PRB to remediate the nitrate and sulfate species (United States Environmental Protection Agency, 1998;Scherer et al, 2000);Zeolite was another ideal alternative material for PRB based on its adsorption capacity and high ion exchange capacities (Jorgensen and Weatherley, 2003;Altare et al, 2007;Fronczyk, 2008;Belbase et al, 2013;Joanna et al, 2013).…”