Research Institute Uses TOC Analyser for Hydraulic Fracturing and Oil Exploration Produced Waters

The Sievers InnovOx Laboratory Total Organic Carbon (TOC) Analyser manufactured by GE Analytical Instruments (USA), part of GE Power & Water, has been successfully deployed by the Global Petroleum Research Institute at Texas A&M University-College Station, Texas (GPRI-TAMU), for analysing wastewaters resulting from unconventional oil exploration, and hydraulic fracturing (frac), activities.

GPRI evaluates various water samples from different shale and oil producing formations using a mobile laboratory, which houses a pilot-scale treatment system. The mobile system identifies the best treatment options for frac and produced water reuse. It needed a robust and portable NPOC (non-purgeable organic carbon)/TOC analyser that could be easily incorporated into their mobile laboratory. GPRI had not previously utilised a TOC analyser for measuring water quality because of the difficulty in handling the high salts and complex chemistry of their typical samples.

GPRI decided to assess the GE’s Sievers InnovOx Laboratory TOC Analyser because of its robust Supercritical Water Oxidation (SCWO) technology that can handle tough brine samples. In addition, the InnovOx could be easily incorporated into GPRI’s mobile lab and moved around as needed for sample collection and analysis.

For more than 18 months, GPRI has successfully conducted several large scale field and laboratory studies of gas shale produced wastewaters and drilling waste. Despite the fact that the waters are very high in bromides, silica, oils, color and solids, and could contain chlorides as high as 300,000 mg/L, the SCWO Method enabled the InnovOx to provide both accurate and precise results.

“We found the InnovOx to be a very dependable TOC/NPOC analyser for both field and laboratory use, and it provided robust oxidation chemistries in difficult matrices,” said Keith McLeroy, Analytical Advisor, GPRI-TAMU. “The ability to adjust the reaction chemistry of the analyser is a very important capability to have when analysing the wide range of complex chemistries that are encountered in various shale formations and in oil drilling produced wastewaters”. “ The InnovOx successfully monitors frac flowback and produced waters from unconventional oil and gas applications. In addition, the technical assistance from the applications chemist at GE Analytical Instruments was a tremendous asset to problem solving and methods modifications.“