There are few topics more controversial these days than hydraulic fracturing ("fracking"). While the debate rages on as to whether fracking poses a risk to water quality, a new desalination technique addresses two other environmental concerns: water scarcity and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Developed by researchers at the University of British Columbia (UBC), the breakthrough technology uses excess carbon dioxide created in the fracking process to desalinate the process water, making it available for water reuse. It also generates chemicals — hydrochloric acid and carbonate salts — that are valuable for many industrial applications.
Flare gas is the name given to the surplus waste gas produced during the extraction of crude oil and the subsequent refining process.
The clarity of water in a stream, river or ocean is a key determinant in fostering a healthy and balanced aquatic ecosystem. The clearer the water, the greater the ability of light to penetrate to aquatic plants which generate the oxygen needed for aquatic life.
With so much attention paid to the fate of frack water — how it’s handled and cleaned — it’s time to consider the effectiveness of prevailing treatment methods.
When it comes to answering questions about whether the oil and gas industry’s wastewater can be safely reused for other purposes, like food crops, livestock, or even drinking water, there are a number of other serious factors to be considered.
Reliable monitoring and treatment of water in oil refineries is essential for the production of petroleum-based products, including gasoline, diesel, kerosene, heating oil, and byproducts for plastics and a variety of lubricants. There are three process areas within refineries that require large amounts of water: cooling units, desalter units and wastewater treatment
When the plant team at HollyFrontier’s Woods Cross Refinery, near Bountiful, Utah, needed mass flow meters to measure flare gas to the main flare header, the team drew on its past metering experiences for this difficult application.
Coriolis measurement has been adopted as a default technology in many application scenarios due to its high accuracy and immunity to process variables (temperature, pressure and flow profile). However, Coriolis wasn't always widely accepted. Two applications, in particular, helped what was once a nascent flow measurement technology gain a foothold in the marketplace.
Degassing applications in the oil industry are numerous; steam is used in nearly all processes for refining oil. Therefore, water must be treated to prevent scale and pipe pitting through the removal of dissolved ions and dissolved gasses such as oxygen and CO2. Boiler feed water for producing steam must also be free of dissolved CO2 and oxygen; SEPAREL® degassing membranes can remove both gasses in a single compact system.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|