Selective Ion Separation for (Re)use of Brackish Water
Sustainable development of unconventional oil and gas production relies on efficient use of water resources and safe disposal of effluent from energy production operations. One strategy to attain these goals is to effectively remove a subset of contaminants amid high levels of benign background constituents in sub-quality (brackish) water resources and in wastewater produced during unconventional energy production. This treatment need of the energy industry is substantially different from conventional desalination for domestic use. To this end, we are collaborating with researcher from Chemistry to evaluate the use of reusable and scalable chemicals in electrodialysis process for selective removal of problematic ions (e.g., Ba) from non-potable water source and flowback water to enable their (re)use as alternative feedwater for energy production.
