Frac & Produced Water Treatment and Reuse

Sabre's Water Management solution is a chlorine dioxide (ClO2) treatment for surface wastewater installations in the oil and gas field environment. The solution has proven highly effective at improving water quality in tanks, reserve pits, impoundments and ponds so that the wastewater can be reused in ongoing site downhole operations such as drilling and hydraulic fracturing, or disposed of more efficiently through solar evaporation.

Sabre's chlorine dioxide treatment process greatly improves water quality by addressing common problems that develop when wastewater produced in the oil and gas field environment is stored in surface containment basins.

Chlorine Dioxide Breaks Emulsions and Destroys Sludges

Surface storage of wastewater produced in oil and gas field operations, particularly in warm weather, creates environmental conditions which are conducive to the formation of emulsions and sulfidic sludges that prevent effective separation of the water from entrained hydrocarbons, production chemicals and particulate matter. Once emulsions and sludges have formed within a wastewater containment basin, creating a condition known as "blackwater", this mixture of water, hydrocarbons, chemicals and solids becomes completely unsuitable for reuse in site operations due to its undesirable chemical and physical properties.

Sabre's chlorine dioxide treatment reverses the reaction that natural environmental conditions caused within the wastewater that led to formation of emulsions and sulfidic sludges. Chlorine dioxide quickly breaks apart complex emulsions and destroys sulfidic sludges through chemical oxidation, allowing the water to separate from residual hydrocarbons, treatment chemicals and particulate matter present within the wastewater containment basin. Once the water has been effectively separated from other constituents by chlorine dioxide, it is typically of such high quality that it may be reused in other site operations, or be disposed of more readily through solar evaporation.

Chlorine Dioxide Inactivates Biological Contamination

The emulsions and sludges that often render wastewater at oil and gas production facilities unsuitable for reuse in site downhole operations are normally formed through the metabolic activity of ubiquitous Sulfate Reducing Bacteria (SRBs). When conditions within a wastewater containment basin become anaerobic (i.e. no "free" oxygen), which they often do because of a heavy Biological Oxygen Demand loading placed on the system by the presence of hydrocarbons and treatment chemicals, SRBs utilize sulfate as a "combined" source of oxygen to complete their metabolic cycle, resulting in the formation of emulsions and sulfidic sludges as undesirable byproducts.

Sabre's chlorine dioxide is a potent biocide that inactivates all forms of microbial life with which it comes in contact, including SRBs. When treated with chlorine dioxide, wastewater being stored within a surface containment basin is temporarily sterilized, allowing it to be promptly reused in site downhole operations without fear that the subsurface formation might become contaminated with SRBs or other potentially harmful micro-organisms present in the wastewater.

Additional Treatment Benefits

In addition to improving water quality, Sabre's chlorine dioxide treatment enhances worksite safety by oxidizing Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S) gas, reduces conditions that lead to equipment damage, eliminates offensive odors by oxidizing sulfides and other reduced sulfer compounds, and reduces environmental threats to wildlife.