OI LFI E LD WATE R MANAG E M E NT
The TETRA SandStorm, pictured in the Vaca Muerta in Argentina, is a cyclone technology that separates the solids and the
sands from the fluids during flowback. It can capture small particles down to lower-single-digit micron size.

ogy that reduces operational and environmental risks for our
customers .”
The final piece of the puzzle is automation. The company has
a web-based real-time monitoring and control system called
BlueLinx that customers can use to view their treatment and
recycling operations, providing immediate insight into chemi-
cal processes and quality objectives. It is also used internally to
monitor flowback operations and sand management for produced
water recycling and treatment, as well as automated pumps that
transfer water through the lay-flat hose.

“All of that is integrated into the system, which is allowing
operators to reduce safety risk and the occurrence of service qual-
ity errors,” Mr Malone said.

Upgrades are under way for the TETRA Steel, a double-jacket-
ed lay-flat hose for water transport, to make it lighter and to
make its couplings more resistant to corrosion.

34 BlueLinx will, for example, synchronize with the hydraulic
pumps that are delivering water along the length of lay-flat hose,
telling the pumps when to shut down if there are issues and opti-
mizing individual pump performance for fuel consumption.

Mr Malone highlighted that TETRA is working on integration
with other companies’ systems and equipment, like water trans-
fer pumps and valves used for emergency shutdowns, especially
as operators look to bring disparate third-party service and tech-
nology providers’ offerings into their own internal systems.

The future of water management for TETRA, Mr Malone
remarked, will involve the use of more and better technology solu-
tions to ensure that more rigorous operational and financial per-
formance metrics can be met. In addition, there will be nascent
areas of innovation related to achieving ESG objectives.

For example, the company has been vetting technologies for
desalinization and has exclusive licensing agreements with KMX
and Hyrec. KMX uses vacuum membrane distillation technol-
ogy for high-total-dissolved-solids (TDS) levels, while Hyrec uses
osmotically assisted reverse osmosis technology for lower-TDS
applications. Both technologies are already commercial in other
industries but are now undergoing field trials and lab-testing to
determine how they can be scaled in oilfield applications.

“We see the future of water management in oil and gas as being
a multi-pronged approach,” Mr Malone said. “There will still be
disposal wells, but we need to tackle issues like seismicity and
overpressurization in the reservoir pore space. Treatment and
recycling of water for completion operations will eventually allow
the water to be reused for much longer, reducing the burden of
disposal. “We also know that with water use increasing, drought condi-
tions persisting and the need to minimize the use of freshwater
resources, there will be a need for desalinization and the benefi-
cial reuse of oilfield produced water moving forward.” DC
J U LY/AU G U ST 2023 • D R I L L I N G C O N T R AC T O R