CBM Produced Water Treatment Selection Module – A Tool to Provide Treatment Alternatives to Improve Water Quality

The Rocky Mountain Region of the United States has abundant resources of natural gas. A substantial portion of the natural gas found in Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, Utah, and Montana is sequestered in coalbed methane (CBM) natural gas fields. During the extraction of methane, natural gas bearing coal seams must be dewatered (pumped) to reduce hydraulic pressure on the strata and liberate natural gas. Co-produced water is pumped to the surface throughout the development and production stages of a well. Co-produced water is the largest waste stream associated with gas production.

Gas producers have tested and are employing multiple produced water management strategies in an attempt to dispose of co-produced water in an environmentally responsible manner; however, permitting and landowner requirements frequently dictate either injection or direct treatment and discharge (surface or aquifer). Direct treatment and discharge is technically possible, and allows for the subsequent beneficial use of the water resource. Yet, little guidance is available to producers on appropriate design of viable treatment technologies that will enable sustainable treatment and use of the water. The current study establishes a selection protocol to aid CBM producers in the selection and implementation of both commercial and emerging water treatment technologies specifically suited to their influent water quality and desired treatment goal.