EAGER: Engineering Microbial Mats for the On-Site Treatment of Wastewater from Unconventional Gas Production

EAGER：用于现场处理非常规天然气生产废水的工程微生物垫

• 批准号: 1353858
• 负责人: Kyle Bibby
• 金额: $ 10万
• 依托单位: University of Pittsburgh
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2013-09-01 至 2016-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1353858&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: EAGER; Engineering; Microbial; Mats; Site

CBET 1353858BibbyUniversity of PittsburghThe proposed project proposal seeks to develop a novel, on-site, and low cost treatment mechanism for wastewaters produced during unconventional gas operations by engineering microbial mats. Wastewaters produced by unconventional gas drilling operations, termed produced wastewaters, contain both additives to assist in gas extraction and extremely high levels of total dissolved solids (TDS) originally derived from subsurface formations. The unique characteristics of wastewaters from unconventional gas production methods make treatment and disposal of this waste stream a significant and currently unsolved technical challenge. Microbial mats are agglomerated and layered bacterial consortia with complex internal chemical and energetic gradients and a high diversity of specialized microbial metabolisms. The characteristics of microbial mats, namely high salt stress tolerance, fixed nature facilitating transport and removal, and multiple mechanisms of contaminant removal, i.e. biologically induced precipitation, mineralization, or biosorption, suggest their utility in treatment of produced wastewaters. The goal of this technology is to treat produced wastewater well enough for reuse in fracturing operations, protecting water resources from over exploitation and minimizing the impacts of disposal. In order to reuse produced wastewater, drillers are primarily concerned with constituents that may cause scaling or foul a well, namely barium, strontium, iron, and biological fouling. Additionally, drillers are concerned about the accumulation of naturally occurring radioactive material (NORMs). All available data suggest microbial mats as a successful treatment scheme for removing constituents of concern from produced wastewaters; however, the application of microbial mats for the treatment of produced wastewaters is entirely novel and this work will serve to demonstrate both its feasibility and potential.Unconventional gas production, often termed ?fracking? for hydraulic fracturing, uses new technology to access gas trapped in geological formations that were previously inaccessible. The cost effective, domestic production of natural gas has significant economic benefits in a wide range of US industries. However, the management of wastewaters produced during hydraulic fracturing, termed ?produced wastewaters?, is a currently unsolved technical challenge. The salt content of produced wastewater is approximately five times that of ocean water and each well produces 2-4 million gallons of wastewater. Existing technologies are unable to cost effectively cope with this salt content and volume. This project will investigate a novel on-site treatment technology, microbial mats, for the treatment of produced wastewaters prior to reuse in future hydraulic fracturing operations. Microbial mats represent a novel treatment technology that would require minimal energy input and maintenance, and could be deployed onsite to eliminate the impacts associated with trucking large volumes of water for treatment.

CBET 1353858 BibbyUniversity of BibburghThe拟议的项目提案旨在通过工程微生物垫开发一种新型的、现场的、低成本的废水处理机制，用于处理非常规天然气作业过程中产生的废水。由非常规气体钻井操作产生的废水，称为采出废水，含有有助于气体提取的添加剂和最初来自地下地层的极高水平的总溶解固体（TDS）。来自非常规天然气生产方法的废水的独特特性使得该废水流的处理和处置成为重大且目前未解决的技术挑战。微生物垫是一种聚集的、分层的细菌聚生体，具有复杂的内部化学和能量梯度以及高度多样性的专门微生物代谢。微生物垫的特性，即高盐胁迫耐受性，固定的性质，促进运输和去除，和污染物去除的多种机制，即生物诱导的沉淀，矿化，或生物吸附，表明它们在处理生产废水的效用。该技术的目标是充分处理生产废水，以便在压裂作业中重复使用，保护水资源免受过度开采，并最大限度地减少处置的影响。为了再利用采出的废水，钻探者主要关注可能导致井结垢或结垢的成分，即钡、锶、铁和生物结垢。此外，钻井人员还担心天然放射性物质（NORM）的积累。所有可用的数据表明，微生物垫作为一个成功的处理方案，从生产废水中去除关注的成分;然而，微生物垫用于生产废水的处理的应用是完全新颖的，这项工作将有助于证明其可行性和潜力。水力压裂对于水力压裂，使用新技术来获取以前无法进入的地质构造中的天然气。具有成本效益的国内天然气生产在美国各行各业中具有显着的经济效益。然而，在水力压裂过程中产生的废水的管理，称为？产生的废水？是目前尚未解决的技术难题。生产废水的含盐量约为海水的五倍，每口井产生200万至400万加仑的废水。现有的技术无法成本有效地科普这种盐含量和体积。该项目将研究一种新的现场处理技术，微生物垫，用于在未来的水力压裂作业中重复使用之前处理生产废水。微生物垫代表了一种新的处理技术，它需要最少的能量投入和维护，并且可以在现场部署，以消除与运输大量水进行处理相关的影响。