Exxonmobil Research and Engineering Company

Exxonmobil Upstream Research Company

John D Miller

Piyush S Shah

William A Symington

Jesse D Yeakel

Ganesh L Ghurye

Chad E Shockley

A method for treating water at a water treatment facility is provided. In one aspect, the water has been circulated through a subsurface formation in a shale oil development area. The subsurface formation may comprise shale that has been spent due to pyrolysis of formation hydrocarbons. The method in one embodiment includes receiving the water at the water treatment facility, and treating the water at the water treatment facility in order to (i) substantially separate oil from the water, (ii) substantially remove organic materials from the water, (iii) substantially reduce hardness and alkalinity of the water, (iv) substantially remove dissolved inorganic solids from the water, and/or (v) substantially remove suspended solids from the water. The method may further includes delivering the water that has been treated at the water treatment facility re-injecting the treated water into the subsurface formation to continue leaching out contaminants from the spent shale.

Water treatment following shale oil production by in situ heating

The present invention comprises a system and methodology for denitrification using constructed wetlands. The constructed wetlands of the present invention can be effectively applied as a wastewater point source treatment technology to any high total dissolved solids (e.g. sulfites and sulfates), carbon deficient wastewater stream for nitrate control. Pollutants are removed from the stream via a number of processes including plant uptake, volatilization, filtration and biological reduction. The present system and methodology offers an ability to reduce outflow stream nitrate concentrations in a cost-effective manner with minimal capital investment.

Nitrate removal in a purge stream using constructed wetlands

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Katy, TX, United States of America

John D Miller