破解水力压裂法废水处理难题

    石油与天然气行业在环境（及经济）方面面临的一个巨大挑战是采用水力压裂法开采油气所需要的用水量。在采用水力压裂法的过程中，需要利用压力把水注入到油气井的深处，借助水力来压裂下面的页岩，以此释放出困在页岩中的天然气。一口油气井通常需要400万或500万加仑的用水量，同时会产生约100万加仑遭到污染、需要处理的废水。

    反对水力压裂法的环保人士经常抱怨的一个问题是这些油气井所需要的用水量——尤其是在美国遭受旱灾的地区（比如德克萨斯州西部）——以及石油与天然气行业处置废液的方式。这些废水可能含有沙、盐、微量放射性物质以及水力压裂法所用到的化学物质，通常会排放到市政污水处理系统或蓄水池中。

    一家位于乔治亚州阿尔法雷塔、叫做Ecologix环境系统（Ecologix Environmental Systems）的公司认为自己找到了一个解决问题的办法。该公司创始人兼首席执行官（CEO）伊莱•格鲁伯（Eli Gruber）在10年前创建这家污水处理公司之前一直是一名软件创业者。他说：“水力压裂法的最大问题是，我们从农场主和牧场主那里夺走了上百亿加仑的水。我们需要循环使用这些资源。”该公司在水力压裂油气井附近设置了一些小型移动污水处理设备，它们配有Ecologix正在申请专利的技术。然后由卡车运送废水，让废水流经这些移动设备，进行污水处理。

    这个污水处理工艺是格鲁伯最初为食品加工行业而开发的，用以从废水当中分离出食用油和油脂。在这个污水处理工艺过程中，微小的气泡会吸附到污染颗粒上，然后浮到水面上，这样，就可以撇去污泥。（之后再把污泥埋在垃圾填埋场）卡车重新装上经处理后的清洁用水，返回油气井，循环使用。格鲁伯称，他这项污水处理工艺的成本和石油与天然气行业目前使用的“抽出污水然后直接排放掉”的系统是一样的，而且更加有利于环境保护。

    据Ecologix公司称，它目前已实现营收1,000万美元，而且已经盈利。到目前为止,该公司已成功运营了一家试点的污水处理场，而且正在筹集资金，用于在2013年第一季度推出它的移动污水处理设备。当然，格鲁伯目前也面临着一些不利的因素。他正面临这来自斯伦贝谢（Schlumberger）和哈里伯顿（Halliburton）等拥有自有技术的大型油田服务公司的竞争。而且，他还面临着所有新技术都会遭遇的挑战，需要在扩大业务规模的同时保持上乘的质量和低廉的成本。即便如此，格鲁伯也没有被吓住。他说：“我们的技术需要的资本开支及运营开支较低，而且操作简便。是一个非常实用的解决办法。”他希望，采用水力压裂法的石油与天然气开采商跟他是一样的想法。

    译者：iDo98

    One of the big environmental (and financial) challenges the oil and gas industry faces is the amount of water afracking well requires. In fracking, water is driven under pressure deep into a well. The force of the water fractures or "fracks" the shale below, releasing the trapped gas. A typical well use 4 million or 5 million gallons of water and generates about 1 million gallons of contaminated wastewater that need to be disposed of.

    A common complaint environmentalists have against fracking is the amount of water these wells use -- especially in drought-stricken regions of the country such as West Texas -- and they way the oil and gas industry disposes of the waste fluid. The waste water, which can contain sand, salt, and trace amounts of radioactivity and fracking chemicals, typically gets dumped into municipal wastewater systems or into storage pits.

    An Alpharetta, GA., company called Ecologix Environmental Systems, believes it has a solution. Says founder and CEO Eli Gruber, who had been a software entrepreneur before founding his ten-year-old, waste water company: "The biggest problem with fracking is we're stripping away from farmers and ranchers billions and billions of gallons of water. We need to recycle what we use." With Ecologix's patent-pending technology, small mobile units are set up near the fracking wells. Trucks deliver the waste water, which is run through the mobile units.

    In a process Gruber developed for the food processing industry to separate fat and grease out of waste water, tiny air bubbles attach to the particles of pollution and then float to the surface where the sludge is skimmed off. (The sludge is buried in landfills.) The trucks refill with clean water and return it to the wells for reuse. Gruber claims his process costs the same as the same as the "pump and dump" systems being used now by the industry and is better for the environment.

    So far Ecologix, which according to the company has $10 million in revenues and is profitable, has run one successful pilot plant and is raising money to launch its mobile units in the first quarter of 2013. Gruber is facing some headwinds. He's up against giant oil service companies such as Schlumberger and Halliburton that have their own technologies. And as with any new technology there's the challenge of scaling up the business while keeping quality up and costs down. Even so Gruber is undeterred. Says he: Our technology requires low capital and operating expenses and is simple to run. It's a very practical solution." He's betting the fracking drillers feel the same.