The recovery of oil and gas from shale using hydraulic fracturing requires large quantities of water, putting stress on local sources and producing large amounts of wastewaters. Treatment and reuse has significantly reduced the water and disposal requirements of this process. Knowing the composition of ions in wastewater can be used to develop effective treatment strategies and optimize fracturing fluids that are created from this water. Additionally, this information can be used to meet stringent local reporting requirements for fracturing activity. This presentation describes the use of ion chromatography (IC) to determine anions and cations in produced water from three different hydraulic fracturing sites.
United States
