When it comes to fracking, one of the main issues that plagues the industry is the amount of water required for the operations.
Fracking requires a high-pressure injection of water, sand, and chemicals into a horizontal well. The pressure causes fissures to form in the rock, and the sand holds these fissures open so the natural gas can escape.
But each well can require as many as five million gallons of water. Fracking companies have been working to recover and recycle the water used, but these methods can be expensive or yield poor results.
But a Fort Lauderdale, Florida company has developed a system to effectively recycle fracking water, which it will display at the 3rd Annual Shale Gas Water Management Cost Reduction Initiative 2012 in Dallas, Texas.
Enviro Voraxial Technology, Inc.’s (PINK: EVTN) main product is its Voraxial® Separator. The product comes in four different models, all with different gallon-per-minute (GPM) flow rates, and it can separate substances two or three ways.
All Voraxial® Separators have small footprints. The Voraxial® 1000 is the smallest, with a 1-inch diameter and a 1-5 GPM flow rate. The others have 2-inch, 4-inch, and 8-inch diameter sizes, respectively. The Voraxial® 2000 has a 20-60 GPM flow rate, while the Voraxial® 4000 can handle 100-500 GPM and the Voraxial® 8000 has a 1000-5000 GPM capacity.
The vessels can separate oil and water, solids and liquids, or a liquid, a liquid, and a solid. The process is done through a vortex, as the company explains on its website:
The Voraxial® Separator is fitted with a patented non-clog, low-shear rotary assembly designed to create a vortex in the fluids flowing through the separator. By this action, heavier materials (such as solids) are forced to the outside of the vortex while lighter materials (such as oil) are drawn to form the central core of the vortex, thereby creating separated flow streams.
The largest Voraxial® Separator, the Voraxial® 8000, can process up to 7 million gallons of water each day, making it ideal for things such as oil spills. The vessel is able to withstand deep water, allowing it to work on the surface, just under, or even on the ocean floor.
The Dallas conference takes place tomorrow, November 28, and Thursday November 29. It brings together companies and experts with a common goal “to improve the economics of water handling, treatment, recycling, re-use and disposal in Southern US shale plays.”
The Voraxial® will be highlighted at the conference for its ability to efficiently separate substances, it’s low need for energy, and its installation ease.
The company writes:
The Voraxial® can efficiently handle fluctuations in flow rate and oil concentrations without any adjustments, allowing for ease of installation and operation. This superior separation is achieved in real-time, and in much greater volumes, with a more compact and energy efficient machine than any product on the market today.
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The Voraxial® was demonstrated earlier this month at the Shale EnviroSafe Conference and Exhibition in New Orleans as an oil spill response vessel. The Voraxial® 8000’s 5,000-gallon-per-minute capacity (7 million gallons a day) is three times the total oil spilled from BP’s (LON: BP) Deepwater Horizon rig blowout in 2010.
It can be used in a number of industries. The company received an order for a Voraxial Organic Recovery System in 2010 for a project by Uranium One, Inc. (TSE: UUU), in September an order came in from a company operating in the Canadian tar sands, and an unnamed agricultural product and service company ordered a Voraxial® 2000 for its own project last year.
Enviro Voraxial Technology is still a small market player. But it provides a service required by the biggest companies in the energy industry, and as oil and gas companies and others catch on to the services it offers, it too could become essential to the market.
That’s all for now,
Brianna Panzica
@brianna_panzica on TwitterEnergy & Capital’s modern energy guru, Brianna digs deep into the industry with accurate and insightful updates into the biggest energy companies and events. She stays up to date with the latest market moves and industry finds, bringing readers a unique view of current energy trends.
