All posts by Andrew Boal

Introducing… BLACKWATER-S!

MIOX Blog, Oil and Gas



Announcing the launch of our new MIOX Blackwater-S mobilized water treatment unit. Built with a RIO-S 1200 lb/day Mixed Oxidant Solution generation system as the core of the unit, a Blackwater-S can produce 50% more oxidant than MIOX’s Blackwater series of mobile systems but still comes packaged in 40 foot toy trailer that can be hauled with a pickup truck.

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Designed to handle even the toughest produced water, MIOX’s Blackwater-S units generate enough oxidant treat 45,000 – 135,000 bbl/day (30 – 100 bbl/min) of “typical” produced water and as much as 690,000 bbl/day (480 bbl/min) of freshwater, giving this system the ability to handle large frac jobs using either fresh or produced water. On top of increased oxidant production capacity, MIOX has also developed a number of operational and process improvements that make Blackwater and Blackwater-S units less expensive, safer, and easier to operate, giving operators both cost savings as well as more time to complete other tasks on busy job sites.

While MIOX’s Blackwater and Blackwater-S units are engineered to meet the rigors of frac-on-the-fly water treatment, they are ideal for any scenario where an oxidizing biocide is needed as part of an overall water treatment program. These mobile units can be delivered to remote locations, and using only salt, water, and electricity as inputs, they can be used to disinfect waters in midstream recycling facilities, water floods for enhanced oil recovery, produced water storage ponds, or salt water disposal wells.Blackwater 2 in West Texas 2014.04 - CopyBlackwater I Arkansas_pano - CopyBlackwater (4)Blackwater O&G produced water treatment panoramic sm

Chlorate Regulation in the United States

MIOX Blog

Chlorate (ClO3–) was added to the Third Chemical Contaminant List (CCL3) in 2010, indicating that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is reviewing chlorate as a potential candidate for regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act. While there is no indication that chlorate is a potential carcinogen to humans, negative health impacts such as thyroid issues, reduced hemoglobin production, and reduced weight gain have been observed in laboratory animals subjected to prolonged exposure to chlorate.1, 2, 4

Chlorate is a highly oxidized form of chlorine that can be introduced to a water source as an industrial or agricultural contaminant or into a finished water as a disinfection byproduct (DBP).  As a DBP, chlorate can result from water disinfection with bulk sodium hypochlorite, chlorine dioxide, or hypochlorite formed through electrolytic on-site generation (OSG) systems.

Regulatory Status

Currently, chlorate in drinking water is not regulated in the United States and there is no enforceable Maximum Contaminant Limit (MCL).  In Canada, chlorate is regulated at concentration of 1.0 mg/L (1000 µg/L).  The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a chlorate limit of Continue reading →

Produced Water Treatment Fayetteville Shale Arkanses

Solving the Challenge of Treating Variable Produced and Flowback Waters in Oil and Gas

MIOX Blog, Oil and Gas, ,

One of the most challenging aspects of disinfecting produced and flowback waters is that the composition of these waters is often highly variable, especially when they are reused for additional production operations. Inspired by the chemistry that occurs when produced or flowback waters are treated with chlorine-based disinfectants, MIOX’s product development team has come up with Continue reading →

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Does Your Produced Water Have Hidden Treatment Powers?

MIOX Blog, Oil and Gas, ,

Produced and Frac Water Treatment for RecycleMIOX is exhibiting and presenting a new technical paper at the SPE Produced Water Handling and Management Symposium on May 20-21 in Galveston, TX.  Our technical presentation by Dr. Andrew Boal focuses on produced water treatment using MIOX sodium hypochlorite generators to generate chloramines in situ through the reaction of hypochlorite with ammonia. Continue reading →

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Exposure to Produced Water Causes Bacteria to Increase Resistance to Glutaraldehyde

MIOX Blog, Oil and Gas, , , ,

Hydrological fracturing continues to expand the opportunity for domestic energy production, although both the increasing demand for water to use in the process as well as the increasing amount of produced water resulting from hydrological fracturing both create environmental challenges for this critical energy production process. Due to these concerns, more producers are turning to the reuse of produced water through many hydrological fracturing jobs. Although produced water reuse is effective at mitigating water sourcing and disposal concerns, proper treatment of these waters between jobs is critical.

Microbial control in produced waters slated for reuse applications is among the most important treatment processes. Without adequate disinfection, the growth of excessive microbial populations can negatively impact well drilling and production in several ways, including causing corrosion and the souring of the well. While a number of biocides can be used to disinfect produced waters, a number of operational and economic factors must be considered when choosing the best biocide for a given job. Chemical complexity of produced water is also an often-considered factor, but until now, the impact of the produced water on microbial response to specific biocides has not been considered when choosing the best biocide.

Recently, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh published a report in the journal Environmental Science and Technology which described the results of a study they conducted regarding the impact of produced water on the inherent susceptibility of bacteria to glutaraldehyde and sodium hypochlorite. They found that exposure of bacteria to the highly saline conditions found in produced waters caused the bacteria to respond to stresses caused by that environment on a molecular level. These changes, in turn, caused the bacteria to become more resistant to glutaraldehyde and more susceptible to inactivation with hypochlorite.

MIOX’s Mixed Oxidant Solution (MOS), a hypochlorite-based chemistry, has been deployed to treat produced waters from a variety of shale plays and has consistently been proven to provide exceptional levels of microbial population control. Results from this latest study help explain the high degree of performance seen by MIOX’s customers who use MOS to disinfect produced water. As produced water reuse continues to increase in popularity, MIOX looks forward to working with partners and customers throughout the industry to provide a reliable disinfectant solution for these waters and applications.hypo bacteria pic

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Groundwater Remediation using a Chlorine/Ultraviolet Advanced Oxidation Process

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MIOX at NGWA 2014Interested in learning about how Chlorine/UV Advanced Oxidation can remove organic microcontaminants at lower cost than traditional hydrogen peroxide/UV Advanced Oxidation? It’s a technology MIOX has been developing for over three years.  Dr. Andrew Boal gave a presentation on this technology to the NGWA Groundwater Summit in Denver on May 6, 2014 describing the results of a groundwater remediation pilot that we conducted in northern California. You can check out the abstract online and learn more about MIOX at www.miox.com.

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About NGWA

The National Ground Water Association (NGWA) is a nonprofit organization for anyone affiliated with the groundwater industry.  NGWA is composed of U.S. and international groundwater professionals — contractors, scientists and engineers, equipment manufacturers, and suppliers.  The 2014 NGWA Groundwater Summit gives these individuals the opportunity to model, explore, characterize, bank, inject, extract, treat, and predict subsurface needs with everything groundwater.

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