Abstract
A linear programming (LP) model is presented to investigate optimal shale gas wastewater management strategies for Marcellus shale play in Pennsylvania (PA) focusing on membrane distillation (MD) as the treatment technology. The optimization framework established in this study incorporates (1) detailed treatment cost obtained from techno-economic assessment (TEA) of MD, (2) cost of wastewater transportation from shale gas sites to treatment or disposal facilities, and (3) cost of injection into salt water disposal (SWD) wells. The optimization model is applied to four case study areas with significant shale gas extraction: Greene and Washington counties in Southwest PA and Susquehanna and Bradford counties in Northeast PA. The results reveal that onsite treatment in combination with shale gas wastewater treatment at natural gas compressor stations (NG CS) where available waste heat can be utilized for the treatment process are the most economically advantageous management options. The optimal solution could result in over 60% benefit over direct disposal in SWD, which translates to over $16 million/year savings in the counties in Northeast PA. Furthermore, the results of sensitivity analysis indicate that transportation cost is a major contributor to the overall cost of shale gas wastewater management.
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