Produced Water Research

Project Showcase: Orla Pilot

PWR designed, constructed, and deployed the Orla Pilot treatment system to demonstrate the feasibility of treating produced water for environmental discharge in the Permian Basin in Orla, Texas.

Overview

PWR developed the Orla Pilot to treat Permian Basin produced water, the most complex produced water in the U.S., to a theoretical discharge quality. The Orla Pilot utilized a proprietary pretreatment followed by a non-thermal distillation process to treat ~500bbls/day of Permian Basin produced water in Orla, TX.

The demand for this type of technology is primarily driven by the subsurface pressures caused by produced water disposal in the Permian Basin, which has made it one of the most seismically active areas in the U.S. The Orla Pilot sought to merge advanced water treatment techniques with both targeted and non-targeted analytical and bioanalytical methods, as well as studies on plants and aquatic systems, to showcase the viability of safely treating Permian Basin produced water for discharge to the environment.

Analysis

The Orla Pilots water quality was subjected to extensive testing for over 500 targeted chemicals, alongside non-targeted chemical analysis using GCMS and LCMS techniques. In addition, in-vitro bioassays and whole effluent toxicity testing were conducted, forming a thorough assessment of water quality.

This rigorous analysis was further enhanced by a crop study that compared the treated water with local drinking water, evaluating the resulting crops for plant yield, chemical uptake, and soil quality.

Results

After three months of operation in the summer of 2024, the Orla Pilot successfully treated raw produced water with a total dissolved solids (TDS) concentration of approximately 120,000 mg/L, reducing it to finished water with a TDS around 600 mg/L. The Orla Pilot effectively removed targeted organic chemicals to below detection limits, and whole effluent toxicity tests yielded positive results. Moreover, analyses indicated that the crop yields from the treated water were comparable to those obtained using local drinking water.