Simultaneous Energy and Water Optimization in Shale Exploration
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2018 Elsevier B.V. This work presents a mathematical model that simultaneously optimizes water and energy usage in hydraulic fracturing using continuous time formulation. This is achieved through purification of the highly contaminated water using membrane technology which is energy intensive. The membrane regenerator considered in this work is membrane distillation (MD). Detailed design model for this technology is developed and incorporated within the water network superstructure in order to allow for simultaneous optimisation of water, operation, capital cost as well as energy used. The study also looked at the feasibility of utilising the coproduced gas that is traditionally flared (in the case of oil producing shale) as energy source for the membrane regenerator. The resultant model is applied in a case study to demonstrate its applicability. The application of the model results in 22.4 % reduction in freshwater consumption and 23.2 % savings in the total cost of freshwater. The thermal energy consumption is in the order of 244 103 kJ/m3 of water.