石油與天然氣行業(yè)在環(huán)境（及經(jīng)濟）方面面臨的一個巨大挑戰(zhàn)是采用水力壓裂法開采油氣所需要的用水量。在采用水力壓裂法的過程中，需要利用壓力把水注入到油氣井的深處，借助水力來壓裂下面的頁巖，以此釋放出困在頁巖中的天然氣。一口油氣井通常需要400萬或500萬加侖的用水量，同時會產(chǎn)生約100萬加侖遭到污染、需要處理的廢水。

反對水力壓裂法的環(huán)保人士經(jīng)常抱怨的一個問題是這些油氣井所需要的用水量——尤其是在美國遭受旱災(zāi)的地區(qū)（比如德克薩斯州西部）——以及石油與天然氣行業(yè)處置廢液的方式。這些廢水可能含有沙、鹽、微量放射性物質(zhì)以及水力壓裂法所用到的化學(xué)物質(zhì)，通常會排放到市政污水處理系統(tǒng)或蓄水池中。

一家位于喬治亞州阿爾法雷塔、叫做Ecologix環(huán)境系統(tǒng)（Ecologix Environmental Systems）的公司認為自己找到了一個解決問題的辦法。該公司創(chuàng)始人兼首席執(zhí)行官（CEO）伊萊•格魯伯（Eli Gruber）在10年前創(chuàng)建這家污水處理公司之前一直是一名軟件創(chuàng)業(yè)者。他說：“水力壓裂法的最大問題是，我們從農(nóng)場主和牧場主那里奪走了上百億加侖的水。我們需要循環(huán)使用這些資源。”該公司在水力壓裂油氣井附近設(shè)置了一些小型移動污水處理設(shè)備，它們配有Ecologix正在申請專利的技術(shù)。然后由卡車運送廢水，讓廢水流經(jīng)這些移動設(shè)備，進行污水處理。

這個污水處理工藝是格魯伯最初為食品加工行業(yè)而開發(fā)的，用以從廢水當中分離出食用油和油脂。在這個污水處理工藝過程中，微小的氣泡會吸附到污染顆粒上，然后浮到水面上，這樣，就可以撇去污泥。（之后再把污泥埋在垃圾填埋場）卡車重新裝上經(jīng)處理后的清潔用水，返回油氣井，循環(huán)使用。格魯伯稱，他這項污水處理工藝的成本和石油與天然氣行業(yè)目前使用的“抽出污水然后直接排放掉”的系統(tǒng)是一樣的，而且更加有利于環(huán)境保護。

據(jù)Ecologix公司稱，它目前已實現(xiàn)營收1,000萬美元，而且已經(jīng)盈利。到目前為止,該公司已成功運營了一家試點的污水處理場，而且正在籌集資金，用于在2013年第一季度推出它的移動污水處理設(shè)備。當然，格魯伯目前也面臨著一些不利的因素。他正面臨這來自斯倫貝謝（Schlumberger）和哈里伯頓（Halliburton）等擁有自有技術(shù)的大型油田服務(wù)公司的競爭。而且，他還面臨著所有新技術(shù)都會遭遇的挑戰(zhàn)，需要在擴大業(yè)務(wù)規(guī)模的同時保持上乘的質(zhì)量和低廉的成本。即便如此，格魯伯也沒有被嚇住。他說：“我們的技術(shù)需要的資本開支及運營開支較低，而且操作簡便。是一個非常實用的解決辦法。”他希望，采用水力壓裂法的石油與天然氣開采商跟他是一樣的想法。

 

譯者：iDo98

One of the big environmental (and financial) challenges the oil and gas industry faces is the amount of water afracking well requires. In fracking, water is driven under pressure deep into a well. The force of the water fractures or "fracks" the shale below, releasing the trapped gas. A typical well use 4 million or 5 million gallons of water and generates about 1 million gallons of contaminated wastewater that need to be disposed of.

 

A common complaint environmentalists have against fracking is the amount of water these wells use -- especially in drought-stricken regions of the country such as West Texas -- and they way the oil and gas industry disposes of the waste fluid. The waste water, which can contain sand, salt, and trace amounts of radioactivity and fracking chemicals, typically gets dumped into municipal wastewater systems or into storage pits.

 

An Alpharetta, GA., company called Ecologix Environmental Systems, believes it has a solution. Says founder and CEO Eli Gruber, who had been a software entrepreneur before founding his ten-year-old, waste water company: "The biggest problem with fracking is we're stripping away from farmers and ranchers billions and billions of gallons of water. We need to recycle what we use." With Ecologix's patent-pending technology, small mobile units are set up near the fracking wells. Trucks deliver the waste water, which is run through the mobile units.

 

In a process Gruber developed for the food processing industry to separate fat and grease out of waste water, tiny air bubbles attach to the particles of pollution and then float to the surface where the sludge is skimmed off. (The sludge is buried in landfills.) The trucks refill with clean water and return it to the wells for reuse. Gruber claims his process costs the same as the same as the "pump and dump" systems being used now by the industry and is better for the environment.

 

So far Ecologix, which according to the company has $10 million in revenues and is profitable, has run one successful pilot plant and is raising money to launch its mobile units in the first quarter of 2013. Gruber is facing some headwinds. He's up against giant oil service companies such as Schlumberger and Halliburton that have their own technologies. And as with any new technology there's the challenge of scaling up the business while keeping quality up and costs down. Even so Gruber is undeterred. Says he: Our technology requires low capital and operating expenses and is simple to run. It's a very practical solution." He's betting the fracking drillers feel the same.