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Abstract Increasing environmental, social, and governance values and metrics in the oil and gas industry have resulted in using produced water instead of freshwater for hydraulic fracturing. Produced water has increased total dissolved solids and increased concentrations of multivalent cations compared to freshwater. The altered chemical composition of produced water leads to flocculation and decreased performance of products, specifically emulsion polymer friction reducers traditionally used in freshwater. Flocculation leads to poor regained conductivity, formation damage, and less oil production. Operators may use a higher dosage of emulsion polymer to combat the change in composition, leading to concern over cost, treatment efficacy, and environmental, social, and governance regulations. The use of produced water for hydraulic fracturing necessitates the advancement and development of products. The compatibility of water and emulsion polymer is necessary to minimize cost and increase treatment efficacy for hydraulic fracturing. Our newly developed emulsion polymer favorably interacts with multivalent cations, resulting in excellent friction reduction in produced waters. In addition, this emulsion polymer avoids flocculation in mid and high TDS brines containing large iron concentrations. This newly developed anionic emulsion polymer is an iron tolerant friction reducer that addresses the growing challenges in utilizing produced water for hydraulic fracturing and fills the gap in the current market.
Choudhary et al. (Mon,) studied this question.