All language subtitles for T.W.T.S05E01.1080p.WEB.h264-CBFM_track3_[eng]

[narrator] On Tomorrow's World
Today we explore
the cutting edge advances

that are shaping
four different worlds.

The world of inspiration,

where the wonders
of the natural world
amaze and inspire us.

The world of creation,
where ideas come to life
from traditional arts.

The world of innovation,
where ideas and inventions
move us all forward.

The world of production,

where innovations are
mass-produced
to improve our lives.

From Inventionland
world headquarters,

here's your host,
George Davison.

Hi, everyone.
I'm George Davison.

And on this episode
of Tomorrow's World Today,

we're gonna visit
the world of innovation

to explore advances
in sustainability.

Now you've probably heard
of the word fracking.

It's the process where sand,
water and chemicals

are injected underground
at very high pressures

to crack open rock layers
and to release oil or gas
that's trapped inside.

Now, did you know
that since 2005

fracking in the United States
has used over 239 billion
gallons of water?

That's enough water
to fill over 360,000
Olympic size swimming pools.

And the average well
uses about three million
gallons of water.

The water usage is one
of the reasons so many people

have opposed fracking
in the past.

Many consumers were worried
that water was being wasted.

But the truth is innovations
in the hydraulic
fracturing process

have completely changed
what happens to the water
that's drilled.

It's no longer being wasted.

Most people don't know
that companies are actually
reusing the water

during the fracking process,

which makes it a much more
sustainable practice.

Don't believe me?

Well, I'm gonna send Greg
to the world of innovation

to explore the advances
that have been made
with fracking

and sustainable
water development.

[Greg Costantino]
When you hear the words

hydraulic fracturing
or fracking,

you probably think
of oil and gas production.

What you might
not think about is water.

But as we just learned
from George, this process
uses a lot of it.

Now, what we're looking at
is what's known
as produced water.

It's a by product
of the fracking process.

Now, this could contain
drilling fluids, uh,
small rocks, sand,

particulate matter,
maybe some oil
from the drilling location.

All a part
of the drilling process.

And for many, many years,
most of the industry felt
that this could not be reused.

But, the truth is
that the life cycle
of produced water

has many different,
complex stages and they're
all interconnected.

And the drilling
and completion phase

is really just the beginning
of that life cycle.

That's why we're here,
in Carlsbad, New Mexico,

to find out how this
becomes this.

This pipeline,
this infrastructure
put in place by NGL,

has already taken
a considerable number
of trucks off the road.

And it really is the heart
of the reuse and recycling
system for the produced water.

Let's meet now with Ryan Hall.

He's the director
of operations for NGL
Energy Partners.

So, Ryan, this really
is the spot where things
get going.

Tell me what I'm looking at.

All right, so what
you're looking at

is what we refer
to as the first wide spot
in the line.

So the water comes
from the operator's wells,
through the pipelines

into any number
of facilities just like this.

We have about 80 of these
in the Permian.

And what you're looking at
is a special set of tanks

that kind of does
the first cut of separations
from the water.

This is our sand tank.

We're adding some
specialty chemistry
in the front end of it,

uh, where the solid
and particulate matter settles
out of the sand tank.

And then through
that line right there,
it goes into, uh,

what we locally refer
to as a gun barrel,

uh, but it's really
an oil/water separation tank.

The oil flows
out the front line, into these
skim oil tanks here

and then the water continues
on down into the next
set of tanks.

Would you like me to show you?

-Absolutely.
-[Hall] All right,
let's continue on.

[Costantino] Well, Ryan,
I guess this is

kind of the end stage
for this facility.

[Hall] Yes, sir, this is
the back end
of the facility.

This where any oil, slop oil,
that's recovered
can be trucked out.

Uh, you can see
the last of the water tanks
where it's equalized

and it goes
into this header manifold
and the charge pumps.

Then it goes into this series
of filter pods,

where any remaining
particulate matter is removed.

From there we're adding
this scale inhibitor chemistry

and then it goes back
into this pipeline.

The pipeline goes underground
for several miles

and the next stop
is our state line booster.

[Costantino] So this
is quite a facility
that you've put together

out here in the middle
of the New Mexico desert.

This is kind of stage two,
so initial separation of oil

and the produced water
has happened.

And the produced water
is coming into this facility.

What's happening to it
at this point?

Thank you, it's hard to tell
from looking at this,

but we're processing
about 350,000 barrels
of water a day

through, uh, what you see
going on right here.

So if you trace the line
further up that direction

it comes from the operator's
wells and it goes to a series

of our facilities
where we do the first cut
of cleanup.

And then that oil-free water
is collected and sent
further on down the line

through these, uh,
types of lines here.

It's sent to the next facility
for additional treatment.

Okay, so that's what takes it
from that murky brown
liquid that we saw

and over to that clearer water
that we also looked
at earlier.

Yes, sir, that's the first
step in the recycle process.

-Would you like to come
with me to see the next step?
-Yes, I would.

Okay, let's go.

So, Ryan, I guess this
is the, uh, next stop
in the chain here.

Where are we?

So we are at our
McCoy Recycle facility,
our McCoy Ranch.

If you remember,
the water's coming
from the operator's wells

into the pipelines
to our various
SWD facilities.

From there, we do an initial
amount of treatment,

then it goes back
into the pipelines

to the booster station
that we were at,
at state line.

And then it comes here.

And this is basically
a big jar.

[Hall] It is a big jar.

In fact, the last one
in line that you saw,

this is about 40,000 barrels
of water.

How many of these
do you have on this site?

We have two, we have this one
and then we have another one
down there.

Can I take a look up there?

Be my guest.

Oh, my.

[Hall] Not what you were
expecting, huh?

[Costantino] Not exactly, no.

So, uh, can I offer
you a drink?

-I think I'm gonna
pass on that.
-I don't blame you.

Tell me a little bit more
about what I'm
looking at here.

[Hall] Well, this is,
essentially, that last
jar in line.

This is a really big
version of it.

And it's important
that we have these
for two reasons.

Number one, to allow
all the water to equalize.

So from a chemical standpoint,
it makes it easier to treat.

All of the differences
in the water that might
happen over time

are able to balance
out in here.

And from a surge standpoint.

So we can continuously pump
and they can
continuously treat.

How much actually goes
through here in a day?

Uh, we flip this
about twice a day.

Wow, that's a lot of liquid.

Both of these, yup.

So it goes right
from here to XRI.
Can you show me XRI?

Right behind you.

This is XRI and let me
introduce you to Chris Harich.

And he can take you through
their part of the process.

[Costantino] Sounds great.

So that wraps
up NGL's portion,

I'm gonna leave you
with Chris and he can talk
about what they do.

Sounds great, thanks, Ryan.

All right, thank you,
I'm gonna get back
into the field.

Okay, Chris.

Hey, Greg, how are you?

[Costantino] Doing great,
great to meet you.

Nice to meet you.

All right, XRI is on deck,
tell me what it is
you guys do.

Yeah, so this is the largest
produced water recycling site
in the whole Permian Basin.

Here we take NGL's water
and we clean it up through
the machinery behind you.

[Costantino] All right,
so their material comes in,

goes into this massive pipe
system that I see here.

So there's a lot
of moving parts

and I want you
to take me through it
step by step.

Right, so first thing we do
is we take the water from NGL,

we take it through these pumps
and we run to this
meter over here.

-Show me how it works.
-You bet, let's do it.

So, Greg, there's the meter
that we pump
all the water through.

[Costantino] What exactly
is that meter telling you?

So here, we're trying
to measure all the water,

so we know how much chemistry
that we add to the system

to get the impurities
back out of the water.

So each of these vats has
a different chemical in it
that's a part of your process

to get those solids
out of the water.

Right, so every day,
every week,

that's highly variable
and it's changing quite a bit.

So we have to change
the chemistries to remove
all those impurities.

Okay, so everything heads
through this pretty massive
pipe system and ends up where?

Right, so it moves
all through the pipes
and then it goes into the DAF.

[Costantino] What is the DAF?

The DAF is a dissolved
air flotation unit.

Can you show that to me?

Absolutely, let's go
look at it.

[Costantino] So, Chris,
this is the DAF.

[Harich] Greg,
this is the DAF.

[Costantino] What does
the DAF do?

So this is the dissolved air
flotation unit.

So the water
comes in the side,
that we showed you down below

and this is where
the chemistry, the actual
coagulants, flocculants,

and oxidants get
all mixed and try

to pull the impurities
out of the water.

How exactly do they do that?

[Harich] The air bubbles
that are coming up
through the DAF

are actually trying
to sink the heavy things
to the bottom.

We suck those sludges out,
put them in the sludge tank.

The things that are lighter
will actually form a froth
and float to the top

and then we skim those
light particles off

and dump them
into the sludge box,

they too go
to the sludge tank.

[Costantino] I'm really
fascinated by the fact

that the clear water,
the cleaner water

actually comes out
of the middle.

Right, so the clear water will
actually move through
the middle part of the DAF

and come into the clear
water well here.

And so this is where we test
and we're able to see
how clear the water is.

[Costantino] Okay, so it goes
from here into this

and it's held here
and then what happens to it?

[Harich] So the clear water
comes into the clear water
storage tanks,

any of the really light stuff
will be settled out of these

and then we'll pump it
into the pit over there.

[Costantino] And it goes
from there right back
to the wells?

[Harich] From the pit,
we pump it directly

back to the frack
to be reused for completions.

All right, well, I know
there was, uh,
some other chemistry,

some other tests
that you wanted to show me.

So why don't we go ahead
and take a look at that?

Let's go, it's down
in the lab.

So, Chris, I know
that because of the shifting

chemistry that you told me
about earlier means regular,

frequent testing is really
important to maintain
a consistent product.

So when you get
to that effluent at the end,

that ends up in the pond,
it's always the same.

Right, Greg, so what we do
is every hour, we're taking
a sampler from the AST.

So this is the water
that's coming into the system

and then we're looking
at the water

that we actually produce
and put out into the pond.

Okay.

And then what we do
over here is
we're actually looking

at the different chemistries
that we've mixed,

to make sure
that we're getting
the best effluent out.

So we look at the AST,
which is the really nasty,
black water

that was coming
into the system.

We're looking at the samples
that come into the dissolved
air flotation unit, our DAF.

And then we're looking
at the surge tank.

Remember that was the pipe
that went from the DAF
into the surge tank.

And then, finally,
we're comparing it

to what we actually
put into the pond,

the really nice,
clean effluent that we take
back to the frack.

So this is the end result
and you guys send it
back to the wells from there.

Yes, sir, this is
the end result.

All right, now I know
we're gonna go up there

and take a look at the pond
and see it for ourselves,

but I wanna see
that sludge tank too.

[Harich] You bet, let's go.

So, this is it.

[Harich] Greg, this is
the sludge pit.

This is where the sludge
comes off the screw press.

So only 2% of all
the waste solids

from everything
that we've recycled today
actually ends up here.

So 98% of everything
that you take in gets
recycled and reused.

And reused,
back into the frack

and this is the only thing
that goes and biodegrades
into the landfill.

-Wow, so the rest of it
ends up in the pond, right?
-Yes, sir.

-Let's go take a look.
-Okay.

So, Chris, this is it.
This is the end result
of all your hard work.

Right, so our team was able
to take produced water
through the AST,

through the DAF,
clean up all the chemicals

that we wanted to get rid of
and then have nice,
clean effluent

that we eventually
put into the pond.

[Costantino] And this
is amazing from a water
sustainability standpoint.

I mean, this water actually
hasn't seen the surface
in 250 million years.

Right, what's even
more important is
we're gonna recycle

500,000 barrels
for one well
just in two days.

And so we have a 12-well
vat operation that's gonna
go on right now.

And just in that
500,000 barrels,
that's 20 million gallons.

That's enough water
to supply the houses

of 450 homes throughout
the United States
in one year.

[Costantino] And I know
it's one of your goals to get

at least 50% of the wells
here in New Mexico
using this process.

Right, we're trying
to shift everybody

and just keep raising the bar
on how much recycled,
produced water we can get

into the oilfield
for recompleting of wells.

Right, well, Chris,
this has been really
great, I really appreciate it,

but I'm really excited
about my next stop.

I'm making a deep dive
into the Permian Basin.

Exciting.

[Hall] If it wasn't
for recycle operations
like these,

we would not be able
to find sufficient volumes
of water

to frack new wells
in the Permian Basin.

So, you know, these types
of operations are
absolutely crucial

to meet America's energy
demands going forward.

In this region,
where water truly is
a limiting factor,

has been historically,
this is really

something that can
solve multiple problems.

[Costantino] We've learned
a lot in this episode

about hydraulic fracturing
or fracking

and how it's a great source
of natural gas and oil.

Well, as that natural gas
and oil is brought
out of the ground,

so is a great deal of water.

Now NGL Energy Partners
and XRI have gotten together

to make sure that that water
doesn't go to waste.

I'm actually standing
over a part of the pipeline
infrastructure

that NGL put in the ground
to get that whole
procedure rolling.

I'm also standing on top
of the Permian Basin,

which is one of the largest
sources of natural gas and oil
in the entire world.

It was formed over
250 million years ago

when the asteroid came
that wiped out the dinosaurs.

Now, as they decomposed
and were buried under

millions of years
of rock and sand,

they became what we call
fossil fuels.

And we access those now
through hydraulic fracturing.

Well, when that hydraulic
fracturing happens,

millions and millions
of gallons of water
come out of the ground

that haven't seen
the light of day
in 250 million years either.

So it goes through
this pipeline,

heads to NGL's initial
cleaning process,

then on to the above-ground
storage tanks,
where XRI takes over,

cleans it even further
and then sends it
right back here,

which flows through
these pipes back
to these wells.

These tanks are filled
with millions of gallons
of produced water

ready to go right
back into the ground
where they came from.

It's a closed-loop system
that has an immense impact
on water sustainability.

If XRI and NGL are able
to bring together
the numbers that they want,

it becomes an environmentally
friendly way to access all

of the natural gas
and oil we need.

So that brings
us to the question.

Where is fracking going
in the next 10, 20
or 30 years?

Well, to answer that,
we're gonna head back
to Inventionland.

Doug White, the executive
vice president
of NGL Energy Partners,

is about to meet with George.

-Hey, Doug, welcome
to Inventionland.
-Hey, George.

So what did you bring
me today?

Uh, this is produced water
from the Permian Basin.

You know, it used to be
and ancient seaway.

And when you produce oil,
uh, you produce
a lot of water.

Over 160 million gallons a day
of this water is produced
in the Permian.

Jeez, 160 million gallons.

That's a lot of water, Doug,
from down deep in the earth.

Yeah, it's been trapped there
for millennia.

How about this one,
what that on all about?

[White] This one is
the recycled water.

-Uh, we use a lot
of water in fracking.
-Okay.

[White] And we take
the produced water

and process it, uh,
in a closed-loop system,

so that we can reuse it
again and again.

That way we don't have
to use the fresh water
from sources such as aquafers.

Wow, okay, so it's
closed-loop, kind of like
that radiator in my car,

where I, you know, I have
radiator fluid going

between the radiator
and the engine

and I use it again
and again and recycle it
just like that?

-That's right, that's right.
-Huh.

And how about this last one,
can I drink that one?

George, you wouldn't want
to drink this, don't forget,

it came from that ancient
seaway, been trapped
underground for millennia.

-Um, very high
in salt content.
-Okay.

Couldn't put it on the ground,
'cause it would, you know,

kill things
because of the salt.

This is an example
of our abilities to treat
this water

to, um, a quality
that could be better
than drinking water.

And that's our future.

Interesting.

So there's technology here
that you guys are
working on then, right?

Are you trying
to move that to a drinkable
solution one day?

Yep, better than drinking
water quality, actually.

What we're working on
is innovative technologies

in which to scale
on an economic basis.

The 160 million gallons a day,
treat that and put it
on the ground.

We can feed cattle with it,
we can grow crops.

Um, anywhere oil is produced,
water is produced.

Um, and if we can get there
to be able to do this

economically
and on great scale,

even places like Saudi Arabia
could be irrigating the land.

Jeez, that's a huge
accomplishment if you can
pull that off.

[White] It is.

Well, if you do, that's
tomorrow's world today.

-Thanks for coming in, Doug.
-Thanks, George.

Thank you for joining us
for another episode
of Tomorrow's World Today.

I'm your host, George Davison,
reminding you that inspiration
is the source for new ideas.

What will you do with yours
for tomorrow's world today?

Goodbye, everybody.