A Model for Shale Gas Wastewater Management

Unconventional oil and gas production using hydraulic fracturing generates significant quantities of wastewater that may contain potentially harmful pollutants. The concerns associated with shale gas development necessitate an investigation of shale gas water and wastewater management using a systematic approach to make sure that shale gas development is environmentally sustainable. In this research, we adopt an integrated system analysis approach to examine the life cycle of water in the hydraulic fracturing process. Specifically, we developed a multi-objective programming model for shale gas water and wastewater management that incorporates the objectives of four types of decisionmakers: oil and gas well developers and operators, centralized wastewater treatment facility planners and operators, environmental regulators, and social planners. This paper lays out a modeling framework that can, in the future, be used for a case study of optimal shale gas water and wastewater management. It also provides directions for future expansion of the model.