Clean TeQ Water Achieves Practical Completion of HIROX® Water Recovery Plant in the Middle East
6 December 2023
Clean TeQ Water is pleased to announce it has completed the design, procurement, delivery, installation, and commissioning of the HIROX® (High Recovery Reverse Osmosis) plant to treat well water used for enhanced oil recovery in the Middle East. The final contract value for the project was $4.3M, which included supplementary charges for spares, installation, and supervision.
This milestone marks the first commercial completion of HIROX® technology in the Middle East, establishing a foundation for future revenue generation through the Distribution Agreement with NESR under its Build, Own, and Operate model.
Picture of the completed HIROX® Plant in the Middle East
The contract for the delivery of this project, signed in August 20211 with National Energy Services Reunited Corp (‘NESR’), is the first treatment plant to be delivered as part of the 5-year Distribution agreement between NESR and the Company. NESR is one of the largest oilfield services providers in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) and Asia Pacific regions.
Freshwater is a critical resource in the Middle East with much of the freshwater produced from brackish, hard groundwater using conventional reverse osmosis processes. The challenge is how to improve the low water recovery, since typically less than 40% is recovered using the conventional approach, and the remaining 60% goes to waste.
Clean TeQ Water’s HIROX® technology is designed to provide high water recovery in these situations, typically greater than 80%, while minimising waste brine volume. This more efficient use of groundwater is critical to the future needs of the oil and gas industry, agriculture and the population reliant on groundwater for drinking.
The Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) process requires high density water to be injected into the reservoir to displace oil and increase the production of the wells. The conventional approach involves buying salt, trucking it to site, and mixing it with the treated water to achieve the required density. As an added benefit for the customer, HIROX® recovers salt from the brine, replacing the need for imported salt to achieve the desired water density for reinjection. The environmental credentials are also improved by substantially reducing the number of truck trips, which currently generate over 10,000 tons of CO2e offsets per year. These benefits lead to significant cost savings in operational expenses for end-users while simultaneously decreasing the environmental footprint of the Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) process.
”The global challenge of freshwater scarcity is prompting a substantial transformation in the water treatment industry, as it strives to develop sustainable approaches for optimising water production. New technologies such as HIROX® aim to enhance the recovery of larger volumes of purified water, and HIROX® has produced extraordinary water recovery in this project without the use of bulk imported chemicals. Clean TeQ always strives to use its technology to deliver outcomes which are both economical and environmentally beneficial to our customers. We also thank our partner in the project, NESR, for recognising the benefits the HIROX® technology could deliver and for working alongside us over the journey.
Peter VoigtChief Executive Officer
”We are proud of our collaborative achievement in deploying this flagship HIROX® unit within the MENA Oil & Gas industry. In doing so, we are dramatically reducing the carbon intensity of oilfield fluid production, by improving recovery efficiency, lowering waste, and eliminating vast amounts of trucking & logistics associated with the prior conventional fluid production process. Our approach to utilise this unusable brackish water to make industrial brine essentially preserves vast volumes of desalinated freshwater for the community, and eliminates the carbon footprint of importing salts to make this brine. This monumental step toward enhanced water stewardship and associated decarbonisation are reflective of the Sustainability strategies of both NESR and our multinational energy company customer for which we invested in the HIROX® technology. We look forward to continued success with Clean TeQ in delivering similar solutions for our customers across the MENA region.
Sherif FodaNESR Chairman & CEO
The first HIROX® plant is an important reference site which demonstrates the higher water recovery achieved by the technology and its improved ESG outcomes. The completion of the plant will allow NESR to advance discussions with potential customers who are interested in using the technology for their sites.