Technology
Small change. Big result.
CarboNet’s water treatment solution is based on our proprietary NanoNet™ platform. The NanoNet™ platform is a suite of very small (nano)particles (ranging from 20 to several hundred nanometers in size) that can selectively bind materials in the produced water (including oils, greases, suspended and dissolved solids, and metal ions). The NanoNets agglomerate to form a light, stable flocculant that is easily removed with standard oilfield equipment.
In effect, NanoNet™ serves to “net” out impurities that can then be extracted from water.
NanoNet’s General Structure
Each nanoparticle comprises a proprietary blend of surfactants and specialty polymers. These components self-assemble in solution to form structures with a hydrophobic core that captures oily contaminants and a hydrophilic shell that binds metal ions, dissolved/suspended solids, and microbes. The NanoNets agglomerate into larger floc structures that carry constituents in a floatation process.
NanoNet Formation
Assembled NanoNet (as delivered to the field)
NanoNet complexes with iron species in the reaction tank
NanoNet complex begins to aggregate and incorporate oil/other
hydrocarbons into the aggregates
In the DAF, floc of NanoNet aggregates form and rise to the surface for
separation and removal
The NanoNets can be designed to target specific species within wastewater such as heavy metals and emulsified oils. The flexible and targeted platform enables a breadth of CarboNet™ applications across specific chemical targets and across industries. Our first target market is providing treatment solutions of the Produced Water Management market.
BENEFITS
The chemistries in our patent-pending NanoNet™ platform stand out in several ways:
CarboNet™ delivers effective water treatment at less than half the cost of conventional pre-treatment regimes and produces significantly smaller volumes of waste sludge for easier and cheaper disposal.
We offer fast and efficient separation of both oil and iron with a non-oxidative process that does not feed collateral bacteria growth. The “Net” effect in CarboNet™ binds up both the oil and the iron within a light but highly stabilized floc, allowing for quick and easy removal with standard oilfield equipment.
Our CarboNet™ “collateral processes” are also beneficial to treatment, as the flocculant essentially traps and encapsulates many of the scaling ions, bacteria, and other oilfield culprits, which can then be removed and discarded along with the residual oil and iron.
We reduce the bacterial load to manageable levels and should reduce the volume (and cost) of biocide needed immediately prior to the frac. CarboNet™ acts as a supplement, or complement to the operator’s choice of biocide, increasing its effectiveness and reducing volumes required.
Our NanoNets are composed of entirely benign chemistries that are non-toxic, non-hazardous, and non-flammable, with no known hazards to personnel, equipment, or oilfield operations.
