46 -- Energy Efficient Brackish Ground Water and Produced Water Desalination

Sandia is soliciting expressions of interest from potential partners to further develop and/or commercialize the technologies shown below. Partnerships are anticipated to take the form of Cooperative Research & Development Agreements (CRADA) and/or commercial licenses. CRADAs are expected to include funds-in to the Labs and licensed rights may be up to exclusive in a field-of-use, depending on the business case. Sandia is seeking partners that have proven experience in translating immature technologies into market-driven products, have technical capabilities in the technical area(s) shown below, are fiscally sound and well managed, and can commit to manufacturing the products in the U.S. Energy Efficient Brackish Ground Water and Produced Water Desalination This technology presents an entirely new approach to desalination of inland ground, primarily brackish water as well as desalting/demineralizing of produced waters (i.e., Coal bed methane produced water) found in the oil and gas industry, and is based on in-situ precipitation, ion exchange and precipitation of inorganic phases able to sequester the major ionic constituents of brackish water and conventional impurities in natural gas and oil. The resultant ion exchange material would contain the removed ions and therefore would require non-toxic waste removal. These wastes can either be recycled, safely deposited in landfills without salt leaching, or used as a sellable building materials (incorporated for example into cement). Furthermore, it is applicable to remote locations of oil and/or natural gas wells that pump highly mineralized waters along with the gas. By employing this technology, an operator is not required to run energy lines or build large power plants (generally associated with RO desalination processes); nor are they required to further treat or transport produced brackish water away from the site. Employing this technology allows for inexpensive, on-site water treatment and disposal. A patent is pending for this technology. Interested parties may contact Teresa Montoya, Administration, Fax: 505-844-8011, E-mail: [email protected]. Be sure to indicate the technology in which you are interested.