Biosolutions for Better Fracking Water Treatment and Reuse Efficiency
May 6, 2025
As society continues to debate the risks and benefits of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling, Bionetix® International is looking at what can be done right now to improve the treatment of millions of gallons of flowback and produced water. By leveraging nature’s own biochemistry for oilfield wastewater treatment, biosolutions such as BCP35™ can play a beneficial role in reducing overall treatment costs and enhancing produced water reuse potential.
Too Much Sludge and COD
Extreme sludge, high COD (chemical oxygen demand) and biofilm buildup are normal components of fracking water treatment challenges. David S. Llano, Product Manager at biosolutions manufacturer Bionetix® International, pointed out that “BCP35™ can play a key role here by biologically degrading hydrocarbons and organic compounds, reducing COD and sludge, and helping break oil emulsions through natural biosurfactant production. This improves oil water separation and overall water reuse efficiency.”
How BCP35™ Degrades Hydrocarbons
BCP35™ is a special blend of microorganisms, biosurfactants, and nutrients designed to accelerate biodegradation of hydrocarbons. It works in three primary ways:
- Biosurfactants help increase demulsification (emulsion breaking) and bioavailability.
- Biological nutrients stimulate the activity of oil-eating microbes.
- Beneficial microorganisms digest a wide range of hydrocarbons.
Together, these actions reduce COD, scum formation, and sludge settlement. Paired with conventional physical and chemical treatment processes, bioaugmentation with BCP35™ can enhance the overall treatment process, easing the burden of this indispensable, yet cost-heavy, effort to minimize the environmental impact of fracking.
Positive Soil Bioremediation Results
BCP35™ has already shown promising results for bioremediation of hydrocarbon-contaminated soils. In one of the most recent application examples, an enhanced version of BCP35™, now integrated into the current formulation, was applied in conjunction with BIOSURF™ (biosurfactant) to soil contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). After 60 days of treatment, PAH had dropped from 102.446 mg/kg to 17.264 mg/kg. After 90 days of treatment, PAH was even lower, at 0.212 mg/kg, leaving the client very pleased with the test results.* These dramatic results promise similar benefits transferrable to flowback and produced water treatment.
Let Nature Do the Dirty Work
Sometimes the best way to clean up the environment is to engage its own self-corrective technologies. BCP35™ allows fracking water treatment companies to do so by unleashing beneficial hydrocarbon-eating microorganisms into hydraulic fracturing wastewater to accelerate cleanup processes naturally. For further information on enhancing oilfield wastewater treatment with naturei nspired biological technologies, reach out to productinfo@cortecvci.com.
*See Bionetix® Case History #50. Login required: https://www.bionetix-international.com/login/
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