Sunvapor’s Pilot Desalination Facility Purifies Oilfield Water in the Permian Basin

Sunvapor, Inc., a leading developer of low-carbon industrial process plants, and Southeast New Mexico College (SENMC) have commenced joint operations of the country’s first solar desalination facility located at a commercial saltwater disposal well.

The saltwater disposal well is operated by NGL Water Solutions Permian LLC, the largest produced water management company in the Permian Basin.

“By hosting the Sunvapor pilot, we are evaluating how their technology can cost-effectively purify oilfield wastewater to standards that will enable uses outside of the oilfield. We are impressed with Sunvapor’s ability to operate on solar energy 24 hours a day, utilizing their thermal battery technology as a means to continuously treat and dispose of produced water as an alternative to injection wells,” said Doug White, NGL Water Solutions Permian LLC.

The 70-barrel-per-day oilfield water desalination pilot facility was built under a contract with the New Mexico Economic Development Department.

“Innovation is a big reason New Mexico continues to lead in energy production, and this pilot shows real promise in helping address water challenges while supporting continued growth in the Permian Basin,” said Rob Black, Cabinet Secretary, New Mexico Economic Development Department.

“We’re proud to back partnerships like these, with projects that think differently and help keep our state at the forefront of energy technology,” he said.

The facility uses a desalination process patented by Sunvapor that hybridizes the combination of two thermal processes: a membrane distillation bottoming process and an evaporation topping process. The integration of these processes enables an industry-leading thermal efficiency and recovery ratio for hypersaline oilfield water without the use of electricity.

Instead of electricity, steam is used to drive the desalination process. The use of alternative energy for steam generation reduces the operating expenses and greenhouse gas emissions associated with fuel consumption.

Sunvapor’s Solar Hybrid Oilfield Water Desalination Pilot Facility

“Our partnership with Sunvapor is a commitment to the future of our region—both in the preparation of a highly skilled workforce and in protecting water quality. Innovative technologies such as this are essential to continued growth and prosperity in the Permian Basin,” said Dr. Kevin Beardmore, President at SENMC.

“Utilization of Sunvapor’s transformative produced water treatment technology allows Sunvapor and SENMC to implement strategies that augment water planning development to help sustain our water supply,” said Jerry R. Brian, Geologist, Inaugural Faculty Member of Oil and Gas Technology at SENMC.

Oilfield water is a waste stream of oil extraction. For every barrel of oil extracted in the Permian Basin— the most productive oil region in the USA—approximately five barrels of wastewater come to the surface. There is far too much of this hypersaline wastewater to recycle in the oilfields, so the rest is currently injected into saltwater disposal wells.

Desalination enables a reduction of up to 50% of the volume of injected wastewater. The resulting purified water stream, if shown to meet environmental quality standards, may eventually be used for agricultural, industrial, and other purposes. One of the key technical challenges to Permian Basin water is that the total dissolved solids (TDS) concentration is four times that of seawater, and as a result, desalination is very energy intensive.

“In 2023, one billion barrels of oilfield water were injected in the New Mexico Permian Basin alone. Scaling up Sunvapor’s novel pilot process offers a short-term pathway to desalinate this water that is consistent with New Mexico’s greenhouse gas emissions reduction goal,” said Dr. Philip Gleckman, Chief Executive Officer of Sunvapor.

“Desalination also provides benefits to the economic recovery of lithium from Permian water,” he added.