The Rising Influence of Rising Affluence

[OakesCS]

I thought recycling frac wastewater for the next frac was already industry-standard. Is this product a significant innovation?]

don't know but i doubt if recycling is standard. I'd also be surprised if what is recycled is a significant fraction of the total volume of recovered frac water.

50 gal/min is not fast. according to:
http://www.geunconventionalgas.com/gas-processing-water.html
a typical operation injects 1 to 5 million gals water. The quantity recovered varies considerably, e.g. 20-50% is common. So either several of the GE units sit on a site for each job or one truck sits there for a couple of weeks. I don't know what the disposal costs are for the reproduced brine but if it's less than $100k/well then i'm guessing the GE units would not be economic. Obviously, GE disagrees. They tend to work out the economics before they start building things like:
http://www.gepower.com/about/press/en/2010_press/GE%20Mobile%20Evaporator.htm

if the rental rate is lower than i'm guessing or alternative disposal costs higher, then it could be a big deal. It will be a much bigger deal if they can increase the throughput rate. Unfortunately, the press release does not address the disposal costs for the residual solids and the disposal facilities that take that stuff charge a hefty premium.

I know that Baker-Hughes thinks the problem is significant enough that they've started a research program on produced water, e.g. they want to sell technology to minimize the quantity and cost. They're doing this at a time when folks in the service industry are getting trimmed right and left so it's an important topic.

i talk to a guy at GE Research occasionally and he would know about this so i'll do a little probing.