Sigma advances mobile ozone treatment in Permian

Permian Basin oil and natural gas producers are gaining a new tool in their efforts to clean produced water.

Sigma Advanced Technologies is launching its next-generation mobile all-in-one ozone water treatment containers. These modular units can process everything from low-flow industrial waste streams to high-volume water streams reaching up to 100,000 barrels per day, including produced water from oil and gas operations.

Sigma's patented systems use high-strength ozone to neutralize contaminants, pathogens and chemicals without leaving toxic byproducts.

The units use ozone generated from air, said Greg Romy, co-founder and project manager.

"There's no chemical handling, no chemical storage," he told the Reporter-Telegram.

The first-generation race-trailer-style units have been operating throughout the Permian Basin for the last five years.

This second generation incorporates lessons learned in the field into a smaller, seaworthy 45-foot unit, he said. The new units have onboard mixers that can handle very high flows of produced water, up to 100,000 barrels per day, down to very low flows, about 100 gallons a day, for special projects requiring a very high dose of ozone. The units can operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week with remote monitoring and automated reporting for customers. They have been built for the rigors of the oilfield, from rough lease roads to winter cold snaps, Romy said.

Romy said ozone is a powerful oxidizer compared with chemicals like chlorine or hydrogen peroxide, leaving higher-quality produced water in its wake. It is also cost-comparable to chemicals.

It is a key step toward beneficial reuse, such as treatment for rangeland, he said. The company is active with the Texas Produced Water Consortium and the New Mexico Produced Water Research Consortium.

"We're also looking at applications outside oil and gas. We're talking to farmers; we're talking to agriculture businesses. We know this can work in other industries," Romy said.

The company also has an eye on developing an international presence and is talking with interested parties in Europe and South Africa, he said.

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