(GP/GT) for Additional Water Supply in the Lower Rio Grande

contribution to the sulphur industry appears very high with the Frasch process
if a constant supply of superheated water (320 to 330"F) under pressure (125
to 200 psia) can be met by a geopressured resource.
Frasch mining takes place in five countries: Poland, United States,
Canada, USSR, and Iraq. Poland is the largest producer and has the largest
reserve base. The non-U.S. Frasch producers are state controlled, volume
oriented, and do not have the same motives as privately owned organizations in
the U.S. The result is a concentration of market pressure on U.S. producers
during periods of market weakness (Eckert, 1987). If geopressured fluids
could be effectively used for Frasching, the market position of the U.S. could
be significantly improved.
A feasibility analysis would be in order to establish the extent of the
impact of using geopressured resources for frasching. This effort could
include colocation of geopressured resources to known sulphur deposits, and
investigating the feasibility of using geopressured brines directly in the
process, using heat exchangers where fresh water would be available or
produced by desalination from geopressured brines.
Petroleum and Natural Gas Pipe1ining
Petroleum and natural gas pipe1ining require large Quantities of energy to
operate the systems. Pipeline companies operate throughout geopressured areas
and could benefit from technology developments using the energy available in
geopressured resources (Carlson, 1976).
Geopressured resources could be used as an energy source for the transport
of petroleum and natural gas because oil and gas wells are often located near
geopressured resources; however, this investigation did not evaluate the
potential or investigate the feasibility in-depth. No industry interest has
been noted from contacts, through current program activities, or the
geopressured industrial consortium. It is recommended that additional effort
be expended to determine potential impacts and feasibility.
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