(469c) Recovery of Organics from Humidification-Dehumidification of Hydraulic Fracturing Wastewater Using Deep Eutectic Solvents

Hydraulic fracturing produces over a trillion gallons of highly contaminated wastewater every year in the United States. Contaminants are highly numerous, diverse, and in some cases, even proprietary. Humidification-Dehumification (HDH) has been proposed as a method for dealing with wastewater from the hydraulic fracturing industry. Previously, we have demonstrated an HDH concept which includes a evaporation step with air to eliminate salts and less volatile compounds, which is followed by the dehumidification step which condenses out fresh water. The resulting air stream takes away many of the contaminants. As most of the compounds remaining in the vapor phase are organic, they could have calorific value if allowed to accumulate over time. Recently, new Deep Eutectic Solvents (DES) have been developed which are hydrophobic, safe, and low cost. Here we present results from our preliminary experimental work in capturing organics from the vapor stream using hydrophobic deep eutectic solvents. Based on this work, we quantify the potential value of such organic accumulation using representative wastewater compositions.