Water treatment has been an integral, yet often ignored component of the hydraulic fracturing process. Presently, injection into deep underground caverns is the main method of permanently disposing hydraulic fracturing water. Thus the necessity of finding a new method for removing total dissolved solids (TDS) from hydraulic fracturing flowback water is immense. Pyridinedicarboxylic acid (DPA) has previously been shown to bind to calcium (Ca), strontium (Sr), and barium (Ba) cations. Experiments in progress aim to evaluate the ideal binding ratio between DPA and these metal cations; the ratios being evaluated are a 1:1 cation to DPA and a 1:2 cation to DPA. Testing revealed the ideal ratio for both Ca and Sr is 1:1; testing for Ba is currently ongoing. Once the binding ratio is determined, the removal capabilities of DPA with the metal cations are looked at over a 28 day period. Further experimentation is being done to see if the DPA and metal cations once complexed can be resolubilized. Ongoing testing intends to fully quantify the percent removal of TDS and the potential to resolublize the DPA cation metal complex.

Evaluating the potential of DPA to bind calcium, strontium, and barium cations from hydraulic fracturing flowback water

255th National Meeting (2018)

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