The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Nov. 05, 2019
Filed:
Dec. 03, 2015
Daniel Daly, Tuscaloosa, AL (US);
Daniel Daly, Tuscaloosa, AL (US);
Other;
Abstract
A system and method for treating contaminated wastewater is provided. The system and method may be used to treat wastewater such as hydraulic fracturing flowback water, which is contaminated with guar gum, similar gelling agents, or other biological polymers. The contaminated wastewater is pressurized and heated and then allowed to spend a residence time in a vessel. The process may be a continuous or a batch process. The exposure to a combination of heat and pressure causes the high molecular weight guar molecules to break down into simple sugars and other smaller, relatively low molecular weight compounds, thereby decreasing the viscosity of the fluid. Once the viscosity is reduced, the flowback water can then be treated for other contaminants using conventional treatment technologies and reused in fracking operations.