Patent ID: 8801897

Claim:
A process for removing contaminants from flowback water from a natural gas well, the process using a wastewater concentrator including a gas inlet, a gas outlet, a concentrating section between the gas inlet and the gas outlet, the concentrating section having a narrowed portion, the process comprising: mixing a reagent with liquid flowback water from a natural gas well, the reagent reacting with a soluble chemical compound in the liquid flowback water to form an insoluble chemical compound; combining a gas and the liquid flowback water in the concentrating section to form a mixture of gas and entrained liquid flowback water, the entrained liquid flowback water including the insoluble chemical compound; directing the combined gas and entrained liquid flowback water into a demister where at least some of the entrained liquid flowback water is removed from the gas and collected in a sump of the demister; removing a portion of the liquid flowback water in the sump of the demister and sending the portion of the liquid flowback water to a settling tank where suspended solids and insoluble chemical compounds in the liquid flowback water separate from liquid portions of the liquid wastewater; removing the separated solid portion from the settling tank and returning the separated liquid portion to the demister sump.