title: Water reclamation from shale gas drilling flow-back fluid using a novel forward osmosis-vacuum membrane distillation hybrid system.
abstract: This study examined the performance of a novel hybrid system of forward osmosis (FO) combined with vacuum membrane distillation (VMD) for reclaiming water from shale gas drilling flow-back fluid (SGDF). In the hybrid FO-VMD system, water permeated through the FO membrane into a draw solution reservoir, and the VMD process was used for draw solute recovery and clean water production. Using a SGDF sample obtained from a drilling site in China, the hybrid system could achieve almost 90% water recovery. Quality of the reclaimed water was comparable to that of bottled water. In the hybrid FO-VMD system, FO functions as a pre-treatment step to remove most contaminants and constituents that may foul or scale the membrane distillation (MD) membrane, whereas MD produces high quality water. It is envisioned that the FO-VMD system can recover high quality water not only from SGDF but also other wastewaters with high salinity and complex compositions.
authors.affiliation: Membrane Materials and Separation Technology, Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China E-mail: het@sari.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Xue-Mei
authors.initials: XM
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Membrane Materials and Separation Technology, Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China E-mail: het@sari.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Baolong
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Membrane Materials and Separation Technology, Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China E-mail: het@sari.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Zhouwei
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Strategic Water Infrastructure Laboratory, School of Civil, Mining and Environmental Engineering, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia.
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Membrane Materials and Separation Technology, Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China E-mail: het@sari.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Jianfeng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Membrane Materials and Separation Technology, Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China E-mail: het@sari.ac.cn; Strategic Water Infrastructure Laboratory, School of Civil, Mining and Environmental Engineering, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia.
authors.forename: Long D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Nghiem
authors.affiliation: Strategic Water Infrastructure Laboratory, School of Civil, Mining and Environmental Engineering, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia.
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Membrane Materials and Separation Technology, Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China E-mail: het@sari.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Chi
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Membrane Materials and Separation Technology, Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China E-mail: het@sari.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Chunxia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Membrane Materials and Separation Technology, Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China E-mail: het@sari.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Gang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D057168:Distillation / Q000295:instrumentation*; D019652:Extraction and Processing Industry; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D009995:Osmosis; D059027:Recycling / Q000379:methods*; D014618:Vacuum; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000379:methods*; D018508:Water Purification / Q000379:methods*; D060753:Water Quality
chemical_list: D008567:Membranes, Artificial