# US 8,784,660 B2 · Method for the remediation of water generated from natural resource production operations > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 8,784,660 B2 - Document ID: US8784660B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 13/671,869 - Filed: 2012-11-08 - Published: 2013-05-23 - Granted: 2014-07-22 - Earliest claimed: 2011-05-25 - Assignees: Sam Houston State University - Applicants: Phillip Grisham; Michael D. Rainone - Inventors: R. Gavin Jones; Phillip Grisham; Kenneth Wilson; Sabin Holland; Michael D. Rainone - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US8784660B2 ## CPC - C02F 3/341: {Consortia of bacteria} - C02F 3/006: {Regulation methods for biological treatment} - C02F 2103/10: from quarries or from mining activities - C02F 2203/002: comprising an initial buffer container - C02F 2203/004: comprising a selector reactor for promoting floc-forming or other bacteria - C02F 2209/005: Processes using a programmable logic controller [PLC] - C02F 2209/02: Temperature - C02F 2209/06: pH - C02F 2209/22: O2 - C02F 2209/40: Liquid flow rate - C02F 2209/42: Liquid level - C02F: TREATMENT OF WATER, WASTE WATER, SEWAGE, OR SLUDGE (separation in general B01D; special arrangements on waterborne vessels of installations for treating water, waste water or sewage, e.g. for producing fresh water, B63J; adding materials to water to prevent corrosion C23F; treating radioactively-contaminated liquids G21F9/04; regeneration of reactants for recirculation into processes, see the relevant places for the processes) ## Abstract In some embodiments, a wastewater treatment system may reduce contaminants in water. A system may include one or more bioreactors which include a substrate that supports a biofilm. The bacteria used to form the biofilm may be selected to maximize the reduction of contaminants in water. Various components of the wastewater treatment system may be optimized to improve the efficiency and energy consumption of the wastewater system. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method of removing one or more inorganic salts from wastewater produced from a drilling site, the method comprising: collecting wastewater produced from a drilling site; introducing, into a bioreactor, the wastewater from the drilling site, wherein the bioreactor comprises one or more substrates and one or more bacteria coupled to the substrate, wherein one or more of the bacteria are capable of reducing the concentration of inorganic salts in water comprising at least 0.5% by weight of one or more inorganic salts; contacting the wastewater from the drilling site with the bacteria in the bioreactor; and removing at least a portion of the contacted water from the bioreactor, wherein the concentration of one or more inorganic salts in the removed portion of the contacted water is less than the initial concentration of one or more inorganic salts in the wastewater from the drilling site; wherein one or more of the bioreactors further comprise an oxygen inlet conduit and a diffuser coupled to the oxygen inlet conduit, wherein the method further comprises passing oxygen through the oxygen inlet conduit into the diffuser and through the diffuser into the bioreactor. ### Claim 2 A method of removing one or more inorganic salts from wastewater produced from a hydraulic fracturing site, the method comprising: collecting wastewater produced from the hydraulic fracturing site; introducing, into a bioreactor, the wastewater from the hydraulic fracturing site, wherein the bioreactor comprises one or more substrates and one or more bacteria coupled to the substrate, wherein one or more of the bacteria are capable of reducing the concentration of inorganic salts in water comprising at least 0.5% by weight of one or more inorganic salts; contacting the wastewater from the hydraulic fracturing site with the bacteria coupled to the substrate; and removing at least a portion of the contacted water from the bioreactor, wherein the concentration of one or more inorganic salts in the removed portion of the contacted water is less than the initial concentration of one or more inorganic salts in the wastewater from the hydraulic fracturing site; wherein one or more of the bioreactors further comprise an oxygen inlet conduit and a diffuser coupled to the oxygen inlet conduit, wherein the method further comprises passing oxygen through the oxygen inlet conduit into the diffuser and through the diffuser into the bioreactor. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, wherein the wastewater produced from the hydraulic fracturing site has an inorganic salt concentration of at least 1% by weight. ### Claim 4 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, wherein the wastewater produced from the hydraulic fracturing site has an inorganic salt concentration of at least 5% by weight. ### Claim 5 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, wherein the wastewater produced from the hydraulic fracturing site has an inorganic salt concentration of up to 12% by weight. ### Claim 6 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, wherein contacting the wastewater produced from the hydraulic fracturing site comprises contacting the wastewater produced from the hydraulic fracturing site for a time sufficient to lower the concentration of one or more inorganic salts in the wastewater produced from the hydraulic fracturing site to be less than 3%. ### Claim 7 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, wherein contacting the wastewater produced from the hydraulic fracturing site comprises contacting the wastewater produced from the hydraulic fracturing site for a time sufficient to lower the concentration of one or more inorganic salts in the wastewater produced from the hydraulic fracturing site to be less than 1%. ### Claim 8 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, wherein the wastewater produced from the hydraulic fracturing site comprises organic contaminants and wherein the bacteria remove at least a portion of the organic contaminants. ### Claim 9 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, wherein the wastewater produced from the hydraulic fracturing site comprises hydrocarbon organic contaminants and wherein the bacteria remove at least a portion of the hydrocarbon organic contaminants. ### Claim 10 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, wherein the wastewater produced from the hydraulic fracturing site comprises aromatic hydrocarbon organic contaminants and wherein the bacteria remove at least a portion of the aromatic hydrocarbon organic contaminants. ### Claim 11 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, wherein one or more of the bioreactors are housed in a portable structure. ### Claim 12 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, wherein the substrate comprises a polymer substrate. ### Claim 13 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, wherein the substrate comprises a ceramic substrate. ### Claim 14 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, wherein one or more of the bacteria comprise primary adherer bacteria that couple to the substrate and secondary bacteria which couple to the primary adherer bacteria to form a biofilm. ### Claim 15 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, wherein the secondary bacteria are substantially unable to couple to the substrate. ### Claim 16 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, wherein one or more of the bacteria comprise bacteria of the genus Caulobacter. ### Claim 17 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, wherein one or more of the bioreactors comprise a mixture of bacteria, the mixture comprising bacteria of the genus Caulobacter; bacteria of the genus Enterobacter; bacteria of the genus Pseudomonas; bacteria of the genus Gordonia; bacteria of the genus Bacillus; bacteria of the genus Agrobacterium; and bacteria of the genus Zoogloea. ### Claim 18 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, further comprising supplying bacteria to one or more of the bioreactors. ### Claim 19 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, further comprising supplying bacteria to one or more of the bioreactors from a plurality of bacteria generators coupled to one or more of the bioreactors, wherein each of the bacteria generators is independently operable. ### Claim 20 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, wherein the method further comprises filtering an effluent stream from one or more of the bioreactors to produce a filtered water stream from the effluent stream. ### Claim 21 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, further comprising passing the wastewater through a grinding system coupled to the bioreactor, wherein the grinding system reduces the size of solid matter in a water stream passing through the grinding system. ### Claim 22 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, further comprising: determining a fluid level within one or more of the bioreactors; altering the incoming flow rate of the wastewater into the one or more bioreactors based, in part, on the fluid level detected by one or more of the fluid level sensors. ### Claim 23 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, further comprising passing the wastewater stream through a metal removing system coupled to one or more of the bioreactors, wherein the metal removing system removes at least a portion of metal ions in the wastewater stream. ### Claim 24 (depends on 23) The method of claim 23, wherein the metal removing system comprises at least two metal members disposed at a fixed distance from each other, wherein, during use, an electrical potential is applied to the metal members to remove at least a portion of the metal ions from the wastewater stream. ### Claim 25 A method of removing one or more inorganic salts from wastewater produced from a mining site, the method comprising: collecting wastewater produced from the mining site; introducing, into a bioreactor, the wastewater produced from the mining site, wherein the bioreactor comprises one or more substrates and one or more bacteria coupled to the substrate, wherein one or more of the bacteria are capable of reducing the concentration of inorganic salts in water comprising at least 0.5% by weight of one or more inorganic salts; contacting the wastewater produced from the mining site with the bacteria coupled to the substrate; and removing at least a portion of the contacted water from the bioreactor, wherein the concentration of one or more inorganic salts in the removed portion of the contacted water is less than the initial concentration of one or more inorganic salts in the wastewater produced from the mining site; wherein one or more of the bioreactors further comprise an oxygen inlet conduit and a diffuser coupled to the oxygen inlet conduit, wherein the method further comprises passing oxygen through the oxygen inlet conduit into the diffuser and through the diffuser into the bioreactor. ### Claim 26 (depends on 25) The method of claim 25, wherein the wastewater produced from the hydraulic fracturing site has an inorganic salt concentration of up to 12% by weight. ### Claim 27 (depends on 25) The method of claim 25, wherein contacting the wastewater produced from the hydraulic fracturing site comprises contacting the wastewater produced from the hydraulic fracturing site for a time sufficient to lower the concentration of one or more inorganic salts in the wastewater produced from the hydraulic fracturing site to be less than 3%. ### Claim 28 (depends on 25) The method of claim 25, wherein the wastewater produced from the hydraulic fracturing site comprises organic contaminants and wherein the bacteria remove at least a portion of the organic contaminants. ### Claim 29 (depends on 25) The method of claim 25, wherein one or more of the bioreactors are housed in a portable structure. ### Claim 30 (depends on 25) The method of claim 25, wherein one or more of the bacteria comprise primary adherer bacteria that couple to the substrate and secondary bacteria which couple to the primary adherer bacteria to form a biofilm. ### Claim 31 (depends on 25) The method of claim 25, wherein one or more of the bacteria comprise bacteria of the genus Caulobacter. ### Claim 32 (depends on 25) The method of claim 25, wherein one or more of the bioreactors comprise a mixture of bacteria, the mixture comprising bacteria of the genus Caulobacter; bacteria of the genus Enterobacter; bacteria of the genus Pseudomonas; bacteria of the genus Gordonia; bacteria of the genus Bacillus; bacteria of the genus Agrobacterium; and bacteria of the genus Zoogloea. ### Claim 33 (depends on 25) The method of claim 25, further comprising supplying bacteria to one or more of the bioreactors. ### Claim 34 (depends on 25) The method of claim 25, further comprising supplying bacteria to one or more of the bioreactors from a plurality of bacteria generators coupled to one or more of the bioreactors, wherein each of the bacteria generators is independently operable. ### Claim 35 (depends on 25) The method of claim 25, wherein the method further comprises filtering an effluent stream from one or more of the bioreactors to produce a filtered water stream from the effluent stream. ### Claim 36 (depends on 25) The method of claim 25, further comprising passing the wastewater through a grinding system coupled to the bioreactor, wherein the grinding system reduces the size of solid matter in a water stream passing through the grinding system. ### Claim 37 (depends on 25) The method of claim 25, further comprising: determining a fluid level within one or more of the bioreactors; altering the incoming flow rate of the wastewater into the one or more bioreactors based, in part, on the fluid level detected by one or more of the fluid level sensors. ### Claim 38 (depends on 25) The method of claim 25, further comprising passing the wastewater stream through a metal removing system coupled to one or more of the bioreactors, wherein the metal removing system removes at least a portion of metal ions in the wastewater stream. ### Claim 39 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the wastewater produced from the hydraulic fracturing site has an inorganic salt concentration of up to 12% by weight. ### Claim 40 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein contacting the wastewater produced from the hydraulic fracturing site comprises contacting the wastewater produced from the hydraulic fracturing site for a time sufficient to lower the concentration of one or more inorganic salts in the wastewater produced from the hydraulic fracturing site to be less than 3%. ### Claim 41 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the wastewater produced from the hydraulic fracturing site comprises organic contaminants and wherein the bacteria remove at least a portion of the organic contaminants. ### Claim 42 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein one or more of the bioreactors are housed in a portable structure. ### Claim 43 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein one or more of the bacteria comprise primary adherer bacteria that couple to the substrate and secondary bacteria which couple to the primary adherer bacteria to form a biofilm. ### Claim 44 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein one or more of the bacteria comprise bacteria of the genus Caulobacter. ### Claim 45 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein one or more of the bioreactors comprise a mixture of bacteria, the mixture comprising bacteria of the genus Caulobacter; bacteria of the genus Enterobacter; bacteria of the genus Pseudomonas; bacteria of the genus Gordonia; bacteria of the genus Bacillus; bacteria of the genus Agrobacterium; and bacteria of the genus Zoogloea. ### Claim 46 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising supplying bacteria to one or more of the bioreactors. ### Claim 47 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising supplying bacteria to one or more of the bioreactors from a plurality of bacteria generators coupled to one or more of the bioreactors, wherein each of the bacteria generators is independently operable. ### Claim 48 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises filtering an effluent stream from one or more of the bioreactors to produce a filtered water stream from the effluent stream. ### Claim 49 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising passing the wastewater through a grinding system coupled to the bioreactor, wherein the grinding system reduces the size of solid matter in a water stream passing through the grinding system. ### Claim 50 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining a fluid level within one or more of the bioreactors; altering the incoming flow rate of the wastewater into the one or more bioreactors based, in part, on the fluid level detected by one or more of the fluid level sensors. ### Claim 51 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising passing the wastewater stream through a metal removing system coupled to one or more of the bioreactors, wherein the metal removing system removes at least a portion of metal ions in the wastewater stream. ### Claim 52 A method of removing one or more inorganic salts from wastewater produced from a drilling site, the method comprising: collecting wastewater produced from a drilling site; introducing, into a bioreactor, the wastewater from the drilling site, wherein the bioreactor comprises one or more substrates and one or more bacteria coupled to the substrate, wherein one or more of the bacteria are capable of reducing the concentration of inorganic salts in water comprising at least 0.5% by weight of one or more inorganic salts; contacting the wastewater from the drilling site with the bacteria in the bioreactor; and removing at least a portion of the contacted water from the bioreactor, wherein the concentration of one or more inorganic salts in the removed portion of the contacted water is less than the initial concentration of one or more inorganic salts in the wastewater from the drilling site; wherein one or more of the bacteria comprise primary adherer bacteria that couple to the substrate and secondary bacteria which couple to the primary adherer bacteria to form a biofilm. ### Claim 53 (depends on 52) The method of claim 52, wherein the wastewater produced from the hydraulic fracturing site has an inorganic salt concentration of up to 12% by weight. ### Claim 54 (depends on 52) The method of claim 52, wherein contacting the wastewater produced from the hydraulic fracturing site comprises contacting the wastewater produced from the hydraulic fracturing site for a time sufficient to lower the concentration of one or more inorganic salts in the wastewater produced from the hydraulic fracturing site to be less than 3%. ### Claim 55 (depends on 52) The method of claim 52, wherein the wastewater produced from the hydraulic fracturing site comprises organic contaminants and wherein the bacteria remove at least a portion of the organic contaminants. ### Claim 56 (depends on 52) The method of claim 52, wherein one or more of the bioreactors are housed in a portable structure. ### Claim 57 (depends on 52) The method of claim 52, wherein one or more of the bacteria comprise bacteria of the genus Caulobacter. ### Claim 58 (depends on 52) The method of claim 52, wherein one or more of the bioreactors comprise a mixture of bacteria, the mixture comprising bacteria of the genus Caulobacter; bacteria of the genus Enterobacter; bacteria of the genus Pseudomonas; bacteria of the genus Gordonia; bacteria of the genus Bacillus; bacteria of the genus Agrobacterium; and bacteria of the genus Zoogloea. ### Claim 59 (depends on 52) The method of claim 52, further comprising supplying bacteria to one or more of the bioreactors. ### Claim 60 (depends on 52) The method of claim 52, further comprising supplying bacteria to one or more of the bioreactors from a plurality of bacteria generators coupled to one or more of the bioreactors, wherein each of the bacteria generators is independently operable. ### Claim 61 (depends on 52) The method of claim 52, wherein the method further comprises filtering an effluent stream from one or more of the bioreactors to produce a filtered water stream from the effluent stream. ### Claim 62 (depends on 52) The method of claim 52, further comprising passing the wastewater through a grinding system coupled to the bioreactor, wherein the grinding system reduces the size of solid matter in a water stream passing through the grinding system. ### Claim 63 (depends on 52) The method of claim 52, further comprising: determining a fluid level within one or more of the bioreactors; altering the incoming flow rate of the wastewater into the one or more bioreactors based, in part, on the fluid level detected by one or more of the fluid level sensors. ### Claim 64 (depends on 52) The method of claim 52, further comprising passing the wastewater stream through a metal removing system coupled to one or more of the bioreactors, wherein the metal removing system removes at least a portion of metal ions in the wastewater stream. ### Claim 65 A method of removing one or more inorganic salts from wastewater produced from a hydraulic fracturing site, the method comprising: collecting wastewater produced from the hydraulic fracturing site; introducing, into a bioreactor, the wastewater from the hydraulic fracturing site, wherein the bioreactor comprises one or more substrates and one or more bacteria coupled to the substrate, wherein one or more of the bacteria are capable of reducing the concentration of inorganic salts in water comprising at least 0.5% by weight of one or more inorganic salts; contacting the wastewater from the hydraulic fracturing site with the bacteria coupled to the substrate; and removing at least a portion of the contacted water from the bioreactor, wherein the concentration of one or more inorganic salts in the removed portion of the contacted water is less than the initial concentration of one or more inorganic salts in the wastewater from the hydraulic fracturing site; wherein one or more of the bacteria comprise primary adherer bacteria that couple to the substrate and secondary bacteria which couple to the primary adherer bacteria to form a biofilm. ### Claim 66 (depends on 65) The method of claim 65, wherein the wastewater produced from the hydraulic fracturing site has an inorganic salt concentration of up to 12% by weight. ### Claim 67 (depends on 65) The method of claim 65, wherein contacting the wastewater produced from the hydraulic fracturing site comprises contacting the wastewater produced from the hydraulic fracturing site for a time sufficient to lower the concentration of one or more inorganic salts in the wastewater produced from the hydraulic fracturing site to be less than 3%. ### Claim 68 (depends on 65) The method of claim 65, wherein the wastewater produced from the hydraulic fracturing site comprises organic contaminants and wherein the bacteria remove at least a portion of the organic contaminants. ### Claim 69 (depends on 65) The method of claim 65, wherein one or more of the bioreactors are housed in a portable structure. ### Claim 70 (depends on 65) The method of claim 65, wherein one or more of the bacteria comprise bacteria of the genus Caulobacter. ### Claim 71 (depends on 65) The method of claim 65, wherein one or more of the bioreactors comprise a mixture of bacteria, the mixture comprising bacteria of the genus Caulobacter; bacteria of the genus Enterobacter; bacteria of the genus Pseudomonas; bacteria of the genus Gordonia; bacteria of the genus Bacillus; bacteria of the genus Agrobacterium; and bacteria of the genus Zoogloea. ### Claim 72 (depends on 65) The method of claim 65, further comprising supplying bacteria to one or more of the bioreactors. ### Claim 73 (depends on 65) The method of claim 65, further comprising supplying bacteria to one or more of the bioreactors from a plurality of bacteria generators coupled to one or more of the bioreactors, wherein each of the bacteria generators is independently operable. ### Claim 74 (depends on 65) The method of claim 65, wherein the method further comprises filtering an effluent stream from one or more of the bioreactors to produce a filtered water stream from the effluent stream. ### Claim 75 (depends on 65) The method of claim 65, further comprising passing the wastewater through a grinding system coupled to the bioreactor, wherein the grinding system reduces the size of solid matter in a water stream passing through the grinding system. ### Claim 76 (depends on 65) The method of claim 65, further comprising: determining a fluid level within one or more of the bioreactors; altering the incoming flow rate of the wastewater into the one or more bioreactors based, in part, on the fluid level detected by one or more of the fluid level sensors. ### Claim 77 (depends on 65) The method of claim 65, further comprising passing the wastewater stream through a metal removing system coupled to one or more of the bioreactors, wherein the metal removing system removes at least a portion of metal ions in the wastewater stream. ### Claim 78 A method of removing one or more inorganic salts from wastewater produced from a mining site, the method comprising: collecting wastewater produced from the mining site; introducing, into a bioreactor, the wastewater produced from the mining site, wherein the bioreactor comprises one or more substrates and one or more bacteria coupled to the substrate, wherein one or more of the bacteria are capable of reducing the concentration of inorganic salts in water comprising at least 0.5% by weight of one or more inorganic salts; contacting the wastewater produced from the mining site with the bacteria coupled to the substrate; and removing at least a portion of the contacted water from the bioreactor, wherein the concentration of one or more inorganic salts in the removed portion of the contacted water is less than the initial concentration of one or more inorganic salts in the wastewater produced from the mining site; wherein one or more of the bacteria comprise primary adherer bacteria that couple to the substrate and secondary bacteria which couple to the primary adherer bacteria to form a biofilm. ### Claim 79 (depends on 78) The method of claim 78, wherein the wastewater produced from the hydraulic fracturing site has an inorganic salt concentration of up to 12% by weight. ### Claim 80 (depends on 78) The method of claim 78, wherein contacting the wastewater produced from the hydraulic fracturing site comprises contacting the wastewater produced from the hydraulic fracturing site for a time sufficient to lower the concentration of one or more inorganic salts in the wastewater produced from the hydraulic fracturing site to be less than 3%. ### Claim 81 (depends on 78) The method of claim 78, wherein the wastewater produced from the hydraulic fracturing site comprises organic contaminants and wherein the bacteria remove at least a portion of the organic contaminants. ### Claim 82 (depends on 78) The method of claim 78, wherein one or more of the bioreactors are housed in a portable structure. ### Claim 83 (depends on 78) The method of claim 78, wherein one or more of the bacteria comprise bacteria of the genus Caulobacter. ### Claim 84 (depends on 78) The method of claim 78, wherein one or more of the bioreactors comprise a mixture of bacteria, the mixture comprising bacteria of the genus Caulobacter; bacteria of the genus Enterobacter; bacteria of the genus Pseudomonas; bacteria of the genus Gordonia; bacteria of the genus Bacillus; bacteria of the genus Agrobacterium; and bacteria of the genus Zoogloea. ### Claim 85 (depends on 78) The method of claim 78, further comprising supplying bacteria to one or more of the bioreactors. ### Claim 86 (depends on 78) The method of claim 78, further comprising supplying bacteria to one or more of the bioreactors from a plurality of bacteria generators coupled to one or more of the bioreactors, wherein each of the bacteria generators is independently operable. ### Claim 87 (depends on 78) The method of claim 78, wherein the method further comprises filtering an effluent stream from one or more of the bioreactors to produce a filtered water stream from the effluent stream. ### Claim 88 (depends on 78) The method of claim 78, further comprising passing the wastewater through a grinding system coupled to the bioreactor, wherein the grinding system reduces the size of solid matter in a water stream passing through the grinding system. ### Claim 89 (depends on 78) The method of claim 78, further comprising: determining a fluid level within one or more of the bioreactors; altering the incoming flow rate of the wastewater into the one or more bioreactors based, in part, on the fluid level detected by one or more of the fluid level sensors. ### Claim 90 (depends on 78) The method of claim 78, further comprising passing the wastewater stream through a metal removing system coupled to one or more of the bioreactors, wherein the metal removing system removes at least a portion of metal ions in the wastewater stream.