Brine water recycle process

1. A method for purifying brine water, comprising:

providing brine water, said brine water comprising dissolved solids, suspended solids, volatile compounds, semi-volatile compounds, and oil;

placing said brine water in an enclosure and partially removing oil and suspended solids by gravity phase separation;

partially removing dissolved solids by precipitation in said enclosure;

partially removing oil by treatment with an oil/water separator;

filtering the brine water to partially remove suspended solids;

treating the brine water with activated carbon to partially remove oil, volatile compounds, and semi-volatile compounds;

transferring the brine water to a receiving area;

transferring the brine water to an evaporator; and

removing dissolved solids from said brine water by evaporation to produce purified water, concentrated brine, and additional removed solids.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein said dissolved solids comprise barium, strontium, and radium.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein said precipitation is accomplished by addition of an effective amount of a compound selected from the group consisting of sodium sulfate, sulfuric acid, ammonium sulfate and potassium sulfate.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein said compound is sodium sulfate.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein said enclosure is selected from the group consisting of a concrete-lined pond and a tank, and said receiving area is a high density polyethylene lined impoundment.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein said brine water is hydrofracture water from one of natural gas drilling and natural gas production.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein said evaporator is selected from the group consisting of a multiple effect evaporator, a thin-film evaporator, a mechanical vapor recompressor, and a thermocompressor.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein said evaporator is a multiple effect evaporator.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein said evaporator is a multiple effect evaporator comprising at least three effects.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the first and second effects operate at positive pressure and the third effect operate at negative pressure.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein each of said effects comprises a horizontal heat exchanger.

12. The method of claim 8 , wherein said evaporator is a forced-circulation multiple effect evaporator.

13. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the steps of: treating the additional removed solids in a centrifuge; and drying the additional removed solids.

14. A method for producing sodium chloride, comprising: purifying brine water according to claim 1 ; transferring the additional removed solids to a settling tank; and drying said dissolved solids.

15. A method for recycling hydrofracture water used in natural gas drilling and production, comprising: purifying brine water according to the method of claim 6 ; and performing natural gas drilling and production using the purified water.