Identification of Proprietary Amino Ethoxylates in Hydraulic Fracturing Wastewater Using Liquid Chromatography/Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry with Solid-Phase Extraction

This work describes the discovery of amino-poly(ethylene glycol)s, amino-poly(ethylene glycol) carboxylates, and amino-poly(ethylene glycol) amines in 20 produced water samples from hydraulic fracturing in the western United States. These compounds, with masses in the range of m/ z 120-986, were identified using solid-phase extraction and liquid chromatography/quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The polymeric sorbent, Oasis HLB, gave...