Haley Cleous, an Honors College student majoring in chemical engineering, placed first in a paper competition at the Mid America Regional conference of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. The conference took place April 11 and 12 at the University of Iowa. Cleous will be one of nine regional paper competition winners to compete in the Student Paper Competition at the national AIChE conference in November.

Cleous’ paper, which is also the subject of her honors thesis, focuses on wastewater recycling for hydraulic fracturing. Hydraulic fracturing is a method used to retrieve natural resources, especially natural gas, from pores in rocks deep underground. During this process, commonly referred to as “fracking,” millions of gallons of water are pumped into a well at very high pressure. The pressure forces the water and gas back up, where it can be collected.

Unfortunately, when the water comes up from these wells, it is contaminated with chemical additives, minerals from the soil, and from the oil or gas that is being mined. Cleous is studying the use of nanofiltration to clean the water so it can be reused. In her research, she uses real and simulated fracking wastewater and runs it through nanofiltration membranes to find the most effective and economical method of removing pollutants. In her paper, she reports that nanofiltration shows promise as a wastewater recycling method. Next semester, she plans to build on these results by looking at charged membranes, which use electrical charges to enhance their filtration abilities.

Cleous explained that the best thing about the competition was seeing the work of her fellow students. “It was exciting to see the other presentations and learning about what everyone else was doing,” she said. “All the U of A students worked together, and everyone had great presentations.”

“Haley did an extraordinary job researching, preparing, and giving her presentation,” said Jamie Hestekin, associate professor of chemical engineering and Cleous’ faculty mentor. “Her work not only made her presentation better but also everyone else’s.  I am excited that she is one of the top nine in the nation and will be competing for the national paper competition championship in November.”

Cleous plans to graduate in December and begin the Master of Business Administration program at the U of A.