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Analyzing TENORM in Hydraulic Fracturing Wastes

Received: 16 October 2014     Accepted: 22 October 2014     Published: 29 October 2014
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Abstract

Hydraulic fracturing, commonly referred to as fracking, is a method used to extract oil and natural gas from shale and coalbed deposits by high-pressure injection of a cocktail mix of chemicals, sand and water. However, absorbed in the returning produced wastewaters along with the desired hydrocarbons are Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM). Through the various refinement and waste treatment processes these activities can further concentrate the radiological contents into Technologically Enhanced NORM (TENORM). A technique has been developed to perform rapid screening of the radioactivity based on gamma spectroscopy using a scintillation detector with advanced algorithmic processing of the data.

Published in International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis (Volume 3, Issue 2-1)

This article belongs to the Special Issue Clean Methods and Technologies for Hydraulic Fracturing

DOI 10.11648/j.ijema.2015030201.11
Page(s) 1-6
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2014. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Hydraulic Fracturing, TENORM, Gamma Spectroscopy

References
[1] E. C. Donaldson, W. Alam and N. Begum, Hydraulic fracturing explained: evaluation, implementation, and challenges, Gulf Drilling: Gulf Publishing Company, 2013.
[2] J. Logan, G. Heath, J. Macknick, et al., Natural gas and the transformation of the U.S. energy sector: electricity, The Joint Institute for Strategic Energy Analysis, 2012.
[3] S. G. Osborn, A. Vengosh, N. R. Warner and R. B. Jackson, Methane contamination of drinking water accompanying gas-well drilling and hydraulic fracturing, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 108, no. 20, 2011, pp. 8172-8176.
[4] G. L. Theodori, A. E. Luloff, F. K. Willits and D. B. Burnett, Hydraulic fracturing and the management, disposal, and reuse of frac flowback waters: views from the public in the Marcellus shale, Energy Research and Social Science, vol. 2, 2014, pp. 66-74.
[5] Radiation protection and the management of radioactive waste in the oil and gas industry, International Atomic Energy Agency, Safety Reports Series No. 34, 2003.
[6] W. Y. Kim, Induced seismicity associated with fluid injection into a deep well in Youngstown, Ohio, Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, vol. 118, 2013, pp. 1-13.
[7] Chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing, U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce, 2011.
[8] Study of the potential impacts of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water resources, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Progress Report 601/R-12/011, 2012.
[9] J. E. Whitten, S. R. Courtemanche, A. R. Jones, R. E. Penrod and D. B. Fogle, Consolidated guidance about materials licenses: program-specific guidance about well logging, tracer, and field flood study licenses, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Final Report NUREG-1556, vol. 14, 2000.
[10] N. R. Warner, C. A. Christie, R. B. Jackson and A. Vengosh, Impacts of shale gas wastewater disposal on water quality in western Pennsylvania, Environmental Science and Technology, vol. 47, 2013, pp. 11849-11857.
[11] A. W. Nelson, D. May, A. W. Knight, et al., Matrix complications in the determination of radium levels in hydraulic fracturing flowback water from Marcellus shale, Environmental Science and Technology Letters, vol. 1, 2014, pp. 204-208.
[12] L. Ying and F. O’Connor, TENORM radiological survey of Utica and Marcellus shale, Applied Radiation and Isotopes, vol. 80, 2013, pp. 95-98.
[13] S. N. Kaplanis, Geometric, effective solid angles and intrinsic efficiencies of a 3x3 NaI(Tl) for isotopic and non-isotopic photon emission, International Journal of Applied Radiation and Isotopes, vol. 33, 1982, pp. 127-135.
[14] J. L. Peeples and R. P. Gardner, Monte Carlo simulation of the nonlinear full peak energy response for gamma-ray scintillation detectors, Applied Radiation and Isotopes, vol. 70, 2012, pp. 1058-1062.
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Leong Ying. (2014). Analyzing TENORM in Hydraulic Fracturing Wastes. International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis, 3(2-1), 1-6. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijema.2015030201.11

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    ACS Style

    Leong Ying. Analyzing TENORM in Hydraulic Fracturing Wastes. Int. J. Environ. Monit. Anal. 2014, 3(2-1), 1-6. doi: 10.11648/j.ijema.2015030201.11

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    AMA Style

    Leong Ying. Analyzing TENORM in Hydraulic Fracturing Wastes. Int J Environ Monit Anal. 2014;3(2-1):1-6. doi: 10.11648/j.ijema.2015030201.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijema.2015030201.11,
      author = {Leong Ying},
      title = {Analyzing TENORM in Hydraulic Fracturing Wastes},
      journal = {International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis},
      volume = {3},
      number = {2-1},
      pages = {1-6},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijema.2015030201.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijema.2015030201.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijema.2015030201.11},
      abstract = {Hydraulic fracturing, commonly referred to as fracking, is a method used to extract oil and natural gas from shale and coalbed deposits by high-pressure injection of a cocktail mix of chemicals, sand and water. However, absorbed in the returning produced wastewaters along with the desired hydrocarbons are Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM). Through the various refinement and waste treatment processes these activities can further concentrate the radiological contents into Technologically Enhanced NORM (TENORM). A technique has been developed to perform rapid screening of the radioactivity based on gamma spectroscopy using a scintillation detector with advanced algorithmic processing of the data.},
     year = {2014}
    }
    

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    JO  - International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis
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    AB  - Hydraulic fracturing, commonly referred to as fracking, is a method used to extract oil and natural gas from shale and coalbed deposits by high-pressure injection of a cocktail mix of chemicals, sand and water. However, absorbed in the returning produced wastewaters along with the desired hydrocarbons are Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM). Through the various refinement and waste treatment processes these activities can further concentrate the radiological contents into Technologically Enhanced NORM (TENORM). A technique has been developed to perform rapid screening of the radioactivity based on gamma spectroscopy using a scintillation detector with advanced algorithmic processing of the data.
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