Geologic, geochemical, and geographic controls on NORM in produced water from Texas oil, gas, and geothermal reservoirs. Final report

Technical Report · Tue Aug 01 00:00:00 EDT 1995

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/83017· OSTI ID:83017

Fisher, R

Water from Texas oil, gas, and geothermal wells contains natural radioactivity that ranges from several hundred to several thousand Picocuries per liter (pCi/L). This natural radioactivity in produced fluids and the scale that forms in producing and processing equipment can lead to increased concerns for worker safety and additional costs for handling and disposing of water and scale. Naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) in oil and gas operations are mainly caused by concentrations of radium-226 ({sup 226}Ra) and radium-228 ({sup 228}Ra), daughter products of uranium-238 ({sup 238}U) and thorium-232 ({sup 232}Th), respectively, in barite scale. We examined (1) the geographic distribution of high NORM levels in oil-producing and gas-processing equipment, (2) geologic controls on uranium (U), thorium (Th), and radium (Ra) in sedimentary basins and reservoirs, (3) mineralogy of NORM scale, (4) chemical variability and potential to form barite scale in Texas formation waters, (5) Ra activity in Texas formation waters, and (6) geochemical controls on Ra isotopes in formation water and barite scale to explore natural controls on radioactivity. Our approach combined extensive compilations of published data, collection and analyses of new water samples and scale material, and geochemical modeling of scale Precipitation and Ra incorporation in barite.

• Research Organization: Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AC22-92MT92011
• OSTI ID: 83017
• Report Number(s): DOE/MT/92011-12; ON: DE95000178
• Resource Relation: Other Information: PBD: Aug 1995
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
03 NATURAL GAS
15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY
OIL WELLS
WASTE WATER
NATURAL GAS WELLS
NATURAL RADIOACTIVITY
URANIUM 238
RADIOECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
THORIUM 232
RADIUM 226
RADIUM 228
GEOTHERMAL WELLS
NUMERICAL DATA
BARITE
MINERALOGY
TEXAS
US GULF COAST
HEALTH HAZARDS
CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
PROGRESS REPORT
Geothermal Legacy