Transport of produced water through reactive porous media

During hydraulic fracturing (or fracking) large volumes of wastewater (flow-back and produced water) are generated, which are naturally rich in heavy metals and radionuclides, such as radium. Spills may occur during operations and contaminate the groundwater. Therefore, there is an urgent need to identify a practice that can mitigate the negative impact of accidental leaks on water resources. Here, we present an experimental and modeling work on the transport of alkaline earth elements in produced water, which are congeners of radium, namely, barium (Ba²⁺), strontium (Sr²⁺), calcium (Ca²⁺), and magnesium (Mg²⁺) in addition to sodium (Na⁺). Column-flood tests were conducted using produced water from a shale-gas site and reactive porous media made of ubiquitous minerals such as sand, hydrous ferric oxide, activated alumina, and manganese oxide. In all cases, no retardation of the ions was observed at the salinity conditions of the produced water, but strong retardation in the pH front was measured, indicating that adsorption indeed occurred. When using manganese oxide and upon dilution of produced water, the concentration fronts of all major divalent cations were retarded. However, a fast wave of solute, traveling at the average flow velocity, emerged. This phenomenon confirmed that significant adsorption occurred under those conditions. But, pH-dependent adsorption and hydrodynamic dispersion favored fast solute transport. Overall, these results suggest that manganese oxide could be used as a reactive material in the lining of temporary storage tanks and in the well cases in order to retard the migration of the major toxic elements in produced water. However, mixing must be controlled to avoid the emergence of an instability at the concentration fronts favoring the formation of fast waves.