Date of Award

2024-08-01

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department

Chemistry

Advisor(s)

Jose Hernandez

Abstract

Produced waters (PW) are a major byproduct of the oil and gas industrial hydraulic fracturing processes that create a major waste disposal issue with a need for disposal, treatment, and reuse method developments. The current primary disposal method is subsurface injection, which can lead to high pressures in the subsurface. PWs are often highly saline from mineral leaching due to long residence in subsurface reservoirs. According to the USGS National Minerals Information Center, bromine, calcium chloride, iodine, lithium, magnesium, and sodium chloride have been found in and extracted from these domestic subsurface brines, suggesting that there may be other economically valuable elements present in these brines. The quantification of critically valuable elements (CVEs) in high total dissolved solids (TDS) brines is an underdeveloped area of analysis. Chelex-100 resin is well documented to work with high concentration brines. In this study, high TDS brines are pre-treated and diluted to ~50 g/L prior to preconcentration in Chelex-100 resins to combat the effects of low Na/(Ca+Mg) ratios. This study utilized vertical columns that employ gravity elution. In addition, water samples were analyzed via Inductively Coupled Plasma â?? Optical Emission Spectra (ICP-OES), for their sodium, calcium, and magnesium masses, which are used to determine salt ratios and compared to the TDS concentration and recoveries.This study finds that Chelex-100 resin is effective for recovering lanthanides and improves recovery of high field strength elements and industrial elements compared to the previous study. Alkaline and Alkali Earth elements were also analyzed, but performed poorly, as expected, by nature of the resinâ??s preference to sorb multivalent cations. Precious metals, similarly, performed poorly, as expected. The Na/(Ca+Mg) ratios indicated that the drop in recovery is likely associated with resin degradation, rather than salt interference with the resin.

Language

en

Provenance

Received from ProQuest

File Size

42 p.

File Format

application/pdf

Rights Holder

Carley Oliver

Download

Share

COinS