Publication
Article Metrics
Citations
Online attention
Fate of radium on the discharge of oil and gas produced water to the marine environment
DOI:
10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.129550
Authors:
Faraaz
Ahmad
(The University of Manchester)
,
Katherine
Morris
(The University of Manchester)
,
Gareth T. W.
Law
(University of Helsinki)
,
Kevin
Taylor
(The University of Manchester)
,
Samuel
Shaw
(The University of Manchester)
Co-authored by industrial partner:
No
Type:
Journal Paper
Journal:
Chemosphere
State:
Published (Approved)
Published:
January 2021
Diamond Proposal Number(s):
17243

Abstract: Understanding the speciation and fate of radium during operational discharge from the offshore oil and gas industry into the marine environment is important in assessing its long term environmental impact. In the current work, 226Ra concentrations in marine sediments contaminated by produced water discharge from a site in the UK were analysed using gamma spectroscopy. Radium was present in field samples (0.1 - 0.3 Bq g-1) within International Atomic Energy Agency activity thresholds and was found to be primarily associated with micron sized radiobarite particles (≤2 μm). Experimental studies of synthetic/field produced water and seawater mixing under laboratory conditions showed that a significant proportion of radium (up to 97%) co-precipitated with barite confirming the radiobarite fate pathway. The results showed that produced water discharge into the marine environment results in the formation of radiobarite particles which incorporate a significant portion of radium and can be deposited in marine sediments.
Journal Keywords: Radium; Produced water; Precipitation; Barite; Offshore discharges; NORM
Subject Areas:
Chemistry,
Environment
Instruments:
B18-Core EXAFS
Added On:
13/01/2021 10:11
Documents:
1-s2.0-S0045653521000205-main.pdf
Discipline Tags:
Desertification & Pollution
Earth Sciences & Environment
Water sciences/Hydrology
Radioactive Materials
Chemistry
Technical Tags:
Diffraction
Imaging
X-ray Fluorescence (XRF)