Oil and gas produced waters fail to meet beneficial reuse recommendations for use as dust suppressants

James Farnan; Andrew Eck; Andrew Kearney; Frank L Dorman; Hassan Ismail; Eric Chase; Xiaofeng Liu; Nathaniel R Warner; William D Burgos

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.170807

Oil and gas produced waters fail to meet beneficial reuse recommendations for use as dust suppressants

Sci Total Environ. 2024 Apr 1:919:170807. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.170807. Epub 2024 Feb 7.

Authors

James Farnan¹, Andrew Eck², Andrew Kearney³, Frank L Dorman⁴, Hassan Ismail⁵, Eric Chase⁶, Xiaofeng Liu⁷, Nathaniel R Warner⁸, William D Burgos⁹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA. Electronic address: farnan.james@epa.gov.
² Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA. Electronic address: aue72@psu.edu.
³ Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA. Electronic address: ajk5814@psu.edu.
⁴ Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA. Electronic address: franklin.l.dorman@dartmouth.edu.
⁵ Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA. Electronic address: hxi33@psu.edu.
⁶ Center for Dirt and Gravel Road Studies, Larson Transportation Institute, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA. Electronic address: ehc111@psu.edu.
⁷ Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA. Electronic address: xzl123@psu.edu.
⁸ Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA. Electronic address: nrw6@psu.edu.
⁹ Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA. Electronic address: wdb3@psu.edu.

PMID: 38336068
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.170807

Abstract

Produced water from conventional oil and gas wells (O&G PW) is beneficially reused as an inexpensive alternative to commercial dust suppressants which minimize inhalable particulate matter (PM₁₀) from unpaved roads. The efficacy and environmental impacts of using O&G PW instead of commercial products have not been extensively investigated, although O&G PW has been used for dust suppression for decades and often has elevated concentrations of environmental pollutants. In this study, the effectiveness of O&G PW is compared to commercial products under variable humidity conditions by measuring total generated PM₁₀ emissions from treated road aggregate discs. To measure environmental impacts, model roadbeds were treated with six O&G PW and commercial products then subjected to a simulated two-year, 24-h storm event. Generated runoff water was collected and characterized. In efficacy studies, O&G PW offered variable dust reduction (10-85 %) compared to rainwater controls under high humidity (50 %) conditions but performed similarly or worse than controls when humidity was low (20 %). Conversely, all but two commercial products reduced dust emissions by over 90 % regardless of humidity. In rainfall-runoff experiments, roads treated with O&G PWs and CaCl₂ Brine generated runoff that was hypersaline, indicating that mobilization of soluble salts could contribute to freshwater salinization. Though most runoff concentrations were highest from roadbeds treated with CaCl₂ Brine, runoff from roadbeds treated with O&G PW had the highest concentrations of combined radium (83.6 pCi/L), sodium (3560 mg/L), and suspended solids (5330 mg/L). High sodium concentrations likely dispersed clay particles, which increased road mass loss by 47.2 kg solids/km/storm event compared to rainwater controls. Roadbeds treated with CaCl₂ Brine, which had low sodium concentrations, reduced solid road mass loss by 98.1 kg solids/km/storm event. Based on this study, O&G PW do not perform as well as commercial products and pose unique risks to environmental health.

Keywords: Freshwater salinization; Oil and gas produced water; Particulate matter; Radium; Road runoff; Trace metals.