Development of a cost effective environment compliance technology for stripper brine wells. [Annual] report, January 1, 1993--December 31, 1993

Abstract

The specific objective of the research is to demonstrate that the characteristics of wastewater from stripper oil wells and marginal gas wells are sufficiently similar to be treated under a standardized treatment methodology, that the environmental impacts of the discharge of treated brines from both stripper oil and marginal gas wells can be adequately regulated, and that the inclusion of marginal gas wells in the same category as stripper oil wells is appropriate, especially for wells operating in the Appalachian Basin. The work accomplished during 1992 for both the field-scale and the laboratory-scale treatment facilities focused on iron removal from the field and synthetic brines. The laboratory work also included single-element kinetics studies to determine the effect of one metal on another with respect to the rates of the various reactions. The laboratory process studies investigated such parameters as the sand bed thickness, the temperature of the system, the angle of the aeration unit, and the presence of the retention tank. All of these laboratory parametric studies provided insight into how each component of the treatment process contributes to the removal of iron from the synthetic brine. Similar studies have begun for investigating copper removal effectiveness. As for the fieldmore » work, several brines from sandstone formations in Pennsylvania, such as the Red Valley brine and the Warren brine, were treated with the field unit. The results of our analyses indicated that the field unit effectively removes iron from these field brines.« less