Effect of brine salinity and guar gum on the transport of barium through dolomite rocks: Implications for unconventional oil and gas wastewater disposal

Abstract

This research aimed to elucidate the effect of brine salinity and guar gum on the sorption and transport of Ba in dolomite rocks collected from the Arbuckle formation in Oklahoma, USA. Guar gum represents the most important organic additive used in viscosified fracturing fluids, and Ba constitutes the most common and abundant heavy metal found in unconventional oil and gas (UOG) wastewater. Batch experiments conducted using powdered dolomite rocks (500–600 μm particle size) revealed that at brine salinities of UOG wastewater, chloro-complexation reactions between Ba and Cl ions and pH changes that results from dolomite dissolution are the controlling factors of Ba sorption on dolomite. Competition of Ba with common cations (Ca and Mg) for hydration sites of dolomite, plays a secondary role. Core-flooding experiments conducted to analyze the transport of Ba through natural and synthetic dolomite core plugs are in agreement with the batch sorption experimental results. The transport of Ba through dolomite rocks, increases with increasing brine salinity (0–180,000 mg-NaCl/L). The presence guar gum (50–500 mg/L) does not affect the transport of Ba through dolomite rocks of high flow properties (25–29.6% porosity, 9.6–13.7 mD permeability). However, core-flooding experiments conducted using tight dolomite rocks (6.5–8.6% porosity, 0.06–0.3 mD permeability), revealed that guar gum can retard the transport of Ba by clogging high permeability/porosity regions of tight dolomite rocks. The mechanism of Ba sorption on dolomite can be represented by a sorption model that accounts for both surface complexation reactions on three distinct hydration sites (>CaOHo, >MgOHo, and >CO3Ho), and the kinetic dissolution of dolomite. These results are important in understanding and predicting the fate of Ba present in UOG wastewater disposed into deep dolomite saline aquifers.