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Development of Rapid Radiochemical Method for Gross Alpha and Gross Beta Activity Concentration in Flowback and Produced Waters from Hydraulic Fracturing Operations
Citation:
SCHUMACHER, B. A., J. Griggs, D. Askren, B. Littman, B. Shannon, M. Mehrhoff, A. Nelson, AND M. K. Schultz. Development of Rapid Radiochemical Method for Gross Alpha and Gross Beta Activity Concentration in Flowback and Produced Waters from Hydraulic Fracturing Operations. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/600/R-14/107, 2014.
Impact/Purpose:
The impact of this "new" method is to provide a method for measuring/screening hydraulic fracturing waste waters for radioactivity that more accurately represents the true radioactivity in the sample through removing or overcoming the presense of known interferences (e.g., high total dissolved solids).
Description:
This report summarizes the development and validation of an improved method for the Determination of Gross Alpha and Gross Beta Activity in Flowback and Produced Waters from Hydraulic Fracturing Operations (FPWHFO). Flowback and produced waters are characterized by high concentrations and complex mixtures of inorganic salts, organic compounds and other materials. They may commonly contain concentrations of naturally-occurring radionuclides from the uranium and thorium decay chains as high as 103–104 times the level of activity routinely observed in environmental water samples. The complex nature and high concentration of matrix constituents in these water samples present significant technical challenges especially for gross alpha and gross beta determinations in such samples.