Hydraulic Fracturing Return Fluids from Offshore Hydrocarbon Extraction Present New Risks to Marine Ecosystems

Zhong, Cheng; Kwan, Yick Hang; Goss, Greg G.; Alessi, Daniel S.; Qian, Pei‐Yuan

doi:10.1021/acs.est.1c00107

Cited by 13 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…Hydraulic fracturing (HF) operations to extract hydrocarbons occur globally, in both terrestrial and marine settings, despite intense debates about its sustainability and environmental impacts (Zhong et al ., 2021a; Zhong et al ., 2021b). HF generates flowback and produced water (FPW) and is particularly water‐intensive for fracturing horizontal wells (Vengosh et al ., 2014; Kondash et al ., 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Complex impacts of hydraulic fracturing return fluids on soil microbial community respiration, structure and functional potentials

Zhong

Nesbø

Gunten

et al. 2022

Environmental Microbiology

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Summary The consequences of soils exposed to hydraulic fracturing (HF) return fluid, often collectively termed flowback and produced water (FPW), are poorly understood, even though soils are a common receptor of FPW spills. Here, we investigate the impacts on soil microbiota exposed to FPW collected from the Montney Formation of western Canada. We measured soil respiration, microbial community structure and functional potentials under FPW exposure across a range of concentrations, exposure time and soil types (luvisol and chernozem). We find that soil type governs microbial community response upon FPW exposure. Within each soil, FPW exposure led to reduced biotic soil respiration, and shifted microbial community structure and functional potentials. We detect substantially higher species richness and more unique functional genes in FPW‐exposed soils than in FPW‐unexposed soils, with metagenome‐assembled genomes (e.g. Marinobacter persicus) from luvisol soil exposed to concentrated FPW being most similar to genomes from HF/FPW sites. Our data demonstrate the complex impacts of microbial communities following FPW exposure and highlight the site‐specific effects in evaluation of spills and agricultural reuse of FPW on the normal soil functions.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Complex impacts of hydraulic fracturing return fluids on soil microbial community respiration, structure and functional potentials

Zhong

Nesbø

Gunten

et al. 2022

Environmental Microbiology

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“…Marine oil spills and industrial oily wastewater discharge could cause irreversible destruction to the environment as well as lead to resource waste and huge economic loss (Rajendran et al 2022;Zhang et al 2022). There are large amounts of toxic substances in oils, which bring serious health problems to marine organisms and human society (Chen et al 2019;Denic-Roberts et al 2022;Zhong et al 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Aluminum soap nanoparticles-lignin powder form phase-selective gelator: synergistic adsorption and gelation for rapid oil spill recovery

Cui

Líu

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Rapid and effective recovery of the oil spill is extremely challenging during oil spill remediation. To meet this challenge, an organogelator-polymerized porous matrix composed of adsorbents and organogelators provided a new strategy. This work investigated the gelling mechanism of aluminum 12-hydroxystearate (Al HSA) to form spherical nano micelles in solvents via UV-vis, FT-IR, and XRD. We creatively proposed a method for saponification of 12-hydroxystearic acid (HSA) on lignin via epichlorohydrin (ECH) crosslinking to produce aluminum soap-lignin gelator (OTS-AL/Al HSA). By adjusting the ECH content, Al HSA nanoparticles (15-40 nm) were grown on lignin, which improved the roughness endowing lignin with better hydrophobicity (WCA 134.6°) before octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS) modification. Oils and organic solvents could be rapidly adsorbed by OTS-AL/Al HSA gelator at low temperatures due to the abundant pore structures. Rheological studies demonstrated its gelation characteristics, which were attributed to the rapid absorption of oils by lignin and the self-assembly of Al HSA nano micelles on lignin to form an aggregated network structure trapping oils, thus realizing the synergistic effect of oil adsorption-gelation. Recyclable materials, easy preparation process, and excellent oil treatment capacity make this new biomaterial may inspire more research in oil spill remediation in the future.

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“…With advances in industrial activities and global environmental problems, such as plastic threats, the attention paid to development of natural products with good properties in harsh conditions and environments has increased because the core component of the plastic (polymers) can be altered using natural products, including polysaccharides with similar functions (e.g., solution viscosity enhancement), for certain industrial applications. − Polysaccharides offer a wide range of applications in industries, such as food, concrete, and petroleum sectors. − For example, the high salinity and temperature subsurface conditions of unconventional reservoirs lead to an increase in the requirement for the quality of hydraulic fracturing fluids (HFF). , Guar gum is the most important additive used to enhance fluid viscosity to carry sufficient proppants . Moreover, gum is commonly used in food-packaging films due to its biodegradability − and is concrete for performance improvement due to its thickening properties. − However, the properties (e.g., viscosity) of natural polysaccharides may decrease under high salinity and temperature solution conditions, which may lead to their failure in industrial application. − The unique production region of popular natural products may result in a supply shortage for large-scale industrial utilization …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Viscosity and Structure Characterization of the 1-Bromohexadecane-Modified Welan Gum in the Saline Solution

Wang

Chen

et al. 2022

Energy Fuels

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Advanced industrial (e.g., hydraulic fracturing) and environmental demands necessitate the development of natural products with excellent properties. This study developed a new polysaccharide product by hydrophobically modifying welan gum by using 1-bromohexadecane under NaOH catalysis. This is the first study reporting the introduction of a long hydrophobic chain into welan gum to enhance its viscosity in saline solutions. Comparative analyses showed that hydrophobically modified welan gum (HWG) displayed higher solution viscosity (225.58 mPa·s) than welan gum (110.34 mPa·s) with 85,000 mg·L–1 mixed salts. Moreover, the viscosity of HWG solution (20.58 mPa·s) remained higher than that of welan gum (16.39 mPa·s) at 120 °C and 170 s–1 shear stress, with 85,000 mg·L–1 mixed salts. The scanning electron microscopy images suggested network structure formation by inferring the altered surface morphology of HWG after the modification of the original welan gum structure. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis demonstrated that the bands of the C–H and C–O–C associated with the 1-bromohexadecane increased in HWG. The changed molecular structure was confirmed using the altered diffraction bands of X-ray diffraction spectra and the decreased decomposition rate (1.08 times lower) of HWG compared with those of welan gum obtained from thermogravimetric analysis and differential thermogravimetry analysis. The pyrene-based fluorescence analysis revealed the presence of the hydrophobic microdomains of HWG. Our study suggested HWG to be a promising candidate for fabricating highly viscous and saline fluids for hydraulic fracturing fluids and other potential applications and highlighted the vital role of macromolecular structures in determining the functional properties.

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Hydraulic Fracturing Return Fluids from Offshore Hydrocarbon Extraction Present New Risks to Marine Ecosystems

Cited by 13 publications

References 6 publications

Complex impacts of hydraulic fracturing return fluids on soil microbial community respiration, structure and functional potentials

Complex impacts of hydraulic fracturing return fluids on soil microbial community respiration, structure and functional potentials

Aluminum soap nanoparticles-lignin powder form phase-selective gelator: synergistic adsorption and gelation for rapid oil spill recovery

Viscosity and Structure Characterization of the 1-Bromohexadecane-Modified Welan Gum in the Saline Solution

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