The recent increase in U.S. natural gas production has been propelled by the extensive use of hydraulic fracturing (also known as fracking). This process extracts natural gas or oil by drilling vertically and then horizontally into bedrock (primarily shale) and injecting fluid under high pressure causing cracks, thereby releasing trapped hydrocarbons, which can then be recovered. While fracking provides financial benefits to both local and national economies, it has not been without controversy. Inadvertent spills or the temporary storage of fracking flowback (fracking fluid pumped out of a well) in unlined collection ponds can contaminate ground water. One of the challenges with analyzing flowback water is the high levels of total dissolved solids in the form of salts that are mobilized from bedrock. Injection of undiluted high ionic strength solutions can exceed the capacity and linear dynamic range of ion chromatography (IC) columns, resulting in poor chromatography, peak suppression, and inaccurate reporting. To prevent column overloading by samples, such as fracking flowback water, dilutions are performed. To minimize errors and reduce labor costs associated with manual dilutions, this process has been automated using in-line conductivity measurement, which then triggers automatic dilution by an autosampler. This presentation describes the analysis of inorganic ions and organic acids in fracking flowback water using IC following in-line determination of sample conductivity and automated dilution.

Hydraulic fracturing flowback water analysis using in-line conductivity, automated dilution, and ion chromatography

247th National Meeting (2014)

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