Radium is a common naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) with high mobility that is found in high salinity shale gas wastewater (flowback and produced water). Ra-226 is the dominant radionuclide encountered in shale gas water at activities exceeding ten thousand picocuries per liter. In comparison, the EPA maximum contaminant level (MCL) for drinking water is 5pCi/L and the maximum radioactivity for disposal in RCRA-D non-hazardous landfill is 25pCi/g. Traditional methods for Ra-226 determination either require long sample holding time to allow radon emanation to reach equilibrium (e.g. EPA method 903.0 and 903.1) or long detection time (e.g. EPA method 901.1). A novel detection method with reduced sample holding and detection time that utilizes Inductively Coupled Plasma - Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) in combination with solid-phase extraction to separate radium isotopes from the background matrix in high salinity solution was first developed and validated in this study. This method requires a series of sample preparation steps as outlined on Figure 1 and several minutes of detection time for each sample.Figure 1. Radium purification protocol utilizes a combination of 50W-X8 and Sr*Spec resins to extract radium from high salinity solutions

Rapid method for determination of Ra-226 from unconventional (shale) gas flowback water by ICP-MS

248th National Meeting (2014)

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