These brine samples are collected from the Soda Geyser (a thermal feature, temperature ~30 C) in Soda Springs, Idaho. These samples also represent the overthrust brines typical of oil and gas plays in western Wyoming. Samples were collected from the source and along the flow channel at different distances from the source. By collecting and analyzing these samples we are able to increase the density and quality of data from the western Wyoming oil and gas plays. Furthermore, the sampling approach also helped determine the systematic variation in REE concentration with the sampling distance from the source. Several geochemical processes are at work along the flow channels, such as degassing, precipitation, sorption, etc.
A study comparing the REE sorption characteristics of fresh ligand-based sorption media and media partially loaded with REEs when exposed to a simulated geothermal brine with known mineral concentrations, REE7. Sorption rates were tested using microcosm shaker tests. Results suggest that preferential REE sorption is greater for fresh media, but this preference differs between elements.
Micropollutants are ubiquitously found in natural surface waters and pose a potential risk to aquatic organisms. Stream biofilms, consisting of bacteria, algae and other microorganisms potentially contribute to bioremediating aquatic environments by biotransforming xenobiotic substances. When investigating the potential of stream biofilms to remove micropollutants from the water column, it is important to distinguish between different fate processes, such as biotransformation, passive sorption and active bioaccumulation. However, due to the complex nature of the biofilm community and its extracellular matrix, this task is often difficult. In this study, we combined biotransformation experiments involving natural stream biofilms collected up- and downstream of wastewater treatment plant outfalls with the QuEChERS extraction method to distinguish between the different fate processes. The QuEChERS extraction proved to be a suitable method for a broad range of micropollutants (> 80% of the investigated compounds). We found that 31 out of 63 compounds were biotransformed by the biofilms, with the majority being substitution-type biotransformations, and that downstream biofilms have an increased biotransformation potential towards specific wastewater-relevant micropollutants. Overall, using the experimental and analytical strategy developed, stream biofilms were demonstrated to have a broad inherent micropollutant biotransformation potential, and to thus contribute to bioremediation and improving ecosystem health.
The EGS Collab SIGMA-V project is a multi-lab and university collaborative research project that is being undertaken at the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) in South Dakota. The project consists of studying stimulation, fluid-flow, and heat transfer processes at a scale of 10-20 m, which is readily amenable to detailed characterization and monitoring. One objective of the project is to establish circulation from injector to producer by hydraulically fracturing the injector. Data generated during these experiments is to be compared with predictions from coupled thermal, hydrological, mechanical, and chemical simulators. One such a simulator, TOUGH2-CSM, has been enhanced in order to simulate EGS Collab SIGMA-V project experiments. These modifications include adding tracers, the capability to model tracer sorption, and an embedded fracture formulation. A set of example problems validate our conservative tracer transport and sorption formulations. We then simulated tracer transport and thermal breakthrough for the first EGS Collab SIGMA-V experiment. This dataset includes the TOUGH2-CSM input and output files associated with the thermal and tracer simulations. A conference paper is included for additional context.
FRACGEN/NFFLOW is a DOE sponsored project to simulate the behavior of tight, fractured, strata-bound reservoirs that arise from irregular, discontinuous, or clustered networks of fractures. This distribution includes the PC programs and user interfaces for fracture network generation, discrete fracture reservoir simulation, and visualization of fracture networks and reservoir performance. New features in this release are optional fixed pressure boundary conditions, permeable unfractured layers, liquid data handling, sorption, and stress sensitive aperture modeling.
This document describes the method and results of an in-situ experiment used to confirm that ligand bleed from a sorptive media can be contained. The experiment focused on maintaining the media's sorption of rare earth elements (REE) obtained from a simulated geothermal brine doped with known mineral concentrations.
Dataset contains: sediment characterization (textural analysis, percent water content, percent organic content) from Susquehanna River sediments, radionuclide activities, and results from cesium sorption batch reactor experiments. This dataset is associated with the following publication: Ratliff, K., A. Mikelonis, and J. Duffy. Characterizing cesium sorption in freshwater settings using fluvial sediments and characteristic water chemistries. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT. Elsevier Science Ltd, New York, NY, USA, 253: 7, (2020).
Shaker test data comparing rare earth element (REE) sorption onto Tusaar media between one natural geothermal brine and two simulated brines doped with known mineral concentrations.
This file contains silica precipitation and lithium sorption data from the project. The silica removal data is corrected from the previous submission. The previous submission did not take into account the limit of detection of the ICP-MS procedure.