[ RadSafe ] Radioactivity and Fracking

Mon Jan 23 01:40:01 CST 2012

Would one of you folks suggest or provide a link to one good educational 
article about the purpose, methods, and applications of fracturing? I 
daily send articles, my prejudices, and so on about science, 
geopolitics, humor, climate, and items as well from radsafe and from 
riskanal to about 80 family and friends. I'd like to spread some good 
honest educational words about fracturing that will also alleviate my 
own endless curiosity. Thanks for your help.
Maury&Dog      maurysis at peoplepc.com

=======================================
On 1/23/2012 12:54 AM, Dan McCarn wrote:
> Good Evening Mike:
>
> I used a caveat - 'natural' but I seriously doubt if cuttings or
> sludges would suffice as a proppant. These are usually pretty well
> classified or engineered materials since the objective is to 'prop-up'
> induced fractures in the target formation.  This requires several
> engineering characteristics such as hardness, sphericity and
> relatively uniform size.
>
> I imagine that the industry is looking hard at this issue just now.
>
> > From Schlumberger -
>
> proppant
> 1.  n.  [Well Workover and Intervention, Shale Gas ]    ID: 4985
>
> Sized particles mixed with fracturing fluid to hold fractures open
> after a hydraulic fracturing treatment. In addition to naturally
> occurring sand grains, man-made or specially engineered proppants,
> such as resin-coated sand or high-strength ceramic materials like
> sintered bauxite, may also be used. Proppant materials are carefully
> sorted for size and sphericity to provide an efficient conduit for
> production of fluid from the reservoir to the wellbore.
>
> http://tinyurl.com/76ek4xy
>
>
> Dan ii
>
> On Sun, Jan 22, 2012 at 11:13 PM, Cowie, Michael I
> <michael.cowie at aramco.com>  wrote:
>> Depends what the material is Dan. If it is scale or sludge from oil production it is not normal to find associated uranium - this usually stays in the reservoir formation. Your observations would be correct if it was drill cuttings.
>>
>> Mike
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu [mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of Dan McCarn
>> Sent: Monday, January 23, 2012 9:06 AM
>> To: The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) Mailing List
>> Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] Radioactivity and Fracking
>>
>> Hi Group:
>>
>> Since the material is most likely natural, I make the assumption that the radium is in secular equilibrium with uranium. In order to place these quantities in perspective, the equivalent amount of natural uranium was calculated in mg / kg (ppm).  For the regulatory limit of 5 pCi/g Ra ==
>> 0.185 Bq/g this would be the equivalent of 7.32 mg/kg U-Nat.  This is slightly less than the typical granites in Wyoming which average about 10 mg/kg U-Nat.
>>
>> For the sand that would correspond to 45 pCi/g == 1.665 Bq/g, it is equivalent to 66 mg/kg (ppm) U-Nat. (6.59 x 10^-5 g). This could be from a moderately enriched granite or perhaps a heavy-mineral enriched natural sand containing zircon.  Pure zircon sands contain from 150 - 300 mg/kg U-Nat == 100 - 200 pCi/kg almost always in secular equilibrium with
>> radium-226 progeny.
>>
>> The anatectic granites mined for uranium in the Namib Desert in SE Africa
>> (Namibia) are about 100-125 mg/kg (ppm) U-Nat.
>>
>> The Chattanooga (USA), Pierre (USA)&  Kolm (Sweden) shales are about 100 mg/kg (ppm) U-Nat.
>>
>> These are only observations.
>>
>> Dan ii
>>
>> Dan W McCarn, Geologist
>> 108 Sherwood Blvd
>> Los Alamos, NM 87544-3425
>> +1-505-672-2014 (Home – New Mexico)
>> +1-505-670-8123 (Mobile - New Mexico)
>> HotGreenChile at gmail.com (Private email) HotGreenChile at gmail dot com
>>
>>
>> On Sat, Jan 21, 2012 at 8:24 PM, Lawrence Jacobi<  rjacobi at jacobiconsulting.net>  wrote:
>>
>>> There has been an interesting series of articles in the Williston
>>> North Dakota newspaper regarding radioactivity from oilfield
>>> operations.  My impression is that the reporters have tried to write
>>> balanced articles, but the stories have been replete with mild
>>> hysteria and misinterpretation of the data.
>>>
>>> Here's the latest:
>>> http://www.willistonherald.com/news/radiation-what-does-it-mean/articl
>>> e_3721c300-4485-11e1-9e29-0019bb2963f4.html
>>>
>>> ***************************************
>>> Lawrence R. Jacobi, Jr., P.E., J.D.
>>> Jacobi Consulting
>>> 10807 Bonaparte Bend
>>> Austin, TX 78750-2801
>>> (512) 656-4765 cell
>>> (512) 335-4006 fax
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
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