Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM Waste) in the oil and gas industry may be generated during exploration and production and accumulates into plant equipment. The primary radioisotopes of concern in oil and gas industry NORMs are related to the Uranium-Radium decay series and the Thorium (232-Th) decay series but also to Potassium-40 (40K) and to the Uranium-Actinium Series.
Unfortunately in most of the assessments the Uranium-Actinium Series is not evaluated.
Thank you and kind regards
Dr. Rüdiger B. Richter
U-235 and progeny are a minor part of the dose from oil and gas scale. There is no important mechanism for U-235 to separate from U-238. The correct method of reference is to U-nat (natural uranium), the natural ratio of U-238 and U-235. In general, the most important dose is from Ra-226 and progeny, so many studies do not consider the thorium series.
The radionuclides in scale are those dissolved in the produced water and those that have longer half-lives. This leads to Ra-226 as the most important radionuclide for buildup in the scale. Pb-210 is another important radionuclide.
Dear Dr. Joseph,
thank you and pleased to meet you on this platform. Yes I am aware that the influence of the U-235 decay series is minor compared to others. Nevertheless in water injection wells 227-Ac can reach considerable high concentrations.
Thank you and kind regards
Yes. The solubility of actinium does cause some problems in short-term measurements. It can lead to apparent enrichment of U-235 in some measurements. The question referred to accumulation, the usual problem of dose. Actinium concentration does not usually lead to long-term dose problems, but the 21-year half-life has the potential if concentrations are high enough. The chemistry of injection wells may be very different from production wells. Some wells can have high concentrations of unsupported Po-210. Underground and near-surface water can have very unusual chemistry. It is important to be alert.
Dear Dr. Joseph,
thank you very much for your answer. Do you also offer specific NORM courses in your institute? My e-mail: [email protected]
kind regards
Ruediger
Dear Dr. Joseph,
thank you very much for your answer. Do you also offer specific NORM courses in your institute? My e-mail: [email protected]
kind regards
Ruediger
Ruediger
No. We do not offer courses. I am not aware of any course that discusses mechanics, chemistry, or issues concerning NORM.
Joe
Dear Joe,
Thank you for your response. There only a few basic courses for NORM provided by the training institutes of the oil companies here in Middle East, where I live.
Regards Ruediger
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