On-Demand Webinar: Anions and Metals Analysis in Hydraulic Fracturing Waters from Marcellus Shale Drilling Operations

The impact of hydraulic fracturing in Marcellus Shale

The impact of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in Marcellus Shale on the quality of environmental waters is being investigated by the U.S. EPA and many state agencies. Public outcry over preservation of water quality has led to the drafting of legislation that specifies fracking discharge requirements, as well as requires drillers to disclose drilling fluids and test flowback waters. Ion chromatography is a proven technique for monitoring fracking flowback and environmental waters for impact by salt intrusion, especially bromide. Increased levels of bromide in drinking water intake systems have been shown to correlate to higher levels of brominated disinfection byproducts.

Focus of On-Demand Webinar

This on-demand webinar will cover monitoring of anion concentrations in flowback and produced waters generated from fracking processes. We will present on the typical constituents reported for Marcellus Shale fracking operations as well as measurements of anion concentrations in water from impoundments used for recycling.

We will also focus on obtaining accurate analytical results for trace metals such as arsenic, selenium, and lead in flowback water. This is challenging due to the high level of dissolved salts that can cause both physical and spectral interferences. Trace metals are an important constituent of flowback water and must be determined accurately to ensure compliance with regulatory agencies. In this portion of the webinar, the challenges of flowback water preparation and the subsequent analysis of metals on inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) and ICP-mass spectrometry (MS) will be discussed.