Wicking Salts from Brine-Contaminated Soils: A Potential Method for In Situ Remediation

Accidental releases of brine, derived from oil and gas development, in the Williston Basin in North America have become frequent in recent years. Oil-field brines are primarily composed of sodium chloride and exhibit electrical conductivities exceeding 200 dS m and total dissolved solids exceeding 2...

全面介绍

书目详细资料
Main Authors: Aaron W. Green, Thomas M. DeSutter, Aaron L. M. Daigh, Miranda A. Meehan
格式: 文件
语言:English
出版: Wiley 2019-03-01
丛编:Agricultural & Environmental Letters
在线阅读:https://dl.sciencesocieties.org/publications/ael/articles/4/1/180069
实物特征
总结:Accidental releases of brine, derived from oil and gas development, in the Williston Basin in North America have become frequent in recent years. Oil-field brines are primarily composed of sodium chloride and exhibit electrical conductivities exceeding 200 dS m and total dissolved solids exceeding 250 g L. Current in situ remediation strategies involve the incorporation of divalent-cation rich amendments to displace and then rain and irrigation to leach sodium out of the soil profile. These methods in semiarid climates, where the evaporative demand exceeds precipitation, often achieves limited results. This study assessed the effectiveness of remediating brine-contamination by “wicking” salts from the soil surface when a shallow water table is present. During a 5-wk period, two engineered paper-based humidifier wicks and two nonengineered wicks (wheat straw and hydraulic mulch) placed on the surface of brine-contaminated soils reduced the total soil Na concentrations by 65 to 88% and 5 to 80%, respectively. Our results indicate that deployment of engineered wicks or similar, more cost effective materials may be an effective in situ remediation strategy that merits further field-scale investigation.
ISSN:2471-9625