SYMPOSIA PAPER Published: 01 January 1980
STP27546S

Elemental Composition of Simulated Oil Shale Retort Water

Source

This paper presents the abundances of 47 elements in 23 unfiltered retort waters from three simulated in situ retorts and of 17 elements in the dissolved and particulate fraction of 11 of these waters. This work indicates that for most of the unfiltered waters, the carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and sulfur occur at concentrations greater than 0.1 percent; that aluminum, arsenic, calcium, iron, potassium, sodium, nickel, and chlorine occur at concentrations greater than 1 ppm and less than 0.1 percent; and that all other measured elements occur at concentrations of less than 1 ppm. The particulate fraction in these waters ranges from 203 to 2984 mg/litre, and, in most waters, iron, nickel, potassium, and calcium occur at concentrations that are greater than 0.1 mg/litre. (Carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and sulfur were not measured in the particulates.) All other measured elements (titanium, vanadium, chromium, manganese, gallium, arsenic, selenium, bromine, rubidium, strontium, yttrium, mercury, and lead) typically occur at concentrations of less than 0.05 mg/litre in the particulates. About 1 percent of the total elemental mass of potassium, arsenic, and selenium occurs in the particulates, while significantly greater than 1 percent of the elemental mass of iron, chromium, mercury, and nickel may be present as particulate matter. The dissolved metal content of some waters was significantly reduced during filtration by crystallization and bacterial uptake.

Author Information

Fox, JP
Oil Shale Program, Energy and Environment Division, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Berkeley, Calif.
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Details
Developed by Committee: D19
Pages: 101–128
DOI: 10.1520/STP27546S
ISBN-EB: 978-0-8031-4788-1
ISBN-13: 978-0-8031-0763-2