Deep Injection of Waste Water in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin

Injection of wastes into the deep subsurface has become a contentious issue, particularly in emerging regions of oil and gas production. Experience in other regions suggests that injection is an effective waste management practice and that widespread environmental damage is unlikely. Over the past several decades, 23 km³ of water has been injected into the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin (WCSB). The oil and gas industry has injected most of this water but large amounts of injection are associated with mining activities. The amount of water injected into this basin during the past century is 2 to 3 orders magnitude greater than natural recharge to deep formations in the WCSB. Despite this large‐scale disturbance to the hydrogeological system, there have been few documented cases of environmental problems related to injection wells. Deep injection of waste appears to be a low risk activity based on this experience but monitoring efforts are insufficient to make definitive statements. Serious uncharacterized legacy issues could be present. Initiating more comprehensive monitoring and research programs on the effects of injection in the WCSB could provide insight into the risks associated with injection in less developed sedimentary basins.     

A Dry Injection System for the Emplacement of Filter Packs and Annular Seals in Ground Water Monitoring Wells

The reliability of filter pack and annular seal emplacements, and the degree of integrity of installed seals, are two of the most important factors to be considered when both installing and later utilizing ground water monitoring wells.
Numerous, and often costly, problems of using existing methods of installing filter packs and annular seals during the construction of ground water monitoring wells have led to the development of a technique of installing these monitoring well components using a dry injection system.
The dry injection system has been used to construct monitoring wells in extremely complex overburden/bedrock environments with a variety of drilling techniques. The system has shown that a high degree of reliability in the, construction of monitoring wells and greater confidence in obtaining representative ground water samples can be achieved over existing methods of filter pack and annular seal emplacement. The system has also been more cost effective than existing methods, especially for deep boreholes and multilevel monitoring system installations.     

Early detection of brine and CO2 leakage through abandoned wells using pressure and surface-deformation monitoring data: Concept and demonstration

In this paper, we develop a methodology for early detection of potential CO₂ leakage from geological storage formations using pressure and surface-deformation anomalies. The basic idea is based on the fact that leakage-induced pressure signals travel much faster than the migrating CO₂; thus such anomalies may be detected early enough for risk management measures taking effect in avoiding substantial CO₂ leaks. The early detection methodology involves automatic inversion of anomalous brine leakage signals with efficient forward pressure and surface-deformation modeling tools to estimate the location and permeability of leaky features in the caprock. We conduct a global sensitivity analysis to better understand under which conditions pressure anomalies can be clearly identified as leakage signals, and evaluate signal detectability for a broad parameter range considering different detection limits and levels of data noise. The inverse methodology is then applied to two synthetic examples of idealized two-aquifer-and-one aquitard storage systems, with an injection well and a leaky well, for different monitoring scenarios. In Example 1, only pressure data at the monitoring and injection wells are used for leakage detection. Our results show that the accuracy of leakage detection greatly depends on the level of pressure data noise. In Example 2, joint inversion of pressure and surface-deformation measurements significantly improves the speed of convergence toward the true solution of the leakage parameters and enables early leakage detection. In both examples, successful detection is achieved when two monitoring wells are appropriately placed within up to 4 km from the leaky well.     

A Waste Treatment/Disposal Site Evaluation Process for Areas Underlain by Carbonate Aquifers

Fractured carbonate or karst aquifers are highly susceptible to contamination. In Minnesota, the areas underlain by karst aquifers are often characterized by thin soil cover, poorly cased wells and/or collapse features. When coupled with improper land use decisions these aquifers have become extensively contaminated.
Evaluation of existing or potentially contaminated sites has required development of unique site evaluation techniques or combinations of techniques. Shallow geophysics have been used successfully to determine subsurface karst features, pinpoint locations for additional investigations and evaluate pump-test data. Soil texture, density and relative moisture content have been closely examined and criteria established to evaluate subsurface erosion susceptibility. Percent rock core recovery, mechanical response of drilling and drilling fluid loss have been used to characterize the secondary porosity and potential contamination susceptibility of the carbonate rock. Dye tracing via surface sinks and well injection have determined primary flow paths and have been useful in estimating flow times.
These techniques used solely or in conjunction have been very useful in evaluating contamination existing in the aquifers and as a predictive tool to evaluate the proposed land uses impacts.     

Study of Current Underground Injection Control Regulations and Practices in Illinois

In 1984, the Illinois Department of Energy and Natural Resources was required to assess the regulations and practices of the Illinois Underground Injection Control (UIC) program as it relates to Class I hazardous waste disposal wells. Nine injection wells, including two standbys (one inactive), are currently in operation at seven sites in the state. These wells range in depth from 1540 to 5524 feet (470 to 1683m; most inject wastes into porous carbonate formations (two wells inject into a thick sandstone). In 1984, approximately 300 million gallons (1.1 billion liters) of industrial wastes were disposed of in these wells. Acids were the most common waste disposed of, although water made up 70 to 95 percent of the wastes by volume. Illinois has been granted primacy in operating this program.
The geologic environment, consisting of the unit accepting the waste and confining units lying above and below, has the capacity to accept the waste, to retain it, and to protect all underground sources of drinking water (USDW) from contamination by its injection. The geology of Illinois is relatively simple and includes disposal zones and associated confining units suitable for deep-well injection across the central two-thirds of the state.
The regulatory structure for Class I injection wells is generally adequate in concept and scope to ensure containment of injected wastes and to safeguard underground sources of drinking water in Illinois. There is a need to update and strengthen selected portions of the regulatory practices in the areas of waste sampling protocol, chemical analysis of collected waste samples, and evaluation of injection well testing and monitoring data.
A number of technologies exist that can treat and dispose of most hazardous and non-hazardous waste streams. Each of these technologies has associated with it economic, environmental and societal impacts.     

Flow and Containment of Injected Wastes

Proper design, construction, testing and maintenance of Class 1 (hazardous waste) injection wells can guarantee that all waste is delivered to the injection zone. To assess the effects of waste injection, analytical models were developed which predict waste movement and pressure increases within the injection zone, and describe upward permeation through confining layers.
A basic plume model was used to track waste from several injection wells with varied injection history at DuPont's Victoria Texas site. To determine the maxi-mum distance that any portion of the waste might travel, special purpose models were employed to account for (1) density differences between the waste and the native formation brine, and (2) layered permeability variation within the injection zone. The results were generalized to a "multiplying factor concept," which facilitates development of a worst-case scenario.
A pressure distribution model based on the Theis (1935) equation for radial flow was applied to the Victoria site, with modifications to account for multiple wells, injection history and geological complexities.
Permeation into an intact confining layer was investigated by a new technique based on the Hantush and Jacob (1955) "leaky aquifer" theory. The model defines the maximum permeation distance, taking into account post-injection pressure decay.
Defects within confining layers, such as faults, fractures and abandoned wells, have been considered. Studies to evaluate their detailed characteristics are continuing. Initial results indicate that faults and fractures are not likely to provide conductive pathways in Gulf Coast settings, and site-specific evaluations are required to assess the impact of abandoned wells.     

Monitoring field scale CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> injection from time-lapse seismic and well log,integrating with advanced rock physics model at Cranfield EOR site

Causes and effects of global warming have been highly debated in recent years. Nonetheless, injection and storage of CO₂ (CO₂ sequestration) in the subsurface is becoming increasingly accepted as a viable tool to reduce the amount of CO₂ from the atmosphere, which is a primary contributor to global warming. Monitoring of CO₂ movement with time is essential to ascertain that sequestration is not hazardous. A method is proposed here to appraise CO₂ saturation from seismic attributes using differential effective medium theory modified for pressure (PDEM). The PDEM theory accounts pressure-induced fluid flow between cavities, which is a very important investigation in the CO₂-sequestered regime of heterogeneous microstructure. The study area is the lower Tuscaloosa formation at Cranfield in Mississippi, USA, which is one of the active enhanced oil recovery (EOR), and CO₂ capture and storage (CCS) fields. Injection well (F1) and two observation wells (F2 and F3) are present close (within 112 m) to the detailed area of study for this region. Since the three wells are closely situated, two wells, namely injection well F1 and the furthest observation well F3, have been focused on to monitor CO₂ movement. Time-lapse (pre- and post-injection) log, core and surface seismic data are used in the quantitative assessment of CO₂ saturation from the PDEM theory. It has been found that after approximately 9 months of injection, average CO₂ saturations in F1 and F3 are estimated as 50% in a zone of thickness ~ 25 m at a depth of ~ 3 km.     

Presence of Antibiotics in Shallow Groundwater in the Northern and Southwestern Regions of China

Antibiotics are widely used, and there is a serious concern about its adverse impacts on the environment and human health. To our knowledge, prior to this work, there was no evidence of the potential presence of antibiotics in groundwater in China, despite populous speculations. This study reported the detection of 35 target antibiotics of 6 groups (chloramphenicois, lincosamides, marcrolides, quinolones, sulfonamides, and tetracyclines), in shallow groundwater samples collected in northern and southwestern China. Thirty‐four of thirty‐five target antibiotics were detected in the groundwater samples; 73 of 74 monitoring wells contained at least one antibiotic; and at least two antibiotics were detected in 72 of the 74 wells. Ofloxacin (1199.7 ng/L), lincomycin (860.7 ng/L), and norfloxacin (441.9 ng/L) as well as antibiotics with the highest detection frequency such as sulfapyridine (70%), norfloxacin (69%), and lincomycin (64%) were detected at elevated concentrations. The highest detection frequency and concentration of lincosamides were observed in those groundwater samples, but no clear distribution patterns were observed for the six antibiotic groups. Moreover, shallow groundwater in southwestern China seemed to contain most antibiotics, likely due to the high antibiotics discharge and frequent exchange of groundwater with surface matrices. The findings from this work suggest that groundwater in China has been widely contaminated by antibiotics, and presumably other pharmaceutical compounds that have not been investigated to date.     

Use of Plant Bioassays for the Detection of Genotoxins in the Aquatic Environment

The present article describes the use of plant bioassays for the detection of genotoxins in the aquatic environment and gives an overview of test methods, their detection spectrum for environmental mutagens and carcinogens and their limitations and pitfalls. The most widely used test systems are micronucleus assays with meiotic cells of Tradescantia and with meristematic root tip cells of Allium and Vicia. In the last years, protocols for single cell gel electrophoresis assays have been developed, which can be conducted with a variety of species. Also various gene mutation test procedures have been developed with plants but they have hardly ever been used in environmental studies. Plants detect a broad variety of environmentally relevant genotoxins, in particular directly acting compounds. Many pesticides and industrial chemicals caused positive results; plant assays are also a unique tool for the detection of DNA‐reactive carcinogenic heavy metals in the environment. In many studies with complex mixtures, positive results were obtained which indicates that plants are sufficiently sensitive to detect effects without concentration of water samples. One of the shortcomings of the use of plants as indicators is their lack of sensitivity towards certain classes of promutagens such as nitrosamines, heterocyclic amines, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). However, the former compounds are hardly encountered in the environment and PAHs can easily be detected chemically and in other mutagenicity tests. Taken together, the currently available data show that plant bioassays are a useful component of test batteries for environmental monitoring.     

A New Valved and Air-Vented Surge Plunger for Developing Small-Diameter Monitor Wells

To properly develop 2-inch diameter monitor wells, large volumes of water, drilling fluids and fine-grained materials must be removed from the sandpack and surrounding formation over short periods of time. A valved and air-vented surge plunger has been designed which can be used to effectively develop 2-inch diameter wells. The valving and air-venting concepts for surge plungers are not new, but the design concepts had to be refined to facilitate their efficient use in 2-inch diameter wells.
Prototypes of the surge plunger have been field tested. The tests indicate that the design is both effective and durable as a result of its dimensions, configurations and materials. Important features of the surge plunger include: the dimensions and weight of the surge block; the thickness, layering, diameter and material of the valves and parts; and the method of attachment and design of the air-venting ports. This device is an important addition to the growing arsenal of equipment and tools for 2-inch diameter, standpipe monitoring wells.     

Underground Storage Tank Monitoring: Observation Well Based Systems

A growing number of state and local governments and petroleum-related companies require the use of release detection systems for underground petroleum storage tanks. This has resulted in a confusing array of commercially available petroleum product detection devices, many of which have not been extensively field-tested. These systems, which are installed in ground water observation wells, vapor wells or U-tubes, include hydrocarbon-detecting paste, bailers, interface probes, electrical resistivity sensors, thermal-conductivity sensors, hydrocarbon-soluble devices, hydrocarbon-permeable materials and vapor detectors. This paper describes the available state-of-the-art technology for leak detection and the application for which each system is best suited.     

Karst hydrology — A review

Karst regions of the world are characterized by limestones and other soluble rocks at or near land surface that have been modified by solutional erosion. Such surface features as sinks, long dry valleys, sparse streams, and bare rock and such subsurface features as caverns, arterial solution openings leading to large springs, and a deep water table are typical of karst terranes. These features result in an uneven distribution of permeability in karst systems and surface and subsurface hydrologic conditions that require special hydrogeologic studies. Local high permeability at shallow depth in mature karst regions leads to an ecology associated with a soilless and water-scarce surface environment. Many practical problems result from this high permeability, including: (1) scarcity and poor predictability of groundwater supplies; (2) scarcity of surface-water supplies; (3) instability of the ground; (4) leakage of surface reservoirs; and (5) an unreliable waste-disposal environment.Interest in karst hydrology has increased greatly in the past decade; this interest has resulted in the international exchange of numerous published reports on local areas and on special topical karst problems. Many of these reports have been used by the authors in preparing this paper, which synthesizes results of many workers and focuses attention on: (1) the development of karst features through hydrologic processes; and (2) hydrologic systems of karst terranes.     

Developing a long-term monitoring network under uncertain flowpaths

A long-term monitoring well network is developed using complementary and simple approaches in conjunction with a stochastic ground water flow and transport model. The development is illustrated for a case study of a U.S. nuclear testing site (Shoal) that is undergoing environmental restoration. The network design builds on three different, yet complementary, tools for locating the monitoring wells with a main objective of detection monitoring. The first tool is applied to select potential siting horizons where monitoring wells could be located. The second tool is used to place monitoring wells in locations with high success probability. The success here is defined as the detection of migrating stochastic plumes before a certain mass percentage reaches a compliance boundary. The third tool is used to analyze detection efficiency of multiple combinations of three wells. Seventy-six different three-well networks are selected from 20 candidate locations and are evaluated for detection efficiency. From the 76 networks analyzed, 28 attain detection efficiency close to or above 70%. The results of the different analyses provide multiple alternatives for the locations of the three wells, which will become part of the long-term monitoring network at Shoal. A number of combinations are equally good, and the final choice will depend on practical considerations and future agreements between model sponsor and regulators.     

重庆荣昌诱发地震区精细速度结构及2010年ML5.1地震序列精确定位

Based on data collected from a temporal seismic network, and in addition to the data from some nearby permanent stations, we investigate the velocity structure and seismicity in the Rongchang gas field, where significant injection-induced seismicity has been identified. First, we use receiver functions from distant earthquakes to invert detailed 1-D velocity structures beneath typical stations. Then, we use the double-difference hypocenter location method to re-locate earthquakes of the 2010 ML5.1 earthquake sequence that occurred in the region. The re-located hypocenters show that the 2010 ML5.1 earthquake sequence was distributed in a small area surrounding major injection wells and clustered mostly along pre-existing faults. Major earthquakes show a focal depth less than 5km with a dominant depth of ～2km, a depth of major reservoirs and injection wells. We thus conclude that the 2010 ML 5.1 earthquake sequence might have been induced by the deep well injection of unwanted water at a depth ～3km in the Rongchang gas field.     

Spatial variability of in situ microbial activity: biotracer tests

Biotracer tests have been proposed as a means by which to characterize the in situ biodegradation potential for field-scale systems. In this study, field experiments were conducted at two sites to evaluate the utility of the biotracer method for characterizing the spatial variability of microbial activity. The first site is a mixed waste-contaminated surficial aquifer in Utah, and the second site is a chlorinated solvent-contaminated regional aquifer in Tucson, Arizona. Mass recovery of the biotracer decreased approximately linearly with increasing residence time for the Tucson site. Similar behavior was observed at the Utah site, except in the region adjacent to the injection zone, where percent recoveries were much lower than those predicted using a correlation determined using data collected downgradient of the injection zone. First-order biodegradation rate coefficients obtained from model calibration of the tracer data varied between 0.2 and 0.5/day for the Tucson site. For the Utah site, the values varied between 0.1 and 0.6/day downgradient of the injection wells, and between 0.7 and 2.6/day near the injection wells. Considering the large range over which biodegradation rate coefficients can vary, the rate coefficient exhibited relatively minimal spatial variability (factor of 2.5) for the Tucson site. Conversely, the spatial variability of the rate coefficient was an order of magnitude greater for the Utah site. These differences in variability are consistent with conditions associated with the respective sites. For example, the greater microbial activity observed in the vicinity of the injection wells for the Utah site is consistent with the biomass distribution determined from analysis of core samples, which shows larger bacterial cell densities for the region near the injection wells. These results illustrate the utility of biotracer tests for in situ characterization of microbial activity (e.g., biodegradation potential), including evaluation of potential spatial variability.     

京津冀地区氡的数字化观测及其地震前兆监测效能评估

京津冀地区已建成氡的数字化(气氡)观测井(泉)共12口, 目前正在运行8口, 其中有1口井观测的数值低于仪器检出限, 故实际有效观测井(泉)为7口。 文中系统分析2004年7口井(泉)气氡年、 月、 日动态特征, 根据以往的水氡震例评估其地震中期、 短期与短临前兆异常的可能性, 认为多数井中有可能识别出以破坏年变规律为标志的中期前兆异常, 但很难识别出以阶变或脉冲为特征的短期和短临前兆异常。 文中还对比分析了同一口井(泉)气氡与水氡动态的差异性, 发现气氡的动态稳定性明显不如水氡, 这不利于气氡在地震短期或短临前兆异常监测中发挥作用。     

Modeling effects of multinode wells on solute transport

Long-screen wells or long open boreholes with intraborehole flow potentially provide pathways for contaminants to move from one location to another in a ground water flow system. Such wells also can perturb a flow field so that the well will not provide water samples that are representative of ground water quality a short distance away from the well. A methodology is presented to accurately and efficiently simulate solute transport in ground water systems that include wells longer than the grid spacing used in a simulation model of the system and hence are connected to multiple nodes of the grid. The methods are implemented in a MODFLOW-compatible solute-transport model and use MODFLOW's Multi-Node Well Package but are generic and can be readily implemented in other solute-transport models. For nonpumping multinode wells (used to simulate open boreholes or observation wells, for example) and for low-rate pumping wells (in which the flow between the well and the ground water system is not unidirectional), a simple routing and local mixing model was developed to calculate nodal concentrations within the borehole. For high-rate pumping multinode wells (either withdrawal or injection, in which flow between the well and the ground water system is in the same direction at all well nodes), complete and instantaneous mixing in the wellbore of all inflows is assumed.     

Image-guided inversion in steady-state hydraulic tomography

In steady-state hydraulic tomography, the head data recorded during a series of pumping or/and injection tests can be inverted to determine the transmissivity distributions of an aquifer. This inverse problem is usually under-determined and ill-posed. We propose to use structural information inferred from a guiding image to constrain the inversion process. The guiding image can be drawn from soft data sets such as seismic and ground penetrating radar sections or from geological cross-sections inferred from the wells and some geological expertise. The structural information is extracted from the guiding image through some digital image analysis techniques. Then, it is introduced into the inversion process of the head data as a weighted four direction smoothing matrix used in the regularizer. Such smoothing matrix allows applying the smoothing along the structural features. This helps preserving eventual drops in the hydraulic properties. In addition, we apply a procedure called image-guided interpolation. This technique starts with the tomogram obtained from the image-guided inversion and focus this tomogram. These new approaches are applied on four synthetic toy problems. The hydraulic distributions estimated from the image-guided inversion are closer to the true transmissivity model and have higher resolution than those computed from a classical Gauss–Newton method with uniform isotropic smoothing.     

从地震前兆差异性看地下流体突变型前兆的物理本质

利用地下流体前兆资料,从前兆异常的差异性出发,研究了突变型前兆的形成条件和影响因素,结果表明：突变型前兆集中出现在化学参数中,而在地下流体物理参数中出现较少,仅在富含天然气的油井水位中出现;出现突变型前兆的井（泉）具有含水层埋藏深、地下水循环路径长、温度高的特点。这一结果表明,地下流体突变型前兆的形成与观测井（泉）的水文地质条件、水文地球化学环境以及观测参数的物理化学性质有关。其形成不是一个单纯的     

前震研究进展综述

简要介绍了当前国内外前震研究领域的一些进展。对比了不同前震定义条件下前震序列的共性特征,对几种主要的前震机理及主要的前震识别方法进行了简要综述,对其特点及存在的问题进行了评述和讨论。前震指主震之前在主震断层面上、紧邻主震破裂起始点发生的小地震。主震发生之前的一系列前震活动构成前震序列。在不同的前震定义条件下,具有“直接前震”的震例比例从10%至40%不等。理论上前震可用级联应力触发或预滑动模型进行解释。前震空间上主要集中分布在距离主震10~75km范围内,但其时间分布形式非常复杂,大多发生在主震前1~2天,部分前震序列的地震活动率显示明显的加速特征,但许多前震序列单独来看却往往显示主-余型序列的衰减特征。序列地震震源机制一致、序列b值偏低是前震序列最突出的特征。前震的发生与主震破裂形式和构造环境似有一定关系,在有限的前震震例中,逆冲型主震似乎具有相对更多的前震。部分震例的研究结果显示,随主震的临近,前震震源深度有逐渐下迁的特点。到目前为止,震前很难判定一次地震或一个地震序列是否前震或前震序列,所使用的前震识别主要有基于统计类比的方法、基于震源机制一致及衍生的相关方法以及基于对地震成核过程精细检测的方法。从现有不多的震例研究结果来看,尽管地震时空丛集和震源机制高度一致是前震序列的最显著特征,但却不是判定前震序列的充分条件。由于成核的破裂扩展速度和滑动位移有随时间较快增大的趋势,因而基于对地震成核过程精细检测的方法有望在前震识别中发挥更为重要的作用,但需更多震例进行验证。