This study focuses on the abundance and mobility of metals and trace elements from shale drill cuttings into the water, being the main component of hydraulic fracturing fluid. The relationship between composition of the shale rock and the potential element release during standard water-based leaching tests was characterized by means of X-Ray Fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF). The XRF analysis confirmed the assumption of shales constituents...

The development of technologies for unconventional hydrocarbon exploration requires designing procedures to manage drilling waste that are consistent with the waste management hierarchy. In view of this, the possibility to apply shale drill cuttings as a prospective additive (replacing bentonite) to fly ash used for the production of lightweight aggregates (LWAs) was investigated. Moreover, a facile, waste-free method of LWAs production...

Proposed management method of drill cuttings involves recycling for the expanded clay production. A theoretical presentation of the possibility, choosing planning path based on similarity between the materials used in the manufacture of expanded clay and oily cuttings. Application for the main stages of manufacture of expanded clay production of drill cuttings from shale gas extraction. Introduced into circulation solid waste partly...

Fractionated drilling wastes originating from shale gas exploration in the Baltic Basin in Pomerania were subjected to the measurements of mean activity concentrations of naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORMs).To better understand rock structure and texture, the X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy(SEM) observation were used. To compare activity concentration of radionuclides in bulk wastes...

The effect of pH changes on leachability of light and heavy metals from shale drill cuttings generated from unconventional shale gas production was investigated. Cuttings, being the primary byproduct generated from drilling operations, belong to the potentially hazardous type of wastes due to presence of heavy and radioactive elements and remains of drilling fluid. In this regard, assessment of potentially dangerous components...