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Environmental Modeling
Deoxygenation prevents arsenic mobilization during deepwell injection into sulfide-bearing aquifers Henning Prommer, Jing Sun, Lauren Helm, Bhasker Rathi, Adam Siade, and Ryan Morris Environ. Sci. Technol., Just Accepted Manuscript • DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.8b05015 • Publication Date (Web): 01 Nov 2018 Downloaded from http://pubs.acs.org on November 2, 2018
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Environmental Science & Technology
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Deoxygenation prevents arsenic mobilization during deepwell injection into
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sulfide-bearing aquifers
3 4
Henning Prommer*,1,2,3, Jing Sun*,1,2, Lauren Helm4, Bhasker Rathi1,5,
5
Adam J. Siade1,2,3, and Ryan Morris4
6 7 8 9
1 CSIRO 2 School
of Earth Sciences, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Hwy, Perth, WA 6009, Australia
3 National
Centre for Groundwater Research and Training (NCGRT), Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia
10 11
Land and Water, Private Bag No. 5, Wembley, WA 6913, Australia
4 Origin 5 Center
Energy, 339 Coronation Drive, Milton, QLD, Australia
for Applied Geosciences, University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany
12 13 14
Corresponding Authors*
15
Prommer: Phone: (+61) 8 9333 6272; Fax: (+61) 8 9333 6499; E-mail:
[email protected] 16
Sun: Phone: (+61) 8 9333 6011; Fax: (+61) 8 9333 6499; E-mail:
[email protected] 17 18 19 20 21
To be submitted to Environmental Science and Technology
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ABSTRACT
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Coal Seam Gas (CSG) extraction generates large volumes of co-produced water. Injection of the excess
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water into deep aquifers is often the most sustainable management option. However, such injection
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risks undesired sediment-water interactions that mobilize metal(loid)s in the receiving aquifer. This
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risk can be mitigated through pre-treatment of the injectant. Here, we conducted a sequence of three
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push-pull tests (PPTs) where the injectant was pre-treated using acid amendment and/or deoxygenation
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to identify the processes controlling the fate of metal(loid)s and to understand the treatment
30
requirements for large-scale CSG water injection. The injection and recovery cycles were closely
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monitored, followed by analysis of the observations through reactive transport modeling. While
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arsenic was mobilized in all three PPTs, significantly lower arsenic concentrations were observed in
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the recovered water when the injectant was deoxygenated, regardless of pH adjustment. The
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breakthrough of arsenic was commensurate with molybdenum, but distinct from phosphate. This
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allowed for the observed and modeled arsenic and molybdenum mobilization to be attributed to a
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stoichiometric co-dissolution process during pyrite oxidation, whereas phosphate mobility was
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governed by sorption. Understanding the nature of these hydrochemical processes explained the
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greater efficiency of pre-treatment by deoxygenation on minimizing metal(loid) mobilization
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compared to the acid amendment.
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INTRODUCTION
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Over the next four decades, coal seam gas (CSG) production in Queensland, Australia will require the
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management of large quantities of co-produced water extracted from coal seam horizons, and peaking
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to ~70-80 GL year-1 over the ten-year peak production period.1 For some production sites, the most
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economically feasible management option is to treat the CSG co-produced water to high quality
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standards and to re-inject the treated water into either the depleted coal producing formations or deeper
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aquifers.2 However, depending on the reactivity of the target aquifer, the geochemical dis-equilibrium
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between the injectant and the composition of the receiving aquifer matrix can drive a wide range of
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interactions between water and sediments, potentially contaminating the receiving aquifer. One of the
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major concerns is the risk of mobilizing toxic metal(loid)s, in particular arsenic. Several previous
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studies of managed aquifer recharge (MAR) have demonstrated that concerns of groundwater arsenic
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contamination are even warranted in cases where neither the ambient groundwater nor the injectant
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showed any elevated arsenic concentrations.3-10 In situ mobilization of geogenic arsenic during MAR
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has been attributed to several different geochemical mechanisms.3 For example, Jones and Pichler
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(2007)4 and Wallis et al. (2011) and (2018)5, 6 linked the temporary release of arsenic in the Suwannee
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Limestone at aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) sites in southwest Florida to pyrite oxidation. On the
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other hand, McNab et al. (2011)7 attributed elevated arsenic concentrations at a MAR site in the Central
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Valley, California to the more alkaline character of the recharge water and arsenic desorption under
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pH changes. Fakhreddine et al. (2015)8 explained arsenic mobilization at a MAR site in Orange
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County, California to result from the lack of divalent cations in the purified injectant and subsequent
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arsenate desorption from negatively charged clays. Also, both Appelo and de Vet (2003)9 and
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Vanderzalm et al. (2011)10 discussed cases where competition from phosphate for sorption sites caused
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arsenic displacement during aquifer recharge.
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Arsenic mobilization was also recently observed during a push-pull test in which deoxygenated CSG
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co-produced water was injected into the Precipice Sandstone, the lowermost aquifer (~1,250 m deep
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at that site) in the Surat Basin, Australia.11 Complimentary laboratory sorption experiments showed
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that arsenite was more soluble under the more alkaline conditions that were locally generated by the
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injectant. However, none of the conceptual and numerical models of the reactive transport processes
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that attempted to ascribe arsenic mobilization to desorption of arsenic from the aquifer matrix were
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able to even semi-quantitatively explain the field observations. Therefore, it was hypothesized that
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either the deoxygenated injectant still contained low levels of oxidation capacity or that some (slow)
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dissolution of arsenopyrite occurred in the absence of oxidants. Under this hypothesis, it was possible
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to reproduce the observed dissolved arsenic concentrations for the recovery phase, while
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simultaneously reproducing the observed concentrations of other related species such as sulfate. It was
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therefore concluded that the presence of oxidants such as (residual) dissolved oxygen (DO) exerts an
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important control on the long-term fate of arsenic in artificially recharged aquifers.
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These and other incidences suggest that a good understanding of the geochemical responses to the
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injection of water is required to predict and manage water quality evolution and risks for the receiving
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aquifers at both the local and regional scale. An obvious management option for minimizing arsenic
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mobilization is to manipulate the injectant composition such that potential arsenic desorption and co-
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dissolution processes are suppressed. However, to date only sparse information is available that
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unambiguously links observed groundwater arsenic concentrations after water injection with specific
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pre-treatment methods.8 In particular, as far as we are aware, there is no evidence in the scientific
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literature that deoxygenation of the injectant can successfully prevent arsenic mobilization under field-
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scale conditions.
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In this study, we conducted and analyzed a series of push-pull tests with different injectant pre-
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treatment techniques at a pristine site in the Surat Basin, Australia where large-scale CSG water re-
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injection would be implemented. The objectives were to (i) identify and quantify the key
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hydrogeological and geochemical processes controlling the evolution of water composition; and (ii)
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determine injectant pre-treatment requirements for limiting or preventing the mobilization of geogenic
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arsenic. We collected detailed hydrochemical data from the field trial and used a reactive transport
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modeling approach to integrate and quantitatively evaluate the observations. The results from this
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study have not only implications for this and other CSG operations but also for many other MAR
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schemes in pyrite-bearing aquifers that are potentially under the risk of arsenic mobilization.
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MATERIALS AND METHODS
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Study Site Information.
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The Condabri study site is located in southeast Queensland, Australia. No water injection had
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previously occurred at this site, therefore it provided undisturbed aquifer conditions. Within the
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Condabri Development Area, CSG and associated water are produced from the Jurassic age Walloon
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Coal Measures between 450 and 800 m below ground level (mBGL). These coal measures are
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separated from the Precipice Sandstone, the injection target aquifer, by the Eurombah Formation
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(aquitard), Hutton Sandstone (aquifer), and Evergreen Formation (aquitard), in total ~325 m thick,
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with the Evergreen Formation ~230 m thick. The lowermost portion of the Precipice Sandstone is
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known as the Braided Stream Facies (BSF), which is considered to be the most permeable section of
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the overall formation, comprising relatively coarse-grained material representative of a high energy
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fluvial depositional environment.12 The screened interval of the trial injection/recovery bore (CON-
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INJ2-P) was 1189-1278 mBGL, which included 24 m of the upper Precipice Sandstone, the entire 36
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m of the BSF, and 29 m of the underlying Moolayember Formation, a shale.
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Portions of five sediment samples from the BSF sub-unit were ground to fine powder using a tungsten
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carbide ring-grinder mill and analyzed by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), using a Philips PW-1830
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diffractometer with Cu-Kα radiation. The crystalline mineral phases in each sample were quantified
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using Siroquant™, a commercial software written based on the Rietveld technique.13 Quartz was found
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to be the predominant mineral (> 92%), with minor amounts of clay, feldspar, and carbonate minerals.
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Siderite was detected in three of the five samples, with concentration up to 11%. Pyrite was not
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detected via powder XRD, which typically has a detection limit of 1-5%. The concentration of reduced
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inorganic sulfur species (e.g., pyrite) in the sediment samples was determined by the chromium-
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reducible sulfur method14 and found to be between 0.01% and 0.02%. The five samples from the BSF
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sub-unit were also fused with lithium metaborate and cast into a disc, following the method of Norrish
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and Hutton.15 The disc was analyzed by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometry using a Philips PW
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2400 spectrometer, and SuperQ and Pro-trace interpretation software. International mineral standards
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were used to calibrate the XRF system, and detection limit was found to be 0.5 mg kg-1. Based on
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XRF, sediment iron concentration was between 52 and 834 mmol kg-1 (i.e., between 0.29% and
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4.67%), arsenic concentration was between 47 and 73 µmol kg-1 (i.e., between 3.5 and 5.5 mg kg-1),
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and molybdenum was mostly undetectable except for one sample in which the concentration was 7.3
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µmol kg-1 (0.7 mg kg-1). Baseline water chemistry was established by multiple groundwater samples
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collected during a 15 day, ~1,000 m3 day-1, pumping test conducted on the trial bore prior to water
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injection. Based on field pH measurements, the ambient groundwater had a pH of ~6.5, whereas the
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raw CSG water had a pH of ~9.2. Other than the trial bore, the closest water supply bore to the study
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site accessing the Precipice Sandstone was 7 km distant. There are no identified springs or potentially
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baseflow-connected watercourses associated with the Precipice Sandstone in the vicinity of the study
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site. More details about hydrostratigraphy at Condabri and the sediment characteristics are provided
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elsewhere.16
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CSG Water Injection Trial, Sampling and Analysis.
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The field trial of CSG water injection was performed as a sequence of three separate push-pull tests
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(PPT1-PPT3). The first two PPTs were performed to demonstrate the feasibility of acid amendment to
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the injectant to prevent arsenic mobilization, while the third PPT was performed to test the necessity
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of deoxygenating the injectant. The injection surface facilities at Condabri included a 200,000 m3 lined
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feed pond, located ~200 m north of the trial bore and tied-in to the surrounding network gathering
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produced water from active CSG wells. From the feed pond, the raw CSG co-produced water was fed
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directly into the portable water treatment plant via a temporary inlet and suction line. The facilities had
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a maximum design capacity of ~3,000 m3 day-1. Treatment prior to injection included (i) removing
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suspended solids by pre-filtration with 200 µm disk filters; (ii) membrane filtration to 0.04 µm; (iii)
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dosing with 33% hydrochloric acid towards neutral pH (PPT1 only); (iv) disinfection by ultra-violet
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irradiation; and (v) removal of DO by membrane contactors (PPT1 and PPT2 only). The DO of treated
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water was continuously monitored by the programmable logic controller via electrodes in flow-through
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unit. Based on the monitoring data, the DO concentration in the treated water was 0.63 ± 0.20 µmol
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L-1 (0.010 ± 0.003 mg L-1) during PPT1 and PPT2, and 538 ± 20 µmol L-1 (8.62 ± 0.32 mg L-1) during
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PPT3. Samples of the treated water were also regularly collected, and electrical conductivity, pH and
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temperature were recorded using a calibrated YSI Pro Plus immediately following collection. pH of
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the treated water was 7.48 ± 0.23 during PPT1, and 9.19 ± 0.09 during PPT2 and PPT3. Water samples
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were filtered as needed to 0.45 µm, preserved in accordance with laboratory requirements, and sent to
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Australian Laboratory Services for water composition analysis. These samples were analyzed for
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alkalinity, major ions, heavy metals/metalloids, nutrients, and organic substances, using PC Titrator,
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inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, ion chromatography, and total organic carbon
163
analyzer. The typical water compositions are listed in Table 1.
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The PPTs commenced on October 28th, 2014 and continued intermittently through to July 6th, 2015.
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During this 250 day period, the injection and recovery phases occurred during day 0-38 and 47-71,
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respectively, for PPT1; day 79-125 and 128-176, respectively, for PPT2; and day 178-198 and 208-
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250, respectively, for PPT3 (Figure 1). The injection phases were characterized by several flow
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interruptions that resulted from operational problems. During PPT1, the maximum injection rate was
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limited to ~1,000 m3 day-1 and the total volume of water injected was ~9,000 m3, while during PPT2
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and PPT3, rates of 1,800-2,200 m3 day-1 were reached during injection and the total volumes of water
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injected were ~43,000 and 26,000 m3, respectively. Temporary amendment of a bromide tracer (added
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as NaBr) was undertaken as part of the trial to (i) assess the physical transport characteristics of the
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Precipice Sandstone formation in terms of mixing and dispersion/dilution effects and (ii) identify the
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potential contribution of fracturing to the flow and transport characteristics of the aquifer. The tracer
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amendment was prepared by mixing 25 kg of laboratory grade NaBr into a 30,000 L blending tank and
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injected 2 days before the end of the injection phase in each PPT (i.e., on day 36, 123 and 196,
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respectively). The blending tank was located between the microfiltration and deoxygenation systems
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in the water treatment plant. Following each injection phase, a positive displace pump (Mono 820)
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was installed into the bore to recover the water. An InSitu© RuggedTroll temperature logger was also
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installed during recovery phases in PPT2 and PPT3. Compared to the injection rates, extraction rates
182
were more stable, while remaining below 1,000 m3 day-1 (Figure 1). The recovered water was sampled,
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preserved and analyzed in similar fashion to the injectant water. No additional bores were available
184
on-site within the radius of influence of the trial bore to provide additional water quality monitoring
185
data.
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Numerical Modeling Approach and Tools.
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A coupled flow, solute/heat and reactive transport model was developed to assist the interpretation of
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the hydrochemical data collected during the CSG water injection trial. In a first step, a local-scale, 9 ACS Paragon Plus Environment
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radial-symmetric numerical flow model was constructed with MODFLOW17 to simulate the
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groundwater flow condition during PPT1-PPT3. The model domain was radially limited to 400 m. The
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lateral discretization varied between 1 m near the trial bore, and ~20 m for the grid cell most distant
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from the bore. The vertical model extent was limited to the depth zone between 1,213 and 1,249
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mBGL, corresponding to the depth of the BSF sub-unit, neglecting the substantially less permeable
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remainder of the Precipice Sandstone. Based on the hydrogeological logs and geophysical data,16 the
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BSF sub-unit was relatively homogeneous and could be represented by a single layer with
197
homogeneous hydrogeological properties. During the field trial, the hydraulic gradients were
198
dominated by the injection and extraction fluxes and ambient groundwater flow was negligible. The
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injection and extraction rates logged during the field trial were discretized into daily time steps to
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describe the sometimes highly transient flow conditions.
201 202
On the basis of the computed flow field, subsequent transport simulations for conservative species,
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heat transport and reactive species were performed with the reactive multi-component transport code
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PHT3D.18 The pre-trial water and sediment data were used to define the initial ambient conditions
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(Table 1), while the regularly collected injectant measurements were used to discretize the time-
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varying injectant composition. The known, amended bromide mass was added in the model over a 1
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hour long period during each PPT in accordance with the experimental procedure of the tracer tests.
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Measured bromide concentrations comprised the primary calibration dataset for the physical transport
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parameters that impact flow and conservative transport behavior, such as the longitudinal dispersivity.
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Owing to differences in chloride and boron concentrations between the ambient groundwater and the
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injectant, measured chloride and boron concentrations also provided valuable calibration data. Because
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of the substantial temperature differences between the ambient groundwater (~67ºC) and the injectant
213
(18-33ºC), heat transport was considered in the model (i) to appropriately describe the temperature-
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dependency of geochemical reactions and (ii) as an additional environmental tracer. Heat transport 10 ACS Paragon Plus Environment
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was included in the model following the previously published approach,11,
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parameters were selected based on the similarities between solute and thermal energy transport.
19
and heat transport
217 218
After a good understanding of groundwater flow and solute transport processes was developed, the
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model was extended to analyze the reactive transport behavior. Based on experimental observations,
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the defined reaction network consisted of equilibrium-based solution speciation of all relevant ions
221
including arsenic, cation exchange, surface complexation, and several kinetically controlled redox
222
reactions. Even though pyrite was not detected in the BSF sediments by XRD, due to significant sulfate
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mobilization under aerated injectant in PPT3, oxidative dissolution of pyrite (FeS2) was included in
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the reaction network:
225
𝐹𝑒𝑆2(𝑠) + 3.75𝑂2 + 3.5𝐻2𝑂 = 𝐹𝑒(𝑂𝐻)3(𝑠) + 2𝑆𝑂24 ― + 4𝐻 +
(1)
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Based on the concentration of reduced inorganic sulfur in the BSF sediments quantified by the
227
chromium-reducible sulfur method, the initial concentration of pyrite was set to 2.5 mmol kg-1
228
(0.03%), which is substantially lower than the detection limit of XRD, and allowed to deviate during
229
the model calibration process. Consistent with previously published studies,5, 11, 20-22 the rate of pyrite
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oxidation 𝑟𝑝𝑦𝑟 was modeled as:
231
(
0.5 ―0.11 𝑟𝑝𝑦𝑟 = (𝐶0.5 × 10 ―10.19 × 𝑜2 + 𝑓2𝐶𝑁𝑂3― )𝐶𝐻 +
𝐴𝑝𝑦𝑟 𝑉
𝐶 0.67 𝑓(𝑇) 𝐶0 𝑓(𝑇𝑟𝑒𝑓)
)( )𝑝𝑦𝑟
(2) 𝐴𝑝𝑦𝑟
( ) is the ratio
232
where 𝐶𝑂2, 𝐶𝑁𝑂3― and 𝐶𝐻 + are the DO, nitrate and proton concentrations, respectively,
233
of pyrite surface area to solution volume, 115 dm-1 mol-1,11, 21 and
234
changes in 𝐴𝑝𝑦𝑟 resulting from the progressing reaction. 𝑓2 is a constant, which was assumed to be
235
unity.21, 23 T is the groundwater temperature in ºC, and 𝑇𝑟𝑒𝑓 is simply a reference temperature, for
236
example, the average groundwater temperature during the trial. 𝑓(𝑇) represents a function accounting
237
for the temperature dependency of the pyrite oxidation reaction:21, 24
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𝑉
( )𝑝𝑦𝑟 is a factor that accounts for 𝐶 𝐶0
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𝑓(𝑇) = 𝑒
―(𝑇 + 273.15𝑎1 + 𝑎2)
(3)
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where 𝑎1 and 𝑎2 are empirical constants that mimic the reaction mechanisms of the Arrhenius equation,
240
which were adopted from literature data,21 and set to −6758.1 K and 16.1, respectively. The ferric iron
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produced from pyrite oxidation was assumed to precipitate as ferrihydrite (simplified as Fe(OH)3,
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Reaction 1). The evolution (precipitation and dissolution) of ferrihydrite was modeled as a
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thermodynamically controlled equilibrium reaction.22,
244
from an earlier performed injection trial in the same Precipice formation,11 the deoxygenated injectant
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in PPT1 and PPT2 in the model was assumed to contain a residual oxidant concentration represented
246
by a DO concentration of 15 µmol L-1 (0.24 mg L-1), which was then subject to model calibration. The
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inclusion of DO in this case did not imply that molecular oxygen was present at that exact
248
concentration; rather it represented oxidants more generally. Additionally, siderite (FeCO3) was found
249
necessary in the reaction network based on observed iron concentration and allowed to precipitate
250
and/or dissolve following the standard rate formulation:22, 26
251
25
Consistent with the hypothesis developed
𝑟𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑒 = 𝑘𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑒 × (1 ― 𝑆𝑅𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑒)
(4)
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where 𝑘𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑒 is the rate coefficient, and 𝑆𝑅𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑒 is the saturation ratio of siderite, which determines
253
the reaction direction and accounts for the impacts from the dynamically changing geochemical
254
conditions and temperatures on reaction rate. The stoichiometries and thermodynamic constants of the
255
considered Fe minerals are listed in Table S1.
256 257
Similar to sulfate, dissolved arsenic and molybdenum concentrations were also substantially elevated
258
during PPT3. Trace metals including arsenic and molybdenum are often incorporated in the structure
259
of pyrite and have been shown to co-dissolve stoichiometrically during pyrite oxidation.4, 11, 27-29 This
260
process was considered in the reaction network and the rate of trace metal co-dissolution (𝑟𝑎𝑠𝑝𝑦 for
261
arsenic or 𝑟𝑚𝑜𝑝𝑦 for molybdenum) was modeled by scaling 𝑟𝑝𝑦𝑟with a proportionality term (aspy or
262
mopy), which represents the molar ratio of trace metal within pyrite: 12 ACS Paragon Plus Environment
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𝑟𝑎𝑠𝑝𝑦/𝑚𝑜𝑝𝑦 = (𝑎𝑠𝑝𝑦 𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑜𝑝𝑦) × 𝑟𝑝𝑦𝑟
(5)
264 265
To account for the potential for cation exchange reactions to affect groundwater quality evolution
266
during the trial, an exchanger site (X) was implemented in the model. The stoichiometries and
267
thermodynamic constants of the cation exchange reactions are listed in Table S1. Based on relevant
268
observations, adsorption and desorption of phosphate were also considered and assumed to occur as
269
surface complexation reactions. A phosphate surface complexation model (SCM) was previously
270
established for the sediments from the BSF sub-unit of the Precipice Sandstone formation, based on
271
laboratory sorption experiments.11 This phosphate SCM and a surface site (Con_w) were implemented
272
in the model in this study. Arsenic or molybdenum sorption, on the other hand, was found to be
273
negligible.
274 275
The parameters used in the numerical model were initially selected based on literature values, where
276
available, and then refined such that the sum of the squared residuals between observations and
277
simulation equivalents was minimized. Following an initial manual trial-and-error calibration, the
278
parameters were further refined as needed by an automatic calibration step using a heuristic particle
279
swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm. The PSO code was written within the PEST++ platform using
280
the YAMR run manager 30, 31 and linked with PHT3D. The parameters to be automatically calibrated
281
included reaction rate coefficients, initial pyrite concentration, DO concentration in PPT1/PPT2 (as
282
proxy for oxidants), cation exchange capacity, surface site density, and SCM reaction constants (Table
283
2). All other reactions, stoichiometries, and thermodynamic constants remained consistent with the
284
standard WATEQ4F database.32 The observation data used to constrain the automatic calibration
285
consisted of measurements of pH, alkalinity, arsenic, molybdenum, iron, calcium, sulfate, and
286
phosphate in the recovered water. The procedure of observation weight assignment was adopted from
287
Sun et al., (2018).22 Using the PSO Monte Carlo algorithm described in Rathi et al., (2017),11 a formal 13 ACS Paragon Plus Environment
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nonlinear uncertainty analysis of the parameter estimates was conducted, resulting in 1,000 realizations
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of parameter sets from the posterior distribution.
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RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
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Analysis of Flow, Conservative Transport and Heat Transport Behavior.
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Overall, most of the monitored groundwater constituents displayed conservative transport behavior.
294
During the recovery phase of each PPT, while the initial recovered water mostly showed a similar
295
composition to the corresponding injectant, upon continued extraction the observed aqueous
296
concentrations reversed towards the concentrations found under ambient conditions (Figures 2, 4 and
297
S1). The physical transport behavior during the field trial, as deduced from the observations during the
298
recovery phases of the PPTs, was accurately described with a relatively simple conceptual/numerical
299
hydrogeological model. During model development and calibration, no evidence was found to suggest
300
a high level of aquifer heterogeneity or a flow/transport behavior that would be characteristic for a
301
fractured rock aquifer.
302 303
To prevent the bromide concentrations from diluting to below the limits of practical detection, each of
304
the bromide tracer injections during the field trial was conducted towards the end of the injection phase.
305
As a result, bromide was recovered relatively fast during extraction and indeed without excessive
306
dilution (Figure 2). The observed bromide concentrations provided valuable information for the
307
calibration of the conservative transport model. Good agreements between simulated and observed
308
data were also achieved for chloride and boron. Nevertheless, compared to bromide, chloride and
309
boron results were less sensitive to the longitudinal (macro-)dispersivity of 1.5 m that was selected as
310
a parameter value in the employed advective-dispersive transport model (Table 2). This might be
311
explained by the fact that the travel distance of bromide prior to extraction was less than that of the
312
other injected solutes, especially during the larger injection cycles PPT2 and PPT3 (Figure 3). Given 14 ACS Paragon Plus Environment
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the well-known scale-dependency of longitudinal dispersion, it is possible that the calibrated value,
314
based on bromide, underestimates the dispersion that the other solutes have undergone during
315
subsurface transport.33 Based on simulated concentration profiles (Figure 3), the penetration distance
316
of the injectant (corresponding to 50% of Δboron) was ∼20 m during PPT1, while it was ∼60 m and
317
∼50 m during PPT2 and PPT3, respectively. These differences in penetration distance between each
318
PPT were a result of differences in the volumes of water injected (Figure 1). As evident from the still
319
elevated boron concentrations at the end of the recovery phases, the injected solutes were not
320
completely recovered, even though the extracted volume exceeded the injected volume in each PPT.
321 322
The subsurface water temperatures around the trial bore changed dynamically during the field trial
323
(Figure 2). Compared to the InSitu© temperature logger data, manually measured temperatures during
324
water sampling were similar for the low temperatures but consistently lower for the higher
325
temperatures, indicating that some cooling had occurred for the manual measurements at the ground
326
surface. Therefore, the calibration of the heat transport parameters in the model (Table 2) was largely
327
based on the temperatures recorded in situ by the logger. Some small discrepancies between simulated
328
and observed temperatures, however, exist for the initial period of each recovery phase. The most
329
likely explanation for the small discrepancy is that (i) the model does not account for potential vertical
330
heat transfer from under- or overlying aquitards, especially during the storage (no-flow) phases before
331
extraction and/or (ii) that the heat transfer between the injectant and the aquifer matrix was
332
incomplete.19 Nevertheless, the results of the heat transport simulations agree reasonably well with the
333
temperature measurements (Figure 2). These simulated temperatures were internally used in the
334
reactive transport simulations to define the reaction temperature.
335
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336
Observed Hydrochemical Patterns.
337
Prior to PPT1, the ambient groundwater in the receiving aquifer was anoxic, as indicated by relatively
338
high methane and ammonium concentrations, and mildly acidic (Table 1). The raw CSG co-produced
339
water that was collected and stored in the feed pond on-site, on the other hand, contained molecular
340
oxygen due to aeration, and had a significantly higher, alkaline pH due to degassing and potentially
341
some redox transformations. The CSG water used in the injection of the PPTs was treated with
342
different combinations of pre-treatment methods. During PPT1, the injection of pH-adjusted,
343
deoxygenated CSG water led to elevated dissolved iron concentrations and subtle arsenic mobilization
344
(Figure 4). The sulfate concentration in the recovered water in PPT1 was also relatively high, which
345
is a result of the high sulfate concentration in the injectant rather than geochemical reactions. The
346
sulfate in the injectant originated from a residual volume of surface water, which was stored in the
347
same feed pond and used for a preceding injection trial within another formation at the Condabri study
348
site.34 During PPT2, the injection of pH-unadjusted, deoxygenated CSG water led to phosphate
349
mobilization and also still subtle, but slightly more pronounced mobilization of arsenic and
350
molybdenum. The peak phosphate, arsenic and molybdenum concentrations in the recovered water
351
were on the order of 10-6, 10-7 and 10-8 mol L-1, respectively, identical with the results obtained during
352
the PPT at the Reedy Creek study site, which was conducted in a similar fashion to the Condabri
353
PPT2.11,
354
significant geochemical response among the three conducted PPTs. Induced by the oxidant-abundant
355
injectant, the oxidative dissolution of pyrite occurred affecting water quality. The occurrence of pyrite
356
oxidation is clearly evidenced by a substantial increase in dissolved sulfate concentrations. Coinciding
357
with the increase in sulfate concentrations, peak concentrations of dissolved arsenic and molybdenum,
358
two trace elements that often substitute within pyrite and can also accumulate as sulfide minerals by
359
themselves such as orpiment and molybdenite,4, 11, 27-29 were both one order of magnitude higher in
360
PPT3 than those in PPT2. The magnitude of phosphate mobilization during PPT3, on the other hand,
35
The injection of pH-unadjusted, aerobic CSG water during PPT3 caused the most
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remained at the same level as what was observed during PPT2. Additionally, elevated dissolved iron
362
concentrations were observed during the late recovery phase of PPT3, when the water volume
363
extracted exceeded the water volume injected (Figures 1 and 4).
364 365
Model-based Interpretation of Observed Metal Mobilization.
366
The observed hydrochemical responses to the injection and recovery of treated CSG water could be
367
closely replicated by the developed reactive transport model, illustrating that the conceptual
368
hydrogeochemical model and its numerical implementation provide a good representation of the key
369
processes occurring in the field trial (Figures 2, 4 and S1). The breakthrough behavior of sodium,
370
calcium, alkalinity, and many other groundwater constituents could be reproduced by conservative
371
transport simulations (i.e., without inclusion of any geochemical reaction). This provides evidence that
372
the injection target Precipice Sandstone formation has a limited reactivity, at least over the investigated
373
time-scale. Nevertheless, the substantial increases in dissolved sulfate, arsenic and molybdenum
374
concentrations observed during the recovery phase of PPT3 were reaction-driven. By considering
375
pyrite oxidation and an associated stoichiometric co-dissolution of arsenic and molybdenum, the
376
observed concentration changes could be reproduced by the model. As illustrated by the simulated
377
concentration profiles, arsenic was mobilized during aquifer passage, with a distinct leading front of
378
elevated dissolved arsenic coinciding with the position of the front of the aerobic injectant (Figure 3C).
379
Moreover, the model simulations suggest that ferrihydrite precipitated in conjunction with pyrite
380
oxidation, which explains why the sulfate release in PPT3 was not accompanied by a simultaneous
381
equivalent iron release. The model simulations also suggest that freshly accumulated ferrihydrite re-
382
dissolved when anoxic native groundwater migrated back towards the injection/recovery bore. It can
383
be seen that once the extraction volume approached the injection volume, iron release occurred
384
(Figures 1 and 4). Similar to ferrihydrite, siderite could also both dissolve and precipitate during the
385
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386
breakthrough pattern of iron (the poorly calibrated results from a model variant that excluded the
387
transformation of siderite are shown in Figure S2).
388 389
Based on the analysis of calibration results, dissolved arsenic concentrations in the field trial were
390
highly sensitive to the parameter aspy, which represented the magnitude of arsenic incorporation in
391
pyrite. As aspy increases, more arsenic is released to the groundwater. This is also illustrated with
392
molybdenum; with an order of magnitude lower abundance (mopy is an order of magnitude lower than
393
aspy, Table 2), molybdenum exhibited a much less significant release compared to arsenic (Figure 4).
394
The magnitude of arsenic incorporation in pyrite varies considerably between environmental systems,
395
from no incorporation to up to about 4 mol%.36 In the final calibrated model, aspy in the BSF sub-unit
396
at Condabri was determined to be 3.61 ± 0.22 mol% (Table 2). While the estimated value is relatively
397
high, it agrees reasonably well with what was previously estimated for the same formation during the
398
Reedy Creek injection trial (2.65 ± 0.26 mol%) through a formal nonlinear uncertainty analysis.11
399 400
Because water temperature can impact not only thermodynamically controlled speciation/mineralogy
401
but also the kinetic reaction rates such as pyrite oxidation, it was originally expected that dissolved
402
arsenic concentrations would be also sensitive to the temperature difference between the injectant and
403
ambient groundwater. To illuminate the role of temperature on arsenic mobilization, a model variant
404
assuming instant heat transfer in the subsurface (i.e., reaction temperature set to ambient 67ºC) was
405
constructed on the basis of the final model (Figure S3). Surprisingly, little discrepancies were found
406
for dissolved arsenic in the recovered water. This is because while higher temperature would promote
407
faster pyrite oxidation, the ultimate amount of pyrite oxidation and arsenic co-dissolution nevertheless
408
largely depended on the availability of the oxidant, in this case, DO in the injectant.
409
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410
Contrasting Behavior between Phosphate and Arsenic.
411
An interesting observation, which underpins our conceptual model of arsenic release and was
412
successfully reproduced by the reactive transport model, is that while arsenic mobilization was
413
dramatically different between PPT2 and PPT3, the level of phosphate mobilization remained similar
414
(Figure 4). The contrast between the fates of dissolved arsenic and phosphate during the three PPTs
415
can be explained by their significant differences in reactivity with sulfide and with sediment surfaces.37
416
In contrast to arsenic, phosphate does not readily react with sulfide to form insoluble minerals. Instead,
417
the fate of phosphate during the field trial was governed by adsorption/desorption processes, especially
418
responding to the induced pH changes (Figures 4 and S4). The pH sorption edge for phosphate on the
419
Precipice Sandstone sediments sat between the injectant pH of 7.5 for PPT1 and the injectant pH of
420
9.2 in the other two PPTs (Table 1). This pH sorption edge is consistent with the results of phosphate
421
sorption studies on some clay minerals, and also on iron oxides which however are less likely to exist
422
under anoxic native condition in the Precipice Sandstone formation.38, 39
423 424
While the model’s ability to reproduce the high arsenic concentrations during PPT3 is important for
425
quantifying sulfidic arsenic co-dissolution as induced by an oxidant-abundant injectant, reproducing
426
the relatively subtle arsenic mobilization from deoxygenated injectant during PPT1 and PPT2 was
427
originally thought to hold the key for confirming and quantifying arsenic desorption from the sediment
428
surfaces. However, arsenic mobilization during PPT1 and PPT2 could have been explained solely by
429
the same hypothesis from the Reedy Creek study, i.e., either the deoxygenated injectant still contained
430
low levels of oxidation capacity or some (slow) dissolution of pyrite occurred in the absence of
431
oxidants.11 The modeling results suggest that instead of being a result of the acid dosing treatment, the
432
more pronounced arsenic mobilization in PPT2 compared to PPT1 was simply a result of the larger
433
injection volume and thus a larger total mass of exogenous oxidants reacting during PPT2. Therefore,
434
the arsenic breakthrough patterns for all three PPTs could be closely replicated by a reactive transport 19 ACS Paragon Plus Environment
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435
model relying solely on the stoichiometric co-dissolution process during pyrite oxidation. This
436
suggests that surface-bound arsenic in the BSF sub-unit at Condabri was possibly insignificant or, if
437
not, insensitive to the geochemical changes imposed by the CSG water injection. Consequently,
438
compared to phosphate, the overall fate of arsenic was much less pH dependent than anticipated prior
439
to our detailed analysis of the PPTs (Figure 4). In contrast to the studies reported by Wallis et al.,
440
(2010) and (2011),5, 20 where the fate of arsenic cannot be described by the numerical model without
441
arsenic attenuation by (re)adsorption, the model developed in this study did not require any additional
442
attenuation process to replicate the arsenic dynamics. This further supports the hypothesis that, in
443
contrast to the finely ground Precipice Sandstone material employed for dedicated, site-specific batch
444
sorption experiments,11 the in situ sediment surfaces possess a low affinity for arsenic sorption under
445
the investigated hydro-geochemical conditions.
446 447
IMPLICATIONS
448
Combining experimental observations with reactive transport modeling, this study demonstrates the
449
important role that deoxygenation can play in minimizing the risk of mobilizing arsenic and other trace
450
metals during the injection of oxygenated excess waters into deep aquifers. This study further reveals
451
that enhanced risks are mostly associated with the presence of pyrite and the variety and abundance of
452
heavy metals that are often incorporated in the pyrite structure. As illustrated by the present case, this
453
risk may also exist even without detectable pyrite, i.e., detection by commonly applied mineralogical
454
techniques. While this study mostly addressed the understanding and predictions of the geochemical
455
impacts of the injection of CSG co-produced water, it is also relevant for many other types of MAR
456
schemes where oxidized solutions are injected into pyrite-bearing aquifers. In the present case, acid
457
amendment showed to have a smaller than originally anticipated role on mitigating dissolved arsenic
458
concentrations. At other sites where pyrite oxidation is absent, preventing elevated injectant pHs might
459
still be critical for reducing arsenic mobility. Nevertheless, arsenic, in such a scenario, might less likely 20 ACS Paragon Plus Environment
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460
be subject to further migration of the contamination, because native sediments would have some
461
affinity for arsenic sorption and be able to attenuate the mobilized arsenic. Our analysis illustrates that
462
identifying the fundamental reaction mechanisms is an important step in designing an effective pre-
463
treatment.
464 465
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
466
This study was financially supported by the Origin Energy and Gas Industry Social and Environmental
467
Research Alliance (GISERA) of Australia. The PSO calibration and uncertainty analysis were
468
conducted on CSIRO’s Pearcey high performance computer cluster. The authors would like to thank
469
O. Atteia for his continuous support with the PHT3D implementation into the ORTI GUI. The authors
470
also would like to thank I. Wallis, S. Fakhreddine, and D. Welter for their valuable input.
471 472
ASSOCIATED CONTENT
473
Supporting information available: Tables S1 – S2 and Figures S1 – S4, which contain additional data
474
from the field trial and additional details on the parameters and simulation outputs from the numerical
475
model. The Supporting Information is available free of charge on the ACS Publications website at
476
DOI: 10.1021/esxxxxx.
477 478
NOTES: The authors declare no competing financial interest.
479
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FIGURES AND TABLES
481 482
Table 1. Typical initial (ambient) groundwater and injectant composition during the trial. Individual
483
measurements of injectant composition are shown in Figures 2, 4 and S1 as symbols in red background. Species pH temperature TDS a Al As(+3) b As(+5) b B Ba Br a C(-4) C(+4) Ca Cl DOC F Fe(+2) K Mg Mn(+2) Mo N(-3) N(+5) Na O(0) c P S(-2) S(+6) Si Sr
unit -
ºC mg L-1 mol L-1 mol L-1 mol L-1 mol L-1 mol L-1 mol L-1 mol L-1 mol L-1 mol L-1 mol L-1 mol L-1 mol L-1 mol L-1 mol L-1 mol L-1 mol L-1 mol L-1 mol L-1 mol L-1 mol L-1 mol L-1 mol L-1 mol L-1 mol L-1 mol L-1 mol L-1
Ambient 6.50 67.0 3619 1.85×10-7 6.67×10-9 0 1.11×10-5 1.57×10-5 5.66×10-5 1.61×10-4 1.33×10-2 2.62×10-3 4.70×10-2 5.00×10-4 1.58×10-5 5.93×10-6 1.25×10-3 5.76×10-4 2.91×10-7 5.21×10-9 1.32×10-4 0 6.53×10-2 0 1.61×10-7 1.56×10-6 1.32×10-9 1.01×10-3 3.22×10-5
PPT1 7.48 26.7 2594 2.25×10-7 2.67×10-8 0 4.38×10-5 3.75×10-6 5.34×10-5 0 8.30×10-3 1.95×10-4 3.95×10-2 6.31×10-4 1.04×10-4 1.44×10-6 2.59×10-4 7.87×10-4 2.99×10-8 7.81×10-9 1.84×10-6 4.94×10-7 4.92×10-2 6.30×10-7 1.61×10-7 1.56×10-6 7.74×10-5 9.43×10-4 1.36×10-5
PPT2 9.17 27.4 2958 2.64×10-7 2.96×10-8 0 4.03×10-5 4.42×10-6 5.53×10-5 0 1.69×10-2 2.96×10-4 3.08×10-2 5.32×10-4 1.20×10-4 1.19×10-6 2.72×10-4 4.76×10-4 3.44×10-8 5.95×10-9 8.57×10-6 7.14×10-7 5.49×10-2 6.30×10-7 2.42×10-7 1.56×10-6 1.38×10-5 8.24×10-4 1.33×10-5
PPT3 9.20 19.7 3590 1.85×10-7 0 1.68×10-7 5.71×10-5 3.85×10-6 6.01×10-5 0 2.10×10-2 2.37×10-4 3.51×10-2 5.16×10-4 1.37×10-4 4.48×10-7 2.56×10-4 4.45×10-4 1.74×10-8 3.52×10-8 1.07×10-6 4.46×10-7 5.86×10-2 5.38×10-4 1.61×10-7 0 1.69×10-5 8.43×10-4 1.29×10-5
484 485
Note: a The reported number represents the measurement on the injectant without bromide amendment;
486
b
487
simulated assuming local redox equilibrium; and c the DO concentration in PPT1 and PPT2 used in
488
the numerical model is higher than the measured concentration, see Table 2 for model input.
the concentration of total dissolved arsenic was measured, while the redox status of arsenic was
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489
Table 2. Key parameters employed in the final calibrated model and associated statistics. Some
490
parameters were estimated by PEST/PSO, and basic statistics for the 1,000 Monte Carlo realizations
491
are reported.a Correlation coefficients between model parameters are given in Table S2. Estimated Parameter Value
Parameter
Physical Transport and Heat Transport Parameters [unit] Longitudinal dispersivity [m] 1.5 Thermal diffusion coefficient [m2 day-1] 1.5 Thermal distribution coefficient [m3 kg-1] 5×10-4
Prior Standard Deviation
Posterior Standard Deviation
% Variance Reduction
-
-
-
-
-
5.77×10-10
2.58×10-
80.0%
2.02×10-13
6.54×10-
Most Likely Range Lower
Upper
Chemical Reaction Related Parameters [unit] 1.05×10-12
Siderite evolution (𝒌𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆) [mol L-1 s-1]
10
10
Arsenic molar fraction in pyrite (aspy) [unitless]
3.61×10-2
8.57×10-2
2.16×10-3
99.9%
2.98×10-2
3.39×10-2
Molybdenum molar fraction in pyrite (mopy) [unitless]
3.44×10-3
9.43×10-3
3.31×10-4
99.9%
3.18×10-3
3.79×10-3
Initial pyrite concentration (py) [mol kg-1]
2.30×10-3
5.98×10-4
1.07×10-4
96.8%
2.14×10-3
2.30×10-3
DO concentration after deoxygenation (DO) [mol L-1]
1.55×10-5
5.72×10-5
7.70×10-6
98.2%
2.02×10-6
1.73×10-5
Exchange species (X) [mol L-1]
2.19×10-3
5.00×10-3
1.28×10-3
93.4%
1.80×10-4
3.01×10-3
Surface sorption site (Con_w) [mol L-1]
1.08×10-3
4.97×10-3
2.31×10-3
78.5%
3.29×10-5
5.73×10-3
Surface Complexation Stoichiometries and Constants (log Ks) Con_wOH + H+ = Con_wOH2+ (log K1)
4.16
1.73
1.19
52.5%
5.01
6.73
Con_wOH = Con_wO- + H+ (log K2)
-8.27
1.17
0.44
85.7%
-8.27
-6.96
Con_wOH + PO43- + 3H+ = Con_wH2PO4 + H2O (log K3)
33.02
2.31
1.53
56.1%
29.72
32.13
Con_wOH + PO43- + 2H+ = Con_wHPO4- + H2O (log K4)
12.99
2.31
1.91
31.4%
14.17
16.84
Con_wOH + PO43- + H+ = Con_wPO42- + H2O (log K5)
20.53
2.08
1.14
69.8%
17.59
19.94
492 493
Note: a The most likely ranges for the parameters are based on the modal bin ranges of the posterior
494
histogram; each parameter range was divided into 3 bins for this calculation. Some estimates remain
495
slightly outside the modal range suggesting that they may have a slightly lower likelihood.
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496 497
Figure 1. (A) Injection/extraction rates and (B) calculated cumulative water volume injected during
498
the trial. Injection phases are marked in red background, recovery phases in blue background, and
499
intercycle storage phases in white. A zero cumulative volume injected indicates the amount of water
500
extraction is equal to the amount of injection.
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501 502
Figure 2. Observed and simulated groundwater (A) bromide, (B) chloride and (C) boron
503
concentrations, and (D) temperature during the trial. During the injection phases (red background), the
504
symbols represent the injectant conditions; and during the recovery phases (blue background), the
505
symbols represent the measurements of the recovered water. On (D) temperature subplot, yellow ‘□’
506
symbols represent the temperatures that were manually measured at the ground surface, whereas red
507
‘o’ symbols represent in situ measurements that were continuously recorded by a temperature logger
508
during PPT2 and PPT3. Reactive and conservative transport simulations are plotted as solid blue lines
509
and dashed black lines, respectively.
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510 511
Figure 3. Temperature and concentration fronts of bromide, boron, arsenic and phosphate (A, C, E) at
512
the end of injection (time = 38, 125, and 198 days) and (B, D, F) at the end of extraction (time = 71,
513
176, and 250 days) during PPT1-PPT3, calculated based on reactive transport simulations. Cmax stands
514
for the maximum value for individual species.
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515 516
Figure 4. Observed (red ‘o’ symbols) and simulated groundwater (A) arsenic, (B) molybdenum, (C)
517
iron, (D) sulfate, (E) pH, (F) phosphate, (G) alkalinity and (H) calcium concentrations during the trial.
518
Reactive and conservative transport simulations are plotted as solid blue lines and dashed black lines,
519
respectively. Note that reactive simulations (solid lines) are taken from the model after the reaction
520
step, which should not necessarily agree with the injectant composition (symbols and dashed lines)
521
during injection (red background). On (A) arsenic and (B) molybdenum subplots, data and simulation
522
results from PPT1 and PPT2 are shown on two scales for clarity. On (E) pH subplot, yellow ‘□’
523
symbols represent laboratory measurements, whereas red ‘o’ symbols represent field measurements
524
that were recorded immediately following sample collection. On (F) phosphate and (G) alkalinity
525
subplots, red ‘+’ symbols represent observed total phosphorus and dissolved inorganic carbon
526
concentrations, respectively.
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527
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