Naphthenic acids in groundwater overlying undeveloped shale gas and tight oil reservoirs

Autor: John V. Headley, Kerry M. Peru, Jason M. E. Ahad, Hooshang Pakdel, Denis Lavoie, René Lefebvre
Rok vydání: 2017
Předmět:
Zdroj: Chemosphere. 191
ISSN: 1879-1298
Popis: The acid extractable organics (AEOs) containing naphthenic acids (NAs) in groundwater overlying undeveloped shale gas (Saint-Edouard region) and tight oil (Haldimand sector, Gaspe) reservoirs in Quebec, Canada, were analysed using high resolution Orbitrap mass spectrometry and thermal conversion/elemental analysis - isotope ratio mass spectrometry. As classically defined by CnH2n+ZO2, the most abundant NAs detected in the majority of groundwater samples were straight-chain (Z = 0) or monounsaturated (Z = -2) C16 and C18 fatty acids. Several groundwater samples from both study areas, however, contained significant proportions of presumably alicyclic bicyclic NAs (i.e., Z = -4) in the C10-C18 range. These compounds may have originated from migrated waters containing a different distribution of NAs, or are the product of in situ microbial alteration of shale organic matter and petroleum. In most groundwater samples, intramolecular carbon isotope values generated by pyrolysis (δ13Cpyr) of AEOs were on average around 2-3‰ heavier than those generated by bulk combustion (δ13C) of AEOs, providing further support for microbial reworking of subsurface organic carbon. Although concentrations of AEOs were very low (
Databáze: OpenAIRE