Shale gas wastewater characterization: Comprehensive detection, evaluation of valuable metals, and environmental risks of heavy metals and radionuclides

Shale gas wastewater (SGW) has great potential for the recovery of valuable elements, but it also poses risks in terms of environmental pollution, with heavy metals and naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) being of major concerns. However, many of these species have not been fully determined. For the first time, we identify the elements present in SGW from the Sichuan Basin and consequently draw a comprehensive periodic table, including 71 elements in 15 IUPAC groups. Based on it, we analyze the elements possessing recycling opportunities or with risk potentials. Most of the metal elements in SGW exist at very low concentrations (< 0.2 mg/L), including rare earth elements, revealing poor economic feasibility for recovery. However, salts, strontium (Sr), lithium (Li), and gallium (Ga) are in higher concentrations and have impressive market demands, hence great potential to be recovered. As for environmental burdens related to raw SGW management, salinity, F, Cl, Br, NO3−, Ba, B, and Fe, Cu, As, Mn, V, and Mo pose relatively higher threats in view of the concentrations and toxicity. The radioactivity is also much higher than the safety range, with the gross α activity and gross β activity in SGW ranging from 3.71–83.4 Bq/L, and 1.62–18.7 Bq/L, respectively and radium-226 as the main component. The advanced combined process “pretreatment-disk tube reverse osmosis (DTRO)” with pilot-scale is evaluated for the safe reuse of SGW. This process has high efficiency in the removal of metals and total radioactivity. However, the gross α activity of the effluent (1.3 Bq/L) is slightly higher than the standard for discharge (1 Bq/L), which is thus associated with potential long-term environmental hazards.