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Map of Absheron peninsula showing site of oil field lake. (This site is located in the southeast portion of the Absheron Peninsula, near the capital city of Azerbaijan Republic-Baku. The petroleum began to be extracted at this site from the beginning of the last century-1907, with other sites in this area developing since 1912).
Source publication
An assessment of radiologically enhanced residual materials generated during oil and gas production in near Baku, Azerbaijan, was conducted. Distribution of the 228Ra/226Ra Activity Ratio (AR) with depth in a sediment core from radium lake was examined. The dashed line represented ingrowth assuming that 228Ra was below equilibrium with 232Th in the...
Context in source publication
Context 1
... have chosen a study location that represents one of the original sites for oil production in Azerbaijan (oper- ated by Surachany PGOM, Petroleum Gas Obtaining Management). This site is located in the southeast portion of the Absheron Peninsula, near the capital city of Baku (Figure 1). ...
Citations
In this chapter, the dynamics of radionuclides in the environment are studied. Thus, some general principles of radioecology and interesting parameters are introduced to study the transfer of radionuclides between the different environmental compartments. The levels and behavior of natural and man-made radionuclides in the environment are also reviewed in order to provide the reader with a general view on the presence of radioactivity in Nature.
Large amounts of TENORM waste (produced water, scale, and sludge) are created in oilfields around the world, presenting radiological risks to employees, the public, and the environment since activity concentrations of radioactive substances were above the exemption levels accredited by several authorities. Using the activity concentration of the radium-isotopes (²²⁶Ra and ²²⁸Ra) in the waste, we determined the ‘fingerprint’ as a radiochemical signature and some relevant ‘radiological hazard parameters’ in this review. The majority of the reported residues take the form of radio-contaminated (produced water, scale, and sludge) generated in Egypt's oilfields or elsewhere include radium isotope activity concentrations (226,228Ra) that exceed the international exemption limit.
The activity concentrations of ²²⁶Ra(²³⁸U-series) in produced water, scale, and sludge waste were 0.04–1,480 Bq/L, 1.1–2,015,000 Bq/kg, and 1–120,800 Bq/kg, respectively, whereas ²²⁸Ra (²³²Th-series) was 0.34–250 Bq/L, 1.8–1,428,000 Bq/kg, and 10–122,830 Bq/kg, respectively. The radioactivities of radium isotopes were found to be above the exemption values recognized by WHO, IAEA, IOGP, EC, and ICRP in 95, 82, and 58% of produced water, scale, and sludge waste, respectively. The ²²⁶Ra(²³⁸U)/²²⁸Ra(²³²Th) ratio, from the other hand, was estimated to be utilised as a ‘radiochemical fingerprint’, or signature in the reported TENORM residues. The radium isotopes ratio in produced water, scale, and sludge waste in Egypt's oilfields is 0.41–4.45 (av. 1.98 ± 1.37, coefficient of variation, COV %: ∼69%), 0.2–21.4 (av. 4.3 ± 4.7, ∼109%), and 1.4–52.2 (av. 9.6 ± 15.3, ∼159%), respectively. For produced water, scale, and sludge waste, the ²²⁶Ra/²²⁸Ra ratios are 0.12–9.1 (av. 1.43 ± 1.72, ∼120%), 0.2–159 (av. 7.78 ± 23.5, ∼302%), and 0.8–223.5 (av. 14.1 ± 45.4, ∼322%) in global oilfields. The radiological hazard parameters (Ig, Ia, E◦, EG, and ELCR) owing to radium isotopes or ²²²Rn in most scale and sludge residues, as well as a small percentage of produced water, are all over the allowed safe limits.
Substantial differences in the radium isotopes ratio in the reported waste can be attributed to thier geological, chemical, physical, and/or operational constraints. However, from the different perspectives of remediation and/or radiation protection programs, these values can be employed as a guidance for organizations investing in oil and gas production.
A number of productive oil and gas fields are located in the Absheron Peninsula of Azerbaijan. The primary goal of the presented study was to quantitatively assess the ground deformation (subsidence and uplift) rates of oil and gas fields, determine natural and man-made influencing factors and predict deformation trends. Persistent Scatterer Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar technique was used for the present studies to detect ground deformation rates and velocities in the Absheron oil and gas fields. The existence of ground deformation processes was observed for the period of 2015–2017 with three hotspots of highest subsidence rates and three hotspots of highest uplift rates in oil and gas fields. The determined maximum displacement rates of subsidence and uplift processes were −26 mm/y and +23 mm/y, respectively. However spatial density analysis of deformation velocity presented the natural patterns of uplift and subsidence tectonic processes. This allowed to determine that two oil and gas fields hold a higher probability of being affected by man-made oil and gas exploration activities, whereas the one oil field is affected by both natural and man-made processes. Geographically Weighted Regression analysis revealed that well concentration and elevation factors provided 32% of explanation to subsidence processes.
