investigating Effects of Pore Size Distribution and Pore Shape on Radon Production in Marcellus Shale Gas Formation
Wei Tian, Xingru Wu, Dehua Liu, Amanda S. Knaup, Changlong Chen, and Carl Sondergeld
Energy Fuels, Just Accepted Manuscript
DOI: 10.1021/acs.energyfuels.8b03311
Publication Date (Web): January 15, 2019
Copyright © 2019 American Chemical Society
Abstract
Marcellus Shale gas development brings significant economic impact to the United States and local areas. However, potential negative impacts on health, safety and environment also draw public attention. Numerous studies have documented the production of radon along with shale gas. Because of radon’s severe damage to human health, it is imperative to quantitatively evaluate radon emission in hydraulically fractured systems. This work proposes the equations to calculate the radon generation in spherical pores. Then, through numerical simulation, it is noticed that pore shape as well as pore size distribution are influential factors in wellhead radon concentration. Moreover, the simulation results show that radon concentration at the wellhead ranges from 36 pCi/L to 100 pCi/L, which is above the safe standard. Most importantly, the short transport time for such contaminated shale gas will result in high radon concentration in residential buildings, which is a hazard to the public health.
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