Developing a Method to Track Oil and Gas Produced Water Discharges in Estuarine Systems Using Salinity as a Conservative Tracer

摘要

Produced water is a high salinity by-product resulting fromoil and gas production. Disposal methods include surface water discharge from a point source. The current field method used for fate and effect determinations in open water estuarine systems involves extending a com- pass oriented transect (COT) from the point source dis- charge-a method designed for a uniform offshore environment that might be inappropriate for the hydro- logic and geomorphologic complexities found in estuarine systems. Research was conducted in a canal and a small, semi-enclosed bay to observe effluent behaviour and to determine if salinity could be used to track the effluent.