Nickel geochemistry of oil sands fluid petroleum coke deposits, Alberta, Canada
Nickel (Ni) leaching from oil sands petroleum coke can have toxicological effects on aquatic organisms. However, geochemical controls on Ni release, transport, and attenuation within coke deposits remains limited. We examined the geochemistry of fluid coke and associated pore waters from two deposit...
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crcansciencepubl:10.1139/facets-2017-0115 2024-10-13T14:07:21+00:00 Nickel geochemistry of oil sands fluid petroleum coke deposits, Alberta, Canada Nesbitt, Jake A. Robertson, Jared M. Swerhone, Lawrence A. Lindsay, Matthew B. J. Butler, Ian S. 2018 http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/facets-2017-0115 http://www.facetsjournal.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/facets-2017-0115 en eng Canadian Science Publishing FACETS volume 3, issue 1, page 469-486 ISSN 2371-1671 journal-article 2018 crcansciencepubl https://doi.org/10.1139/facets-2017-0115 2024-09-19T04:09:49Z Nickel (Ni) leaching from oil sands petroleum coke can have toxicological effects on aquatic organisms. However, geochemical controls on Ni release, transport, and attenuation within coke deposits remains limited. We examined the geochemistry of fluid coke and associated pore waters from two deposits at an oil sands mine near Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada. Synchrotron-based micro-X-ray fluorescence (μXRF) and micro-X-ray absorption near edge structure (μXANES) spectroscopy show that Ni(II)-porphyrin complexes dominate, but inorganic phases including Ni(II)-sulfide and Ni(II)-oxide comprise a minor component of fluid coke. Sequential chemical extractions suggested that sorption–desorption reactions may influence Ni mobility within fluid coke deposits. Although only a small proportion of total Ni (<4%) is susceptible to leaching under environmentally relevant concentrations, dissolved Ni concentrations ( n = 65) range from 2 to 120 μg·L −1 (median 7.8 μg·L −1 ) within the two deposits and generally decrease with depth below the water table. Pore water Ni concentrations are negatively correlated with pH, but not with dissolved sulfate, bicarbonate, or chloride. Overall, our findings suggest that pore water pH and sorption–desorption reactions are principal controls on dissolved Ni concentrations within oil sands fluid petroleum coke deposits. Article in Journal/Newspaper Fort McMurray Canadian Science Publishing Canada Fort McMurray FACETS 3 1 469 486 |
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Canadian Science Publishing |
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English |
description |
Nickel (Ni) leaching from oil sands petroleum coke can have toxicological effects on aquatic organisms. However, geochemical controls on Ni release, transport, and attenuation within coke deposits remains limited. We examined the geochemistry of fluid coke and associated pore waters from two deposits at an oil sands mine near Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada. Synchrotron-based micro-X-ray fluorescence (μXRF) and micro-X-ray absorption near edge structure (μXANES) spectroscopy show that Ni(II)-porphyrin complexes dominate, but inorganic phases including Ni(II)-sulfide and Ni(II)-oxide comprise a minor component of fluid coke. Sequential chemical extractions suggested that sorption–desorption reactions may influence Ni mobility within fluid coke deposits. Although only a small proportion of total Ni (<4%) is susceptible to leaching under environmentally relevant concentrations, dissolved Ni concentrations ( n = 65) range from 2 to 120 μg·L −1 (median 7.8 μg·L −1 ) within the two deposits and generally decrease with depth below the water table. Pore water Ni concentrations are negatively correlated with pH, but not with dissolved sulfate, bicarbonate, or chloride. Overall, our findings suggest that pore water pH and sorption–desorption reactions are principal controls on dissolved Ni concentrations within oil sands fluid petroleum coke deposits. |
author2 |
Butler, Ian S. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Nesbitt, Jake A. Robertson, Jared M. Swerhone, Lawrence A. Lindsay, Matthew B. J. |
spellingShingle |
Nesbitt, Jake A. Robertson, Jared M. Swerhone, Lawrence A. Lindsay, Matthew B. J. Nickel geochemistry of oil sands fluid petroleum coke deposits, Alberta, Canada |
author_facet |
Nesbitt, Jake A. Robertson, Jared M. Swerhone, Lawrence A. Lindsay, Matthew B. J. |
author_sort |
Nesbitt, Jake A. |
title |
Nickel geochemistry of oil sands fluid petroleum coke deposits, Alberta, Canada |
title_short |
Nickel geochemistry of oil sands fluid petroleum coke deposits, Alberta, Canada |
title_full |
Nickel geochemistry of oil sands fluid petroleum coke deposits, Alberta, Canada |
title_fullStr |
Nickel geochemistry of oil sands fluid petroleum coke deposits, Alberta, Canada |
title_full_unstemmed |
Nickel geochemistry of oil sands fluid petroleum coke deposits, Alberta, Canada |
title_sort |
nickel geochemistry of oil sands fluid petroleum coke deposits, alberta, canada |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/facets-2017-0115 http://www.facetsjournal.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/facets-2017-0115 |
geographic |
Canada Fort McMurray |
geographic_facet |
Canada Fort McMurray |
genre |
Fort McMurray |
genre_facet |
Fort McMurray |
op_source |
FACETS volume 3, issue 1, page 469-486 ISSN 2371-1671 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/facets-2017-0115 |
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469 |
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486 |
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1812813606075498496 |