Colloquium Speaker Thomas Darrah (The Ohio State University) today, Tuesday, October 21, 2014 at 4:00pm

[Patterson, Robin L.]

Please take note of Colloquium taking place today, Tuesday, October 21, 2014 at 4:00 PM in The Robert Smith Seminar Room. There will be a reception in the Atrium at 3:45PM. Details concerning the talk are as follows:

Speaker:              Thomas Darrah (The Ohio State University)
Date:                     Tuesday, October 21, 2014
Time:                     4:00 PM
Place:                    1080 Physics Research Building, The Robert Smith Seminar Room
Title:                     The Source and Migration of Natural Gas in Shallow Aquifers: Insights Provided by Gas Geochemistry


Abstract: Horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing have enhanced energy production but raised concerns about drinking-water contamination and other environmental impacts. Identifying the sources and mechanisms of contamination can help improve the environmental and economic sustainability of shale gas extraction. Using a combination of water and dissolved gas chemistry I will address two questions: 1) Are elevated levels of hydrocarbon gas in drinking-water aquifers near gas wells natural or anthropogenic? and 2) If fugitive gas contamination exists, what mechanisms cause it? Using noble gas and hydrocarbon tracers, we distinguish natural sources of methane from anthropogenic contamination and evaluate the mechanisms that cause elevated hydrocarbon concentrations in drinking-water near natural-gas wells. The data implicate leaks through annulus cement (four cases), production casings (three cases), and underground well failure (one case) rather than gas migration induced by horizontal drilling or hydraulic fracturing deep underground.

The website for the colloquium is https://physics.osu.edu/physics-colloquium-schedule.


Robin
[The Ohio State University]
Robin Patterson
Colloquium and Seminar Coordinator
Department of Physics
1040K Physics Research Building, 191 W. Woodruff Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210
(614) 292-8523 Office     (614) 292-7557 Fax
patterson.716 at osu.edu<mailto:patterson.716 at osu.edu> osu.edu<http://osu.edu/>



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