Abstract
The following quote was obtained by the news editors from the background informa tion supplied bythe inventors: “Hydrocarbon wells for extraction of natural gas and oil also produce a large amount ofwater, the so-called “produced water”, a s a by-product of the extraction process. On average three barrelsof water are produced for one barrel of extracted oil. The produced water is either discharge d into theenvironment or used to maintain pressure in the produced reservoirs, therefore reinjected into producingfields. As this water comes from aquifers in direct contact with hydrocarbons, it is rich in various metalsand minerals and it is unsuitable for consumption or being discharged directly in the environmen t. Thus,the treating of the produced water in order to recover the metals and m inerals optimizes the productionprocess. In this direction, it is desired to es timate beforehand the quantity of the extractable metals andminerals in the pro duced water.
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NSTL