Microbial Treatment of Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM)

EPA Grant Number: R827015-01-0
Title: Microbial Treatment of Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material ( NORM)
Investigators: Lee R. Krumholz
Institutions: University of Oklahoma
EPA Project Officer: Bala Krishnan
Project Period: July 1, 1999 to June 30, 2000
Project Amount: $9,977
Research Category: NORM remediation

Description:

Objective: The project objectives are to determine the feasibility of using a sulfate reducing microbial consortium from subsurface sediment for the dissolution of NORM containing pipe scale.

Accomplishments: A student was hired and trained to use instruments and techniques. Scale material was obtained through Surbec, the subcontractor on this project obtained scale from oilfield equipment used in Oklahoma and equipment used in Alberta. Scale was removed and characterized. Based on powder diffraction patterns, barite was shown to be the most dominant mineral.

Table 1. Sulfur and carbonate mineral content of scale materials
Pipe Scale Acid
Volatile
Sulfide
(µmol/g) Cr
Reducible
Sulfur
(µmol/g) CO₃^2-
(µmol/g) Pyrite
(%) Calcite
(%)
Oklahoma 0.15 689 481 4.1 4.8
Alberta 0.14 190 78 1.1 0.8

Table 1. Sulfur and carbonate mineral content of scale materials
Pipe Scale	Acid Volatile Sulfide (µmol/g)	Cr Reducible Sulfur (µmol/g)	CO₃^2- (µmol/g)	Pyrite (%)	Calcite (%)
Oklahoma	0.15	689	481	4.1	4.8
Alberta	0.14	190	78	1.1	0.8

The results show that scale also contains both carbonate minerals and pyrite, both thought to be formed as a result of microbial metabolism.