Determination of HgS nanoparticles in Produced water by single particle inductively coupled plasma spectroscopy (sp-ICP-MS)

Academic Research Topics in Environmental Measurement and Monitoring
Oral Presentation

Prepared by , M. Yamanaka

Contact Information: jenny_nelson@agilent.com; 510-517-6475


ABSTRACT

Mercury (Hg) is a toxic element that is found as multiple different species in the environment. It is well known that Hg can be present in crude oil, and there are places around the world that are known to naturally have higher Hg levels. When crude oil is extracted from these parts of the world, the water used in the oil extraction and production consequently contains Hg. Mercury has been reported to be present in some oilfield produced waters and refinery wastewater at low concentrations(ref), but above regulatory discharge limits. Researchers are now interested to determine Hg nanoparticles present in these waters. In an attempt to characterize these Hg nanoparticles, single particle inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (sp-ICP-MS) has been employed. Sp-ICP-MS allows simultaneous determination of particle number, concentration and size, as well as measuring the dissolved metal concentration.