Abstract

Oil and natural gas (ONG) extraction emits volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Certain VOCs are identified as hazardous air pollutants (HAPS) while others contribute to ozone formation. This study examines the impact of ONG operations on VOC levels during the development of multi-well ONG pads in suburban Broomfield, Colorado. From October 2018 to December 2020, weekly VOC measurements were taken at 18 sites across the area. These included spots near well pads, in adjacent neighborhoods, and at a background site, covering various stages of well pad development including drilling, hydraulic fracturing, flowback, and production. Analysis using Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) identified six factors, including combustion, background/biogenic sources, light and complex alkanes, drilling activities, and ONG acetylene. Factors linked to local ONG activities exhibited clear temporal and spatial correlations with Broomfield well development. Benzene source analysis revealed distinct contribution gradients, with ONG-related sources notably influencing areas near the well pads, particularly in pre-production. ONG-related weekly benzene contributions varied from 9% to 63% at a community background site and 18% to 89% in a neighborhood close to a well pad.

Details

Title
Source apportionment of airborne volatile organic compounds near unconventional oil and gas development
Author
Lachenmayer, Emily 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; I-Ting, Ku 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Hecobian, Arsineh 1 ; Benedict, Katherine B 2 ; Zhou, Yong 1 ; Buck, Brent 3   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Collett, Jeffrey L 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo 

 Department of Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University , Fort Collins, Colorado, United States of America 
 Department of Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University , Fort Collins, Colorado, United States of America; Now at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, United States of America 
 Ajax Analytics, Fort Collins, Colorado, United States of America 
First page
101013
Publication year
2024
Publication date
Oct 2024
Publisher
IOP Publishing
e-ISSN
25157620
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
3133408064
Copyright
© 2024 The Author(s). Published by IOP Publishing Ltd. This work is published under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.