Experimental assessment of the possible contamination of groundwater by phenols during the flooding of the mines of the Leningrad oil shale deposit

Abstract

The results of experimental laboratory work on the dissolution (hydrolysis) of the organic matter of combustible shales (kerogen) of the Leningrad deposit of the Baltic shale basin are presented in the article. The aim of the work was to analyze the variability of the concentration of dissolved phenols in the contact of groundwater with oil shale and to assess what phenols content may occur in the flooding (wet preservation) of the mines of the specified field. The main method of research was the production of extracts aqueous solutions in contact with kerogen in various acid-base and redox conditions. As a result of experiments carried out in conditions close to the natural situation of groundwater migration, it was found that phenol concentrations in all solutions of these extracts in contact with shale were greater than MPC = 0.001 mg/l. Thus, the natural dissolution of oil shale by underground waters during the flooding of mine workings can be a source of pollution of underground waters by phenols.