Assessment of efficiency of decontamination of oil and gas industry drilling wastes by chemical treatment of sludge samples with solutions of acids and alkalis

Currently, a serious potential danger for geosystems of oil fields and the population of territories of settlements of oil and gas production is represented by wastes associated with drilling of oil and gas wells. The greatest part of the drilling cuttings has a mineral origin, and frequently can be radioactive, having in its structure the natural radionuclides which concentrations can reach the levels of RW. This work is experimental in its application and calculation of the effectiveness of methods of chemical decontamination of drill cuttings by acid and alkaline solutions. The results obtained on the basis of the experiment indicate satisfactory effectiveness of such methods for decontamination of mineral materials and are of particular interest in such fields of science as radiation geophysics, geochemistry and radioecology.