
Thai T. PhanUniversity of Waterloo | UWaterloo · Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
Thai T. Phan
Ph.D., M.Eng., B.Eng.
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31
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Introduction
A geochemist who is interested in 1) studying water-rock interactions and other geological and environmental processes associated with water cycles in both natural and engineered natural systems; 2) investigating how abiotic and microbial processes fractionate the isotopic composition of metals, allowing metal isotopes to be reliably used as geochemical and environmental tracers.
Publications
Publications (31)
The emerging growth of lithium-ion battery usage necessitates the development of unconventional resources for battery grade lithium carbonate. Extraction of lithium from micas such as lepidolite produces several marketable by-products as well as a silt-sized gypsum rich blended residue containing elevated level of thallium (Tl). The goal of this st...
The geochemical and isotopic characteristics of groundwaters in Chimayó, New Mexico, reflect processes that affect water quality in the Tesuque Aquifer, which overlies a leaking natural CO2 source in a structurally complex region. In this study, select isotopes (δ¹³C, ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr, ²³⁴U/²³⁸U) are applied to groundwaters to better understand CO2 transp...
Carbon dioxide (CO2) enhanced oil recovery (EOR) provides a pathway for economic reuse and storage of CO2, a greenhouse gas. One challenge with this practice is ensuring CO2 injection does not result in target reservoir fluids migrating into overlying shallow (<1000 m) groundwater formations. Effective monitoring for leakage from storage formations...
Optimizing hydrocarbon production and waste management from unconventional oil and gas extraction requires an understanding of the fluid-rock chemical interactions. These reactions can affect flow pathways within fractured shale and produced water chemistry. Knowledge of these chemical reactions also provides valuable information for planning waste...
Waters co-produced with hydrocarbons from unconventional oil and gas reservoirs such as the hydraulically fractured Marcellus Shale in the Appalachian Basin, USA, contain high levels of total dissolved solids (TDS), including Ba, which has been variously ascribed to drilling mud dissolution, interaction with pore fluids or shale exchangeable sites,...
Acid mine drainage (AMD) has been proposed as a potential source of strategic rare earth elements (REEs) due to its high concentrations (>1,000 µg/L) of dissolved REEs, as well as the middle rare earth element (MREE) enriched pattern exhibited by both coal mine- and metal mine-derived AMD, in which some of the most energy-critical REEs are signific...
Rare earth element (REE) signatures are often applied to interpret paleoenvironmental conditions in sedimentary basins, however the complicated diagenetic histories in dynamic depositional environments can affect interpretation of measured REE signatures. Prior studies on REE content in shales and limestones indicated that REE in specific mineral p...
Temporal and vertical variations in uranium (U) concentration and U isotope (δ238U, ‰) signature were examined in sediment cores collected seven times over a one year period, from two lakes in Ontario, Canada, which are contaminated with U by historical mining activities. Bow Lake is holomictic, experiencing seasonal anoxia, while the sediments of...
Produced waters from conventional and unconventional hydrocarbon reservoirs, such as the hydraulically fractured Middle Devonian Marcellus Shale in the Appalachian Basin, USA, often contain high levels of total dissolved solids (TDS), including barium. The high Ba content in unconventional produced waters has been variously ascribed to drilling mud...
Concentrations and isotopic compositions of Li and Sr can be used to identify water-rock interactions and fluid mixing in petroleum reservoirs, such as mixing between hydraulic fracturing fluid and in-situ formation water in hydraulically fractured shales. However, the physical changes during mixing in the subsurface environment and during collecti...
Knowledge of geochemical processes that occur during hydraulic fracturing of shale resources for natural gas recovery can provide insight into in situ mineral precipitation and dissolution reactions that affect shale pore and fracture networks, and ultimately the ability to recover natural gas. Measurement of dissolved chemical species in produced...
Geochemistry and lithium isotope compositions (δ⁷Li) of Permian Basin produced water and potable groundwater from overlying aquifers at an enhanced oil recovery (EOR) site in Gaines County, northwest Texas, are used to evaluate the effects of brine-groundwater-rock interactions, identify sources of dissolved solids, and characterize fluid flow and...
We investigate sediment sources, depositional conditions and diagenetic processes affecting the Middle Devonian Marcellus Shale in the Appalachian Basin, eastern USA, a major target of natural gas exploration. Multiple proxies, including trace metal contents, rare earth elements (REE), the Sm-Nd and Rb-Sr isotope systems, and U isotopes were applie...
Produced waters from petroleum and geothermal reservoirs contain large amounts of cations including lithium, and while lithium isotopes are time-intensive to measure in the traditional way, they have the potential to reveal information about fluid and solute origins and diagenesis. We tested the effect of added cations that dominate in produced wat...
Development of unconventional shale gas wells can generate significant quantities of drilling waste, including trace metal-rich black shale from the lateral portion of the drillhole. We carried out sequential extractions on 15 samples of dry-drilled cuttings and core material from the gas-producing Middle Devonian Marcellus Shale and surrounding un...
Lithium (Li) concentrations of produced water from unconventional (horizontally drilled and hydraulically fractured shale) and conventional gas wells in Devonian reservoirs in the Appalachian Plateau region of western Pennsylvania range from 0.6 to 17 mmol kg-1, and Li isotope ratios, expressed as in δ7Li, range from +8.2 to +15‰. Li concentrations...
Natural isotope tracers, such as strontium (Sr), can facilitate the tracking of brine migration caused by CO2 injection in carbon storage sites and assist in identifying the origin of formation waters associated with oil and gas exploration. However, it might be necessary to analyze tens of samples with complex chemical compositions over a short pe...
A biological sulphate reduction process, with molasses as an electron donor, was used for the removal of zinc and sulphate from Rayon industrial wastewater. The process involved reduction of sulphate to sulphide under anaerobic conditions. The sulphide-rich effluent was used to remove zinc as zinc sulphide precipitate. The investigation was conduct...