LAUSR

Abstract This study investigates the flowback water impacts on the corrosion of mild steel pipelines used to transport the saline wastewater generated during fracturing of the Bakken shale. The uniform corrosion rates were high under acidic conditions compared to those under neutral and alkaline conditions. The pitting attack on the flowback water pipelines was 100-fold and 10-fold higher for acidic and alkaline conditions, respectively, than those for the neutral conditions. The corrosion deposits on the mild steel were characterized by a large specific surface area and high reactivity. These results suggest that the flowback water pipelines become a potential source of contaminants that threaten agricultural land and water resources.