A 6-year study of a 2-well underground injection system (from 1964 to 1970) was conducted by Bureau of Mines engineers. Observations made from this survey include (1) selection of underground injection as the best solution to the waste-disposal problem, (2) origin and analyses of two separate waste streams, (3) surface equipment used for preinjection treatment of wastes, (4) well design and completion, (5) local and regional geology, (6) preinjections tests of the wells and laboratory tests of the disposal formation, and (7) the operating history of the 2 wells.

Major constituents of the wastes are propionic acid, phenol, butanol-1, butyraldehyde, and n-hexylamine. The adsorption characteristics of these compounds were determined in an autoclave under simulated reservoir conditions. The equilibrium amounts adsorbed and the effect of pH were determined as functions of concentration. The advance of the waste constituents is retarded by adsorption; thus, a zone develops at the advancing front which is completely depleted of waste constituents. This zone is shown to increase in depth as more of the formation is contacted by the injected fluid. These data are used to calculate the radius of migration of the waste constituents from the wellbore with respect to the total volume of waste injected, for planning waste-injection systems.

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