WorldWide Drilling Resource

26 MAY 2016 WorldWide Drilling Resource ® Basic Facts About Hydraulic Fracturing Compiled by Bonnie Love, Editor, World Dril R s rc Wide ling e ou e ® Desp te what many have heard, hydrau c fractur ng s not a dr ng process. It s actua y a procedure wh ch takes p ace after the dr ed ho e, or we bore, s comp eted. In fact, the hydrau c fractur ng process does not even occur wh e the dr r g s on ocat on. Hydrau c fractur ng s the use of f u ds and mater a s to create (or restore) sma fractures n a format on to st mu ate product on from new and ex st ng o and gas we s. These fractures are very sma - so sma they are propped open by granu es of sand, ca ed proppant. Th s creates enough space to re ease the natura gas trapped n the rock and a ow t to safe y r se to the surface w th n the se f-conta ned system. S nce hydrau c fractur ng was f rst ntroduced commerc a y n the 1940s, the process has been successfu y used n over a m on produc ng we s. Today, the major ty of U.S. o and natura gas we s (up to 90%) use the process to enhance we performance, m n m ze dr ng, and recover naccess b e energy resources. Today s we s can access over 60 t mes more be owground area and retr eve the same amount of gas wh e produc ng 30% ess waste than just a decade ago. Yet, there has never been a s ng e case of groundwater po ut on caused by the process. That s not on y due to ndustry safety precaut ons, but a so because of the bas c propert es of the depth of rock ayers. Water s a necessary part of hydrau c fractur ng as t carr es the propp ng agents (gra ns of sand) used to prop open the t ny channe s created to nduce the f ow of natura gas out of the rock format on. The hydrau c fractur ng process requ res the greatest amount of water when dr ng and comp et ng a natura gas we ; however, many compan es recyc e the water. For examp e, Cabot O and Gas Corporat on uses about 3.9 m on ga ons of water for the r we s n the Marce us Sha e Format on n Susquehanna County, Pennsy van a. Approx mate y 3.78 m on ga ons are used for fractur ng the we s. Wh e th s may seem ke a ot, t s equa to a mere 5.5 m nutes of water usage n New York C ty. The company a so uses a c osed- oop system to recyc e up to 100% of the water used for use n ater operat ons. Overa , power generat on and rr gat on use 78% of the tota water used n the U.S., wh e o and gas product on ( nc ud ng hydrau c fractur ng and m n ng) use about 1%. A ot of the confus on about hydrau c fractur ng comes from the use of fractur ng f u ds. Typ ca y, water and sand make up over 99% of the f u ds, and ess than 1% of everyth ng pumped nto a we s chem ca add - t ves. The pr mary funct on of these chem ca s s to reduce fr ct on, prevent corros on, and to contro bacter a. These chem ca s can genera y be found n common househo d tems. The exact rat o of the few chem ca s used var es depend ng on var ous character- st cs of the rock be ng fractured, as we as wh ch company s conduct ng the fractur ng process. Severa compan es across the USA vo untar y part c pate n Frac Focus - a chem ca d sc osure reg stry. The pub c can search for we s by ocat on or company to see the exact formu a used for fractur ng spec f c we s, by v s t ng FracFocus.org So, what s be ng done to protect groundwater dur ng hydrau c fractur ng? The pr - mary method used for protect ng groundwater s dr ng the we bore through the aqu fers, mmed ate y nsta ng a stee p pe (ca ed cas ng), and cement ng th s stee p pe nto p ace. A state dr ng regu at ons spec f ca y address groundwater protect on, nc ud ng requ rements for the surface cas ng to be set be ow the owest groundwater aqu fer. The stee cas ng and cement protects the aqu fer from mater a ns de the we bore dur ng dr ng operat ons and, n comb nat on w th other stee cas ng and cement sheaths wh ch are subsequent y nsta ed, protects the groundwater w th mu t p e ayers of protect on for the fe of the we . Desp te what ma nstream med a and Ho ywood have portrayed to the Amer can pub c, hydrau c fractur ng has not caused groundwater contam nat on. Recent y, the Env ronmenta Protect on Agency comp eted a comprehens ve f ve-year study of the effects fractur ng has had on dr nk ng water and conc uded the process has not ed to water contam nat on. Research from Ya e Un vers ty and Co orado State Un vers ty a so came to the same conc us on. The GeoVISION™ Dual-Scan Micro camera s Allegheny Instruments’ most advanced camera to date. Actua y two cameras n one, there s a camera wh ch cont nua y ooks down, wh e the second camera scans the boreho e wa . Both cameras can be rotated from the surface by us ng a joyst ck, prov d ng an un nterrupted 360-degree pan of both cam- eras s mu taneous y. It a so has three ndependent y contro ed banks of h gh- ntens ty LED ghts wh ch can be turned on or off from the surface. Its state-of-the-art v deo modu es prov de unpara - e ed v deo mages n bores as sma as 1½ nches. The Dua - Scan camera s rated for use up to 1000 ps and up to 2000 feet deep.