Minimizing the Footprint of Hydraulic Fracturing
A $1.6-million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy is funding a three-year project of a University of Texas professor that could help minimize the environmental footprint of hydraulic fracturing as well as reduce costs.
Hydraulic fracturing is the practice of injecting water, sand, and chemicals under high pressure into deep shale deposits to allow trapped oil and gas to flow to the surface. Critics express concern about health issues and the environmental impact, such as the amount of water used and water contamination.
The funding will allow a team led by Dr. Mukul Sharma, professor in the Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering at UT’s Cockrell School of Engineering, to build and test a diagnostic downhole tool that can be used to determine where sand or other proppant [the solid material used to keep the fracture open] pumped into a fracture is going.
“There is a real benefit knowing where the sand is going because you can place it more accurately,” Sharma says. “If you don’t know precisely where the sand is going, you tend to over-treat things. You tend to use too much sand, too much water, too much fluid whereas if you have a decent idea of where things are, you may be able to optimize, use less water or sand.”
Date: February 2015
Image: Google Images
Coordinator: EnvGuide Team
Source: https://www.asme.org/engineering-topics/articles/energy/minimizing-footprint-of-hydraulic-fracturing