Fracturing in Gas Reservoirs

SUBMITTED TO:
Mr. Saad Nadeem COURSE CODE:
Gas Engineering (CH-413)
SUBMITTED BY:
Waqas Mallick (CH-14078) SUBMISSION DATE:
Arman Mallick (CH-14073) May 9, 2018
Muhammad Usman Naseem (CH-14057)
Muhammad Tauha Javed (CH-14090)
Introduction
Deep underground lies stores of once inaccessible natural gas. This gas was likely formed over
millions of years as layers of decaying organisms were exposed to intense heat and pressure
under the Earth's crust. There's a technology called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, that can
extract this natural gas, potentially powering us for decades to come. So how does fracking work,
and why it is a source of such heated controversy?

History
Hydraulic fracturing began as an experiment in 1947, and the first commercially successful
application followed in 1950. As of 2012, 2.5 million "frac jobs" had been performed worldwide
on oil and gas wells; over one million of those within the U.S. Such treatment is generally
necessary to achieve adequate flow rates in shale gas, tight gas, tight oil, and coal seam gas
wells. Some hydraulic fractures can form naturally in certain veins or dikes.

Process Overview
A fracking site can be anywhere with natural gas, from a remote desert to several hundred feet
from your backyard. It starts out with a long vertical hole known as a wellbore drilled down
through layers of sediment. When the well reaches 2500 - 3000 meters, it's at its kickoff point
where it can begin the process of horizontal drilling. It turns 90 degrees and extends horizontally
for about 1.5 kilometers through a compressed black layer called the shale rock formation. A
specialized perforating gun is then lowered and fired, creating a series of small, inch-long holes
that burst through the well's casing into the rock layer.
About three to four months after the initial drilling, the well is ready for fracking to begin.
Fracking fluid is pumped down into the well at a pressure so high, it cracks the shale rock,
creating fractures through which the trapped gas and oil can escape.

Method
A hydraulic fracture is formed by pumping fracturing fluid into a wellbore at a rate sufficient to
increase pressure at the target depth (determined by the location of the well casing perforations),
to exceed that of the fracture gradient (pressure gradient) of the rock. The fracture gradient is
defined as pressure increase per unit of depth relative to density, and is usually measured in
pounds per square inch, per square foot, or bars. The rock cracks, and the fracture fluid
 permeates
the rock
extending the
crack further,
and further,
and so on.
Fractures are
localized as
pressure
drops off
with the rate
of frictional
loss, which is
relative to the
distance from
the well. Operators typically try to maintain "fracture width", or slow its decline following
treatment, by introducing a proppant into the injected fluid – a material such as grains of sand,
ceramic, or other particulate, thus preventing the fractures from closing when injection is stopped
and pressure removed. Consideration of proppant strength and prevention of proppant failure
becomes more important at greater depths where pressure and stresses on fractures are higher.
The propped fracture is permeable enough to allow the flow of gas, oil, salt water and hydraulic
fracturing fluids to the well.
During the process, fracturing fluid leak off (loss of fracturing fluid from the fracture channel
into the surrounding permeable rock) occurs. If not controlled, it can exceed 70% of the injected
volume. This may result in formation matrix damage, adverse formation fluid interaction, and
altered fracture geometry, thereby decreasing efficiency.
The location of one or more fractures along the length of the borehole is strictly controlled by
various methods that create or seal holes in the side of the wellbore. Hydraulic fracturing is
performed in cased wellbores, and the zones to be fractured are accessed by perforating the
casing at those locations.
Hydraulic-fracturing equipment used in oil and natural gas fields usually consists of a slurry
blender, one or more high-pressure, high-volume fracturing pumps (typically powerful triplex or
quintuplex pumps) and a monitoring unit. Associated equipment includes fracturing tanks, one or
more units for storage and handling of proppant, high-pressure treating iron, a chemical additive
unit (used to accurately monitor chemical addition), low-pressure flexible hoses, and many
gauges and meters for flow rate, fluid density, and treating pressure. Chemical additives are
typically 0.5% of the total fluid volume. Fracturing equipment operates over a range of pressures
and injection rates, and can reach up to 100 megapascals (15,000 psi) and 265 liters per second
(9.4 cu ft/s) (100 barrels per minute).
Well types
A distinction can be made between conventional, low-volume hydraulic fracturing, used to
stimulate high-permeability reservoirs for a single well, and unconventional, high-volume
hydraulic fracturing, used in the completion of tight gas and shale gas wells. High-volume
hydraulic fracturing usually requires higher pressures than low-volume fracturing; the higher
pressures are needed to push out larger volumes of fluid and proppant that extend farther from
the borehole.
Horizontal drilling involves wellbores with a terminal drillhole completed as a "lateral" that
extends parallel with the rock layer containing the substance to be extracted. For example,
laterals extend 1,500 to 5,000 feet (460 to 1,520 m) in the Barnett Shale basin in Texas, and up to
10,000 feet (3,000 m) in the Bakken formation in North Dakota. In contrast, a vertical well only
accesses the thickness of the rock layer, typically 50–300 feet (15–91 m). Horizontal drilling
reduces surface disruptions as fewer wells are required to access the same volume of rock.
Drilling often plugs up the pore spaces at the wellbore wall, reducing permeability at and near
the wellbore. This reduces flow into the borehole from the surrounding rock formation, and
partially seals off the borehole from the surrounding rock. Low-volume hydraulic fracturing can
be used to restore permeability.

Fracturing fluids
The fluid itself is more than 90% water. The rest is made up of concentrated chemical additives.
These vary depending on the specific characteristics of the fracking site, but usually fall into
three categories:
 acids for clearing debris and dissolving minerals,
 friction-reducing compounds to create a slippery form of water known as slickwater,
 disinfectant to prevent bacteria growth,
 sand or clay is also mixed into the water to prop open the fissures so the gas and oil can
keep leaking out, even after the pressure is released.

Environmental Impacts
It's estimated that all of fracking's intense pumping and flushing uses an average of 3-6 million
gallons of water per well. That's not a lot compared to agriculture, power plants, or even golf
course maintenance, but it can have a notable impact on local water supply. And disposing of
used fracking water is also an issue. Along with the trapped gas that's pumped up to the surface,
millions of gallons of flow-back liquid come gushing up. This liquid containing contaminants
like radioactive material, salts, heavy metals, and hydrocarbons, needs to be stored and disposed
of. That's usually done in pits on-site in deep wells or off-site at water treatment facilities.
Another option is to recycle the flow-back liquid, but the recycling process can increase levels of
contamination since the water is more toxic with each use. Wells are typically encased in steel
and cement to prevent contaminants from leaking into groundwater. But any negligence or
fracking-related accidents can have devastating effects. Fracturing directly into underground
water hazardous underground seepage and leakage, and inadequate treatment and disposal of
highly-toxic waste water can potentially contaminate drinking water around a fracking site.
There's also concern about the threat of earthquakes and damaged infrastructure from pressure
and waste water injection. Links between fracking and increased seismic activity leave
unresolved questions about long-term pressure imbalances that might be happening deep beneath
our feet. Fracking's biggest controversy, though, is happening above the ground. The consensus
is that burning natural gas is better for the environment than burning coal since the gas collected
from fracking emits only half the carbon dioxide as coal per unit of energy. The pollution caused
by the fracking itself, though, isn't negligible. Methane that leaks out during the drilling and
pumping process is many times more potent than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas. Some
scientists argue that methane eventually dissipates, so has a relatively low long-term impact.

Conclusion
A greater question hangs in the air. Does fracking take time, money, and research away from the
development of cleaner renewable energy sources? Natural gas is non-renewable, and the short-
run economic interests supporting fracking may fall short in the face of global climate change.
Experts are still examining fracking's overarching effects. Although modern fracking has been
around since the it's boomed in the last few decades. As other sources of natural gas decrease, the
costs of non-renewable energies rise, and cutting-edge technologies make it so accessible. But
many countries and regions have already banned fracking in response to environmental concerns.
It's undeniable that fracking has reshaped the energy landscape around the world, but for what
long-term benefit and at what cost?