Frac Fluid Flashcards
How is water allocated for fracking?
In Alberta, industry operators are required to specify the amount of water to be used based on present and reasonable need.
Each request requires an operator to apply for a license from the AER,
which is reviewed for its potential impacts on other water users and on the aquatic environment, among other considerations.
What is fracking?
Fracking takes place after the well has been drilled, cased and cemented. Fracking is a process that uses fluid to stimulate the flow of oil and natural gas to the surface of the well.
How long does fracking take?
the fracking process will take 3 to 4 days per well
Four basic steps
Step 1:
Step 1: Pressure the reservoir rock using a uid
to create a fracture
Step 2:
Grow the fracture by continuing to
pump fluids into the fracture(s)
Step three?
Step 3: Pump proppant materials into the
fracture in the form of a slurry, as part of
the fracture fluid.
step 4
Step 4: Stop pumping and flow back to the well
to recover the fracture fluids while
leaving the proppant in place in the
reservoir
Frac Fluid Frac Fluid = Base Fluid (90%) +? (9.5%) + Additives (0.5%)
Proppant
Proppant commonly pure silica ?, but can also be resin-coated sand or ? beads
sand ceramic
? is the real-time monitoring of the induced seismicity that occurs during fracking.
Micro-seismic monitoring
Micro-seismic monitoring creates an image of each ?? so that the operator can be sure that the fracking process is occurring as ? within the targeted rock formation.
frac stage intended
The amount of emissions emitted during the 3-4 day fracking phase of a well’s lifecycle is relatively ?. The sources for emissions during fracking operations include: Diesel-powered trucks and fracking ? Gases emitted from frac ? Silica dust from frac ? Flowback ? handling
small equipment fluid sand fluid
Fracking Explained Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a proven and highly-regulated technique that has been used by oil and gas companies for over ? years.
60
Fracking is a carefully-designed process that considers many conditions prior to initiating the treatment, including the following:
Type of rock in the formation Depth of the well Downhole temperature
About 90.0% of the frac fluid mixture is water and 9.5% is sand. The remaining 0.5% consists of chemical additives. The additives are compounds we ? ? ? in common food additives, household cleansers and automotive antifreeze.
encounter every day
At the surface fluids are mixed with a small amount of chemicals and fed to the fluid pumpers where it is pumped down the wellbore.
The fluid is pushed by pressure (Step 1) into the formation causing it to crack.
Once a fracture has been initiated, an increasing amount of power is required to extend the growth of the fracture
network (Step ?). This extra power is supplied by the rate at which the fluid is pumped and the fracture fluids’ ability to keep the cracks open as the fracture grows in ?.
2
length
Following the initial fracture fluid load, a
fluid/proppant mixture is pumped into the
opened fractures (Step ?), to keep them open
by depositing the proppant in the fracture
network.
3
The fracture fluids are then flowed back to the ? when the treatment is completed (Step ?).
surface
4
Types of Hydraulic Fracture Fluids
- The choice of hydraulic fracture uid is dependent
upon the reservoir’s ?. - Base is
- some reservoir rock types contain ?-? clays and other fluid types are used.
- Other types of fracture fluids commonly used include gases such as ?, ?, propane and oil
based fluids.
- properties
- common
- water-sensitive
- carbon dioxide, nitrogen
Fracture fluid volume depends on
size and number of
treatment operations.
Monitoring Fracture treatments
- new process for monitoring fracture treatments is commonly referred to as ?
During the fracturing process, the pressure created by the pumping of fracture fluids creates stress on individual contact points within the reservoir rock. As these points fracture,
the movement at the point creates a
micro-seismic monitoring
micro seismic event
