Hydraulic fracturing: environmental issues

230 Pages·2015·6.405 MB·English

by  American Chemical Society. Division of Environmental Chemistry,, Drogos, Donna L

1 Hydraulic Fracturing:
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In Hydraulic Fracturing: Environmental Issues; Drogos, Donna L.;
ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2015.
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In Hydraulic Fracturing: Environmental Issues; Drogos, Donna L.;
ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2015.
1216
ACS SYMPOSIUM SERIES
Hydraulic Fracturing:
Environmental Issues
Donna L. Drogos, Editor
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AmericanChemicalSociety,Washington,DC
DistributedinprintbyOxfordUniversityPress
In Hydraulic Fracturing: Environmental Issues; Drogos, Donna L.;
ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2015.
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Names:Drogos,DonnaL.,1943-editor.|AmericanChemicalSociety.Division
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Title:Hydraulicfracturing:environmentalissues/DonnaL.Drogos,editor,
1 UniversityofWyoming,Laramie,Wyoming;sponsoredbytheACSDivisionof
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In Hydraulic Fracturing: Environmental Issues; Drogos, Donna L.;
ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2015.
Foreword
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In Hydraulic Fracturing: Environmental Issues; Drogos, Donna L.;
ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2015.
Editor’s Biography
Donna L. Drogos
1 Donna L. Drogos, P.E., holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Civil
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ot0 Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley, 1988; a Master’s
16. of Science degree in Environmental Engineering from the Georgia Institute of
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5-1 Technology, 2014; and is a Registered Civil Engineer in the state of California.
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0 Currently, she is pursuing a Doctorate in Civil Engineering at the University
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k- of Wyoming. Her professional practice has focused on soil and groundwater
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21/ contamination, groundwater remediation, and contaminant hydrogeology, and
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0.1 shehasexperienceasaregulator,responsibleparty,andconsultantforsubsurface
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oi: contamination sites. Ms. Drogos also managed an engineering division at a
5 | d regulatory agency and is a member of the American Chemical Society and the
1 NationalGroundwaterAssociation.
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©2015AmericanChemicalSociety
In Hydraulic Fracturing: Environmental Issues; Drogos, Donna L.;
ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2015.
Preface
High volume hydraulic fracturing of deep shale deposits has transformed
the oil and gas industry, catapulting the United States (U.S.) into the biggest
oil and natural gas producer in the world, surpassing Russia as of June 2015.
Hydraulic fracturing has been a game changer providing an important measure
1
0 of energy independence for the U.S. As one expert put it, “Shale deposits are
0
6.pr a gift from God.” Hydraulic fracturing operations in North Dakota’s Bakken
1
2 Shale, in the Marcellus formation in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio, in
1
5- Texas’EagleFordandBarnettShale,andinthevicinityofPavillion,Wyoming,
1
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2 Bainbridge,Ohio,andDimockandDunkardCreek,Pennsylvaniaarethesubject
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1/b of increased media, public, and regulatory attention. New potential shale plays
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0 acrosstheU.S.arealsobeingexamined,includingtheMontereyshaleformation
1
10. inCaliforniawherehydraulicfracturingisatimelyandsignificantenvironmental
oi: issue with California’s recently enacted hydraulic fracturing regulations and
d
5 | published scientific studies. Heightened interest in hydraulic fracturing is also
1
20 foundworldwide,particularlyintheUnitedKingdom,France,andPolandwhere
15, development of natural gas from unconventional sources are seen as a path to
ber energyindependence. Morethanhalfoftheworld'sshaleoilresourcesarelocated
m
e in Russia, China, Argentina, and Libya, and development of these resources is
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D justbeginning.
b): Concurrent with the increased development of unconventional hydrocarbon
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resources are concerns over perceived risks to the environment that have been
e (
at raised at hydraulic fracturing locations throughout the U.S. The injection of
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n millions of gallons of drilling fluids with chemical additives in boreholes
o
ati extending for miles to crack the shale and release oil and methane has led to
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bli reports of contaminated water supplies, releases of chemically contaminated
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P flowback fluids, air pollution, increased greenhouse gas emissions, and induced
earthquakes. Proposals for acid fracturing have also raised concerns for the
environment. The2015U.S.EnvironmentalProtectionAgency(USEPA)report
determinedthathydraulicfracturinghasnotledtowidespreadimpactstodrinking
water resources. However, the USEPA noted specific instances could lead to
contamination, such as wells with inadequate casing and cementing, improperly
handledortreatedflowbackandproductionfluids,andstimulationinformations
containingbothoilandgasanddrinkingwaterresources.
Highvolumefracturingofdeepshaledepositsalsoproduceslargequantities
of wastewater over the production life of the well. The wastewaters are a
mixture of the salts, metals, radionuclides, organics, and microorganisms in
deep groundwater and dissolved from the geologic formation, as well as the
introducedhydraulicfracturingfluids. Theexactcompositionvariesconsiderably
ix
In Hydraulic Fracturing: Environmental Issues; Drogos, Donna L.;
ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2015.
and depends upon the specific shale composition, the fracturing fluid chemical
formulation tailored to that formation, and the source water for the hydraulic
fracturing fluid. It is also dependent upon whether the wastewater is the initial
flowbackwaterproducedinthefirstweeksofwelldevelopmentorthelong-term
production waters generated over the lifetime of the well. The composition of
theinjectedfracturingfluidalsoaltersthechemicalcompositionoftheformation
waterandtheresultingproductionwater.
These biogeochemical changes occurring in the millions of gallons of
hydraulic fracturing wastewater creates a unique dilemma for the disposal and
potential reuse of these waters. Traditional disposal options, such as municipal
wastewatertreatmentplantsanddeepinjectionwells,arenowlessavailabledue
to public concern over subsequent discharge to streams used as drinking water
1 sources and the increasing reports of induced seismicity. Existing treatment
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pr options such as desalinization become cost prohibitive in treating wastewaters
16. that are many times saltier than seawater. Water reuse is becoming common
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5-1 oftenrequiringnewtreatmenttechnologiestomakethewatersuitableforreusein
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0 the hydraulic fracturing process. These technical challenges posed by hydraulic
2
bk- fracturing have fostered increased research into the technologies needed to
21/ developtheseoilandgasresourcesinanenvironmentallysoundmanner.
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0.1 The American Chemical Society (ACS) symposiums were the catalyst
1
oi: for the chapters in this volume focusing on the latest information on the
5 | d environmental aspects of hydraulic fracturing, including technical challenges,
1 environmental effects, and the political and regulatory climate. These works
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5, provide an opportunity to explore the results of ongoing research and consider
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er multidisciplinary approaches needed to meet the challenges posed by this
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ec Ithankthemanyauthorswhocontributedtheirworkstothisvolume, ACS,
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b): andtheACSEnvironmentalChemistryDivisionfortheirsupportofthehydraulic
We fracturingsymposiums. IespeciallythankRafaelDelgadilloforhisunwavering
e ( supportandencouragementonthisprojectandonallofmyotherprofessionaland
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Pu DonnaL.Drogos

DepartmentofCivil&ArchitecturalEngineering
UniversityofWyoming
1000E.UniversityAve.

Laramie,Wyoming82071,UnitedStates
[email protected](e-mail)
x
In Hydraulic Fracturing: Environmental Issues; Drogos, Donna L.;
ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2015.
©2015AmericanChemicalSociety
brineandfresh.
orco-occupyingspacewithsubterraneanwaterreservoirs,both
forming weathered or bacterial altered deposits near surface,
absent,thehydrocarbonsriseviabuoyancytowardsthesurface
reservoirs,butwhenthesereservoirsarefilledorwhentheyare
of the shales and may be trapped in rock containments called
27, 5, 313-321). As oil and gas is produced, some moves out
–itsDepositionandDiagenesis. ClaysandClayMinerals,1979,
periodsandinmostpartsoftheworld(Toutelot,H.BlackShale
richshalesthatweredepositedthroughoutmanygeologictime
Sourcesofmanyofthesehydrocarbonsincludetheorganic-
carbonslaiddownwiththesediments.
1 pressure driven maturation reaction of some forms of organic
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h simultaneously produced by naturally occurring thermal and
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16. alkanestoringcompoundsofbenzene,tolueneandxylenes,are
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5-1 gas,withamyriadofco-generatedhydrocarbonmoleculesfrom
01 resultoffracturing. Theseissuesarecomplicatedsinceoiland
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21/ ground water contamination, air pollution and other problems
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5 | d Technology. SPE JPT 2010, 62, 12, 26-32). As with any
1 C., Smith, M. Hydraulic Fracturing: History Of An Enduring
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5, (U.S.)productionofmostoilandgasresources(Montgomery,
1
er for over sixty years and is critical to today’s United States
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o Houston,Texas77056-4400,UnitedStates
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George E. King and Danny Durham
*
Fracturing: What Are the Facts?
Environmental Aspects of Hydraulic
Chapter 1
In Hydraulic Fracturing: Environmental Issues; Drogos, Donna L.;
ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2015.
2
intersectioninunconventionalcompletions.
in conventional formations (non-shales), but is usually an acceptable flow
transverse fracture with the horizontal wellbore may be a tortuosity restriction
direction in which the horizontal well is drilled, Figure 1. The intersection of a
may travel along the wellbore or at an angle to the wellbore depending on the
barriers and rock stresses stop the growth. Fractures leaving a horizontal well
developalongthewellbore,growingupwarduntilthelimitingfactorsofleak-off,
easiertopushbackthantheσhmax). Fracturesleavingaverticalwellwillusually
thefracturetogrowperpendiculartotheminimumhorizontalstress(theσhminis
push apart. Native stress fields within the rock, namely σhmax and σhmin, force
stress environment will be vertical as the lower horizontal stresses are easier to
σhmax, ortheminimumhorizontalstress, σhmin; meaningfracturescreatedinthis
1 stress, σv, which is usually greater that either the maximum horizontal stress,
0
h0 about a thousand feet, the weight of the overlying rock forms a large vertical
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6. lateral orientation dictated by stresses within the rocks. At depths greater than
1
2
1 of a few hundred feet along vertical and horizontal planes within the rock with
5-
1 Fractureshapevarieswiththespecificconditionsbutisusuallyintherange
0
2
k- whereoilandgasisevolvedandoftentrapped.
b
1/ Added to complexity is the widely varying depositional geology of the earth
2
0
1 therefore must be monitored remotely by various fit-for-purpose technologies.
0.
oi: 1 visibly examined beyond the limited extent of the well’s interior piping, and
d product; in this case the well and the hydraulically-formed fractures, cannot be
15 | fracturing are relatively unique among engineering endeavors in that the final
0
5, 2 wellbore. Sub-surface elements of oil and gas well developments and hydraulic
er 1 flowcapacitytoenablehydrocarbonfluidstoflowfromtheformationtowardthe
mb dependonthegeologiccharacteristicsoftherockandtherequirementsoffracture
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c pressure is released. Selection of types and volumes of both fluid and proppant
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b): to maintain a stable flow path along the fracture after the hydraulic fracturing
e the fracture by the injected fluid, packing the fracture with sufficient proppant
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e ( rate,aproppantmaterial,usuallyroundsandorman-madeceramic,iscarriedinto
Dat Afterthefractureisinitiatedatthewellboreandwidenedbyincreasinginjection
on createafracturethatmaygrowverticallyandlaterallyoutwardfromthewell(1).
cati oil or gas-based fluid to oppose insitu stresses and rock strata tensile strength to
ubli fracturethroughhydrocarbonbearingrockusingpressureandaninjectedwater,
P
Oil and gas well fracturing, in the most simple of terms, creates a crack or
Hydraulic Fracturing: What Is It?

performanceandscientificallysoundresearchmethods.
development as a secondary effort, using both historical
asaprimarytargetandtheassociatedactivitiesofhydrocarbon
chapter will examine the direct impact of hydraulic fracturing
construction, hydrocarbon production or distribution. This
fracturing are actually concerns of materials transport, well
Many concerns of potential pollution from hydraulic
In Hydraulic Fracturing: Environmental Issues; Drogos, Donna L.;
ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2015.