Oil and Gas News from OilGasDaily.Com  
OIL AND GAS
Swapping water for CO2 could make fracking greener and more effective
by Staff Writers
Washington DC (SPX) Jun 03, 2019

file illustration only

Scientists at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and China University of Petroleum (Beijing) have demonstrated that CO2 may make a better hydraulic fracturing (fracking) fluid than water. Their research, published May 30 in the journal Joule, could help pave the way for a more eco-friendly form of fracking that would double as a mechanism for storing captured atmospheric CO2.

Fracking is a technique used to extract resources from unconventional reservoirs in which fluid (usually water mixed with sand, foaming agents, biocides, and other chemicals) is injected into the rock, fracturing it to release the resources within. Of the approximately 7-15 million liters of fluid injected, 30%-50% remains in the rock formation after extraction ends. Its high water consumption, environmental risks, and frequent production issues have led to concerns about fracking among both industry experts and environmental advocates.

"Non-aqueous fracturing could be a potential solution to circumvent these issues," says Nannan Sun, a researcher in the Shanghai Advanced Research Institute at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. "We chose CO2 fracturing from a range of options because the process includes multiple benefits. However, we were still lacking a fundamental understanding of the technology, which is greatly important for its further development and deployment."

Benefits of CO2 fracturing include eliminating the need for a hefty water supply (which would make fracking viable in arid locations), reducing the risk of damage to reservoirs (as often happens when aqueous solutions create blockages in the rock formation), and providing an underground repository for captured CO2.

However, CO2 is not likely to become commonly used as a fracking fluid unless it is more effective than water at resource production. To investigate the differences between CO2 and water as fracturing fluids on a microscopic level, Sun and his team collected shale outcrops from Chongqing, China and fractured them with both fluids. They found that CO2 outperformed water, creating complex networks of fractures with significantly higher stimulated volumes.

"We demonstrated that CO2 has higher mobility than water, and, therefore, the injection pressure can be better delivered into the natural porosity of the formation," says Sun. "This changes the mechanism by which the fractures are created, generating more complex fracture networks that result in more efficient shale gas production."

While the researchers believe this hydraulic fracturing technology will be scalable, its large-scale development is currently limited by CO2 availability. The cost of CO2 captured from emission sources is still prohibitively expensive to make CO2 an industry-wide fracking fluid replacement.

The team also notes that once CO2 has been injected into the fracture, it acquires a low viscosity that inhibits it from effectively transporting sand to the fractures. Since the sand is intended to prop open the fractures while shale gas is harvested, it is critical that scientists learn to improve the fluid's viscosity--but the team is not yet sure how to do so while keeping costs low and minimizing the environmental footprint.

As next steps, the researchers plan to study the limits of CO2 fracturing technology in order to better understand how it can be used. "Further investigations are needed to identify the effects of type of reservoirs, geomechanical properties and conditions, CO2 sensitivity of the formation, and so forth," says Sun. "Additionally, cooperation with industries will be carried out to push forward the practical deployment of the technology."

Research Report: "Fracturing with Carbon Dioxide: From Microscopic Mechanism to Reservoir Application"


Related Links
Cell Press
All About Oil and Gas News at OilGasDaily.com


Thanks for being here;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5 Billed Monthly


paypal only


OIL AND GAS
ExxonMobil staff to return to work in Iraq: ministry
Baghdad (AFP) June 1, 2019
Foreign employees of US energy major ExxonMobil will return to work near Iraq's border with Iran Sunday, the oil ministry said, two weeks after being evacuated over tensions between Washington and Tehran. "ExxonMobil accepted that the 83 employees evacuated will resume their posts from Sunday," spokesman Assem Jihad told AFP. He said Iraqi authorities, which had slammed the decision to pull out the workers from the West Qurna oil field as political, have taken "the necessary security measures fo ... read more

Comment using your Disqus, Facebook, Google or Twitter login.



Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle

OIL AND GAS
Table scraps can be used to reduce reliance on fossil fuels

Where there's waste there's fertilizer

When biodegradable plastic isn't

Electrode's 'hot edges' convert CO2 gas into fuels and chemicals

OIL AND GAS
Solar cell defect mystery solved after decades of global effort

First stand-alone solar-powered poultry house

Renewables doesn't equal zero-carbon energy, and the difference is growing

Quantum rebar: Quantum dots enhance stability of solar-harvesting perovskite crystals

OIL AND GAS
Can sound protect eagles from wind turbine collisions?

UK hits historic coal-free landmark

BayWa r.e. sells its first Australian wind farms to Epic Energy

The complicated future of offshore wind power in the US

OIL AND GAS
World's second EPR nuclear reactor starts work in China

GE Hitachi begins vendor review of its BWRX-300 SMR with Canada's nuclear commission

Bio-inspired material targets oceans' uranium stores for sustainable nuclear energy

Iran to increase uranium, heavy water production: official

OIL AND GAS
UK-led mission to improve climate change forecasts added to ESA mission

Merkel govt vows climate action as voters turn up heat

Warming Arctic to blame for increase in extreme weather

Merkel team talks climate as voters turn up heat

OIL AND GAS
BMW partners Jaguar Land Rover to develop electric engine

US Postal Service to launch test of self-driving trucks

Tata Motors profits fall 47% amid Jaguar Land Rover China slowdown

Flying cars mooted for Paris' public transport network

OIL AND GAS
Storytelling, games make Iraq comeback on Ramadan nights

Long after guns fall silent, Mosul residents suffer hearing loss

Iraq warns of 'danger of war' as Iran's top diplomat visits

Three French IS members sentenced to death in Iraq

OIL AND GAS
China will double its nuclear warheads in next 10 years, DIA chief says

Purged no more: North Korean official appears at show

US-S.Korea military exercises not 'necessary': Pentagon chief

Japan PM to meet Iran's Khamenei to mediate with US: report









The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.