Fracking

FRACKING
What is “Fracking” ?
Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, is the process of extracting natural grass from shale rock layers deep within the earth. Fracking makes it possible to producenatural gas extraction in shale plays that were once unreachable with conventional technologies. Recent advancements in drilling technology have led to new man-made hydraulic fractures in shale plays thatwere once not available for exploration. In fact, three dimensional imaging helps scientists determine the precise locations for drilling.

Horizontal drilling (along with traditional verticaldrilling) allows for the injection of highly pressurized fracking fluids into the shale area. This creates new channels within the rock from which natural gas is extracted at higher than traditional rates.This drilling process can take up to a month, while the drilling teams delve more than a mile into the Earth’s surface. After which, the well is cased with cement to ensure groundwater protection,and the shale is hydraulically fractured with water and other fracking fluids.
Method that use this type of fracturation:
A hydraulic fracture is formed by pumping the fracturing fluid into thewellbore at a rate sufficient to increase pressure downhole to exceed that of the fracture gradient (pressure gradient) of the rock. The fracture gradient is defined as the pressure increase per unit of thedepth due to its density and it is usually measured in pounds per square inch per foot or bars per meter. The rock cracks and the fracture fluid continues further into the rock, extending the crackfurther, and so on. Operators typically try to maintain "fracture width", or slow its decline, following treatment by introducing into the injected fluid a proppant – a material such as grains of sand,ceramic, or other particulates, that prevent the fractures from closing when the injection is stopped and the pressure of the fluid is reduced. Consideration of proppant strengths and prevention of...