Rebecca Black
Ms. Kiersti Ford
NSCI 115
5 October 2015
To Frack or Not to Frack
Hydraulic fracturing is a process began being used in Kansas in 1947 and, through the years, has become a regular practice used to stimulate natural gas and oil flow to an area and increase its production. It has presented many opportunities and challenges over the years. And it has brought many social and ethical concerns to light. There are different methods used in hydraulic fracturing and involves quite a bit of water. Recently is has become a hot topic regarding national and state policies on energy and natural gas. It has effects that span environmental factors to even affecting humans. Many of the aspects overlap and effect one another. It is important to …show more content…
Hydraulic fracturing is a technique used to improve the permeability of surrounding bedrock to be able to collect more natural gas and oil from the underground reservoirs. The process is meant to retrieve gas and oil that would not have been able to be collected otherwise.
While extracting gas and oil from exiting fractures does still occur, hydraulic fracturing involves creating new, man-made fractures in order to collect even more gas and oil. Hydraulic fracturing utilizes shales which can act as source rocks as well as storage for hydrocarbons and extracts what it can from them. The disposal of the waste can drastically change the surrounding environment in the surrounding area(EPA 2015). The subsurface geology is altered over time. Although most of the hydraulic fracturing process is similar in most areas, the geologic factors in an area differ greatly from each …show more content…
There are 5 stages of the hydraulic fracturing water cycle. The first stage is water acquisition, which means that the water needed for hydraulic fracturing is collected. Because so much water is needed, it is gathers from surrounding surface water and ground water. The second stage is chemical mixing. Once the water needed has been collected, it is combined with chemicals that give it more fluidity. The chemical mixture can be released back into the environment if there is a spill or a leak in the equipment. The third stage is well injection. The fluid mixture is pressurized and injected into a well, which creates fractures that allows the shale to release the oil and natural gas buildup and gathers at the surface of the well. Because the mixture is injected directly into the ground, there is a possibility that is will seep into the water table. The fourth stage of the hydraulic fracturing water cycle is flowback and produced water, which refers to the leftover wastewater. After the oil and natural gas collects at the top of the well, the chemical water mixture has to be collected and stored. Then, it is determined whether the wastewater will be recycled, disposed of, or treated. The final step of the hydraulic fracturing water cycle is wastewater treatment and disposal. The wastewater and be injected back into the ground, treated and released into surface bodies of water, or recycled without being treated for
Ms. Kiersti Ford
NSCI 115
5 October 2015
To Frack or Not to Frack
Hydraulic fracturing is a process began being used in Kansas in 1947 and, through the years, has become a regular practice used to stimulate natural gas and oil flow to an area and increase its production. It has presented many opportunities and challenges over the years. And it has brought many social and ethical concerns to light. There are different methods used in hydraulic fracturing and involves quite a bit of water. Recently is has become a hot topic regarding national and state policies on energy and natural gas. It has effects that span environmental factors to even affecting humans. Many of the aspects overlap and effect one another. It is important to …show more content…
Hydraulic fracturing is a technique used to improve the permeability of surrounding bedrock to be able to collect more natural gas and oil from the underground reservoirs. The process is meant to retrieve gas and oil that would not have been able to be collected otherwise.
While extracting gas and oil from exiting fractures does still occur, hydraulic fracturing involves creating new, man-made fractures in order to collect even more gas and oil. Hydraulic fracturing utilizes shales which can act as source rocks as well as storage for hydrocarbons and extracts what it can from them. The disposal of the waste can drastically change the surrounding environment in the surrounding area(EPA 2015). The subsurface geology is altered over time. Although most of the hydraulic fracturing process is similar in most areas, the geologic factors in an area differ greatly from each …show more content…
There are 5 stages of the hydraulic fracturing water cycle. The first stage is water acquisition, which means that the water needed for hydraulic fracturing is collected. Because so much water is needed, it is gathers from surrounding surface water and ground water. The second stage is chemical mixing. Once the water needed has been collected, it is combined with chemicals that give it more fluidity. The chemical mixture can be released back into the environment if there is a spill or a leak in the equipment. The third stage is well injection. The fluid mixture is pressurized and injected into a well, which creates fractures that allows the shale to release the oil and natural gas buildup and gathers at the surface of the well. Because the mixture is injected directly into the ground, there is a possibility that is will seep into the water table. The fourth stage of the hydraulic fracturing water cycle is flowback and produced water, which refers to the leftover wastewater. After the oil and natural gas collects at the top of the well, the chemical water mixture has to be collected and stored. Then, it is determined whether the wastewater will be recycled, disposed of, or treated. The final step of the hydraulic fracturing water cycle is wastewater treatment and disposal. The wastewater and be injected back into the ground, treated and released into surface bodies of water, or recycled without being treated for