Process Essay: The Process Of Fracking

Improved Essays
Fracking is defined as the process which entails drilling down into the earth surface. The drilling is done before the high-pressure water is channeled towards the rock with the aim of aiding in the release of the gas inside. Sand, chemicals, and water are, therefore, injected into a particular rock coupled with high pressure to enable efficacy in the flow of gas out to the head of the well.
It is worth noting that the working of fracking entails several steps. The first step is on drilling a hole down to the level of gas-rich shale. The drilled well is then given a steel casing to prevent contamination of the nearby waters. The moment the drill reaches the shale layer, it starts to drill at a horizontal dimension for miles. It is at the time in which a perforating gun that is loaded with explosives is charged and lowered to the bottom of the drilled well. The gun helps in puncturing small holes
…show more content…
Many people may also view it as the completion stage. The stage includes the pumping of a mixture of sand, water, and chemicals into the drilled well at very high pressure to go through the tiny holes made in the casing (Brad, 2015, n.p). The fluids aid in cracking the shale rock until it opens. The sand equally helps in holding the cracks until they open. There is also the flow backstage which may not be ignored since it consists of chemicals and waters which flow out of the well and are channeled for disposal reasons or treatment. The last concern which finalizes the case of cracking is marked with the flow of the natural gas from the shale area until it is directed out of the well, a place where it is shipped to the consumers through the use of pipelines. In most cases, typical wells may produce gas for about 20 to 40 years with an approximate pumping of about thousands of cubic feet of gas daily. According to the information kept by the United States’ Energy Information and Administration, there were at least 23, 000 hydraulically

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Gasland Documentary

    • 491 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Hydraulic fracturing is basically drilling into large shale fields, coal bed seams, tight sands containing gas deposits that have been trapped in the rock. Hydraulic fracturing requires fracking fluids, which are chemical cocktails consisting of five hundred ninety-six chemicals, some of which chemicals are neurotoxins and carcinogens. This process also includes seven million gallons of water, also mixed with large amounts of chemicals. Josh Fox predicted that forty trillion gallons of chemical water have been created through hydraulic fracturing. Much of that water has been injected or left seeping into the ground.…

    • 491 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Marcellus Shale Case Study

    • 1025 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The second and the third methods include pumping of flow back wastewater from Marcellus wells into underground injection wells and hauling the wastewater to an approved industrial wastewater treatment plant where the water is treated and discharged to surface water. In conclusion, geology and environmental concerns of the Marcellus Shale analyses the drilling process of the natural gas that is formed at a depth of 4000 to 8000 feet. The formation of this natural gas has been of varying effects to the environment and human beings. In its extraction, the natural gas emits some harmful chemicals that affect the aquatic life of sea animals as well as human health.…

    • 1025 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Fracking Research Paper

    • 1161 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Hydraulic Fracking or “fracking” is a process of drilling down into the earth before a high-pressure water mixture is directed at the rock to release the gas. Water, sand, and chemicals are injected into…

    • 1161 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Hydraulic Fracturing must not be allowed to operate in the state of Michigan. The process of fracking is relatively new process; with the first experimental wells being drilled in the late 1940’s ("What is Hydraulic Fracturing."). The process of fracking involves drilling thousands of feet deep into pockets of shale -- a rock that holds large quantities of natural gas-- where the drilling then turns horizontal for hundreds of feet ("Unconventional"). Once the hole is drilled it is pumped full of 2-8 Million gallons of fluid, consisting of water, sand, and chemicals ("Unconventional").…

    • 1013 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Stop Fracking Problems

    • 1018 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Fracking creates fractures that extend from wells into oil and gas formations by pumping highly-pressurized fluid, such as; water, sand, ceramic beads, and a mixture of chemicals, into the oil or gas formation. As this fluid holds the underground fissures open, oil and gas flow up the well to the surface. A congressional Democrat…

    • 1018 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Fracking Issues

    • 590 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Fracking, the informal name for hydraulic fracturing, is a method of extracting natural gas from the earth. In this process, a well is drilled deep into the earth to reach shale. Once it hit this level, the well takes a ninety-degree turn and runs through the layer. Water with other dissolved chemicals is pressurized and sent down the well to create cracks in the shale. This solution helps absorb the gas and is subsequently pumped back up the well to the surface (NYTimes).…

    • 590 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    It has been long acknowledged that the Untied States is in need of finding a natural energy source in order to become a more sustainable country and to also become less dependent on the Middle East. Attaining natural gas and oil from shale is a game changer when it comes to energy production. However, this revolutionary approach has created environmental skepticism around how environmentally friendly and sustainable this practice actually is and the types of problems that could be associated with fracking as a practice. Hydraulic Fracking has become extremely controversial because of very serious potential environmental risks. Enormous amounts of water are used during the fracking process, which become polluted creating a high probability…

    • 666 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Methane unburned is twenty times more harmful to the environment then carbon dioxide emissions. Based on what is happening in North Dakota, and in most cases, as much 1/3rd of the methane from these fractured wells is flared off. Combine this with the fact that each single fracked well, it would be required to use between 400 - 600 diesel heavy trucks ranging from pumper trucks, water trucks, and chemical trucks, including the personnel vehicles. These trucks rarely are shut down completely once on site.…

    • 1627 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    A high-pressure mixture of water, sand and chemicals are pumped beneath the surface to release the gas trapped there. Some of the material pumped in returns to the surface, while some remains underground where it props open the fracture that has now been created” (At Issue: Fracking). It exists because it is a good…

    • 1622 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Fracking is Hydraulic drilling that goes deep into the earth. There drilling deep down to get to a type of rock called shale that when you frack it, it releases natural gas that we can extract and uses in our cars and other engine based machines. It gets its name “fracking” by fracturing…

    • 1221 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    To frack or not to frack? This is a question, common amongst humanity today. Fracking is the process of drilling deep into the ground to extract natural gas from the shale down below. To extract the natural gas humongous amounts of toxic fluid, loaded with silica sand and chemicals, are pumped into the ground. This fluid is not always pumped back out of the ground and seeps into surrounding groundwater.…

    • 1162 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Fracking Argument Essay

    • 1563 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Not only does it hurt the environment but also the people and wildlife living in it. Fracking is short for Hydraulic Fracking. Fracking is drilling deep into the earth’s crust and injecting chemicals to collect oils and gas. Fracking is unnaturally creating cracks in shale rock and cause earthquakes. It is dangerous for people living in and around fracking sites.…

    • 1563 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Fracking: A Controversial Topic If someone offered you $100,000 to drill on your land, would you accept the offer? Would the $100,000 be worth the sacrifices? Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, is the process in which chemicals and liquids are injected into rocks below the Earth’s surface at high pressure to extract the natural gas or oil trapped inside the rock. Below the surface of the United States lies trillions of cubic feet of natural gas, a quantity which is twice the amount of oil in Saudi Arabia.…

    • 745 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Fracking is a big controversial topic that has been argued for years because of the effects it can have on the environment. Fracking has been used since the 1940s to get natural gas from rocks such as limestone and sandstone. At first, the workers started to use small explosions to get the natural gas from the dead organisms in the stone. The oil and gas companies later changed by using water pressure which is known as hydraulic fracking. This sounds good but fracking can have consequences on the local environment.…

    • 472 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    In many people’s minds, the term “Fracking” only applies to the controversial extraction process and the environmental impact surrounding that process. Hydraulic Fracturing or “Fracking” for short is a process where chemicals and water are injected into wells to breakup rock formations that have gas or oil trapped in the rock itself. This process is specifically used for developing and extracting oil and natural gas from shale. While most people have heard the term “Fracking”, very few understand or even consider the down the road steps required to transfer, process and transport the fuel once it has been extracted or the implications and environmental or health impacts that follows in its wake. While fracking is currently banned in New York State and much of the New England area, those states still play a part in getting the fuel to export markets such as Canada or overseas.…

    • 1878 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays