Understanding Earthquakes Caused by Hydraulic Fracturing

Location of Microearthquakes Induced by Hydraulic Fracturing

This paper examines the problem of locating microearthquakes induced by hydraulic fracturing using seismic arrival time data. In addition to the use of absolute arrival times measured for individual events, we consider the use of differential arrival times amongst a set of two or more seismic events as a means of constralning their locations relative to one another. Differential arrival times c...

Hydraulic and Pneumatic Fracturing

Methane contamination of drinking water caused by hydraulic fracturing remains unproven.

Shale gas extraction involves the drilling of organic-rich, lowpermeability shale and then stimulation of hydraulic fractures that allows gas to be produced. Methane in aquifers located above the shale strata, for instance, in Pennsylvania, United States, has been attributed by some to be the result of contamination caused by the hydraulic fracturing process. The work by Osborn et al. (1) descr...

Energy Analysis of Hydraulic Fracturing

In this paper, numerical simulations of circular boreholes under internal hydraulic pressure are carried out to investigate the energy transferred to the surrounding rock and the breakdown pressure. The simulations are conducted by using a micromechanical continuum damage model proposed by Golshani et al. (2006). The simulation results suggest that the borehole breakdown pressure and the energy...

Complex Fluids and Hydraulic Fracturing.

Nearly 70 years old, hydraulic fracturing is a core technique for stimulating hydrocarbon production in a majority of oil and gas reservoirs. Complex fluids are implemented in nearly every step of the fracturing process, most significantly to generate and sustain fractures and transport and distribute proppant particles during and following fluid injection. An extremely wide range of complex fl...