Waterless fracturing technologies for unconventional reservoirs-opportunities for liquid nitrogen

Wang, Lei; Yao, Bowen; Cha, Minsu; Alqahtani, Naif B.; Patterson, Taylor W.; Kneafsey, Timothy J.; Miskimins, Jennifer L.; Yin, Xiaolong; Wu, Yu -Shu

doi:10.1016/j.jngse.2016.08.052

Title: Waterless fracturing technologies for unconventional reservoirs-opportunities for liquid nitrogen

Journal Article · Tue Aug 23 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jngse.2016.08.052· OSTI ID:1532198

Wang, Lei ^[1]; Yao, Bowen ^[1]; Cha, Minsu ^[2]; Alqahtani, Naif B. ^[3]; Patterson, Taylor W. ^[4]; Kneafsey, Timothy J. ^[5]; Miskimins, Jennifer L. ^[1]; Yin, Xiaolong ^[1]; Wu, Yu -Shu ^[1]

Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO (United States)
Texas A & M Univ., College Station, TX (United States)
King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, Riyadh (Saudi Arabia)
Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO (United States); Devon Energy, Oklahoma City, OK (United States)
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

During the past two decades, hydraulic fracturing has significantly improved oil and gas production from shale and tight sandstone reservoirs in the United States and elsewhere. Considering formation damage, water consumption, and environmental impacts associated with water-based fracturing fluids, efforts have been devoted to developing waterless fracturing technologies because of their potential to alleviate these issues. Herein, key theories and features of waterless fracturing technologies, including Oil-based and CO₂ energized oil fracturing, explosive and propellant fracturing, gelled LPG and alcohol fracturing, gas fracturing, CO₂ fracturing, and cryogenic fracturing, are reviewed. We then experimentally elaborate on the efficacy of liquid nitrogen in enhancing fracture initiation and propagation in concrete samples, and shale and sandstone reservoir rocks. In our laboratory study, cryogenic fractures generated were qualitatively and quantitatively characterized by pressure decay tests, acoustic measurements, gas fracturing, and CT scans. The capacity and applicability of cryogenic fracturing using liquid nitrogen are demonstrated and examined. Furthermore, by properly formulating the technical procedures for field implementation, cryogenic fracturing using liquid nitrogen could be an advantageous option for fracturing unconventional reservoirs.

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Research Organization:: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-05CH11231; 10122-20

OSTI ID:: 1532198

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1359382

Journal Information:: Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering, Vol. 35, Issue PA; ISSN 1875-5100

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 153 works

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