Fracturing-Fluid Flowback Simulation with Consideration of Proppant Transport in Hydraulically Fractured Shale Wells

Predominance and Metabolic Potential of Halanaerobium spp. in Produced Water from Hydraulically Fractured Marcellus Shale Wells.

Microbial activity in the produced water from hydraulically fractured oil and gas wells may potentially interfere with hydrocarbon production and cause damage to the well and surface infrastructure via corrosion, sulfide release, and fouling. In this study, we surveyed the microbial abundance and community structure of produced water sampled from 42 Marcellus Shale wells in southwestern Pennsyl...

Potential contaminant pathways from hydraulically fractured shale to aquifers.

Hydraulic fracturing of deep shale beds to develop natural gas has caused concern regarding the potential for various forms of water pollution. Two potential pathways-advective transport through bulk media and preferential flow through fractures-could allow the transport of contaminants from the fractured shale to aquifers. There is substantial geologic evidence that natural vertical flow drive...

Microbial communities in flowback water impoundments from hydraulic fracturing for recovery of shale gas.

Hydraulic fracturing for natural gas extraction from shale produces waste brine known as flowback that is impounded at the surface prior to reuse and/or disposal. During impoundment, microbial activity can alter the fate of metals including radionuclides, give rise to odorous compounds, and result in biocorrosion that complicates water and waste management and increases production costs. Here, ...

Coupled 3-D numerical simulation of proppant distribution and hydraulic fracturing performance optimization in Marcellus shale reservoirs

SPE-175021-MS Stochastic Modeling of a Fracture Network in a Hydraulically Fractured Shale-Gas Reservoir

This study introduces a novel approach to model the hydraulic fractures in a shale reservoir using a common stochastic method called “random-walk.” The goal of this work is to capture part of the “complexity” of a fracture/fracture network that has been generated by a hydraulic fracturing treatment and to attempt to characterize this fracture network using reservoir performance signatures. The ...