Characterizing hydraulic fracturing fluid greenness: Application of a hazard based index approach

Hydraulic fracturing of unconventional gas reservoirs utilizes a suite of chemical additives to accomplish specific engineered purposes. Chemical selection depends in large part on formation and operational characteristics but also on secondary non-technical properties, such as cost and environmental sustainability. Encouraged by industry level directives, oil and gas production and service companies are moving towards ‘greener’, i.e. sustainable hydraulic fracturing additives. It is not currently possible to adequately measure whether or not industry is in fact moving towards greener technologies. The proposed project will expand upon the previous work of UBC Okanagan to develop and validate a scoring database to comprehensively evaluate the greenness of all hydraulic fracturing fluid reports submitted to the FracFocus chemical disclosure registry. The proposed work will assist Oil and Gas companies to assess every fracture fluid report upon submission (approx. 500-600/yr), and yield a defensible assessment system that will permanently reside in the public domain.

Faculty Supervisor:

Rehan Sadiq;Kasun Hewage

Student:

Partner:

BC Oil and Gas Research and Innovation Society

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Mining

University:

University of British Columbia - Okanagan

Program: