Companies looking at new fracking fluids to release natural gas

Bloomberg:

Halliburton Co. and Schlumberger Ltd., trying to forestall a regulatory crackdown that would cut natural-gas drilling, are developing ways to eliminate the need for chemicals that may taint water supplies near wells.

At risk is hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, a process that unlocked gas deposits in shale formations and drove gains in U.S. production of the fuel. Proposed regulations might slow drilling and add $3 billion a year in costs, a government study found. As one solution, energy companies are researching ways to kill bacteria in fracturing fluids without using harmful chemicals called biocides.

“The most dangerous part in the shale frack is the biocide,” said Steve Mueller, chief executive officer at Southwestern Energy Co., the biggest producer in the Fayetteville Shale of Arkansas. “That’s the number-one thing the industry is trying to find a way around.”

U.S. House and Senate bills introduced in 2009 would force producers to get federal permits for each well. That and other proposed environmental measures would cut drilling by as much as half and add compliance costs of as much as $75 billion over 25 years, according to a study done for the U.S. Energy Department.

Biocides are employed because the watery fluids used to fracture rocks heat up when they’re pumped into the ground at high speed, causing bacteria and mold to multiply, Mueller said. The bacteria grow, inhibiting the flow of gas.

...

Halliburton and Schlumberger, the world’s largest oilfield contractors, are among companies seeking biocide substitutes. Houston-based Halliburton said March 9 that it’s testing a process using ultraviolet light to kill bacteria in fracking fluid.

About 80 percent of gas wells drilled in North America are stimulated or fractured in some way, Tim Probert, corporate- development chief at Halliburton, said in a telephone interview.

...

Houston-based Southwestern has tested an ultrasonic technique that moves water faster than the speed of sound through a cone-shaped vortex to kill bacteria before the fluid is sent down the well, Mueller said.

“At high speeds, something will happen called cavitation,” he said. “You’re basically smacking the bugs upside the head and killing them.”

Chemicals, including biocides such as chlorine, make up less than 1 percent of fracking fluids. The rest is water and sand. Companies haven’t identified the chemicals they use, citing competitive reasons. Advocacy organizations such as the Environmental Working Group in Washington have called for lawmakers to require energy companies to disclose the chemicals.

...

If they use chlorine, there would be no real damage to a water supply even if it did breach the water. Most water suppliers had chlorine to kill bacteria to make the drinking water safe.

I think that much of the controversy is overblown. There are few if any examples of the alleged danger ever happening. What is really happening is that environmental wackos fear that abundant natural gas will make it harder for them to push alternative energy that is more expensive and less efficient.