Collaborative Research: EAGER: A New Approach to the Analysis of the Risk of Hydrofracking Fluid Migration from Unconventional Shales to Groundwater Reservoirs

University Of Vermont & State Agricultural College, Burlington VT

Investigators

Abstract

1247338/1247437 Mouser/Pinder Advancements in horizontal hydraulic fracturing technologies combined with the exploration of vast unconventional shale resources have led to an energy boom that is rapidly transcending economics of the Appalachian region. Unfortunately, shale development activities are progressing at a rate that is driving new regulatory policies before the possible detrimental effects of these techniques on water resource sustainability are understood. The biological, physical, and chemical properties of the hydrofracking fluids will govern their interaction with pore structures and formation fluids. Understanding the fate and longevity of these fluids is critical to framing our understanding of the risks of these activities to potable water supplies. The objective of this research is to better characterize the biophysiochemical properties of fluids relevant to unconventional shale development, and formulate a risk-based flow and transport model for solving their spatiotemporal distribution in the subsurface. The investigators will examine the physical properties and biodegradability potential of fracking and flowback fluids, and measure the governing physical characteristics of rock cores from unconventional shale and surrounding formations in order to quantitate the constitutive relationships that describe how fluids move through media. The investigators will combine experimentally-derived properties with industry knowledge and a probabilistic fracture hydraulic conductivity to formulate a risk-based flow and transport model capable of predicting fluid movement from shale formations to groundwater aquifers. This research will help quantify the likelihood that hydrofracking processes occurring at depth could migrate to shallower groundwater aquifers that serve industrial, commercial, or domestic water supplies within a foreseeable time frame. It should also provide insight into how long the fracking fluid compounds would persist in the subsurface environment if they were mobilized from the unconventional shale formations. By integrating experimentally-derived properties with expert knowledge and a transport modeling approach, this research will both advance our understanding of fluid properties used during energy development activities and provide a new tool for practitioners to assess migration risk under a range of hydrogeologic scenarios. The research undertaken in this project will be communicated to a broad range of stakeholders through participation in extension meetings and ongoing workshop forums on shale energy development in the Appalachian region.