Case Studies - WY001 - Pneumatic Fracturing
Pneumatic Fracturing for Petroleum Hydrocarbon Recovery, Glendo WY
ARS was contracted by a national consulting firm to conduct Pneumatic Fracturing a service station in Glendo, Wyoming in facilitating the recovery of petroleum hydrocarbon from the subsurface. The work was done under the State of Wyoming UST Program. Since the ‘30s, leaks from USTs at service stations in the state had resulted in extensive free- and dissolved-phase hydrocarbon plumes.
Pneumatic Fracturing was demonstrated at a site that involved drilling nine borings for fracture wells, and then applying the technology in both the saturated and unsaturated zones after a baseline aquifer and SVE testing was conducted. The treatment zone consisted of 12 to 20 feet of unconsolidated silt and small amount of sand overlaying siltstone and claystone.
Results of the post-fracturing aquifer testing showed that water production rates essentially doubled, with the same drawdown. Post-fracturing SVE testing showed that the operating vacuum could be reduced significantly, and vacuum influence was measured in all nearby site monitoring wells with an SVE effective ROI of approximately 60 ft. An expanded full-scale remediation system has been planned consequently.
Case Studies