Case Studies - WY002 - Pneumatic Fracturing

Pneumatic Fracturing in Petroleum Contaminated Site in Glendo, WY

During the late summer of 2007, ARS completed the largest Pneumatic Fracturing project in the industry’s history. The project consisted of 94 fracturing points across a 50-acre hydrocarbon plume in the town of Glendo, Wyoming.

A small-scale implementation was conducted in 2005 (see Case Study WY001) to evaluate the effectiveness of Pneumatic Fracturing in enhancing the soil permeability to facilitate extraction treatment approaches. The positive result of this first phase test led to this full-scale implementation as part of a site-wide SVE and groundwater recovery treatment system.

The formation consisted of weathered claystone and sandstone.  In each borehole, a 10-ft interval between approximately 30 ft to 40 ft bgs, was fractured. 170 to 380 psi was required to initiate the fracturing.  Pressure influence was observed as far as 70-ft from the fracture points. More than 150,000 standard cubic feet of nitrogen were used for the project.

In monitoring wells within the treatment area, the site consultant detected an immediate increase in the thickness of the free product after the fracturing.

The SVE and groundwater recovery system installation was scheduled to be completed in late 2007 and early 2008.  ARS will update this case study should data on the system performance become available.

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