Life Cycle Implications of Using CO2-Based Fracturing Fluids As a Substitute for Slickwater
Carbon Management Technology Conference
2017
2017 Carbon Management Technology Conference
General Submissions
Session 13 - CO2 Utilization
Wednesday, July 19, 2017 - 5:00pm to 5:25pm
Our results suggest that even though CO2-based fluids require more energy to deliver than water-based fluids, they have a lower GHG emission profile because much CO2 is buried during the fracturing process. More importantly, CO2-based fluids also enable the production of considerably more natural gas from the same well. The capillary trapping that results from the use of water based fluids could be largely avoided by using non-aqueous fluids. Over the course of the full life cycle, this increase in production means CO2-fracked wells have a lower impact on a per MJ natural gas produced basis. As expected, CO2-based fracturing fluids lower the life cycle water demands of fracturing by a great deal.
These findings will then be framed in the context of regional-scale models of CO2 availability. Much of the United States exists in so-called âcarbon desertsâ wherein facilities can provide the large volumes of CO2 that would be needed to complete an unconventional well. Pipeline infrastructure would need to be expanded to support these efforts, which would also support the development of other carbon management technologies. Using facility-scale models of CO2-generating industries, we will compare the availability of CO2 with the location of unconventional oil and gas fields to understand where opportunities exist for early adoption of this technology.