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> If the bore lining is theoretically a permeable structure in any well, then using fracking techniques would almost definitely make it more likely to crack, ri
by wigl 7y ago
> If the bore lining is theoretically a permeable structure in any well, then using fracking techniques would almost definitely make it more likely to crack, right?
It's not always permeable. It's more of a design issue because well completion is not a science, it's more of a process of optimizing production vs cost. You're not going to just use the thickest strongest metal there is everywhere.
> Therefore it's much more likely that a fracked well will contaminate layers above the production layer, right? Not to mention the fracking fluid contains extra materials which are likely the cause of any deleterious health effects.
Not necessarily. There's layers of permeable and effectively impermeable rock, depending on the fluid. Typical fracking depths are well below groundwater layers and separated by impermeable layers. Shale for example, is so tight that basically only methane flows through it because it's the smallest hydrocarbon. Fracking fluids (ex. water) + extra materials (such as sand, isopropyl alcohol) are used precisely because they can't flow through, build up pressure, and then physically create fractures in the production layer. The fluid can get lost as the rock fractures more and pressure drops, but this is monitored and again, is well below groundwater depth.
- defterGoose 7y agoYou've just repeated OP's point verbatim, though. The whole point is that in an idealized system, you have the well bore travelling down through a groundwater later which by definition is permeable by water. If your bore lining fails (which it is likely to do, given the hydraulic pressure required for fracking lower layers) you then have an open circuit to the groundwater layer. It doesn't matter how much further down the production layer is. Furthermore, it's unlikely that a small leak into a groundwater layer would be A. Easily detectable or B. Cause the producer to immediately abandon pumping anything else into a well which has already taken a significant investment to drill and line.
- tynpeddler 7y agoMy point is that this is not unique to fracked wells. Literally any well can have this problem and it's something that wells have to be regularly tested for. If a new technique is developed that allows hydrocarbons to be extracted from these wells, but does not fall under the fracking bans, then we're back in the same spot. In addition, if scientists have discovered a systematic flaw in regulation on well casing integrity, then I hope we apply that knowledge to all our oil wells, and not just the fracked ones.