Thursday 13 March 2014

What is Hydraulic Fracturing?


hydraulic cylinder exportersThe chances of anyone mishearing the word ‘fracking’ are thick; resulting in raising eyebrows toward the manners of the speakers. Nevertheless, if the word is heard correctly, you will know it is among the significant ways of extracting oil and natural gases from oil shale. Referred to as hydraulic fracturing, the process came into existence in 1903, but it took close to 50 years to use the technique commercially. The entire oil extraction procedure has undergone a sea change with the advent of hydraulic fracturing.

The working of hydraulic fracturing

The process of hydraulic fracturing is initiated by pumping the liquid via a well to an underground shale deposit; this liquid creates immense pressure on the shale, causing it to break and release oil or natural gas. The most preferred liquid agent to be used in the process of fracking is water; however, sometimes crude oil, diesel oil, kerosene or diluted hydraulic acid can be used. Whenever, water is used as the liquid during fracking, it has to be mixed with certain chemicals and gaur, giving it a glutinous property.

Which parts of the world use hydraulic fracturing?

The gains from fracking have been aplenty. Some parts of the world that extensively use hydraulic fracturing process are the UK, Columbia, Argentina, Indonesia, Russia, Venezuela, Romania, Brazil, France and parts of the US. Being an indirect benefit, hydraulic fracturing has helped creating employment opportunities in several sectors such as hospitality, construction, engineering & surveying, equipment manufacturing, and electromechanical actuators.

By blending fracking with other technologies, the extraction of oil and natural gases from oil-bearing shale has become simpler and more profitable. The supporters of hydraulic fracturing assert that the process is, by far, the best natural gas and oil extraction technique, which is changing the face of global Energy industry.  The fracking process has opened the doors to oil and gas reserves that were earlier unreachable.

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