Hydraulic fracturing has been commonly used by the oil and gas industry to stimulate production of hydrocarbon wells, such as oil and/or gas wells. Hydraulic fracturing, sometimes called “fracing” or “fracking” is the process of injecting fracturing fluid, which is typically a mixture of water, sand, and chemicals, into the subsurface to fracture the subsurface geological formations and release otherwise encapsulated hydrocarbon reserves. The fracturing fluid is typically pumped into a wellbore at a relatively high pressure sufficient to cause fissures within the underground geological formations. Specifically, once inside the wellbore, the pressurized fracturing fluid is pressure pumped down and then out into the subsurface geological formation to fracture the underground formation. A fluid mixture that may include water, various chemical additives, and proppants (e.g., sand or ceramic materials) can be pumped into the underground formation to fracture and promote the extraction of the hydrocarbon reserves, such as oil and/or gas. For example, the fracturing fluid may comprise a liquid petroleum gas, linear gelled water, gelled water, gelled oil, slick water, slick oil, poly emulsion, foam/emulsion, liquid carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrogen gas (N2), and/or binary fluid and acid.
Implementing large-scale fracturing operations at well sites typically requires extensive investment in equipment, labor, and fuel. For instance, a typical fracturing operation uses a variety of fracturing equipment, numerous personnel to operate and maintain the fracturing equipment, relatively large amounts of fuel to power the fracturing operations, and relatively large volumes of fracturing fluids. As such, planning for fracturing operations is often complex and encompasses a variety of logistical challenges that include minimizing the on-site area or “footprint” of the fracturing operations, providing adequate power and/or fuel to continuously power the fracturing operations, increasing the efficiency of the hydraulic fracturing equipment, and reducing any environmental impact resulting from fracturing operations. Thus, numerous innovations and improvements of existing fracturing technology are needed to address the variety of complex and logistical challenges faced in today's fracturing operations.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds