The fracking technology required to promote it was discussed intensively ten years ago – and buried again. A process presented at the Montanuni Leoben, which is intended to enable more environmentally friendly funding, could now gain new impetus.
Fracking is a hotly disputed method of extracting natural gas: Some see this technology for extracting natural gas and oil deposits from deeper layers of rock – such as shale rock – as a promising future for natural gas production. Critics, on the other hand, emphasize the environmental risks and see the expansion of the fossil energy base as an obstacle to the transition to renewable energies.
In the process, the so-called frac fluid – a mixture of water, quartz sand and various chemicals – is pressed under high pressure into deep layers of rock. Fine cracks (fracs) are created in the rock, through which the gas or stored oil can flow. The method is controversial because in conventional application potentially environmentally harmful chemicals are used to stabilize the fracking fluid and maintain its support capacity. Skeptics also criticize that too much water is used and there is little knowledge about possible environmental and health hazards of the fracking method.
Herbert Hofstätter from the Chair of Petroleum and Geothermal Energy Recovery cannot understand these concerns when translated into his process. More than ten years ago, he developed a method at the Montanuniversität Leoben that does not require harmful chemicals and is intended to make the process more environmentally friendly. It is a new way of generating clean energy using biological substances without the use of environmentally harmful chemicals, as Hofstätter put it to the APA. In addition, it should not only be used for the production of natural gas, but also to tap the geothermal energy for thermal energy use. “We have a ready-made concept for this,” says the Leoben professor.
Hofstätter called his alternative to conventional fracking methods “Bio Enhanced Energy Recovery” (BEER). Water with potassium carbonate is used as the fracking fluid, which is used to create fractures in the underground rock and to transport the proppants, and is pumped into the earth at high pressure. On the other hand, special proppants such as ceramics, sand or glass beads are used to keep the newly created cracks open. To ensure that the water has the appropriate flow properties, Hofstätter uses modified starch instead of the criticized chemicals. The University of Leoben applied for a patent for the BEER process years ago.
OMV actually wanted to use this method in 2012 to drill for shale gas in the Weinviertel. However, due to strong resistance from the population and a lack of support from politicians, this ultimately did not happen. In the meantime, there is renewed interest in the process developed in Leoben – both domestically and from foreign companies in North America, as Hofstätter said.
Source: Nachrichten
