Marcellus Shale Fracking – Transloading Bulk Materials for Marcellus Shale Drilling

Posts Tagged ‘frac sand’

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The transload equipment for bulk sand is used specifically by professionals to perform this task in the safest and quickest manner possible. While most of the devices used in this profession are used in other areas of industry, the ones used in the transloading industry as dedicated for a specific purpose only.

The reason for the dedicated use equipment is to reduce the possibility of any contamination from occurring. The level of allowable contamination is not the same as set by the FDA on food items, but that does not diminish its importance.

The best example of this is in the transfer of frac sand from the rail cars to the waiting tractor trailers. By only using the conveyor belts to transport this bulk material, the chances of cross contamination are significantly reduced. The maintenance and cleaning of these same devices is critical.

Frac sand is ordered by size and type. The reason there are so many different specifications to this material is because different size sand particles work differently in the hydro fracking process. The foreman of the wellbore knows what will work best for each particular well they are extracting the oil or nature gas from. If the wrong type or size of frac sand is used, the end results will be different.

It is true that all frac sand is used for the same purpose. The difference lies in the rock bed and how it interacts with it. Additionally as a service provider, it is important to always give the customer what they request.

These are the simple reasons why it is so important to provide dedicated transload equipment for bulk sand, efficiency and the correct material delivered as requested.

Transload Equipment for Bulk Sand in Action:

Transloading equipment for frac sand may be used in either direction.  This type of specialized conveying may be used to load rail cars from tanker trucks or the opposite which is to unload rail cars into trucks that will deliver the bulk sand to the job site.

Related Posts:

Rail Sand Transload

Bulk Material Transfer and Transloading

The transloading of silica sand or frac sand as it is sometimes referred to is a job done only in specific locations. This is not something most people have ever seen because of the location of a transloading station.

The transloading process for frac sand is first done at the quarry where it is loaded up on the rail cars by way of a conveyer belt. Since the silica sand at the quarry is the stationary item, the rail cars are moved under its opening for loading.

The opposite is true at the other end of the line for the frac sand. The train will need to locate a transloading station that is near the endpoint for distribution to the end user. This has to be prearranged after the order for the silica sand has been made. It is more efficient to leave the railcars stationary at this point and use mobile conveyor belts for the offloading of the material to the awaiting trucks.

This has to be done in the most efficient manner due to the demurrage of the rail cars. The cost of the railcars just sitting waiting to be offloaded is at no charge for the first 24 hours. After that point the rail service tacks on a hefty fee, which will dramatically affect the overall cost of the product being transported. In this case the silica sand.

This is why the technique of offloading silica sand at a transloading station is done so efficiently. In most cases one railcar can be offloaded per conveyer per hour. The appropriate number of conveyors is needed, usually 3 to 5, to make this an effect process in both the transfer and cost for the suppliers to keep their prices at a minimum.

Read our previous post about transloading silica sand.

Most people are unaware of just exactly what a transloading facility really is. This is because most of them are not in places that are commonly visited by most of the population. They are not near malls or other shopping centers but usually located out of town or in the industrial parks of the larger metro areas.

The business of transloading is one of the hidden mechanisms that are in the supply chain of most goods that are transported across America. Basically they are purposely built business that properly and safely load and off load tractor trailers and rail cars with bulk material.

This type of business can also handle special loads that require careful handling since their training and equipment is made just for this type of transfer. The training that is conducted by facility personnel is extensive. Speed and safety are the two things this type of facility specializes in.

If you are in search of a facility that handles transloading services, the best way to distinguish the competitor is by their safety records and their average demurrage time when they are handling a bulk material transfer. It is the way to compare apples to apples.

One of the common transfers is that of frac sand for the northeastern portion of the country. This is because this bulk material is needed in the natural gas and oil exploration in the Marcellus Shale deposit so fracking can be accomplished. The average time it should take to offload a railcar to the 5 tractor trailers should be just around an hour.

These helpful pointers are just a few suggestions on how a business can compare one transloading facility to another accurately. This is an important business decision that will be beneficial to your bulk material transfer needs when you are in need of it.

Contact our sponsor, TRAN-Z for your transloading requirements.

Most people are unaware of just exactly what a transloading facility really is. This is because most of them are not in places that are commonly visited by most of the population. They are not near malls or other shopping centers but usually located out of town or in the industrial parks of the larger metro areas.

The business of transloading is one of the hidden mechanisms that are in the supply chain of most goods that are transported across America. Basically they are purposely built business that properly and safely load and off load tractor trailers and rail cars with bulk material.

This type of business can also handle special loads that require careful handling since their training and equipment is made just for this type of transfer. The training that is conducted by facility personnel is extensive. Speed and safety are the two things this type of facility specializes in.

If you are in search of a facility that handles transloading services, the best way to distinguish the competitor is by their safety records and their average demurrage time when they are handling a bulk material transfer. It is the way to compare apples to apples.

One of the common transfers is that of frac sand for the northeastern portion of the country. This is because this bulk material is needed in the natural gas and oil exploration in the Marcellus Shale deposit so fracking can be accomplished. The average time it should take to offload a railcar to the 5 tractor trailers should be just around an hour.

These helpful pointers are just a few suggestions on how a business can compare one transloading facility to another accurately. This is an important business decision that will be beneficial to your bulk material transfer needs when you are in need of it.

Contact our sponsor, TRAN-Z for your transloading requirements.

The process of transloading is an essential part of the transportation of bulk goods from their place of origin to their final destination.  This is just part of the normal business process due to the lower cost of transporting large amounts of bulk material by rail.

The stations that offer the service of transloading are strategically located throughout the country. The numbers and placement of these stations are determined by the needs of the industry in the different regions of America.

An example of filling the needs of a particular sector of the country can be found in the Marcellus shale deposit region.  There are trans loading stations in both the state of New York and Pennsylvania. This is cost efficient for the different oil and natural gas well developers exploring the possibilities of the shale energy reserves.

The closer the trans loading stations are to the final destination, the lower the cost for the transportation of the bulk material by tractor trailer. This is because of the fuel and labor cost. For each rail car of frac sand, it takes 5 tractor trailers to hold the same volume.

While not all bulk material is transported in this fashion, most of it is. When there is a plentiful supply of a material in every region of the country, like water, it does not need the use of rail cars in most cases. For nearly everything else that is needed in large quantities, the use of rail cars and then the transfer of the material at transloading stations are just part of doing business.

CLICK HERE: TRAN-Z to see what services are available for your needs.

The location of transloading for Marcellus shale drilling occurs in every region and state where there are exploratory wells for natural gas and oil, in this vast deposit of energy. The reason for this is simple, the closer the transloading stations are to the bulk supplies’ final destination, the lower the cost for the energy industry.

There are many different materials that are required by the drillers in the Marcellus shale region. The one that is used in the largest quantities and frequency is frac sand. Because of this, the transloading stations have become very proficient in the transfer of sand from the rail cars to the waiting tractor trailers.

On average, a well equipped transloading station can offload a rail car full of frac sand into 5 waiting trailers in just over an hour. This transfer is done with designated conveyors that are specifically designed for the handling of small granular material.

By having designated mobile conveyors for this transfer, the chances of contamination occurring during the transfer are significantly reduced. The mobility of these conveyors contributed to the speed at which a line of rail cars can be offloaded, so the frac sand can be on its way to the wells in the Marcellus region.

The Marcellus region uses the frac sand in larger quantities than other energy wells located in other parts of the nation due to the makeup of the rock bed where the natural gas and oil are located. This is the shale rock bed.

The hydrofracking procedure that uses the frac sand to crack the bed rock is the main mechanism to extracting the maximum amount of oil and natural gas from below the surface so it can be recovered. The transloading for Marcellus shale drilling of frac sand plays an important role in this process.

The term TranZ sand is sometimes used instead of frac sand in the transportation industry. No matter what it is being called, this little silica crystal does a remarkable job.

The term TranZ is short for transportation and loading from rail car to tractor trailer. This is how the frac sand is moved from the quarries where it is found to its final destination at the wells in the natural gas and oil industry.

Once it arrives at the well, the frac sand is combined with water to make a slurry for a process called hydrofracking. This is the typical way it is used. A new technique involving a gel made out of propane is making headway into the industry. This too uses the frac sand as the choice material to keep the crevices open underground.

The frac sand itself is divided up into what is called sieve sizes. The sieve is a metal screen that allows for smaller particles to pass through but retains the larger ones. For 20/40 frac sand, the size of the sand particles will be roughly between 20 and 40 micrometers in size.

This might sound very small, and it is, but that is all that is needed in the hydrofracking process to release the trapped natural gas and oil from the rock beds below ground.

This process of hydrofracking with sand has been used for over 60 years now. This is the same process that many use to revitalize water wells also. So no matter what you desire to collect from under the ground, the use of hydrofracking is the most economical way to achieve your goal.

The TranZ sand is the medium you should use to help you in this venture.

Click here to read more about Fracking sand and sources

Click here to visit our sponsor: Tran-Z

When the reference of Marcellus shale sand is used, most are not talking about a deposit of sand in the Marcellus shale region in the northeastern part of America. Their reference is to the frac sand that is used in the hydrofracking process to release the trapped energy reserves in the Marcellus shale rock layers that lie below the surface.

A large portion of this frac sand is actually called Ottawa white frac sand. This is a specific type of sand that is found in the northeastern part of America and the southeastern edge of Canada. Some in the oil and natural gas exploration field prefer this sand because of it symmetry.

Deposits of this frac sand can be found in Canada, along with Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Ohio and Illinois. Their close proximity to the Marcellus shale oil deposits is the leading reason for this particular frac sand being the preferred medium used in the slurry by the energy explorers.

No matter if the frac sand comes from this area of the country or from the southern portion where the deposits are of the brown sand, all of it will have to use the railway for transport. Many suppliers down south discount their process to get the business in the Marcellus region. The only variable in the transport of the frac sand is then which transloading station is used to transfer the frac sand from rail car to tractor trailer.

Not all transloading stations are the same. There are a few that specialize in the TranZ loading of frac sand and other bulk material for the oil and natural gas industry. These are the ones that can do the fastest and most efficient transfer so the demurrage on the railcars is minimized.

If you are looking to have your Marcellus shale sand transported at the lowest possible cost, look into the many TranZ loading stations in the area for the best price and quickest service that will fit your needs.

When it comes to shale fracking, there are some important components that make this procedure a success. One of them is the horizontal drilling approach to the wellbore. This allows for a great amount of surface area of the shale rock bed to be exposed to the pressure and fracking medium.

The greater the area exposed, the more the fracking of the rock bed will occur with less effort by the crew. Less effort can be equated as less time for the process to be a success. Like all businesses, natural gas and oil exploration is done to increase the revenue stream of those sponsoring the well. The faster it is completed, the sooner the crew can move onto the next well.

One factor in the extraction process of the energy reserve that is trapped in the shale rock bed is the ease at which the shale is fractured and the size of these fractures. To deal with the different size fractures in the wellbore, there are a 3 different mediums that are added to the slurry to keep these fractures open.

The most common is crystalline silica (sand) or quartz. This material is insoluble in water and has a specific gravity of 2.65. The melting point of this material is 1710 C which is how it withstands the pressure that is exerted in the wellbore without changing form.

This frac sand is also coated with a polymer resin when the fracture openings in the wellbore are needed to be slightly larger. This medium has a higher crush level and makes the sand particles rounder for more penetration than the irregular shapes sand particles.

The last type is the ceramics or polycrystalline alumina mixed with glass ceramics. The ceramics have the highest melting points which reach up to 4000 C. This medium is the roundest of all the fracking material, which allows for maximum penetration.

Immaterial of which one is used for shale fracking, they all serve the same purpose. To hold open the cracks to allow the natural gas or oil to permeate through the fissure so it can be collected at the surface of the wellbore.