Posts Tagged ‘Texas’

Why a Frac Sand Blog?

Having a Frac Sand Blog for transloading stations only makes common sense for those that know how closely related the two really are. Both the frac sand and the transloading stations are integral parts of the hydrofracking process that is necessary for the energy companies that are fracking in the Marcellus Shale region.

For those of you just learning about frac sand, this is a short summary of where it comes from, how it is transported and why it is so important to the natural gas and oil exploration companies.

Frac sand is the same silica based material you can find on most any beach around the world. The quarries where it is excavated from are from as far north in North America as the southern portions of Canada to the south in Texas. The difference between the two types of sand is more than just the appearance.

The northern frac sand is called Ottawa Sand is spherical in shape. It’s color is close to being white and the SiO2 concentration of the material is near 95%. The size of the sand particles varies from 12 to 270 on the Tyler mesh scale. Because of its spherical shape, many in the hydrofracking industry prefer to use it in their process thinking it can roll into the fissures farther and sustain the openings in the rock layers better.

The southerner sand is called Texas Brown Sand. This is what most people remember from being on the beach. It is irregularly shaped but its SiO2 content is higher than that of Ottawa being at 99%. Because of its irregular shape the perception is that it might be more permeable into the fissures than its Ottawa counterpart. This sand can be readily found in sizes from 8 to 100 on the Tyler mesh scale.

The preference in just which type of frac sand a manager at the energy well uses is a personal choice. What is known is that both do the same job and both are in use today in the natural gas and oil well hydrofracking process. These are the particles that fit into the fissures created by the fracking process that helps to release the trapped natural gas and oil.

After the sand is taken out of the ground at the quarries, it is run thru a set of sieves. It is the mess size on the sieves that separates the sand into the different sizes that are there. This is how it is purchased by the energy companies. Because this is a bulk material, it is transported by rail cars to a transloading station that is near it’s final destination. There the frac sand is professionally offloaded from the rail cars to tractor trailers for it final leg of its journey.

Now you know where frac sand comes from and why it is so important to the natural gas and oil exploration companies, particularly in the Marcellus Shale region.  I hope this frac sand blog has cleared up any questions on just what frac sand is.

Related articles

• A Frac Sand Loading Facility: and Why We Need Them (transloading.org)
• Marcellus Shale Drilling Described (transloading.org)
• Impressions From a Frac Site (Environmental Law Blog)

Image via Wikipedia

The term frack sand is not a reference to the sand you might find on the beach that is mixed with salt and debris.  While the basic component of both is the same being silica, the preparation and characteristics are different.

Sand that is used in the hydrofracking procedure in the energy industry needs to not only be clean and free of debris, but has to be of a particular size. Depending on the rock bed that is to be fractured, different pressures are used which form different size fractures. It is these fractures in the rock bed that the frac sand is used.

The frac sand is part of the slurry mixture that is pressurized while in the well to help release trapped energy reserves. The pressure breaks the rock bed forming fissures which are then filled by the sand. The sand keeps the fissure open so the trapped energy reserves can escape and be recovered at the surface. These reserves can be either oil or natural gas.

There are two distinct type of sand used in this hydrofracking process. The Ontario sand is white and spherical that was deposited after the last ice age by the glaciers. The yellow Texas sand found across the south in America has an irregular shape.

Both types of frac sand are sold in bulk by size. A common size is called 20/40. This is silica that is larger than 20 microns but smaller than 40 microns. Another size that has more variability to it is the 40/140 frac sand. This, too, is available for use by the natural gas explorers.

No matter what you might call it, frack sand, frac sand, silica or quartz, they are all referring to the same type of material. The key difference is the way it is sorted by size and the amount of foreign debris that is present in it.

CONTACT: TRAN-Z, a company that serves the bulk material delivery needs of the natural gas production industry.  Transloading facilities are available for all of the products required.

Related articles

• ‘Fracking’ Comes to Europe, Sparking Rising Controversy (alternet.org)
• Why Use Sand with Fracking (transloading.org)
• Frac Sand Distributors (transloading.org)

American natural gas shale deposits are in several regions of the nation. The best known is the Marcellus Shale Deposit that covers the states of New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio. To a lesser extent, the states Maryland and Virginia, along with Lake Erie, also have a limited amount under them.

Right next to the Marcellus deposit is the Devonian Shale Deposit that reaches from Ohio in the north, to Tennessee in the south. These two together are the largest deposits in the nation, with estimated 500 trillion cubic feet of natural gas deposits in the shale rock bed.

The second largest region is the Barnett Shale Deposit in northern Texas. This deposit covers 17 counties including the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area. Other significant deposits are the Haynesville Shale Deposit in the northwestern portion of Louisiana, and Fayetteville Shale Deposit in Arkansas.

There are other smaller deposits in Wyoming, Utah, Kansas, Oklahoma, Illinois, and Michigan, each one with proven reserves that is currently being tapped. What has slowed the recovery of these deposits is the drop in the price of natural gas.

The decline in prices is not due to a reduction in the demand for this domestic natural resource, but the plentiful supply of it. This in turn has reduced the profit potential of recovering this type of deposit.

Unlike other reservoirs, horizontal drilling must occur with fracking the wells to recover natural gas from the shale deposits. This has slowed the recovery of the natural gas from these regions slightly.

European countries are starting to venture into the US market with interest in our natural gas deposits. Their reliance on Russian gas has been problematic for years, so a switch to America is gaining strength.

This should not be a worry since the American natural gas shale deposits are large enough to last America with over 100 years of this energy reserve, we will not be running out any time soon.