Educating students and stakeholders about shale gas production using a physical model of hydraulic fracturing
Abstract
Natural gas from shale gas deposits in the United States can potentially help reduce the dependency on foreign energy sources, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and improve economic development in currently depressed regions of the country. However, the hydraulic fracturing process (';fracking') employed to release natural gas from formation such as the Marcellus Shale in New York State and Pennsylvania carries significant environmental risks, in particular for local and regional water resources. The current polarized discussion of the topic needs to be informed by sound data and a better understanding of the technical, scientific, social, and economic aspects of hydrofracking. We developed, built and tested an interactive portable physical model of the gas production by hydrofracking that can be used in class rooms and at public events to visualize the procedures and associated risks including the dynamics of water, gas and fracking fluids. Dyes are used to identify shale, fracking fluids and backflow and can be traced in the adjacent groundwater system. Gas production is visualized by a CO2 producing acid/bicarbonate solution reaction. The tank was shown to considerably improve knowledge of environmental issues related to unconventional gas production by hydrofracking in an advanced undergraduate course.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2013
- Bibcode:
- 2013AGUFMED11A0716S
- Keywords:
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- 1831 HYDROLOGY Groundwater quality;
- 1832 HYDROLOGY Groundwater transport