Publications

Design and fabrication of a remote-control hydraulic fracturing system

Roberts, Ben; Ajo-Franklin, J.; Bauer, S.J.; Baumgartner, T.; Beckers, K.; Blankenship, D.; Bonneville, A.; Boyd, L.; Brown, S.T.; Burghardt, J.A.; Chen, T.; Chen, Y.; Condon, K.; Cook, P.J.; Dobson, P.F.; Doe, T.; Doughty, C.A.; Elsworth, D.; Feldman, J.; Foris, A.; Frash, L.P.; Frone, Z.; Fu, P.; Gao, K.; Ghassemi, A.; Gudmundsdottir, H.; Guglielmi, Y.; Guthrie, G.; Haimson, B.; Hawkins, A.; Heise, J.; Herrick, C.G.; Horn, M.; Horne, R.N.; Horner, J.; Hu, M.; Huang, H.; Huang, L.; Im, K.; Ingraham, M.; Johnson, T.C.; Johnston, B.; Karra, S.; Kim, K.; King, D.K.; Kneafsey, T.; Knox, H.; Knox, J.; Kumar, D.; Kutun, K.; Lee, M.; Li, K.; Lopez, R.; MacEira, M.; Makedonska, N.; Marone, C.; Mattson, E.; McClure, M.W.; McLennan, J.; McLing, T.; Mellors, R.J.; Metcalfe, E.; Miskimins, J.; Morris, J.P.; Nakagawa, S.; Neupane, G.; Newman, G.; Nieto, A.; Oldenburg, C.M.; Pan, W.; Pawar, R.; Petrov, P.; Pietzyk, B.; Podgorney, R.; Polsky, Y.; Porse, S.; Richard, S.; Roberts, B.Q.; Robertson, M.; Roggenthen, W.; Rutqvist, J.; Rynders, D.; Santos-Villalobos, H.; Schoenball, M.; Schwering, Paul C.; Sesetty, V.; Singh, A.; Smith, M.M.; Sone, H.; Strickland, C.E.; Su, J.; Ulrich, C.; Uzunlar, N.; Vachaparampil, A.; Valladao, C.A.; Vandermeer, W.; Vandine, G.; Vardiman, D.; Vermeul, V.R.; Wagoner, J.L.; Wang, H.F.; Weers, J.; White, J.; White, M.D.; Winterfeld, P.; Wood, T.; Wu, H.; Wu, Y.S.; Wu, Y.; Zhang, Y.; Zhang, Y.Q.; Zhou, J.; Zhou, Q.; Zoback, M.D.

In preparation for Collab experiment 2, performing shear stimulation of pre-existing fractures, which is to be performed on the 4100 level of the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) a decision was made that the pressure and pumping systems required remote control operations. This decision was made for a number of reasons based off lessons learned in experiment #1 on the 4850 level of SURF. First, the current pandemic provided an opportunity for automation of remote pumping systems as travel is very difficult and deploying personnel on short notice to adjust systems is impossible. Second, in order to ensure safety of personnel and integrity of the equipment the list of personnel who could operate/perform work on the pressure and flow systems in experiment 1 was purposely kept small. This was done with the best of intentions, however, it resulted in significant fatigue for the personnel who were permitted to perform these operations. With a remote operations system, much of the work which previously required someone on site will be performed remotely. The system itself is comprised of a number of hydraulic pumps and plumbing which has been automated such that the pressure, flow, venting, and selection of injection and production zones can be controlled independently from remote locations. While remote operations are not uncommon for hazardous/long term operations, hydraulic fracturing systems on this scale (injection rates of a few gallons per minute) are nearly always manned.