As part of the monitoring requirements for their new wells in Lancashire, Cuadrilla are installing near-surface microseismic monitoring arrays. Geophones are buried to depths of 50 - 100m. They are capable of detecting the small "pops" and "cracks" as the shale is fractured, allowing the operator to map where the fractures are going as the stimulation progresses.
This video explains how the technique works, and how it is used both to allow operators to maximise the efficiency of their operations, and to minimise any environmental risks.
The video is made for an American audience, and I think to UK eyes it comes across as a little slick and "corporate", but it's well worth a watch.
Good video tho a bit slick. I will use this link in the Wikipedia 'Hydraulic Fracturing in the UK' page. Been meaning to put a bit about microseismic monitoring in for some time. Do you have any links for offset well microseismic logging? The one where microphones are set in a well?
ReplyDeletePerhaps the BBC would find it useful to inform their next fracking news broadcast. It gives a rather different impression than the one they gave on July 3 (described in a comment on "5 Myths Busted").
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