China To Deploy Nuke Detonator at Shale Deposit

[Marina Schwarz + 1,576]

Is China’s plan to use a nuclear bomb detonator to release shale gas in earthquake-prone Sichuan crazy or brilliant?

[Dan Warnick + 6,100]

2 hours ago, Marina Schwarz said:

Is China’s plan to use a nuclear bomb detonator to release shale gas in earthquake-prone Sichuan crazy or brilliant?

What could go wrong?

 

[Marina Schwarz + 1,576]

I've absolutely no idea.

[Tom Kirkman + 8,860]

... Zhang and his team have dubbed their creation an “energy concentration rod” as it is able to control the release of explosive bolts of energy into an extremely short, precisely calculated period of time so as to maximise the fracturing effect of the shock waves.

It works by passing a strong electric current along a specially coated wire coil – encased by a metal shell – that is submerged in water. When the wire vaporises it produces a cloud of plasma – the extremely hot, electrically charged matter that makes up the sun – within which is a huge amount of energy just waiting to be released.

“The shock wave generated by the device can be as high as 200 megapascals at close range, which is expected to produce a fracture zone up to 50 metres in diameter,” Zhang said.

The method, known as exploding wire, enables scientists to control the energy, duration and even direction of the explosion. The same principle was used to detonate the atomic bomb code named “Little Boy” that was dropped on Hiroshima in 1945.

Despite that commonality, Zhang’s device does not create a nuclear blast, so is fundamentally different to what the United States was doing in the 1960s, when scientists there detonated a nuclear bomb underground to boost natural gas production. The former Soviet Union also used thermal nuclear weapons for mining and in dam construction.

Also, unlike a traditional detonator, which fires just once, Zhang’s energy rod has been designed to withstand hundreds of massive blasts.

After each one, the rod is hoisted back up the shaft and a jet of water is injected under high pressure into the cavity to further open up the rock. The rod is then lowered back into position and is ready to fire again.

The device can “generate shock waves repeatedly … like a machine gun”, Zhang said, adding that because the wire was encased and submerged the rod did not generate sparks, so reducing the safety risk.

While the scientist has concerns about how well his creation will work in shale rock, it has already been used to release potentially hazardous gas deposits from coal beds and is now recommended by the government as a way to improve both safety and productivity in the mining industry. ...

[Tom Kirkman + 8,860]

This concept is actually similar to an ultrasonic well stimulation method, which I can't talk about very much, as it is patented.  We had a demonstration of ultrasonic well stimulation in our engineering office, and the energy can be directed at very precise levels.  Worked like a charm.

The concept in the article seems feasible.

[Boat + 1,323]

Let's try it in the Permian.

[Tom Kirkman + 8,860]

53 minutes ago, Boat said:

Let's try it in the Permian.

Yes, a test case would be good.  If successful, it would be revolutionary to the entire shale oil "fracking" industry.

[JoMack + 549]

4 hours ago, Tom Kirkman said:

... Zhang and his team have dubbed their creation an “energy concentration rod” as it is able to control the release of explosive bolts of energy into an extremely short, precisely calculated period of time so as to maximise the fracturing effect of the shock waves.

It works by passing a strong electric current along a specially coated wire coil – encased by a metal shell – that is submerged in water. When the wire vaporises it produces a cloud of plasma – the extremely hot, electrically charged matter that makes up the sun – within which is a huge amount of energy just waiting to be released.

“The shock wave generated by the device can be as high as 200 megapascals at close range, which is expected to produce a fracture zone up to 50 metres in diameter,” Zhang said.

The method, known as exploding wire, enables scientists to control the energy, duration and even direction of the explosion. The same principle was used to detonate the atomic bomb code named “Little Boy” that was dropped on Hiroshima in 1945.

Despite that commonality, Zhang’s device does not create a nuclear blast, so is fundamentally different to what the United States was doing in the 1960s, when scientists there detonated a nuclear bomb underground to boost natural gas production. The former Soviet Union also used thermal nuclear weapons for mining and in dam construction.

Also, unlike a traditional detonator, which fires just once, Zhang’s energy rod has been designed to withstand hundreds of massive blasts.

After each one, the rod is hoisted back up the shaft and a jet of water is injected under high pressure into the cavity to further open up the rock. The rod is then lowered back into position and is ready to fire again.

The device can “generate shock waves repeatedly … like a machine gun”, Zhang said, adding that because the wire was encased and submerged the rod did not generate sparks, so reducing the safety risk.

While the scientist has concerns about how well his creation will work in shale rock, it has already been used to release potentially hazardous gas deposits from coal beds and is now recommended by the government as a way to improve both safety and productivity in the mining industry. ...

WHA?  Who detonated a nuke for natural gas?  I believe when oil was first discovered, oil guys still fracked and used nitro.

[ronwagn + 6,290]

It sounds like a good idea to me. Let them be self sufficient and we can keep our own oil and natural gas. I actually think that natural gas is so abundant it will be virtually free energy in the future. The cost will mainly be in transportation and processing. That is about how it looks on my natural gas bill. The delivery is way more expensive than the product. 

[Rasmus Jorgensen + 1,169]

20 hours ago, Tom Kirkman said:

This concept is actually similar to an ultrasonic well stimulation method, which I can't talk about very much, as it is patented.  We had a demonstration of ultrasonic well stimulation in our engineering office, and the energy can be directed at very precise levels.  Worked like a charm.

The concept in the article seems feasible.

How does ultrasonic well stimulation compare to conventional? Price ? oil recovery? 

Most interested in the longterm effect on competetiveness of Deep and medium water (i.e. 1000+ metres)... Not asking for any engineering details. 

thanks. 

[Enthalpic + 1,496]

9 hours ago, Rasmus Jorgensen said:

How does ultrasonic well stimulation compare to conventional? Price ? oil recovery? 

Most interested in the longterm effect on competetiveness of Deep and medium water (i.e. 1000+ metres)... Not asking for any engineering details. 

thanks. 

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b&q=ultrasonic+well+stimulation

 

 

 

[Enthalpic + 1,496]

Alberta considered nukes a long time ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Oilsand

[Tom Kirkman + 8,860]

10 hours ago, Rasmus Jorgensen said:

How does ultrasonic well stimulation compare to conventional? Price ? oil recovery? 

Most interested in the longterm effect on competetiveness of Deep and medium water (i.e. 1000+ metres)... Not asking for any engineering details. 

thanks. 

Sorry, I probably shouldn't have brought it up.  I had signed an NDA (Non Disclosure Agreement) so am unable to provide details.

[Marina Schwarz + 1,576]

And what about the earthquakes?

[Tom Kirkman + 8,860]

5 hours ago, Marina Schwarz said:

And what about the earthquakes?

Perhaps the controlled, directed energy could actually reduce earthquakes in the area by relieving underground stresses.  But I'm just spitballing here, a geologist should be able to properly answer your question.

[Marina Schwarz + 1,576]

I hope one shows up, this is really interesting.

[ceo_energemsier + 1,818]

On 1/28/2019 at 9:19 AM, Tom Kirkman said:

... Zhang and his team have dubbed their creation an “energy concentration rod” as it is able to control the release of explosive bolts of energy into an extremely short, precisely calculated period of time so as to maximise the fracturing effect of the shock waves.

It works by passing a strong electric current along a specially coated wire coil – encased by a metal shell – that is submerged in water. When the wire vaporises it produces a cloud of plasma – the extremely hot, electrically charged matter that makes up the sun – within which is a huge amount of energy just waiting to be released.

“The shock wave generated by the device can be as high as 200 megapascals at close range, which is expected to produce a fracture zone up to 50 metres in diameter,” Zhang said.

The method, known as exploding wire, enables scientists to control the energy, duration and even direction of the explosion. The same principle was used to detonate the atomic bomb code named “Little Boy” that was dropped on Hiroshima in 1945.

Despite that commonality, Zhang’s device does not create a nuclear blast, so is fundamentally different to what the United States was doing in the 1960s, when scientists there detonated a nuclear bomb underground to boost natural gas production. The former Soviet Union also used thermal nuclear weapons for mining and in dam construction.

Also, unlike a traditional detonator, which fires just once, Zhang’s energy rod has been designed to withstand hundreds of massive blasts.

After each one, the rod is hoisted back up the shaft and a jet of water is injected under high pressure into the cavity to further open up the rock. The rod is then lowered back into position and is ready to fire again.

The device can “generate shock waves repeatedly … like a machine gun”, Zhang said, adding that because the wire was encased and submerged the rod did not generate sparks, so reducing the safety risk.

While the scientist has concerns about how well his creation will work in shale rock, it has already been used to release potentially hazardous gas deposits from coal beds and is now recommended by the government as a way to improve both safety and productivity in the mining industry. ...

So this is not a nukey nukey for the shale gassy!!!

Misleading news headline

 

[ceo_energemsier + 1,818]

On 1/28/2019 at 9:25 AM, Tom Kirkman said:

This concept is actually similar to an ultrasonic well stimulation method, which I can't talk about very much, as it is patented.  We had a demonstration of ultrasonic well stimulation in our engineering office, and the energy can be directed at very precise levels.  Worked like a charm.

The concept in the article seems feasible.

Ultrasonic well stimulation can be very precise and effective and delivery results at a much lower cost than hydraulic fracturing given the successful commercialization of the technology. Imagine breaking up kidney stones using ultrasonic stimulation but only at a much larger scale and deep(er) into the subsurface instead of human tissue and organs.

[Refman + 207]

On ‎1‎/‎28‎/‎2019 at 10:25 AM, Tom Kirkman said:

This concept is actually similar to an ultrasonic well stimulation method, which I can't talk about very much, as it is patented.  We had a demonstration of ultrasonic well stimulation in our engineering office, and the energy can be directed at very precise levels.  Worked like a charm.

The concept in the article seems feasible.

Not sure I follow, if it is patented then it is out in the open for all to see, why wouldn't you be able to talk about it?

[Tom Kirkman + 8,860]

11 minutes ago, Refman said:

Not sure I follow, if it is patented then it is out in the open for all to see, why wouldn't you be able to talk about it?

Patented in Russia I believe. The guys that devised it are old Russian scientists.  By old I mean 70 and 80 years old.  Since these Russians have Western competitors who have copied their proprietary design information and made similar (although inferior) devices, I am respecting their request not to provide details.  My general impression is the U.S. doesn't respect Russian patents, although I could be wrong about this.

Later I'll see what information I can freely post.  I can't post pictures, but it looks remarkably similar to the diagram in an earlier comment above.  The technology works, I've seen it.

[Refman + 207]

Thanks for the additional info Tom, I had wrongly assumed it was a US patent.

[Tejinder Singh + 3]

Well, I hope it is safe and the gas does not catch fire!

[DanilKa + 443]

utterly moronic article with a lot of misinformation.

On proposed idea - only way to stimulate rock (of any kind, shale, carbonate or sandstone) is to create fractures with highly contrasting conductivity. The lower permeability of reservoir - the larger contact area is required for stimulation effect to last. Dimensionless fracture conductivity (fracture width times permeability of material inside over fracture length times formation permeability) of 30-100 is required for low perm gas formations. Conductivity is maintained by keeping fracture open with sand or proppant. There were some papers on "who needs the stinky proppant" but average shale well consume more than 10MM lb of sand in US nowadays so clearly, this argument is lost.

At high closure stress as in Sichuan basin there is snowball chance in hell that unpropped fracture will remain conductive. As for claims that this electric rod can create fractures going for 50m - I want to see it. More aggressive Propellant (rocket fuel) aka StimGun, MP4 etc being tried in the industry and no good in shale.

it takes a lot of energy to create and propagate fractures - typical frac fleet is 20,000 to 30,000 HHP, working most of the day. Try to calculate copper wire diameter to deliver such amperage.

Last but not least - search OnePetro.org for "Sichian" and "Casing Deformation" - you'll be surprised...

[Rasmus Jorgensen + 1,169]

On 1/30/2019 at 12:06 AM, Enthalpic said:

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b&q=ultrasonic+well+stimulation

 

 

 

Thanks. 

I do have an idea of the tech concept. What is more interesting to me is the cost. In offshore a  big part of this is  deployment method / vessel requirements. Since Deepwater horizon the offhore industry have been very cautious. 

[Sukumar Ray + 52]

Idea seems crazy!! China is becoming frustrated over huge Oil import bills and worried about stagnating economic growth. Chinese economy may collapse if trade war continues longer . China has huge ongoing projects like reopening silk routes under the aegis of OBOR ( One Belt One Road ) which requires billions of dollars funding such gigantic scale of projects without any outcome. When this projects suffer putting billions of money at stake , it is costing the Chinese economy very dearly. Many such project have already tasted crushing defeats creating huge strain on other countries economy  as well. Many countries have already put double question marks on the veracity of such mammoth projects  and doubting the true intentions behind such projects . Therefore, it is no big deal to think such eccentric to try to generate blood out of stones. 

Edited February 4, 2019 by Sukumar Ray