Most soil and bedrock exhibit insufficient hydraulic conductivity for practical quantities of treatment materials to be injected in a reasonable time without, somehow, creating a new space within the target medium – i.e. the rate at which fluid can penetrate pores and voids too often is frustratingly slow. If the injected fluid contains solid granules, these typically are too large to penetrate pores and effectively suffer the identical problem. Another page on this site tabulates the spectrum of injection processes across various geologies.
Experience and sound technical considerations show that rapid injection of fluids into porous media results in the creation of sheet-like structures that have extent orders of magnitude greater than thickness. For more information about the physics of injection, click here. The advantages of these features that can be exploited include:
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Can reach significant distance from the parent injection well
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Present substantially greater contact area with the formation
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Have significant volume to contain massive quantities of treatment materials.
Optimal use of the structures (click here for more information about uses) created by injection depends upon their form – the location, elevation, orientation, aspect ratios, etc. Our methods, which are designed and deployed to control and influence the form, include:
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Isolation of targeted intervals
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Creation of initial geometries from which desired forms nucleate
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Minimization / suppression of unfocused energy
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Delivery at sufficient rates to allow fracture propagation to dominate over other, deleterious processes.
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Exploitation of leak-off to promote in situ distribution.
While our downhole tool package comprises packers, nozzles, etc., we often utilize ad hoc or proprietary configurations to maintain control and best accomplish project objectives.
Finally, our above-ground equipment packages are optimized to complement the subsurface technologies. For a schematic that shows what might be involved in a surface equipment package,
click here. More about of services can be found on
this page.
