Exploding Torpedo Research Paper

The dictionary states that fracking is a method used for getting oil and gas from underground rocks by injecting liquid into the rocks so that they can break apart (Merriam-Webster). Fracking can be a controversial topic in numerous people’s eyes due to the side effects that coincide with this procedure. Fracking has evolved over the years and made a comeback around 2010. Lately, the United States has heard tremendous news regarding this procedure and the drawbacks from fracking natural gases and oil. Fracking can be beneficial; sadly, the side effects greatly outweigh the benefits. The environmental risks, pollution, and the overall risk factors prove to not worth the risk of fracking.

With the age of constant industrial and technological growth has come the necessity for not only cost effective and efficient methods for industry, but also the need for obtaining fuel for the machines that make the modern world possible. Oil has become as precious a commodity as gold, if not more so; its attainments constantly driving the world's largest businesses and governments across the world into action. Naturally, a "quick-fix" solution to this problem is constantly sought after by oil companies wishing to provide oil on a massive scale. One of these drilling methods is known as induced hydraulic fracturing (also known as fracking).

Hydraulic fracturing began in 1947 and still happening until now. People have used fracking to produce more than one million oil and natural gas wells since 1947. Currently "fracking accounts for 50% of locally produced natural gas and 33% of local petroleum” (Engelder 274). It proved that fracking is valuable because people can get too much natural gas and petroleum from fracking. There are 2.5 million "frac jobs" that had been performed on oil and gas wells around the world and more than one million of those are in the United Stated. Oil shale resources are abundant in United States, such as in

Some people say it is how gas companies have done it for years. “Hydraulic fracking straight down has been used since 1930 only lately has the drilling turned ninety degrees sideways and continues for thousands of feet” (Mooney). That is when the country has started to have the problems With water contamination of wells, aquifers, rivers the list goes on and on. “When they started drilling in populated eastern states it was not long before the talk began about contaminated water from the fracking chemicals began to surface” (McKibben). It is then that fracking has started to heat up and really give Americans some heat that is not just in their homes. While many companies are using the process of fracking, facts indicate the United States government should ban the

The beginnings of our modern day fracking process reside in a U.S. Patent No. 59,936, issued to a Col. Edward Roberts, in November of 1866, during the civil war. Robert’s idea, dubbed “Exploding Torpedo”, involved dropping artillery rounds down a well, filling it with water, to concentrate the concussion, thereby fracturing the surrounding rock, allowing for greater access to the gas or oil below. (Hicks, “See an Exploding Torpedo”). This process has improved greatly and the Environmental Protection Agency now refers to hydraulic fracking as the entire process, from the gathering of water used until waste disposal. What was once thought to be cost prohibitive is now more cost effective than ever.

Fracking, better known as hydraulic fracking has been around since 1949 (Global Energy Affairs), and has helped our economy in many different ways; such as, providing economic benefits, supporting the U.S. with more natural resources, and using safer drilling and production practices, and it is better for our environment. However, fracking can also be extremely terrible for our economy, such as; water droughts, health effects, and noise pollution. There are two sides to hydraulic fracking, and through resource I will form my opinion (Occupy Theory).

In 1949 Halliburton Oil Well Cementing Company obtained a patent for hydraulic fracturing, the first one issued in the United States. The method gained popularity and was soon used all over the world ("Hydraulic Fracturing of Oil & Gas Wells Drilled in Shale," n.d.). Despite its early start and popularity, hydraulic fracturing was not used on a large scale until 2003 when energy companies began to explore new ways of oil and gas production in the shale formations of Texas, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Wyoming, Utah and Maryland. ("A Brief History of Hydraulic Fracturing," n.d.).

Since the energy boom of the 1900’s, new technology has become available to tap into natural gas deposits that have been out of reach since the beginning of time. The technology called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking for short, has erupted and could very well be the major economic boom of the century. “Hydraulic fracturing is a process that 's been used to extract oil and natural gas since it was first introduced by Standard Oil in the 1940s.” (Hassett and Mathur 2014) The original process used by standard oil caused the company to boom and grow putting the company all over the map. As of today, fracking technology has advanced to the point where a new form of hydraulic fracturing is now available. This new form is called horizontal

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a method in which a high pressured water, sand, and chemical mix is injected into a well in order to fracture rock leading to the releases of gas or oil to the surface, see Figure 1 for illustration. Fracking was invented in the 1940s but has only become economical in the past few decades due to advancements in technology. The top fracking regions in the

Hydraulic fracturing is a process used in nine out of 10 natural gas wells in the United States, where millions of gallons of water, sand and chemicals are pumped underground to break apart the rock and release the gas. Scientists are worried that the chemicals used in fracturing may pose a threat either underground or when waste fluids are handled and sometimes spilled on the surface. The natural gas industry defends hydraulic fracturing, better known as fracking, as safe and efficient. Thomas J. Pyle, president of the Institute for Energy Research, a pro-industry non-profit organization, claims fracking has been “a widely deployed as safe extraction technique,” dating back to 1949. What he doesn’t say is that until recently energy

Fracking is new method being used to extract natural gases underneath bed rocks by pumping on average eight million liters of water, fracking water consists several thousand pounds of sand and about to two hundred thousand liters of chemicals according to source C. Since this is a new method of extracting natural gases, there's only been very little advance research that has been done among the dangers the environment, wildlife, and humans. This highly new expensive machinery produces greater amounts of fossil fuels that increases the percentages of global warming . Fracking gives a larger exposure to harmful chemicals in bed rocks that lead there way to our clean drinkable water. Though using this new method of extracting natural gases would

From the mining to burning, coal creates large amounts of pollution, and damages the environment. “Clean Coal” is a myth, there is only less dirty coal. This is why fracking should be used to obtain other fuels, which are cleaner. Fracking is a process in which different fluids are pumped into the earth at high pressures to drill a hole. Horizontal fracking is when after they reach a certain depth, the nozzle makes a ninety degree turn to reach areas that were previously unreachable. Once the deposit is reached, the fluid is pumped back out. The fluid is mostly water mixed with a proppant like sand or small ceramic balls with some lubricating chemicals.. Horizontal fracking was developed by George Mitchell in 1998. He discovered the

As mentioned in the article “Low Down on Fracking”, “Hydraulic fracturing is not new; the process has been around for decades. What is new is what the technology drills into—shale

Fracking has been used by the natural gas and oil industry since 1947 when it was introduced at the Hugoton gas field in Kansas. Two years after the first use, hydraulic fracturing was used in a commercial application, and more than 70 percent of the wells in the United States have undergone hydraulic fracturing. Every country that produces oil and gas has

Although fracking has been around since 1862 (Manfreda), it was not until the 1990s when modern fracking methods were developed. Because of the introduction of these new procedures, fracking has turned into a large environmental debate. Before we can discuss the problems linked to hydraulic fracturing, it is important that the process itself is fully understood. (Next Slide)