School of Hard Science – Running the numbers on microwave fracking

According to the Environmentally Conscious Consumers for Oil Shale, there are approximately 600-800 billion barrels of untapped oil between the states of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. On the Western Slope alone, the US Department of Energy estimates that 80 percent of recoverable oil shale, or sedimentary rock containing oil, is located in the Piceance Basin in north Rifle. It’s safe to say that this area of the country is a black gold mine.

While the evidence is clear that oil is present and available for the taking, the process of extracting oil is difficult and hotly debated because of the damage it can cause to the environment. Oil companies are responding to the cries of environmental activists and are searching for new methods that will do less harm to the areas that oil is extracted from while trying to keep costs low. In an effort to help concerned oil companies, CMU mathematics professor Marc Fischer and CMU student Heath Hillman have partnered to resolve this dilemma with a unique experiment.

Fischer came up with an idea a few years ago that would require only one hole to be drilled in the ground at an extraction site. Through that hole, Fischer intends to send microwaves to heat the oil shale underground, which may cause it to produce a substance called Kerogen. Kerogen is a mixture of organic compounds that make up the sedimentary rock and yields petroleum when extracted and processed. Fischer claims that if this method proves to be successful, our country’s energy issues would essentially be eliminated.

“There is more oil in Colorado than all of Saudi Arabia,” Fischer said. “So if it really works the way it’s intended to, then the United States will be oil independent for the foreseeable future.”

The challenge that Fischer and Hillman are faced with is proving that the idea is theoretically possible. Throughout the semester, their goal is to create a mathematical model that shows calculations for every step of the process. In order for it to work, they must determine several different factors, such as the intensity of the microwave sent into the ground, the size of the area that they are attempting to extract oil from, the chemical reactions that will take place once the microwaves are sent into the ground, the yield of the oil shale, and the effect the process will have on that area.

“The main problem we have is finding out how much of the ground we can heat up and how quickly we can do it,” Fischer said. “Since the ground is a good insulator, it’s hard to heat a large area easily. However, we don’t want to dig up the shale. Most processes involve digging up the oil shale first and then processing it, which leads to strip mining and is not a very good approach environmentally.”

As a senior mathematics major, Hillman chose to aid Fischer in his research as a capstone project for his final year of study. By helping to calculate each step of the process, Hillman is combining all aspects of math, chemistry and engineering as a cumulative demonstration of what he has learned while attending CMU. He explained that his interest in the topic and desire for a challenge were the main factors in his decision to join the research for a safer method of oil extraction.

“This project is interesting, challenging and not something I knew much about,” Hillman said. “I am involved in every step, attempting to understand and better our mathematical model. We shall see if our model supports the high- powered microwave system.”

The two hope to have a model completed by the end of the spring semester and begin testing when they have the necessary funds.

mfreter@mavs.coloradomesa.edu

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This post was written by critedev