1. Guar Gum in Hydraulic
Fracturing in Indian Shale
Mines
-Paper submitted by
1Nikhil Jain,
2Khushboo Garg,
3N. C. Karmakar and
4S. K. Palei
1I.D.D. (2nd yr.) student, Department of Mining
Engineering, I.I.T. (B.H.U.), Varanasi-221005
2B. Tech. (2nd yr.) student, Department of Chemical
Engineering, I.I.T.(B.H.U.), Varanasi-221005
3Professor and
4Assistant Professor, Department of Mining Engineering,
I.I.T. (B.H.U.), Varanasi-221005

2. INTRODUCTION
Guar, a small bean grown in Indian subcontinent has
become a prized international commodity, since the rise of
Hydraulic Fracturing on international level. Guar plays a
crucial role in the fracturing process as fracturing fluid
component in extraction of petrochemical deposits of
earth’s crust. Hydraulic fracturing allows the producers to
safely recover oil and gas resources from deep reserves.
Considering the vast shale deposit as well as guar in
India, this efficient Hydraulic Fracturing technology in
extraction of shale gas and few oils too, has the potential
to open gateway to vast unassessed energy reserve.
The intent of this paper is to introduce and promote this
efficient hydraulic fracturing technology in the extraction of
shale gas and few oils too, considering the vast shale
deposit as well as guar in India, opening the vast
unassessed energy reserve.

3. THREE MAJOR
COMPONENTS
Hydraulic
Fracturing
(H.F.)
Guar Gum
Shale

4. HYDRAULIC FRACTURING
1 History
2. Physics.
3. Principle
4. Mechanism
5. Well Types
6. Fracturing Fluids
7. Uses
8 . Environmental Impacts

5. Figure: Hydraulic Fracturing Mechanism

6. Hydraulic Fracturing
FIGURE: WELL BORE AND
FRACTURE CONDITIONS

7. Hydraulic Fracturing
1.History
 Invented in 1947 by Floyd Farris; J.B. Clark
(Stanolind Oil and Gas Corporation)
 Got popular after two commercial H.F.
treatments in Stephens County, Oklahoma,
and Archer County, Texas by Halliburton
 Developed as ‘slickwater fracturing’ in 1997,
by Union Pacific Resources, making the
demanding shale gas extraction easier.
 Got in demand due to more energy
requirement in world.

8. Hydraulic Fracturing
2.PHYSICS
• With Fluid Pressure.
STRESS
CREATED
• Depending upon- depth of over burden, material
toughness and pressure application
FRACTURE
DEVELOPMENT
• Until it hits and obstruction or intersects ground surface.
• Until rate of fluid loss from fracture = Rate of injection.
FRACTURE
PROPAGATION

9. Hydraulic Fracturing
3.PRINCIPLE
1. Pumping of 2. Release of
Fluid Fluid pressure
3. Recovery
• Fracture closes
• Along with
onto
of Fluid
proppant.
fluid/propppant • To avoid
• At high mixture. formation
pressure,
• Proppant keeps damage.
creating
the fracture open
fractures.
for extraction.

10. Hydraulic Fracturing
4.MECHANISM
 Fracturing fluid, pumped down into wellbore
at optimum rate, increasing down-hole
pressure, exceeding fracture gradient of rock.
 Process done by injection of proppant in
injected fracturing fluids.
 Thus allowing formation fluid(oil, gas, water,
fluids) to flow into the well.

11. Hydraulic Fracturing
5.WELL TYPES
Vertical Wells Horizontal Wells
• Conventional Wells • Hydraulic
requiring low fracturing
volume hydraulic performed, known
fracturing. as ‘well simulation’
• Unconventional in highly
Wells requiring permeable
high volume reservoirs. E.g.-
hydraulic Sandstone based
fracturing. wells.

12. Hydraulic Fracturing
6.FRACTURING FLUIDS
1.Factors for
Selection
2. Different
Components
of fluids
3. Typical
Fluid Types

13. Hydraulic Fracturing
6.1.Factors for selection
 Low leak-off rate,
 Ability to carry the propping agent,
 Low pumping friction loss,
 Easy to remove from the formation,
 Compatible with the natural formation
fluids,
 Minimum damage to the formation
permeability,
 Break back to a low viscosity fluid for
clean up after the treatment.

14. Hydraulic Fracturing
6.2.Different Components of
Fluids
 Fracturing fluids are generally classified into three
types:
 Aqueous based- finds large application in oil and gas
wells due to: low cost, high performance, greater
suspension power, environmentally acceptable and
ease of handling.
 Oil.
 Foam fluids.
 Typically fracturing fluids are composed of 90% water,
9.5% proppant, 0.5% chemicals.
 Guar gum, present in fracturing fluid as water soluble
gelling agents, increase viscosity and efficiently deliver

15. Hydraulic Fracturing
6.3.Typical Fluid Types
 Conventional linear gels.
 Borate-cross linked fluids.
 Organometallic-cross linked fluids.
 Aluminium phosphate-ester oil gels.
Other fluids also used are as follows:
 Viscosifiers.
 Breakers.
 Biocides.
 Surfactants.
 Oxidizers.
 Enzyme breakers.
 pH modifiers.

16. Hydraulic Fracturing
7.USES
 Production of natural gas and oil from deeper
rock formation (generally 5,000–20,000 feet
(1,500–6,100 m)).
 Creates conductive fractures in rock, pivotal
to shale gas extraction.
 Used to enhance waste remedial processes,
usually hydrocarbon waste and spill.
 To increase injection rates for geologic
sequestration of CO2.
 Used as a method to measure the stress in
the earth.

17. Hydraulic Fracturing
8.Environmental Impacts
CONCERNS
Migration of gases
Ground water Risk to air Methane
and chemicals to
contamination quality Leakage
surface

18. GUAR GUM
Guar Gum
derivatives
Structur Guar Properties
e
Gum
Cross
linking
agent

19. GUAR GUM
Properties
 High molecular weight polymer.
 Thickens spontaneously without the
application of heat.
 Guar gum is highly dispersible into cold
and hot water and brines of various types
and salinity.
 Its water suspension exhibit non-
Newtonian viscosity.
 Can also be cross linked by different
boron and zirconium complexes to high
strength gels.

20. GUAR GUM
Structure
 Consists of D-mannose monomer units linked to
each other by β-(1→4) linkage forms backbone.
 Branches of D-galactose joined by α-(1→6) bonds.
 On the average, the galactose branches occur on
every other mannose unit.

21. GUAR GUM
Derivatives
Hydroxypropyl Guar (HPG)
-CH -CH(OH)CH
2 3
Nonionic
Carboxymethyl Guar(CMG)
-CH2COO-Na+ Anionic
Carboxy methyl hydroxyl propyl Guar(CMHPG)
(CH2COO-Na+,CH2- Anionic
CH(OH)CH3)

22. GUAR GUM
Cross linking agent
Increase in
polymer
Method of concentration
increment in
viscosity By cross
linking of
polymer
Mainly used
cross linkers
Boron Zirconium
Mechanisms of cross
linking by Zr
Interaction of
Hydrogen Covalent
colloidal
bonding bonding
particles

23. GUAR GUM
Hydrogen bonding mechanism for Zirconium-
Guar
Covalent bonding mechanism for Zirconium-
Guar

24. GUAR GUM
Borate Zirconate

25. GUAR GUM
EXPORT SCENARIO
Since largest producer of Guar gum in the world,
India accounts for 80% of world’s total cultivation.
India is the major exporter of guar gum to the
world, exporting 7, 07,326.42 MT of guar gum to
the world for the worth of Rs.16, 523.83 crores
during the year 2011-12.
Figure : Major Exporting Countries of Guar gum.
(Ref: agriexchange.apeda.gov.in)

26. SHALE
Shale
 Shale gas is natural gas formed from being
trapped within shale formations.
 ‘Shale oil’ means crude oil, generated in-
situ, retained in shale matrix storage,
obtained there from through boreholes.
 Prospects in India
◦ According to estimates by EIA, India has
63 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of recoverable
shale gas reserves.
◦ Limited explorations have been carried so
far.

27. SHALE
Need of Shale gas extraction
 In FY12 , around 38% of the gas
demand was unmet.
 Consequences:
◦ Increased dependence on LNG imports.
◦ Underutilization of gas-consuming
industries, particularly in the power and
fertilizer sectors

28. BENEFITS
 Key method for extraction of unconventional
oil and gas resources.
 Helps in accessing deeper shale reserves of
India.
 Recent studies by the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) and the Ground
Water Protection Council (GWPC), confirmed
no direct link between hydraulic fracturing
operations and groundwater contamination,
thus promoting it as safer gas extraction
technology.
 Fracturing makes it possible to produce oil
and natural gas in places where conventional
technologies are ineffective.

29. CONCLUSION
India, largest producer of guar.
Advent and Development of
Hydraulic fracturing in India
Combination of above two
factors, helping India to take a
giant leap in Energy sector.
Easing burden and reliance on
foreign fuel imports of India

30. THANK YOU.