When looking at the world economy, it’s pretty easy to see the huge rise in oil prices over the past few decades. This increase in prices can trigger an economic downturn not only in the United States but around the world, just as the interruption of oil supplies from abroad can increase oil prices. To address this ongoing problem, the United States has realized the need to diversify energy sources by purchasing crude oil from different countries while promoting the use of local sources of oil, coal, and natural gas. Anxiety related to oil shortages has increased the promotion of the use of natural gas.

Extracting natural gas from the shale requires the use of advanced technology such as hydraulic fracturing; this requires the use of multiple vacuum trucks to assist in the storage, removal, and transportation of hazardous and non-hazardous waste materials. The following is information about the extraction of natural gas and the role that vacuum trucks play in this process.

Hydraulic fracture

Most oil wells in the United States use hydraulic fracturing to extract large amounts of natural gas, a process that involves the introduction of billions of gallons of water, proprietary chemicals, sand, and propellants. All of these substances are injected at high pressure to stimulate and break the shale and eventually open fissures to allow natural gas to flow to the surface.

Well stimulation occurs immediately after the drilling process. Perforated steel tubes are inserted into the perforated deck at the target areas. When these pipes have been laid correctly, water, sand and propellants are injected. The pressure created from this process causes the shale to crack, which in turn allows gas and fluid to flow back into the wellbore after the stimulation process ceases. The backflow of these fluids goes to designated tanks, which are then transported to treatment facilities for disposal.

Demand for vacuum trucks

According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), approximately ten billion gallons of water and four million pounds of propellants are pumped per well each year. Only 20 to 85 percent of these fluids remain underground; the rest flows to the surface along with methane and hydrocarbons. Due to the high volume of fractured fluid, a large number of vacuum trucks are required to support the process and for its safe transportation to treatment facilities 24/7. It is estimated that approximately 200 vacuum truck trips are made each day to transport billions of gallons of fluid to and from these sites. Vacuum trucks are in high demand in natural gas production, providing the essential water supply for the extraction process, removing recovered fluids for transport to various treatment plants, and pumping sand, ceramic beads, water, and products. chemicals to the wells.

Hydraulic fracturing is an innovative technique used in the United States to extract billions of barrels of oil and trillions of cubic feet of natural gas. The abundance of natural gas in the Marcellus Shale in the United States necessitates this practice of well stimulation and a transportation system to handle waste disposal, spill cleanup, and transportation of water for drilling, including removal of sewage water.

Hydraulic fracturing can best be accomplished by using vacuum trucks for the safe extraction and transport of fluids to licensed facilities, with the added assurance that they meet all regulatory requirements set forth by the EPA!