The popularity of hydraulic fracturing, also known as vertical drilling in the United States has drawn criticism from environmental groups who claim that oilfield chemicals are unsafe and leads to well water contamination. This scrutiny hasn’t stopped fracking, but has led to some caps and slower adoption of the controversial drilling method in certain regions of the country, particularly the northeast and west coast. While most of the larger drilling fluids companies stand pat, some of the smaller ones are taking action to not only make more effective drilling chemicals, but make them safer for the environment as well.
Force Chem Technologies has developed eco-friendly oilfield chemicals that are safer for the environment and have a more thorough breakdown after 30 days than many competing chemicals. The basis of their technology is monomolecular filming which reduces torque drag and friction down hole in the well bore. Monomolecular borders on being nanotechnology, meaning the fluid is a cutting edge technology. The monomolecular ForceFree drilling lubricant withstands higher pressures and temperatures than lubricants based off compounds when down hole during drilling, but at the same time actually breaks down into its most basic properties faster when left alone in nature.
In the past, many highly biodegradable chemicals such as this one, while friendly for the environment, were not so friendly for the equipment or drilling bits doing the drilling. Many times, companies stated it was not economically feasible to continue using such chemicals as they simply did not last or get the job done and often resulted in damaged drilling bits and equipment. Many of the newer chemicals which have these high biodegradability profiles are in fact using new, cutting edge technology that simply wasn’t available up until a few years ago, or wasn’t economically feasible to produce in sufficient quantity needed for in field use. Other issues surrounding this are more streamlined production processes to get costs down as the advanced fluids were more expensive to manufacture. As chemical companies spent more research and development time into the chemicals, they streamlined the manufacturing process incrementally to cut costs.
Look for more advances to be made in the years to come as drilling in the United States is predict to continue to boom for several more decades. We can expect advances in the chemical and equipment industry to follow suit accordingly as demand rises.
