New technology that promises to reinvigorate Kentucky’s oil and natural gas wells is being developed by researchers from the University of Kentucky’s Center for Applied Energy Research (CAER).

According to its developers, the new approach relies on coal combustion products — namely fly ash, which is a fine powder byproduct — for recovering and enhancing production from pre-existing oil and natural gas wells.

Source: University of Kentucky Center for Applied Energy Research (CAER)Source: University of Kentucky Center for Applied Energy Research (CAER)

The CAER team is reportedly using ash fracking to target oil and natural gas wells that have either been abandoned or that are no longer in operation.

The researchers explained that because fly ash is smaller and more spherical than conventional sand, it will not immediately settle, thereby eliminating the need for viscosity modifiers and thus resulting in more efficient post-fracking clean up. Further, the process uses less water and can reuse well water, subsequently mitigating environmental contamination.

The researchers plan to collect fly ash from Kentucky coal burning facilities to determine its potential for enhancing the productivity of oil and natural gas wells.

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