Introduction to Shale Gas Extraction (Anthony Ingraffea, PhD, PE)

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• published: 29 Jan 2013
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http://psehealthyenergy.org/SUPPORT. Learn more about how you can help support PSE Healthy Energy by clicking on the link above. Continuing Medical Education (CME) Activity Jointly Sponsored by Physicians Scientists & Engineers for Healthy Energy and the Medical Society of the State of New York. If you wish to receive credit for this activity please access the learning modules through the following web site: http://www.psehealthyenergy.org/COURSES Educational Objectives: This lecture will provide a general introduction to this industrial practice while highlighting its environmental and public health implications. This will include a discussion of the following as each pertains to shale gas development: the production process, technological innovations, geographical issues (e.g. spatial intensity), industrial problems (e.g. leaking wellheads), contamination pathways, and climate change impacts. This lecture will provide its audience with a better understanding of what this industrial practice is and how it can impact human health. After completion of this course, the learner should be able to: 1. Describe how high-volume hydraulic fracturing (HVHF) of shale is used for natural gas production 2. Describe the novel, key technologies used in this industrial process and how they differ from those used in traditional natural gas production 3. Describe the geographical implications and spatial intensity of this extraction process 4. Describe the industrial problems with natural gas extraction and potential pathways of exposure 5. Describe the climate change impacts of HVHF 6. Describe the large volume of freshwater and chemicals involved, the amount of chemically and radiologically contaminated wastewater produced, the degree of hydraulic pressure exerted, the amount of particulate matter (e.g. dust, silica) and diesel exhaust emissions released, the extent of geographical involvement and the potential for industrial accidents. 7. Develop an understanding of why this industrial process has public health implications and be able to communicate these concerns to individuals and communities Dr. Ingraffea is the Dwight C. Baum Professor of Engineering at Cornell University, and has taught structural mechanics, finite element methods, and fracture mechanics at Cornell for 35 years. Dr. Ingraffea's research concentrates on computer simulation and physical testing of complex fracturing processes. He and his students have performed pioneering research in using interactive computer graphics in computational mechanics, and together they have authored more than 250 papers in these areas. He has been a principal investigator on more than $35 million in R&D; projects from the NSF, NASA Langley, Nichols Research, NASA Glenn, AFOSR, FAA, Kodak, U. S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station, U.S. Dept. of Transportation, IBM, Schlumberger, the Gas Research Institute, Sandia National Laboratories, the Association of Iron and Steel Engineers, General Dynamics, Boeing, Caterpillar Tractor, and Northrop Grumman Aerospace. For his research achievements he has won the International Association for Computer Methods and Advances in Geomechanics "1994 Significant Paper Award" for one of the five most significant papers in the category of Computational/Analytical Applications in the past 20 years, and he has twice won the National Research Council/U.S. National Committee for Rock Mechanics Award for Research in Rock Mechanics (1978, 1991). He is Co-Editor-in-Chief of the premier journal in his field, Engineering Fracture Mechanics.