Tabletop Device to Trace Fracking Fluids

For drilling contractors, knowing exactly where hydraulic fracturing fluids travel is becoming as important as how much production the fluid will stimulate. A tabletop device developed at Rice University promises to predict how effectively a nanoparticle tracer will travel through a well, helping oil and gas producers to gauge the effectiveness of fracking efforts.“We developed nanoparticle tracing technology at the university,” says Rice chemist Andrew Barron, who created the device along with Rice alumnus Samuel Maguire-Boyle and other university colleagues. “However, to a nanoparticle, all fracking fluids are not created equal. The major difference in fluids from one drilling site