Flow rate is a major challenge for geothermal. However, the techniques used in shale to prevent flow localization can be applied directly to geothermal. If we can create hundreds or thousands of flowing fracture pathways around a horizontal or deviated geothermal well, then we will have truly “changed the game.” Read the article at the Journal of Petroleum Technology.

Three brave ResFrac riders took on the Triple Bypass rider in Colorado on August 21. The Triple Bypass is a famous Colorado ride stretching 110 miles and climbing 11,000 ft between Evergreen, CO and Vail, CO.  Egor Donstov, Janz Rondon, and Garrett Fowler rode this year, sporting ResFrac jerseys and lively Mongoose tattoos. While Egor and Garrett enjoyed the views, Janz powered up the climbs, finishing in eighth in a field of over 500 riders in the 40+ category.

Last month we held our third annual ResFrac Symposium, where users presented case studies and panel discussions on industry topics. This year’s lineup featured six operator-speakers as well as guests from the DOE and an independent consultant. We had several talks centered around core workflows enabled by teams using ResFrac: collecting data, facilitating multidisciplinary discussions, calibrating to field diagnostics, and performing economic optimization of prospective designs.

The team has been consistently busy over the last few months, but somehow along the way, our ResFrac Endurance team hasn’t stopped racing and training, setting and achieving goals. We have some race reports to share about the last few months of achievements. Join us in cheering for our ResFrac crew!

ResFrac is releasing Egor Dontsov’s new crack propagation algorithm, MuLTipEl, a major new development in the field of fracture modeling. The algorithm tracks the position of the crack tip within each crack element, giving us unlimited spatial resolution to handle propagation across thin layers, and enables high accuracy 3D crack propagation calculations, even if using a relatively coarse mesh and accounts for detailed layering and heterogeneity of the formation.

We’re excited to announce that Mark McClure, ResFrac CEO was chosen to receive a “TWA Energy Influencers Class of 2021” award, given by The Way Ahead, a publication of the Society of Petroleum Engineers.  This honor was given to seventeen young professionals, under the age of 36, “who excel in their fields at a level superior to that of their peers, yielding second-to-none achievements. Their outstanding efforts help shape the narrative around key issues in the energy sector for future generations.” Learn more about all those awarded on The Way Ahead website.

The ResFrac team has been going full speed this year! At our ‘virtual water-cooler’, I noticed that we have quite a few team members who are endurance and/or competitive athletes and did interviews to learn more about our athletic pursuits and how we have been able to fit athleticism in even around the most challenging schedules and in the craziest of years. Here are a few things I learned…