Frac sand testing's Johnny Carson and Ed McMahon
Published: Thu, 09/19/13
There is news today that NBC is developing a miniseries about
Johnny Carson.
Gosh, I really hope that NBC doesn't screw this up like they do
most of the things that they produce.
Why? I really admire Johnny Carson (Ed McMahon).
There was a recent documentary on PBS about the man and his
sidekick that really kicked butt. You can actually watch the whole
documentary at www.PBS.org,and it's called "Johnny
Carson: King of Late Night."
Also, there are lots of great Carson clips on Youtube on the Johnny
Carson channel.
They tell some great stories of how Carson and McMahon would hang
out together after hours in the early years.
Apparently people would see them out at dinner and would send over
drinks.
So, platter after platter of drinks would show up, and Carson and
McMahon would be obliged to drink at least some of them.
They would party late into the night.
But they would both show up the next day and put on one heckuva
show.
Day after day after day. Entertained millions over the decades
that they ruled late night television.
Ed McMahon was there to announce the boss with his legendary,
"Heeeeere's Johnny!"
And then he was the laugh track for the show, cracking up with
laughter often at Johnny and the guests.
Occasionally, Johnny would get ticked off when Ed would talk over
Johnny.
However, over the course of their careers, they were such a great
team.
In frac sand testing, there is the "Johnny Carson" of
testing, and that is the crush resistance test.
The crush resistance test measures the overall strength of the
sand, to see if it is strong enough to be used in the demanding
environment of a fractured well and the high pressures involved.
The crush resistance test's sidekick is the bulk density test.
This is an interesting little test that determines the mass to
volume ratio of the sand.
It's important to know this, because it lets the engineer
determine how much weight and volume of sand is needed for a frac
job. Or how much storage space is needed.
It's also important to know this bulk density of the sand to
perform the crush resistance test because in the crush cylinder, an
exact volume of sand is needed for testing.
However, volume is difficult to determine precisely for a small
amount of sand, so this bulk density measurements lets the
technician measure a very exact mass using a high precision scale.
Anyway, all this explanation to say this:
The crush resistance test is the main "star" of frac sand
testing, but its important "sidekick" is the bulk
density test.
Both tests are done as part of our full API testing package,
available now for $1,950.
More info here:
http://www.globalenergylaboratories.com/proppant-testing-services-and-costs/