Laboratory demonstration of the impact of weak interfaces and layered rock properties on hydraulic fracture containment and height growth
Abstract Hydraulic fracturing and waterflooding are both widely applied methods for improving the recovery of oil and gas resources. These methods have increasing commonality because many waterfloods are being carried out at high enough pressure to generate hydraulic fractures. Even so, it is challe...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Springer
2023-09-01
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| Series: | Geomechanics and Geophysics for Geo-Energy and Geo-Resources |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1007/s40948-023-00649-6 |
| _version_ | 1797689048818515968 |
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| author | Qiao Lu Amr EI-Fayoumi Jose Adachi Karim Zaki Andrew Bunger |
| author_facet | Qiao Lu Amr EI-Fayoumi Jose Adachi Karim Zaki Andrew Bunger |
| author_sort | Qiao Lu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Hydraulic fracturing and waterflooding are both widely applied methods for improving the recovery of oil and gas resources. These methods have increasing commonality because many waterfloods are being carried out at high enough pressure to generate hydraulic fractures. Even so, it is challenging for engineers to make an optimal wellbore pressure design for layered and otherwise complex underground formations. An overly aggressive injection pressure may lead to uncontrollable fracture height growth into non-producing layers adjacent to the reservoir. In contrast, when using classical but highly simplified height growth models, the pressure limits can be far too conservative which may lead to lower recovery rates and inefficient use of resources invested in developing producing reservoirs. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the mechanism of fracture height growth while considering the coupling effect from multiple dominated factors. This research contributes an experimental approach to evaluating the role of stresses, weak interfaces, and mechanical properties of a three-layer system in promoting or containing hydraulic fracture height growth from a central reservoir into neighboring barrier layers. In all cases, the experiments agree that the pressure required to induce substantial height growth exceeds the stress applied to the barrier layers and is far above classical predictions. Additionally, when the reservoir layer is softer than the barriers, the containment is sustained to even higher pressures than for layers with similar material properties. Finally, the experiments show that permeability of the barrier layer can induce a more sudden transition to uncontrolled height growth when fracture reaches the bedding interfaces. Hydraulic fracture height growth is mitigated by weak interfaces between layers. Unstable height growth typically requires fluid pressure to exceed the in-situ stress in the bounding layer(s). Contrasting layer stiffness and permeability often leads to further mitigation of height growth. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T01:40:20Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7ae737ad49bf4fcdb27a87444742f0e5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2363-8419 2363-8427 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T01:40:20Z |
| publishDate | 2023-09-01 |
| publisher | Springer |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Geomechanics and Geophysics for Geo-Energy and Geo-Resources |
| spelling | doaj.art-7ae737ad49bf4fcdb27a87444742f0e52023-09-10T11:29:53ZengSpringerGeomechanics and Geophysics for Geo-Energy and Geo-Resources2363-84192363-84272023-09-019112110.1007/s40948-023-00649-6Laboratory demonstration of the impact of weak interfaces and layered rock properties on hydraulic fracture containment and height growthQiao Lu0Amr EI-Fayoumi1Jose Adachi2Karim Zaki3Andrew Bunger4Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of PittsburghChevron Technology CenterChevron Technology CenterChevron Technology CenterDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of PittsburghAbstract Hydraulic fracturing and waterflooding are both widely applied methods for improving the recovery of oil and gas resources. These methods have increasing commonality because many waterfloods are being carried out at high enough pressure to generate hydraulic fractures. Even so, it is challenging for engineers to make an optimal wellbore pressure design for layered and otherwise complex underground formations. An overly aggressive injection pressure may lead to uncontrollable fracture height growth into non-producing layers adjacent to the reservoir. In contrast, when using classical but highly simplified height growth models, the pressure limits can be far too conservative which may lead to lower recovery rates and inefficient use of resources invested in developing producing reservoirs. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the mechanism of fracture height growth while considering the coupling effect from multiple dominated factors. This research contributes an experimental approach to evaluating the role of stresses, weak interfaces, and mechanical properties of a three-layer system in promoting or containing hydraulic fracture height growth from a central reservoir into neighboring barrier layers. In all cases, the experiments agree that the pressure required to induce substantial height growth exceeds the stress applied to the barrier layers and is far above classical predictions. Additionally, when the reservoir layer is softer than the barriers, the containment is sustained to even higher pressures than for layers with similar material properties. Finally, the experiments show that permeability of the barrier layer can induce a more sudden transition to uncontrolled height growth when fracture reaches the bedding interfaces. Hydraulic fracture height growth is mitigated by weak interfaces between layers. Unstable height growth typically requires fluid pressure to exceed the in-situ stress in the bounding layer(s). Contrasting layer stiffness and permeability often leads to further mitigation of height growth.https://doi.org/10.1007/s40948-023-00649-6Hydraulic fractureWeak interfaceElasticticity contrastPermeability |
| spellingShingle | Qiao Lu Amr EI-Fayoumi Jose Adachi Karim Zaki Andrew Bunger Laboratory demonstration of the impact of weak interfaces and layered rock properties on hydraulic fracture containment and height growth Geomechanics and Geophysics for Geo-Energy and Geo-Resources Hydraulic fracture Weak interface Elasticticity contrast Permeability |
| title | Laboratory demonstration of the impact of weak interfaces and layered rock properties on hydraulic fracture containment and height growth |
| title_full | Laboratory demonstration of the impact of weak interfaces and layered rock properties on hydraulic fracture containment and height growth |
| title_fullStr | Laboratory demonstration of the impact of weak interfaces and layered rock properties on hydraulic fracture containment and height growth |
| title_full_unstemmed | Laboratory demonstration of the impact of weak interfaces and layered rock properties on hydraulic fracture containment and height growth |
| title_short | Laboratory demonstration of the impact of weak interfaces and layered rock properties on hydraulic fracture containment and height growth |
| title_sort | laboratory demonstration of the impact of weak interfaces and layered rock properties on hydraulic fracture containment and height growth |
| topic | Hydraulic fracture Weak interface Elasticticity contrast Permeability |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1007/s40948-023-00649-6 |
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