Numerical Investigation on Interference of Multiple Hydraulic Fractures in Layered Formation
Staged treatment in vertical wells is extensively applied in layered formation to obtain commercial exploitation of hydrocarbon resources. Large-sized heterogeneities always exist between multiple hydraulic fractures in different layers. To reveal the interference of multiple hydraulic fractures in...
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| Format: | Article |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-05-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Earth Science |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feart.2022.865155/full |
| _version_ | 1828826795475992576 |
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| author | Zhichao Li Zhichao Li Shuren Wang Shuren Wang Lianchong Li Jiyun Zhang |
| author_facet | Zhichao Li Zhichao Li Shuren Wang Shuren Wang Lianchong Li Jiyun Zhang |
| author_sort | Zhichao Li |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Staged treatment in vertical wells is extensively applied in layered formation to obtain commercial exploitation of hydrocarbon resources. Large-sized heterogeneities always exist between multiple hydraulic fractures in different layers. To reveal the interference of multiple hydraulic fractures in layered formation, a series of numerical investigations were conducted based on the cohesive zone finite element method. The results show that the sole stress interference is too small to exert an effective impact on adjacent pay zones, which is quite different from those in horizontal wells. The flow distribution in one pay zone can reach 56.2%, which is more than five times the magnitude of the least 10.5% during the fracturing in three pay zones. The fracture size heterogeneities are mainly caused by the interference of the fluid flow into multiple perforation tunnels in different pay zones. To further clarify how the flow distribution in the pay zones is affected, five related factors, including perforating thickness, pay zone thickness, rock permeability, minimum horizontal stress of the pay zone, and rock strength, are analyzed. The results show that it is through the manner of flow distribution adjustment in each pay zone that the five factors affect the fracture size. This study is of critical importance to clarify how the multiple hydraulic fractures from vertical wells interfere in layered formation and explain why the hydraulic fractures we get in the field are far away from what we want ideally. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-12T14:46:18Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d31b092ebf7643d9a13ad2c0d9443cce |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-6463 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-12T14:46:18Z |
| publishDate | 2022-05-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
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| series | Frontiers in Earth Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-d31b092ebf7643d9a13ad2c0d9443cce2022-12-22T00:21:06ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Earth Science2296-64632022-05-011010.3389/feart.2022.865155865155Numerical Investigation on Interference of Multiple Hydraulic Fractures in Layered FormationZhichao Li0Zhichao Li1Shuren Wang2Shuren Wang3Lianchong Li4Jiyun Zhang5School of Civil Engineering, Henan Polytechnic University, Jiaozuo, ChinaInternational Joint Research Laboratory of Henan Province for Underground Space Development and Disaster Prevention, Henan Polytechnic University, Jiaozuo, ChinaSchool of Civil Engineering, Henan Polytechnic University, Jiaozuo, ChinaInternational Joint Research Laboratory of Henan Province for Underground Space Development and Disaster Prevention, Henan Polytechnic University, Jiaozuo, ChinaSchool of Resources and Civil Engineering, Northeastern University, Shenyang, ChinaSchool of Civil Engineering, Henan Polytechnic University, Jiaozuo, ChinaStaged treatment in vertical wells is extensively applied in layered formation to obtain commercial exploitation of hydrocarbon resources. Large-sized heterogeneities always exist between multiple hydraulic fractures in different layers. To reveal the interference of multiple hydraulic fractures in layered formation, a series of numerical investigations were conducted based on the cohesive zone finite element method. The results show that the sole stress interference is too small to exert an effective impact on adjacent pay zones, which is quite different from those in horizontal wells. The flow distribution in one pay zone can reach 56.2%, which is more than five times the magnitude of the least 10.5% during the fracturing in three pay zones. The fracture size heterogeneities are mainly caused by the interference of the fluid flow into multiple perforation tunnels in different pay zones. To further clarify how the flow distribution in the pay zones is affected, five related factors, including perforating thickness, pay zone thickness, rock permeability, minimum horizontal stress of the pay zone, and rock strength, are analyzed. The results show that it is through the manner of flow distribution adjustment in each pay zone that the five factors affect the fracture size. This study is of critical importance to clarify how the multiple hydraulic fractures from vertical wells interfere in layered formation and explain why the hydraulic fractures we get in the field are far away from what we want ideally.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feart.2022.865155/fullmultiple hydraulic fracturesstress interferencelayered formationflow distributionnumerical investigation |
| spellingShingle | Zhichao Li Zhichao Li Shuren Wang Shuren Wang Lianchong Li Jiyun Zhang Numerical Investigation on Interference of Multiple Hydraulic Fractures in Layered Formation Frontiers in Earth Science multiple hydraulic fractures stress interference layered formation flow distribution numerical investigation |
| title | Numerical Investigation on Interference of Multiple Hydraulic Fractures in Layered Formation |
| title_full | Numerical Investigation on Interference of Multiple Hydraulic Fractures in Layered Formation |
| title_fullStr | Numerical Investigation on Interference of Multiple Hydraulic Fractures in Layered Formation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Numerical Investigation on Interference of Multiple Hydraulic Fractures in Layered Formation |
| title_short | Numerical Investigation on Interference of Multiple Hydraulic Fractures in Layered Formation |
| title_sort | numerical investigation on interference of multiple hydraulic fractures in layered formation |
| topic | multiple hydraulic fractures stress interference layered formation flow distribution numerical investigation |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feart.2022.865155/full |
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