Displaying Items By Tag: Hydraulic Fractures

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Publications on hydraulic fractures

Three Dimensional Forms of Closely-Spaced Hydraulic Fractures
J. Kear ; Ju White ; A.P. Bunger ; R. Jeffrey ; M-A Hessami
Book Title / Journal: Effective and Sustainable Hydraulic Fracturing
Year: 2013 , Series: Chapter 34
Laboratory Testing
Keywords: hydraulic fractures ; Closely Spaced Fractures ; Experiments
  • Description
    • When creating arrays of hydraulic fractures in close proximity, stress field changes induced by previously placed hydraulic fractures can lead to deflection in subsequent fracture paths and coalescence between fractures. Any fracture coalescence can compromise the effectiveness of the treatment array and the fracture geometry will not be appropriately accounted for in reservoir or caving models. Here we present the results of an experimental study consisting of arrays of 4 closely spaced hydraulic fractures grown sequentially in 350x350x350 mm blocks of a South Australian Gabbro under different initial stress states and for notched and un-notched wellbores. In particular we focus on insights gained from 3-dimesional serial sectioning and digital reconstruction of the hydraulic fracture patterns that were formed. The results show that the curving hydraulic fractures typically do not exhibit a high degree of radial symmetry in their paths even though the fractures grew by radiating outward from a centrally located wellbore. The results also confirm model predictions that a subsequent fracture will curve towards a previous fracture when the minimum stress is zero and that this curving is suppressed when the minimum stress is sufficiently large. Finally, fracture initiation is shown to be critical to the symmetry of the fracture pattern and preponderance of branching and therefore effective notches that lead to initiation in the eventual plane of favored propagation have a profound impact on the hydraulic fracture geometry.
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The Geomechanical Interaction of Multiple Hydraulic Fractures in Horizontal Wells
S-W Wong ; M. Geilikman ; G. Xu
Book Title / Journal: Effective and Sustainable Hydraulic Fracturing
Year: 2013 , Series: Chapter 32
Numerical & Constitutive Modeling
Keywords: hydraulic fractures ; numerical simulations ; analytical formulation
  • Description
    • The technology of multiple hydraulic fracture stimulation in horizontal wells has transformed the business of oil and gas exploitation from extremely tight, unconventional hydrocarbon bearing rock formations. The fracture stimulation process typically involves placing multiple fractures stage-by-stage along the horizontal well using diverse well completion technologies. The effective design of such massive fracture stimulation requires an understanding of how multiple hydraulic fractures would grow and interact with each other in heterogeneous formations. This is especially challenging as the interaction of these fractures are subject to the dynamic process of subsurface geomechanical stress changes induced by the fracture treatment itself. This paper consists of two parts. Firstly, an idealised analytical model is used to highlight some key features of multiple hydraulic fractures interaction, and to provide a quantifica‐ tion of ‘stress shadow’. Secondly, a new non-planar three dimensional (3D) hydraulic frac‐ turing numerical model is used to provide an insight into the growth of multiple fractures under the influence of subsurface geomechanical stress shadows. Attention is given to studying the height growth of multiple fractures.
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