A platform for research: civil engineering, architecture and urbanism
Numerical Investigation on Stress Shadowing in Fluid Injection-Induced Fracture Propagation in Naturally Fractured Geothermal Reservoirs
Abstract In low permeability shale reservoirs, multi-stage hydraulic fracturing is largely used to increase the productivity by enlarging the stimulated rock volume. Hydraulic fracture created alters the stress field around it, and affects the subsequent fractures by the change of the stress field, in particular, mostly increased minimum principal stress at the area of subsequent fracturing. This is called stress shadow which accumulates as the fracturing stages advance from toe to heel. Hydraulic fractures generated in such altered stress field are shorter and compact with orientation deviating significantly from the far-field maximum horizontal stress orientation. This paper presents 2D discrete element-based numerical modeling of multi-stage hydraulic fracturing in a naturally fractured reservoir and investigates stress shadowing. The stress shadowing is tested with two different injection scenarios: constant and cyclic rate injections. The results show that cyclic injection tends to lower the effect of stress shadow as well as mitigates the magnitude of the induced seismicity. Another modeling case is presented to show how the stress shadow can be utilized to optimize a hydraulic fracture network in application to Groß Schönebeck geothermal reservoir, rather than being mitigated. The modeling demonstrated that the stress shadow is successfully utilized for optimizing the geothermal heat exchanger by altering the initial in situ stress field from highly anisotropic to less or even to isotropic.
Numerical Investigation on Stress Shadowing in Fluid Injection-Induced Fracture Propagation in Naturally Fractured Geothermal Reservoirs
Abstract In low permeability shale reservoirs, multi-stage hydraulic fracturing is largely used to increase the productivity by enlarging the stimulated rock volume. Hydraulic fracture created alters the stress field around it, and affects the subsequent fractures by the change of the stress field, in particular, mostly increased minimum principal stress at the area of subsequent fracturing. This is called stress shadow which accumulates as the fracturing stages advance from toe to heel. Hydraulic fractures generated in such altered stress field are shorter and compact with orientation deviating significantly from the far-field maximum horizontal stress orientation. This paper presents 2D discrete element-based numerical modeling of multi-stage hydraulic fracturing in a naturally fractured reservoir and investigates stress shadowing. The stress shadowing is tested with two different injection scenarios: constant and cyclic rate injections. The results show that cyclic injection tends to lower the effect of stress shadow as well as mitigates the magnitude of the induced seismicity. Another modeling case is presented to show how the stress shadow can be utilized to optimize a hydraulic fracture network in application to Groß Schönebeck geothermal reservoir, rather than being mitigated. The modeling demonstrated that the stress shadow is successfully utilized for optimizing the geothermal heat exchanger by altering the initial in situ stress field from highly anisotropic to less or even to isotropic.
Numerical Investigation on Stress Shadowing in Fluid Injection-Induced Fracture Propagation in Naturally Fractured Geothermal Reservoirs
Yoon, Jeoung Seok (author) / Zimmermann, Günter (author) / Zang, Arno (author)
2014
Article (Journal)
English
Local classification TIB:
560/4815/6545
BKL:
38.58
Geomechanik
/
56.20
Ingenieurgeologie, Bodenmechanik
British Library Online Contents | 2015
|Geometric nature of hydraulic fracture propagation in naturally-fractured reservoirs
Online Contents | 2017
|