Microseismic Monitoring of the B-Sand Hydraulic-Fracture Experiment at the DOE/GRI Multisite Project

Warpinski, N.R.; Wright, Tom; Uhl, J.E.; Engler, B.P.; Drozda, P.M.; Peterson, R.E.; Branagan, P.T.

doi:10.2118/57593-pa

Cited by 27 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 18 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The Frac3D model was used by De Pater (2015) to match microseismic event clouds from the M-Site B-Sand injection. The MWX project was carried out in the Mesaverde sands of the Piceance Basin in Colorado (Warpinski et al, 1999). The M-Site fracture treatment was a test case for an example of contained fracture growth in an environment where the stress contrast was insufficient to explain the observed fracture containment.…”

Section: Frac3d Coupled Simulationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pore pressure effects on fracture net pressure and hydraulic fracture containment: Insights from an empirical and simulation approach

Prabhakaran

Pater²,

Shaoul³

2017

Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A B S T R A C TPore pressure and its relationship with fracture net pressure has been reported qualitatively from both field and experimental observations. From a modeling perspective, the ubiquitously used pseudo 3D (P3D) models that are based on linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM) do not include the effect of reservoir depletion (or overpressure). Models that utilize effective stress as propagation criteria with a cohesive zone description, introduce the pore pressure directly into the simulation and hence can potentially capture the effect of pore pressure on fracture propagation. This work investigates the effect of pore pressure on hydraulic fracturing net pressure and geometry using empirical and numerical simulation approaches. We carried out an analysis of more than 400 datafrac injections spanning a wide range of geological ages and depositional environments in order to investigate the relationship between observed net pressure and reservoir pore pressure. The net fracture propagation pressure from the fracture treatment analysis was seen to be correlated with the effective stress in the reservoir. Fracture propagation simulations were performed using a coupled finite element -finite difference fracture simulator. The code uses a cohesive zone model (CZM) to describe fracture propagation. Four different effective stress scenarios were used to study the effect of effective stress on net pressure. The simulation results closely match the empirical relation between net pressure and effective stress as obtained from the analysis of actual frac treatment data. It is observed from the simulations that the magnitude of the effective stress also has an effect on the fracture geometry with a high effective stress leading to wider, shorter and more radial fractures. The derived empirical correlation is hence useful as a fracture design parameter. The datafrac net pressure diagnostics workflow in the pseudo 3D models can incorporate local tip pore pressure as a new pressure matching parameter. The pore pressure effect can thus explain high net pressures routinely observed in frac operations and also as a containment mechanism.

show abstract

Section: Frac3d Coupled Simulationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pore pressure effects on fracture net pressure and hydraulic fracture containment: Insights from an empirical and simulation approach

Prabhakaran

Pater²,

Shaoul³

2017

Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The geologic setting is a fluvial environment, in which comprehensive fracturing experiments were carried out in two intervals. The test zone of interest for this evaluation was labeled the "B" sandstone at a depth of approximately 4525 to 4560 ft. 4,25,26 Numerous injections were performed in the B sandstone, with one particular minifrac providing a good data set for testing this approach. The minifrac was pumped at 22 bpm, injecting a total volume of 400 bbl of a 40 lb linear gel.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The original location analysis at M-Site used a constant velocity medium because of the fluvial environment and the large number of receivers (velocity effects wash out). 25 In a homogeneous velocity medium, only one of the velocities is independent, so the P-wave velocity was taken as a constraint at V p = 15,000 ft/sec and the S wave velocity was determined in the inversion. Figure 6 shows a plan-view and side-view map of the microseismic locations and the tiltmeter fit for the re-location case.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of an Advanced Hydraulic Fracture Mapping System

Warpinski¹,

Wolhart²,

Griffin³

et al. 2007

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The project to develop an advanced hydraulic fracture mapping system consisted of both hardware and analysis components in an effort to build, field, and analyze combined data from tiltmeter and microseismic arrays. The hardware sections of the project included: (1) the building of new tiltmeter housings with feedthroughs for use in conjunction with a microseismic array, (2) the development of a means to use separate telemetry systems for the tilt and microseismic arrays, and (3) the selection and fabrication of an accelerometer sensor system to improve signal-to-noise ratios. The analysis sections of the project included a joint inversion for analysis and interpretation of combined tiltmeter and microseismic data and improved methods for extracting slippage planes and other reservoir information from the microseisms. In addition, testing was performed at various steps in the process to assess the data quality and problems/issues that arose during various parts of the project. A prototype array was successfully tested and a full array is now being fabricated for industrial use.

show abstract

“…This approach was used at the M-Site experiment in the Piceance basin of Colorado to validate microseismic monitoring results (Branagan et al 1996a;Warpinski et al 1999). As noted previously, the experiment used both accelerometers and tiltmeters that were cemented in an offset well to monitor fracture treatments.…”

Section: Fracture Heightmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Validation Assessment of Microseismic Monitoring

Warpinski

Wolhart

2016

Day 2 Wed, February 10, 2016

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Microseismic monitoring of hydraulic fracturing in unconventional reservoirs is a valuable tool for delineating the effectiveness of stimulations, completions, and overall field development. Important information, such as fracture azimuth, fracture length, height growth, staging effectiveness, and many other geometric parameters, can typically be determined from good quality data sets. In addition, there are parameters now being extracted from microseismic data sets, or correlated with microseismic data, to infer other properties of the stimulation/completion system, such as stimulated reservoir volume (SRV), discrete fracture networks (DFNs), structural effects, proppant placement, permeability, fracture opening and closure, geohazards, and others. Much of the information obtained in this way is based on solid geomechanical or seismological principles, but some of it is speculative as well.This paper reviews published data where microseismic results have been validated by experiments using some type of ground-truth or alternative measurement procedure, discusses the geomechanics and seismological mechanisms that can be reasonably considered in evaluating the likelihood of inferring given properties, and appraises the uncertainties associated with monitoring and the effect on any inferences about fracture behavior. Considerable data now exist from tiltmeters, fiber-optic sensing, tracers, pressure sensors, multi-well-pad experiments, and production interference that can be used to aid the validation assessment.Relatively limited microseismic results have actually been validated in any consistent manner. Fracture azimuth from microseismic has been verified across a wide range of reservoir types using multiple techniques. Good validation of fracture length and height were performed in sandstones for planar fractures; fracture length and height in typical horizontal completions with multiple fractures or complexity have a lesser degree of verification. Other parameters, such as complexity, discrete fracture networks, source parameters, and SRV, have little supporting evidence to provide validation, even though they might have sound physical principles underlying their application. It is clear that microseismic monitoring would benefit from more attention to validation testing. In many cases, the data might be available but have not been used for validation purposes, or such results have not been published.

show abstract

Microseismic Monitoring of the B-Sand Hydraulic-Fracture Experiment at the DOE/GRI Multisite Project

Cited by 27 publications

References 18 publications

Pore pressure effects on fracture net pressure and hydraulic fracture containment: Insights from an empirical and simulation approach

Pore pressure effects on fracture net pressure and hydraulic fracture containment: Insights from an empirical and simulation approach

Development of an Advanced Hydraulic Fracture Mapping System

A Validation Assessment of Microseismic Monitoring

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About