Fault’s hydraulic diffusivity enhancement during injection induced fault reactivation: application of pore pressure diffusion inversions to laboratory injection experiments

2020 ◽  
Vol 223 (3) ◽  
pp. 2117-2132
Author(s):  
M Almakari ◽  
H Chauris ◽  
F Passelègue ◽  
P Dublanchet ◽  
A Gesret

SUMMARY In situ observations of fluid induced fault slip reactivation, as well as the analysis of induced seismicity have demonstrated the complexity of fluid–fault interactions under geological conditions. If fluid flow commonly reactivates faults in the form of aseismic slip or earthquakes, the resulting shear deformation causes strong modifications of the hydraulic properties. In this context, the relationship between slip front and fluid front on deep faults remains not fully understood. In this study, we investigate shear induced fluid flow and hydraulic diffusivity enhancement during fracture shearing in the laboratory. We use a series of injection reactivation tests, conducted under triaxial conditions, at different confining pressures (30, 60 and 95 MPa). The evolution of the fluid pressure along the saw-cut Andesite rock sample was monitored by two pressure sensors, at two opposite locations of the experimental fault. We estimate the history of the effective hydraulic diffusivity (and its associated uncertainties) governing the experimental fault, using the pressure history at two points on the fault. For this, we develop a deterministic and a probabilistic inversion procedure, which is able to reproduce the experimental data for a wide time range of the different experiments. In this study, the hydraulic diffusivity increases by one order of magnitude through the injection experiment. Hydraulic diffusivity changes are mainly governed by the reduction of the effective normal stress acting on the fault plane, with a second-order effect of the shear slip.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle Almakari ◽  
Hervé Chauris ◽  
François Passelègue ◽  
Pierre Dublanchet

<p>Understanding how the permeability of a fault evolves during injection induced fault reactivation process is of great interest. The interactions between fluids and faults can be complex, as the confining pressure, effective stress and shear slip can affect the hydro-mechanical properties of the fault. The relationship between induced slip (reactivation) front and fluid front requires a better understanding of what controls hydraulic diffusivity as well. <br>In this study, we investigate shear induced fluid flow and permeability enhancement during fracture shearing. We used a series of laboratory injection reactivation tests on saw cut Andesite rock sample, under triaxial conditions, at different confining pressures (30, 60 and 95 MPa). The sample was connected to two pressure sensors, at two opposite locations of the fault, and equipped by strain gauges along strike. <br>We thus propose a numerical method, in the context of deterministic and probabilistic inversion approaches, that allows to estimate the temporal evolution of the effective hydraulic diffusivity (and its associated uncertainties) of an experimental fault throughout an injection test, using the pressure history at two points on the fault. <br>The numerical method was able to reproduce the experimental data for a wide time range of the different experiments. The hydraulic diffusivity was found to largely depend on the confining pressure and to increase (by one order of magnitude) throughout the injection experiment with the reduction of the mean effective stress acting along the fault plane. As well, the shear slip was observed to have an effect on the hydraulic diffusivity evolution. Instantaneous short term diffusivity enhancement accompanied slip events with large slip velocities, while long term increases accompanied slow slip events.</p>


2011 ◽  
Vol 28 (9) ◽  
pp. 1703-1713 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Zhang ◽  
J.R. Underschultz ◽  
A. Gartrell ◽  
D.N. Dewhurst ◽  
L. Langhi

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 66-74
Author(s):  
Yuesu Jin ◽  
Nikolay Dyaur ◽  
Yingcai Zheng

Abstract Seismic waves carrying tiny perturbing stresses can trigger earthquakes in geothermal and volcanic regions. The underlying cause of this dynamic triggering is still not well understood. One leading hypothesis is that a sudden increase in the fluid-pore pressure in the fault zone is involved, but the exact physical mechanism is unclear. Here, we report experimental evidence in which a fluid-filled fracture was shown to be able to amplify the pressure of an incoming seismic wave. We built miniature pressure sensors and directly placed them inside a thin fluid-filled fracture to measure the fluid pressure during wave propagation. By varying the fracture aperture from 0.2 to 9.2 mm and sweeping the frequency from 12 to 70 Hz, we observed in the lab that the fluid pressure in the fracture could be amplified up to 25.2 times compared with the incident-wave amplitude. Because an increase of the fluid pressure in a fault can reduce the effective normal stress to allow the fault to slide, our observed transient pressure surge phenomenon may provide the mechanism for earthquake dynamic triggering.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sherif M. Hanafy ◽  
Hussein Hoteit ◽  
Jing Li ◽  
Gerard T. Schuster

AbstractResults are presented for real-time seismic imaging of subsurface fluid flow by parsimonious refraction and surface-wave interferometry. Each subsurface velocity image inverted from time-lapse seismic data only requires several minutes of recording time, which is less than the time-scale of the fluid-induced changes in the rock properties. In this sense this is real-time imaging. The images are P-velocity tomograms inverted from the first-arrival times and the S-velocity tomograms inverted from dispersion curves. Compared to conventional seismic imaging, parsimonious interferometry reduces the recording time and increases the temporal resolution of time-lapse seismic images by more than an order-of-magnitude. In our seismic experiment, we recorded 90 sparse data sets over 4.5 h while injecting 12-tons of water into a sand dune. Results show that the percolation of water is mostly along layered boundaries down to a depth of a few meters, which is consistent with our 3D computational fluid flow simulations and laboratory experiments. The significance of parsimonious interferometry is that it provides more than an order-of-magnitude increase of temporal resolution in time-lapse seismic imaging. We believe that real-time seismic imaging will have important applications for non-destructive characterization in environmental, biomedical, and subsurface imaging.


2002 ◽  
Vol 54 (11) ◽  
pp. 1139-1146 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Pierre Gratier ◽  
Pascal Favreau ◽  
François Renard ◽  
Eric Pili

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (15) ◽  
pp. 5032
Author(s):  
Alec Ikei ◽  
James Wissman ◽  
Kaushik Sampath ◽  
Gregory Yesner ◽  
Syed N. Qadri

In the functional 3D-printing field, poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-trifluoroethylene) (PVDF-TrFE) has been shown to be a more promising choice of material over polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), due to its ability to be poled to a high level of piezoelectric performance without a large mechanical strain ratio. In this work, a novel presentation of in situ 3D printing and poling of PVDF-TrFE is shown with a d33 performance of up to 18 pC N−1, more than an order of magnitude larger than previously reported in situ poled polymer piezoelectrics. This finding paves the way forward for pressure sensors with much higher sensitivity and accuracy. In addition, the ability of in situ pole sensors to demonstrate different performance levels is shown in a fully 3D-printed five-element sensor array, accelerating and increasing the design space for complex sensing arrays. The in situ poled sample performance was compared to the performance of samples prepared through an ex situ corona poling process.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hariharan Ramachandran ◽  
Andreia Plaza-Faverola ◽  
Hugh Daigle ◽  
Stefan Buenz

<p>Evidences of subsurface fluid flow-driven fractures (from seismic interpretation) are quite common at Vestnesa Ridge (around 79ºN in the Arctic Ocean), W-Svalbard margin. Ultimately, the fractured systems have led to the formation of pockmarks on the seafloor. At present day, the eastern segment of the ridge has active pockmarks with continuous methane seep observations in sonar data. The pockmarks in the western segment are considered inactive or to seep at a rate that is harder to identify. The ridge is at ~1200m water depth with the base of the gas hydrate stability zone (GHSZ) at ~200m below the seafloor. Considerable free gas zone is present below the hydrates. Besides the obvious concern of amount and rates of historic methane seeping into the ocean biosphere and its associated effects, significant gaps exist in the ability to model the processes of flow of methane through this faulted and fractured region. Our aim is to highlight the interactions between physical flow, geomechanics and geological control processes that govern the rates and timing of methane seepage.</p><p>For this purpose, we performed numerical fluid flow simulations. We integrate fundamental mass and component conservation equations with a phase equilibrium approach accounting for hydrate phase boundary effects to simulate the transport of gas from the base of the GHSZ through rock matrix and interconnected fractures until the seafloor. The relation between effective stress and fluid pressure is considered and fractures are activated once the effective stress exceeds the tensile limit. We use field data (seismic, oedometer tests on calypso cores, pore fluid pressure and temperature) to constrain the range of validity of various flow and geomechanical parameters in the simulation (such as vertical stress, porosity, permeability, saturations).</p><p>Preliminary results indicate fluid overpressure greater than 1.5 MPa is required to initiate fractures at the base of the gas hydrate stability zone for the investigated system. Focused fluid flow occurs through the narrow fracture networks and the gas reaches the seafloor within 1 day. The surrounding regions near the fracture network exhibit slower seepage towards the seafloor, but over a wider area. Advective flux through the less fractured surrounding regions, reaches the seafloor within 15 years and a diffusive flux reaches within 1200 years. These times are controlled by the permeability of the sediments and are retarded further due to considerable hydrate/carbonate formation during vertical migration. Next course of action includes constraining the methane availability at the base of the GHSZ and estimating its impact on seepage behavior.</p>


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Yongsheng Liu ◽  
Xing Qin ◽  
Yuchen Sun ◽  
Zijun Dou ◽  
Jiansong Zhang ◽  
...  

Abstract Aiming at the oscillation drag reduction tool that improves the extension limit of coiled tubing downhole operations, the fluid hammer equation of the oscillation drag reducer is established based on the fluid hammer effect. The fluid hammer equation is solved by the asymptotic method, and the distribution of fluid pressure and flow velocity in coiled tubing with oscillation drag reducers is obtained. At the same time, the axial force and radial force of the coiled tubing caused by the fluid hammer oscillator are calculated according to the momentum theorem. The radial force will change the normal contact force of the coiled tubing which has a great influence on frictional drag. The results show that the fluid flow rate and pressure decrease stepwise from the oscillator position to the wellhead position, and the fluid flow rate and pressure will change abruptly during each valve opening and closing time. When the fluid passes through the oscillator, the unit mass fluid will generate an instantaneous axial tension due to the change in the fluid velocity, thereby converting the static friction into dynamic friction, which is conducive to the extend limit of coiled tubing.


2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
WeiLun Yu ◽  
XiaoGang Wu ◽  
HaiPeng Cen ◽  
Yuan Guo ◽  
ChaoXin Li ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Bone is a hierarchically structured composite material, and different hierarchical levels exhibit diverse material properties and functions. The stress and strain distribution and fluid flow in bone play an important role in the realization of mechanotransduction and bone remodeling. Methods To investigate the mechanotransduction and fluid behaviors in loaded bone, a multiscale method was developed. Based on poroelastic theory, we established the theoretical and FE model of a segment bone to provide basis for researching more complex bone model. The COMSOL Multiphysics software was used to establish different scales of bone models, and the properties of mechanical and fluid behaviors in each scale were investigated. Results FE results correlated very well with analytical in macroscopic scale, and the results for the mesoscopic models were about less than 2% different compared to that in the macro–mesoscale models, verifying the correctness of the modeling. In macro–mesoscale, results demonstrated that variations in fluid pressure (FP), fluid velocity (FV), von Mises stress (VMS), and maximum principal strain (MPS) in the position of endosteum, periosteum, osteon, and interstitial bone and these variations can be considerable (up to 10, 8, 4 and 3.5 times difference in maximum FP, FV, VMS, and MPS between the highest and the lowest regions, respectively). With the changing of Young’s modulus (E) in each osteon lamella, the strain and stress concentration occurred in different positions and given rise to microscale spatial variations in the fluid pressure field. The heterogeneous distribution of lacunar–canalicular permeability (klcp) in each osteon lamella had various influence on the FP and FV, but had little effect on VMS and MPS. Conclusion Based on the idealized model presented in this article, the presence of endosteum and periosteum has an important influence on the fluid flow in bone. With the hypothetical parameter values in osteon lamellae, the bone material parameters have effect on the propagation of stress and fluid flow in bone. The model can also incorporate alternative material parameters obtained from different individuals. The suggested method is expected to provide dependable biological information for better understanding the bone mechanotransduction and signal transduction.


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