INDUCED SEISMICITY ASSOCIATED WITH WASTE FLUID INJECTION WELLS

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan MacDonald ◽  
◽  
John E. Ebel
Keyword(s):  
Induced Seismicity ◽  
Fluid Injection ◽  
Injection Wells

Data analytics to investigate the cohort of injection wells with earthquakes in Oklahoma

2021 ◽  
pp. 875529302198972
Author(s):  
Amin Amirlatifi ◽  
Bijay KC ◽  
Meisam Adibifard ◽  
Farshid Vahedifard ◽  
Ehsan Ghazanfari
Keyword(s):  
Induced Seismicity ◽  
Data Analytics ◽  
Energy Production ◽  
Hybrid Genetic Algorithm ◽  
Injection Wells ◽  
Cumulative Volume ◽  
Level Of Activity ◽  
Underground Injection ◽  
Injection Control ◽  
Volume Range

The number of recorded earthquakes in Oklahoma has substantially increased during the last few decades, a trend that coincides with the increases in the injected volume in underground injection control (UIC) wells. Several studies have suggested the existence of spatial and temporal links between earthquakes and injection wells. However, creating a spatial connection between the earthquakes and UIC wells requires making a prior assumption about the radius of induced seismicity. In this study, we use intrinsic features of the UIC wells to find the cohort of wells with associated earthquakes, based on the level of activity and proximity of the wells to the events. For this purpose, a hybrid genetic algorithm–K-means (GA-K-means) algorithm was applied over UIC wells, and the geographical representation of the clustered wells was co-visualized with earthquake data to determine wells with induced seismic activities. The analysis was performed every year since 2002, and the most critical attributes to distinguish the behavior of wells were identified. The analysis showed a distinct change in cluster identifiers before the year 2010, which is believed to be the beginning of increased seismic activities, compared to later dates. Our approach was able to group the earthquake-associated wells from the rest of the data, and centroid analysis of these wells helped us identify the critical pressure and cumulative volume range that result in induced seismicity. These findings can be used as guidelines for designing safer injection sites for sustainable energy production in Oklahoma.

scholarly journals A Coulomb stress model for induced seismicity distribution due to fluid injection and withdrawal in deep boreholes

2013 ◽  
Vol 195 (1) ◽  
pp. 504-512 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Troiano ◽  
Maria Giulia Di Giuseppe ◽  
Claudia Troise ◽  
Anna Tramelli ◽  
Giuseppe De Natale
Keyword(s):  
Induced Seismicity ◽  
Fluid Injection ◽  
Coulomb Stress ◽  
Stress Model ◽  
Seismicity Distribution ◽  
Deep Boreholes

Fluid-Injection-Induced Seismicity Experiment of the WFSD-3P Borehole

2015 ◽  
Vol 89 (3) ◽  
pp. 1057-1058 ◽  
Author(s):  
MA Xiumin ◽  
LI Zhen ◽  
PENG Hua ◽  
JIANG Jingjie ◽  
ZHAO Fang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Induced Seismicity ◽  
Fluid Injection

Multi-phase hydromechanical modeling of induced seismicity: general insights and the case study of the deep geothermal project in St. Gallen, Switzerland

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominik Zbinden ◽  
Antonio Pio Rinaldi ◽  
Tobias Diehl ◽  
Stefan Wiemer
Keyword(s):  
Fluid Flow ◽  
Induced Seismicity ◽  
Gas Flow ◽  
Fluid Injection ◽  
Induced Earthquakes ◽  
Stress Changes ◽  
Reservoir Conditions ◽  
Multi Phase ◽  
Phase Fluid

<p>Industrial projects that involve fluid injection into the deep underground (e.g., geothermal energy, wastewater disposal) can induce seismicity, which may jeopardize the acceptance of such geo-energy projects and, in the case of larger induced earthquakes, damage infrastructure and pose a threat to the population. Such earthquakes can occur because fluid injection yields pressure and stress changes in the subsurface, which can reactivate pre-existing faults. Many studies have so far focused on injection into undisturbed reservoir conditions (i.e., hydrostatic pressure and single-phase flow), while only very few studies consider disturbed <em>in-situ</em> conditions including multi-phase fluid flow (i.e., gas and water). Gas flow has been suggested as a trigger mechanism of aftershocks in natural seismic sequences and can play an important role at volcanic sites. In addition, the deep geothermal project in St. Gallen, Switzerland, is a unique case study where an induced seismic sequence occurred almost simultaneously with a gas kick, suggesting that the gas may have affected the induced seismicity.</p><p>Here, we focus on the hydro-mechanical modeling of fluid injection into disturbed reservoir conditions considering multi-phase fluid flow. We couple the fluid flow simulator TOUGH2 with different geomechanical codes to study the effect of gas on induced seismicity in general and in the case of St. Gallen. The results show that overpressurized gas can affect the size and timing of induced earthquakes and that it may have contributed to enhance the induced seismicity in St. Gallen. Our findings can lead to a more detailed understanding of the influence of a gas phase on the induced seismicity.</p>

Crossflow Effects During an Idealized Displacement Process In a Stratified Reservoir

1965 ◽  
Vol 5 (03) ◽  
pp. 229-238 ◽  
Author(s):  
P.J. Root ◽  
F.F. Skiba
Keyword(s):  
Incompressible Fluid ◽  
Cross Flow ◽  
Fluid Injection ◽  
Injection Wells ◽  
Model Studies ◽  
Completion Problem ◽  
In Series ◽  
Stratified Reservoir ◽  
Flow Effects ◽  
Channeling Effect

Abstract A mathematical model has been used to investigate cross flow effects in a stratified reservoir during an idealized displacement process. A process in which one incompressible fluid displaces completely another incompressible fluid of the same density and viscosity was considered. The reservoir was assumed to be composed of homogeneous layers which are discrete but interconnected. Approximate five-spot flow geometry was simulated by arranging two pie-shaped cylindrical (two-dimensional) wedges in series. Some of the common production methods rely, for their effectiveness, on the fact that the formation consists of isolated strata. This is particularly true of selective plugging and single-zone production- injection methods. The effectiveness of these techniques for several cases in which adjacent strata are in communication has been evaluated. The usual production-injection schemes for fluid injection processes involve using the same completion interval in both the production and the injection wells. The efficiency of this, as well as alternative production-injection procedures has been examined for some cases involving communicating strata. Introduction The performance of many fluid injection projects is marred by early breakthrough and by production of a high percentage of the displacing phase after breakthrough. This channeling effect, if it occurs in reservoirs which have large permeability variations, is often explained on the basis of a model composed of discrete, isolated strata. Corrective or preventive measures based on this same model are also common. The behavior of stratified models has been the subject of considerable study. An excellent review of the early literature was given by Seba. Studies of the depletion performance have since been made for continuous, unrestricted communication between strata and for production from one permeable bed in continuous but restricted communication with an adjacent permeable bed. Model studies of displacement processes in stratified systems with crossflow also have been reported. Finally, methods which account for crossflow have been developed for computing displacement behavior in stratified systems. Most methods for controlling or preventing channeling involve some change in the interval open to production and/or injection. Although many variations of the selective completion problem have been studied in regard to the depletion of a reservoir, little attention has been given to the behavior of a displacement process under similar conditions. Seba used a resistance network model to study the performance of a process in which one incompressible fluid displaces an identical fluid from a linear, stratified reservoir. He investigated the possibility of improving the vertical coverage by limiting the completion interval of the production well. This investigation deals with techniques in which selective completion of the production and/or the injection wells is used in an attempt to control channeling. At one extreme, selective plugging and single-zone isolation (assuming perfect execution) should be successful if the reservoir is actually made up of independent strata. At the other extreme, they can hardly be expected to be successful if the channeling is caused by a mechanism in which stratification effects are negligible even though there are extreme variations in the formation permeability and/or the injectivity profile of the wells is not uniform. By contrast, it is difficult to anticipate the effect that the amount of communication between the beds of a stratified system will have on the efficiency of selective completion techniques. The objective of this study is the quantitative determination of the effect of communication on the behavior of some particular stratified systems which will at least lead to qualitative conclusions. SPEJ P. 229ˆ

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