scholarly journals Sensitivity Analysis of Seismic Velocity and Attenuation Variations for Longmaxi Shale during Hydraulic Fracturing Testing in Laboratory

Energies ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 1393 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongyu Zhai ◽  
Xu Chang ◽  
Yibo Wang ◽  
Ziqiu Xue ◽  
Xinglin Lei ◽  
...  
Geofluids ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yintong Guo ◽  
Lei Wang ◽  
Xin Chang ◽  
Jun Zhou ◽  
Xiaoyu Zhang

Refracturing technology has become an important means for the regeneration of old wells reconstruction. It is of great significance to understand the formation mechanism of hydraulic fracturing fracture for the design of hydraulic fracturing. In order to accurately evaluate and improve fracturing volume after refracturing, it is necessary to understand the mechanism of refracturing fracture in shale formation. In this paper, a true triaxial refracturing test method was established. A series of large-scale true triaxial fracturing experiments were carried out to characterize the refracturing fracture initiation and propagation. The results show that for shale reservoirs with weak bedding planes and natural fractures, hydraulic fracturing can not only form the main fracturing fracture, which is perpendicular to horizontal minimum principal stress, but it can also open weak bedding plane or natural fractures. The characteristics of fracturing pump curve indicated that the evolution of fracturing fractures, including initiation and propagation and communication of multiple fractures. The violent fluctuation of fracturing pump pressure curve indicates that the sample has undergone multiple fracturing fractures. The result of refracturing shows that initial fracturing fracture channels can be effectively closed by temporary plugging. The refracturing breakdown pressure is generally slightly higher than that of initial fracturing. After temporary plugging, under the influence of stress induced by the initial fracturing fracture, the propagation path of the refracturing fracture is deviated. When the new fracturing fracture communicates with the initial fracturing fracture, the original fracturing fracture can continue to expand and extend, increasing the range of the fracturing modifications. The refracturing test results was shown that for shale reservoir with simple initial fracturing fractures, the complexity fracturing fracture can be increased by refracturing after temporary plugging initial fractures. The effect of refracturing is not obvious for the reservoir with complex initial fracturing fractures. This research results can provide a reliable basis for optimizing refracturing design in shale gas reservoir.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Di Zhang ◽  
Jay N. Meegoda ◽  
Bruno M. Goncalves da Silva ◽  
Liming Hu

AbstractHydraulic fracturing is widely applied for economical gas production from shale reservoirs. Still, the swelling of the clay micro/nano pores due to retained fluid from hydraulic fracturing causes a gradual reduction of gas production. Four different gas-bearing shale samples with different mineralogical characteristics were investigated to study the expected shale swelling and reduction in gas permeability due to hydraulic fracturing. To simulate shale softening, these shale samples were immersed in deionized (DI) water heated to 100 °C temperature and subjected to 8 MPa pressure in a laboratory reactor for 72 hours to simulate shale softening. The low-temperature nitrogen adsorption and density measurements were performed on the original and treated shale to determine the changes in micro and nano pore structure. The micro and nano pore structures changed, and the porosity decreased after shale treatment. The porosity decreased by 4% for clayey shale, while for well-cemented shale the porosity only decreased by 0.52%. The findings showed that the initial mineralogical composition of shale plays a significant role in the change of micro and nano pores and the pore structure alteration due to retained fluid from hydraulic fracturing. A pore network model is used to simulate the permeability of shale used in this study. To define pore structure properties, specific factors such as porosity, pore size, pore throat distribution, and coordination number were used. Furthermore, the anisotropy characteristics of shale were integrated into the model via a coordination number ratio. Finally, the change in permeability due to shale softening was determined and compared with untreated with the progress of shale softening. The simulation showed that the permeability of Longmaxi shale could decrease from 3.82E–16 m2 to 4.71E–17 m2 after treatment.


Geophysics ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-55
Author(s):  
Jihui Ding ◽  
Anthony C. Clark ◽  
Tiziana Vanorio ◽  
Adam D. Jew ◽  
John R. Bargar

From geochemical reactions to proppant emplacement, hydraulic fracturing induces various chemo-mechanical fracture alterations in shale reservoirs. Hydraulic fracturing through the injection of a vast amount and variety of fluids and proppants has substantial impacts on fluid flow and hydrocarbon production. There is a strong need to improve our understanding on how fracture alterations affect flow pathways within the stimulated rock volume and develop monitoring tools. We conducted time-lapse rock physics experiments on clay-rich (carbonate-poor) Marcellus shales to characterize the acoustic velocity and permeability responses to fracture acidizing and propping. Acoustic P- and S-wave velocities and fracture permeability were measured before and after laboratory-induced fracture alterations along with microstructural imaging through X-ray computed tomography and scanning electron microscopy. Our experiments show that S-wave velocity is an important geophysical observable, particularly the S-wave polarized perpendicular to fractures since it is sensitive to fracture stiffness. The acidizing and propping of a fracture both decrease its elastic stiffness. This effect is stronger for acidizing, and so it is possible that proppant monitoring will be masked by chemical alteration except when propping is highly efficient (i.e., most fractures are propped). However, fracture permeability is undermined by the softening of fracture surfaces due to acidizing, while greatly enhanced by propping. These contrasting effects on fluid flow in combination with similar seismic attributes indicate the importance of experiments to improve existing rock physics models, which must include changes to the rock frame. Such improvements are necessary for a correct interpretation of seismic velocity monitoring of flow pathways in stimulated shales.


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