scholarly journals Sustainable Production from Shale Gas Resources through Heat-Assisted Depletion

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 2145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saad Alafnan ◽  
Murtada Aljawad ◽  
Guenther Glatz ◽  
Abdullah Sultan ◽  
Rene Windiks
Keyword(s):  
Hydraulic Fracturing ◽  
Hydraulic Fractures ◽  
Hydrocarbon Production ◽  
Nanoporous Media ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Engineering Models ◽  
Solid Part ◽  
Production Technologies ◽  
Increasing Temperature ◽  
Inorganic Constituents

Advancements in drilling and production technologies have made exploiting resources, which for long time were labeled unproducible such as shales, as economically feasible. In particular, lateral drilling coupled with hydraulic fracturing has created means for hydrocarbons to be transported from the shale matrix through the stimulated network of microcracks, natural fractures, and hydraulic fractures to the wellbore. Because of the degree of confinement, the ultimate recovery is just a small fraction of the total hydrocarbons in place. Our aim was to investigate how augmented pressure gradient through hydraulic fracturing when coupled with another derive mechanism such as heating can improve the overall recovery for more sustainable exploitation of unconventional resources. Knowledge on how hydrocarbons are stored and transported within the shale matrix is uncertain. Shale matrix, which consists of organic and inorganic constituents, have pore sizes of few nanometers, a degree of confinement at which our typical reservoir engineering models break down. These intricacies hinder any thorough investigations of hydrocarbon production from shale matrix under the influence of pressure and thermal gradients. Kerogen, which represents the solid part of the organic materials in shales, serves as form of nanoporous media, where hydrocarbons are stored and then expelled after shale stimulation procedure. In this work, a computational representation of a kerogen–hydrocarbon system was replicated to study the depletion process under coupled mechanisms of pressure and temperature. The extent of production enhancement because of increasing temperature was shown. Moreover, heating requirements to achieve the enhancement at reservoir scale was also presented to assess the sustainability of the proposed method.

Chemically-Induced Pressure Pulse: Fracturing Competent Reservoirs

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ayman R. Al-Nakhli ◽  
Zeeshan Tariq ◽  
Mohamed Mahmoud ◽  
Abdulazeez Abdulraheem
Keyword(s):  
Hydraulic Fracturing ◽  
Rock Fracture ◽  
Applied Pressure ◽  
Hydraulic Fractures ◽  
Breakdown Pressure ◽  
Hydrocarbon Production ◽  
Fracture Pressure ◽  
Micro Cracks ◽  
Chemically Induced ◽  
Fracturing Experiments

Abstract Commercial volumes of hydrocarbon production from tight unconventional reservoirs need massive hydraulic fracturing operations. Tight unconventional formations are typically located inside deep and over-pressured formations where the rock fracture pressure with slickwater becomes so high because of huge in situ stresses. Therefore, several lost potentials and failures were recorded because of high pumping pressure requirements and reservoir tightness. In this study, thermochemical fluids are introduced as a replacement for slickwater. These thermochemical fluids are capable of reducing the rock fracture pressure by generating micro-cracks and tiny fractures along with the main hydraulic fractures. Thermochemical upon reaction can generate heat and pressure simultaneously. In this study, several hydraulic fracturing experiments in the laboratory on different synthetic cement samples blocks were carried out. Cement blocks were made up of several combinations of cement and sand ratios to simulate real rock scenarios. Results showed that fracturing with thermochemical fluids can reduce the breakdown pressure of the cement blocks by 30%, while applied pressure was reduced up to 88%, when using thermochemical fluid, compared to slickwater. In basins with excessive tectonic stresses, the current invention can become an enabler to fracture and stimulate well stages which otherwise left untreated. A new methodology is developed to lower the breakdown pressure of such reservoirs, and enable fracturing. Keywords: Unconventional formation; breakdown pressure; thermochemicals; micro fractures.

Compliance estimation and multiscale seismic simulation of hydraulic fractures

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. T951-T965 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edith Sotelo ◽  
Yongchae Cho ◽  
Richard L. Gibson Jr.
Keyword(s):  
Wave Propagation ◽  
Hydraulic Fracturing ◽  
Fracture Network ◽  
Production Performance ◽  
Sensitivity Analyses ◽  
Hydraulic Fractures ◽  
Hydrocarbon Production ◽  
Fine Mesh ◽  
Multiscale Finite Element ◽  
Seismic Wavefield

Hydraulic fracturing is a common stimulation technique in unconventional reservoirs to create fractures systems and allow hydrocarbon production. Proppant (granular material) is normally injected during hydraulic fracturing to keep open the fracture network and enhance hydrocarbon production performance. Proppant has a strong influence on fracture compliance and therefore will affect the characteristics of the generated seismic wavefield. To account for the effect of proppant in fracture compliance, we have developed new analytical formulations to obtain normal and tangential compliance for the case of dry and fluid-saturated fractures. We derive these expressions based on Hertz-Mindlin contact theory. Results from the compliance sensitivity analyses provide insights into the effects of proppant distribution and mechanical properties on fracture compliance. We also applied the innovative generalized multiscale finite-element method (GMsFEM) to simulate wave propagation through discrete hydraulic fractures filled with proppant. The GMsFEM approach represents individual fractures on a finely discretized mesh; this fine mesh is used to capture fracture properties by generating quantities (basis functions) that are used for modeling wave propagation on a much coarser grid. This methodology reduces the size of the computational problem, allowing faster results. Simulation results indicate the changes of the scattered wavefield as the proppant placement varies in different parts of the fractures and as the number of fracture stages increases.

scholarly journals Risk decreasing of water waste through spontaneous fracturing in injectors by integrated well-testing and production logging

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 92-105
Author(s):  
Mikhail I. Kremenetsky ◽  
Andrey I. Ipatov ◽  
Alexander A. Rydel ◽  
Kharis A. Musaleev ◽  
Anastasija  N. Nikonorova
Keyword(s):  
Hydraulic Fracturing ◽  
Hydraulic Fractures ◽  
Unstable Fracture ◽  
Well Testing ◽  
Injection Wells ◽  
Hydrocarbon Production ◽  
Fracture Length ◽  
Research Technology ◽  
Temperature Relaxation ◽  
Unstable Fractures

Background. When creating an effective reservoir pressure maintenance system, unstable spontaneous hydraulic fractures can be created in injection wells. This can both negatively and positively affect hydrocarbon production. First, fracture improves reservoir connectivity, which increases injection efficiency. On the other hand, unstable fractures can cause behind-the-casing flows and unproductive injection into off-target layers or fingering. Goal. The paper is devoted to the analysis of well testing (PTA) and production logging (PLT) improvement for the diagnosis of unstable fractures in injection wells. Materials and methods. The analysis is based on the results of modeling the pressure in the reservoir system, describing the penetration reservoirs by an unrestricted conductivity unstable fracture. It is taken into account that the fracture can cross both the perforated formation and the thickness not penetrated by the perforation, and can grow with increasing overbalance. The modeling results made it possible both to assess the potential informative capabilities of well testing and to substantiate recommendations for the practical use of the obtained results. Conclusions. The proposed approaches to the technology of well testing and production logging and the interpretation of their results make it possible to estimate the additional thicknesses of the reservoirs connected by the spontaneous hydraulic fracturing to injection, the proportion of nonproductive injection in the total volume of the well. The research technology used by the authors is based on continuous measurements of pressure and flow rate during cyclic change of pressure and assessment of the effective transmissibility of the formation system at different heights of unstable fractures. The role of the PLT is to determine the effective production thickness of the reservoirs. When assessing the injectivity profile when penetrating the injector with the spontaneous hydraulic fracturing, the key role belongs to non-stationary temperature logging. In this case, it is necessary to take into account the specific features of temperature relaxation in the wellbore after the injection cycle, related to hydraulic fracturing, primarily the increase in the relaxation rate with increasing fracture length.

scholarly journals Numerical simulation of the laws of fracture propagation of multi-hole linear co-directional hydraulic fracturing

2021 ◽  
pp. 014459872198899
Author(s):  
Weiyong Lu ◽  
Changchun He
Keyword(s):  
Hydraulic Fracturing ◽  
Hydraulic Fracture ◽  
Minimum Principle ◽  
Fracture Propagation ◽  
Axial Direction ◽  
Rock Breaking ◽  
Hydraulic Fractures ◽  
Directional Hydraulic Fracturing ◽  
Fracture Intersection ◽  
Expansion Stage

Directional rupture is one of the most important and most common problems related to rock breaking. The goal of directional rock breaking can be effectively achieved via multi-hole linear co-directional hydraulic fracturing. In this paper, the XSite software was utilized to verify the experimental results of multi-hole linear co-directional hydraulic fracturing., and its basic law is studied. The results indicate that the process of multi-hole linear co-directional hydraulic fracturing can be divided into four stages: water injection boost, hydraulic fracture initiation, and the unstable and stable propagation of hydraulic fracture. The stable expansion stage lasts longer and produces more microcracks than the unstable expansion stage. Due to the existence of the borehole-sealing device, the three-dimensional hydraulic fracture first initiates and expands along the axial direction in the bare borehole section, then extends along the axial direction in the non-bare hole section and finally expands along the axial direction in the rock mass without the borehole. The network formed by hydraulic fracture in rock is not a pure plane, but rather a curved spatial surface. The curved spatial surface passes through both the centre of the borehole and the axial direction relative to the borehole. Due to the boundary effect, the curved spatial surface goes toward the plane in which the maximum principal stress occurs. The local ground stress field is changed due to the initiation and propagation of hydraulic fractures. The propagation direction of the fractures between the fracturing boreholes will be deflected. A fracture propagation pressure that is greater than the minimum principle stress and a tension field that is induced in the leading edge of the fracture end, will aid to fracture intersection; as a result, the possibility of connecting the boreholes will increase.

How green is my industry? The case of Turkey

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 119-128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tolga Aksoy ◽  
Feride Gonel
Keyword(s):  
Negotiation Process ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Three Solutions ◽  
Industrial Growth ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Green Industry ◽  
Turkish Government ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Production Technologies ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to give a good overview of the relationship between industrial growth and industrial pollution in Turkey. The question is to what extent dirty industries have been affected by the regulations on the control of environmental degradation. Design/methodology/approach – The approach for this study uses all regulations which serve for protecting human and its environment from danger arising from dirty industries in Turkey. After presenting brief explanations on green industry, next sessions explain and compare the situations of the Turkish dirty industries and its relationship with related regulations in the European Union (EU). Findings – The authors offer three solutions. First, clean consumption should be stimulated in Turkish society. Second, Turkish Government should conduct more joint projects with the EU. Third, EU funds should be directed to cleaner production technologies to subsidize dirty industries during the negotiation process. Originality/value – Green industry can be assessed as a steep road to build a sustainable future. For a long time, the unsustainability of current forms of industrial production has been discussed in Turkey. As a solution some argue that if governments support, industries can finance their own transformation more rapidly. However, these arguments do not mean that industries voluntarily accept these changes.

scholarly journals Challenges and their remedies while cementing production casing in high-temperature wells

2019 ◽  
pp. 39-46
Author(s):  
Vasiliy P. Ovchinnikov ◽  
Pavel V. Ovchinnikov ◽  
Alexander V. Melekhov ◽  
Oksana V. Rozhkova
Keyword(s):  
Oil And Gas ◽  
High Strength ◽  
Oil Well ◽  
Hydrocarbon Production ◽  
New Methods ◽  
Oil And Gas Fields ◽  
Deep Wells ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Gas Fields ◽  
Reliable Isolation

The development of the global oil industry is closely related to the exploration of new oil and gas fields through the drilling new deep and ultra-deep wells, as well as the application of modern methods of hydrocarbon production. Usage of new methods of production, increasing the depth of the wells, bottomhole temperatures and pressures sets strict requirements and restrictions for the applied plugging materials. Oil well cements must have a long time of thickening to successfully complete the cementing process, grouting stone must have high strength characteristics, heat-resistant properties at high temperatures and provide reliable isolation of the annulus, also have corrosion resistance, ensure durability of the well lining.

THE INFLUENCES OF TEMPERATURE AND CHAIN–CHAIN INTERACTION ON FEATURES OF SOLITONS EXCITED IN α-HELIX PROTEIN MOLECULES WITH THREE CHANNELS

2009 ◽  
Vol 23 (10) ◽  
pp. 2303-2322 ◽  
Author(s):  
XIAO-FENG PANG ◽  
MEI-JIE LIU
Keyword(s):  
Energy Transport ◽  
Initial Conditions ◽  
Dynamic Features ◽  
New Model ◽  
Protein Molecules ◽  
Long Time ◽  
The Stability ◽  
Α Helix ◽  
Increasing Temperature ◽  
Chain Interaction

The dynamic features of soliton transporting the bio-energy in the α-helix protein molecules with three channels under influences of temperature of systems and chain–chain interaction among these channels have been numerically studied by using the dynamic equations in a new model and the fourth-order Runge–Kutta method. This result obtained shows that the chain–chain interaction depresses the stability of the soliton due to the dispersed effect, but the stability of the soliton in the case of simultaneous motivation of three channels by an initial conditions is better than that in another initial condition. We also find from this investigation that the new soliton can transport steadily over 1000 amino acid residues in the cases of motion of long time of 120 ps, and retain their shapes and energies to travel towards the protein molecules after mutual collision of the solitons at the biological temperatures of 300 K. Therefore the soliton is very robust against the thermal perturbation of the α-helix protein molecules at 300 K. From the investigation of changes of features of the soliton with increasing temperature, we find that the amplitudes and velocities of the solitons decrease with increasing temperature of proteins, but the soliton disperses in the cases of higher temperature of 325 K and larger structure disorders. Thus we find that the critical temperature of the soliton occurring in the α-helix protein molecules is about 320 K. Therefore we can conclude that the soliton in the new model can play an important role in the bio-energy transport in the α-helix protein molecules with three channels at biological temperature, and the new model is possibly a candidate for the mechanism of this transport.

Utilizing Pseudo Well Connections to Simulate Multi-Stage Hydraulic Fracturing - Example Based On the Study of a Tight Gas Asset

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aamir Lokhandwala ◽  
Vaibhav Joshi ◽  
Ankit Dutt
Keyword(s):  
Hydraulic Fracturing ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Flow Simulation ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Development Plan ◽  
Hydraulic Fractures ◽  
Tight Gas ◽  
Gas Field ◽  
Field Development ◽  
Fracture Modeling

Abstract Hydraulic fracturing is a widespread well stimulation treatment in the oil and gas industry. It is particularly prevalent in shale gas fields, where virtually all production can be attributed to the practice of fracturing. It is also used in the context of tight oil and gas reservoirs, for example in deep-water scenarios where the cost of drilling and completion is very high; well productivity, which is dictated by hydraulic fractures, is vital. The correct modeling in reservoir simulation can be critical in such settings because hydraulic fracturing can dramatically change the flow dynamics of a reservoir. What presents a challenge in flow simulation due to hydraulic fractures is that they introduce effects that operate on a different length and time scale than the usual dynamics of a reservoir. Capturing these effects and utilizing them to advantage can be critical for any operator in context of a field development plan for any unconventional or tight field. This paper focuses on a study that was undertaken to compare different methods of simulating hydraulic fractures to formulate a field development plan for a tight gas field. To maintaing the confidentiality of data and to showcase only the technical aspect of the workflow, we will refer to the asset as Field A in subsequent sections of this paper. Field A is a low permeability (0.01md-0.1md), tight (8% to 12% porosity) gas-condensate (API ~51deg and CGR~65 stb/mmscf) reservoir at ~3000m depth. Being structurally complex, it has a large number of erosional features and pinch-outs. The study involved comparing analytical fracture modeling, explicit modeling using local grid refinements, tartan gridding, pseudo-well connection approach and full-field unconventional fracture modeling. The result of the study was to use, for the first time for Field A, a system of generating pseudo well connections to simulate hydraulic fractures. The approach was found to be efficient both terms of replicating field data for a 10 year period while drastically reducing simulation runtime for the subsequent 10 year-period too. It helped the subsurface team to test multiple scenarios in a limited time-frame leading to improved project management.

Predicting Hydraulic Fracturing in a Carbonate Gas Reservoir in Abu Dhabi Using 1D Mechanical Earth Model: Uncertainty and Constraints

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manhal Sirat ◽  
Mujahed Ahmed ◽  
Xing Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Hydraulic Fracturing ◽  
Hydraulic Fracture ◽  
Natural Fracture ◽  
Abu Dhabi ◽  
Hydraulic Fractures ◽  
Gas Reservoir ◽  
In Situ Stresses ◽  
Tight Carbonate ◽  
Different Depths

Abstract In-situ stress state plays an important role in controlling fracture growth and containment in hydraulic fracturing managements. It is evident that the mechanical properties, existing stress regime and the natural fracture network of its reservoir rocks and the surrounding formations mainly control the geometry, size and containments of produced hydraulic fractures. Furthermore, the three principal in situ stresses' axes swap directions and magnitudes at different depths giving rise to identifying different mechanical bedrocks with corresponding stress regimes at different depths. Hence predicting the hydro-fractures can be theoretically achieved once all the above data are available. This is particularly difficult in unconventional and tight carbonate reservoirs, where heterogeneity and highly stress variation, in terms of magnitude and orientation, are expected. To optimize the field development plan (FDP) of a tight carbonate gas reservoir in Abu Dhabi, 1D Mechanical Earth Models (MEMs), involving generating the three principal in-situ stresses' profiles and mechanical property characterization with depth, have been constructed for four vertical wells. The results reveal the swap of stress magnitudes at different mechanical layers, which controls the dimension and orientation of the produced hydro-fractures. Predicted containment of the Hydro-fractures within the specific zones is likely with inevitable high uncertainty when the stress contrast between Sv, SHmax with Shmin respectively as well as Young's modulus and Poisson's Ratio variations cannot be estimated accurately. The uncertainty associated with this analysis is mainly related to the lacking of the calibration of the stress profiles of the 1D MEMs with minifrac and/or XLOT data, and both mechanical and elastic properties with rock mechanic testing results. This study investigates the uncertainty in predicting hydraulic fracture containment due to lacking such calibration, which highlights that a complete suite of data, including calibration of 1D MEMs, is crucial in hydraulic fracture treatment.

Experience in Optimizing the Location and Parameters of Multistage Hydraulic Fractures for a Multilateral Well Based on Reservoir Simulation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vil Syrtlanov ◽  
Yury Golovatskiy ◽  
Konstantin Chistikov ◽  
Dmitriy Bormashov
Keyword(s):  
Hydraulic Fracturing ◽  
Reservoir Simulation ◽  
Optimal Placement ◽  
Hydraulic Fractures ◽  
Low Permeability ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Modeling Methods ◽  
Multistage Hydraulic Fracturing ◽  
Determination Of Parameters

Abstract This work presents the approaches used for the optimal placement and determination of parameters of hydraulic fractures in horizontal and multilateral wells in a low-permeability reservoir using various methods, including 3D modeling. The results of the production rate of a multilateral dualwellbore well are analyzed after the actual hydraulic fracturing performed on the basis of calculations. The advantages and disadvantages of modeling methods are evaluated, recommendations are given to improve the reliability of calculations for models with hydraulic fracturing (HF)/ multistage hydraulic fracturing (MHF).

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