A Well-Testing Approach for Diagnostics of Fracture Complexity with Well Interference

Owing to well interference, the fracture geometries of child wells are sometimes more complex than initially expected. Some approaches or methodologies have been developed to evaluate the complex fracture geometries, however, the fracture geometries are still poorly understood. This work uses the boundary element method to propose a new well testing approach to determine the complex fracture geometries of child wells with inter-well interference. It is found that the well interferences from Parent well on Child well mainly happen on the late stage, which can be physically expected. The flow regimes of Child well can be divided into: wellbore storage & skin effects, fracture bilinear flow, "fluid supply", formation linear flow, pseudo-boundary dominated flow, "well interferences", pseudo-radial flow, and boundary-dominated flow. The stage of "well interferences" occurs later with the increase in well spacing. The boundary-dominated flow is affected by the reservoir size and shape. When the reservoir size is fixed, the pressure curves in final stage of different-shape reservoirs overlap, which provides a tool to diagnose the reservoir size. While the reservoir size are variable, the occurrences of boundary-dominated flow are quite different. The smaller the reservoir, the quicker the boundary-dominated flow, which is in line with actual situations. It is also found that Parent-well rate mainly affects the flow regimes after pseudo-boundary dominated flow. That to say, after that flow regime, the performance of Child well is interfered by Parent well. The impact is more obvious with the increase in Parent-well rate, especially in pseudo-radial flow. In that flow stage, the horizontal value of pressure derivative also satisfies 0.5(qchd,D+qpar,D). In addition, when the Parent-well rate is negative, namely an injection well, the pressure derivatives of Child well decrease sharply, which means that the pressure depletion of Child well decreases and it is helpful to production of Child well. When the Parent-well rate is a positive and large value, the pressure depletion of Child well increase sharply and its production is harmed by the Parent well. Thus, there should be an optimized production strategies between Parent well and Child well. Finally, the model application on diagnostics of fracture complexity of an actual well is performed. This study provides a new way to identify the fracture geometries of child wells in unconventional plays.

Investigation on the mechanism of hydraulic fracture propagation and fracture geometry control in tight heterogeneous glutenites

The tight heterogeneous glutenites are typically characterized by highly variable lithology, low/ultra-low permeability, significant heterogeneity, and a less-developed natural fracture system. It is of great significance for economic development to improve hydraulic fracture complexity and stimulated reservoir volume. To better understand the hydraulic fracturing mechanism, a large-scale experimental test on glutenite specimens was conducted and the hydraulic fracture propagation behaviors and focal mechanism were analyzed. A three-dimensional numerical model was developed to reproduce the hydraulic fracture evolution process and investigate the effects of operating procedures on hydraulic fracture geometry and stimulated reservoir volume. A simultaneous variable injection rate and fluid viscosity technology was proposed to increase the hydraulic fracture complexity and stimulated reservoir volume. The results indicate that four fracturing behaviors can be observed, namely, penetration, deflection, termination, and bifurcating, in the laboratory experiment. Tensile events tend to appear during the initiation stage of hydraulic fracture growth, while shear events and compressive events tend to appear during the non-planar propagation stage. The shear and compressive mechanisms dominate with an increase in the hydraulic fracture complexity. The variable injection rate technology and simultaneous variable injection rate and fluid viscosity technology are effective techniques for fracture geometry control and stimulated reservoir volume enhancement. The key to improve hydraulic fracture complexity is to increase the net pressure in hydraulic fractures, cause evident pressure fluctuations, and activate or communicate a wide range of natural discontinuities. The results can provide a better understanding of the fracture geometry control mechanism in tight heterogeneous glutenites, and offer a guideline for treatment design and optimization of well performance.

Latest Trends in the Current Treatment of Proximal Humeral Fractures – an Analysis of 1162 Cases at a Level-1 Trauma Centre with a Special Focus on Shoulder Surgery

Background The management of proximal humeral fracture (PHF) is not only complex but ever changing. Published epidemiological data are often dated and do not factor in demographic changes or the latest developments in implant material and surgical techniques. Aims The primary aim of this study was to evaluate changes in the epidemiology and actual treatment of PHF at a level-1 trauma centre, with a special focus on shoulder surgery. Hypotheses 1. Between 2009 to 2012 and 2014 to 2017, an increase in complex PHF entities can be observed. 2. In correlation with fracture complexity, an increasing number of comorbidities, especially osteoporosis, can be observed. Methods Between 2014 and 2017, a total of 589 patients (73% female; mean age: 68.96 ± 14.9 years) with 593 PHFs were treated. Patient records and imaging (XRs and CTs) of all patients were analysed. Fractures with ad latus displacement of a maximum of 0,5 cm and/or humeral head angulation of less than 20° were classified as non-displaced. Patients with displaced fractures were included in the analysis of the therapeutic algorithm. These results were compared to those of a cohort 2009 to 2012 (566 patients, 569 PHFs), which used the same inclusion criteria. Results The two cohorts showed comparable patient numbers, as well as gender and age distributions. Between 2009 to 2012 and 2014 to 2017, a decrease in 2-part fractures (13.9 to 8.6%) and a simultaneous increase in 4-part fractures (20.4 to 30%), and thus fracture complexity was observed. Further decreases were observed in conservative therapy (27.8 to 20.6%), nail osteosynthesis (10.7 to 2.7%) and anatomic shoulder arthroplasty (5,4 to 1%). Furthermore, there was an increase in the use of locking plate osteosynthesis (43.2 to 56.7%) and reverse shoulder arthroplasty (9 to 18.4%). The general trend shows an increase in surgical therapy between the years (72.2 to 79.4%), as well as an increase in osteoporosis incidence (13 to 20.6%). The greatest numbers of comorbidities were found in 3- and 4-part fractures. Conclusion There is an increase in both the complexity of fractures and the number of surgically treated fractures between 2009 and 2012. Furthermore, an increase in osteoporosis numbers can be observed. New implants (PEEK, fenestrated screws for cement augmentation) and new surgical techniques (double plating osteosynthesis) were used as a result of increasing fracture complexity. Moreover, reverse total shoulder arthroplasty was used more commonly.

Study on a New Rock Fracability Evaluation Model of Shale Gas Reservoir

Shale gas is an important unconventional energy resource that needs large-scale fracturing to form industrial deliverability. The evaluation of reservoir fracability plays a key role in the optimization of the sweet spot, the design of multistage fracturing, and the prediction of economic benefit. Based on volumetric fracturing, the study proceeded from the fracture complexity of the fractured core, and the bursting pressure experiment technology using the constant strain rate method was established. After the core has fractured, the fracture morphology was extracted and the fracture parameters including fracture area ratio and fracture declination dispersion were calculated to construct the fracture complexity of the pressed core. Combined with the core strength, the fracability index of the core was determined to evaluate the reservoir fracability. This method can represent not only the fracturing effect but also the fracturing difficulty. Compared with the monitoring data of hydrofracture-induced microseism of the sample well, the core fracturing index was found to be in good agreement with the actual fracturing effect. This method is more reasonable than the traditional brittleness index method and rock mechanics parameter method.