جستجوی مقالات مرتبط با کلیدواژه "شکست هیدرولیکی" در نشریات گروه "زمین شناسی"

Hydraulic fracturing is one of the most important stimulation methods for oil and gas reservoirs with low permeability. Various factors, such as in-situ stresses, joints and natural fractures of the formation, fluid rheology, mechanical properties of the formation, injection fluid flow rate and perforation operation, effect on the pressure and hydraulic fracture geometry. Many researchers have studied hydraulic fracturing behavior of rocks since decades ago. The researches have showed that hydraulic fracturing operations increase the production of oil wells by up to 30 percent and increase gas wells by 90 percent. Currently, this operation is performed on about 60% of all drilled wells.

In this research, for the experimental investigation of the hydraulic fracturing, considering the reservoir condition, 39 concrete cubic samples with 100 × 100 × 100 mm dimensions and 60 concrete cylindrical samples with a diameter of 54 mm and a height of 110 mm were constructed and the effect of the sample geometry and in-situ stress field on the fracture geometry, breakdown pressure, the pattern of crack propagation and finally the cross fractures in vertical wellbores were investigated.

In cubic specimens under uniaxial stress, with increasing vertical stress to 8 MPa, first the breakdown pressure has been increased by about 132% and then with increasing vertical stress to 16 MPa, the breakdown pressure has been decreased by about 69%. In cylindrical specimens under uniaxial stress, with increasing vertical stress to 12 MPa, first the breakdown pressure increased by about 113% and then with increasing vertical stress to 16 MPa, the breakdown pressure decreased by about 6%. As the vertical stress increases to a certain limit, the pores and micro-cracks inside the sample close, thus the tensile strength and breakdown pressure increase. In the following, increasing vertical stress causes more small cracks to open and reduces the tensile strength of the rock. In cubic specimens under triaxial stresses, with increasing vertical stress, the breakdown pressure has been increased. Also, in cylindrical specimens under triaxial stresses as the maximum horizontal stress increased, the breakdown pressure increased.

The obtained results demonstrated that increasing the uniaxial stress in the vertical wellbore in both types of studied sample geometry, first the breakdown pressure increases and then from one boundary onwards, with increasing vertical stress, the breakdown pressure decreases. In cubic specimens under triaxial stress, with increasing vertical stress, the breakdown pressure increases. Additionally, in cylindrical specimens under triaxial stresses as the maximum horizontal stress increases, the breakdown pressure increases, so that, in the 8 MPa maximum horizontal stress, the breakdown pressure increases by about 81%../files/site1/files/151/3.pdf

The term hydraulic fracturing expresses process of beginning and expanding the crack in the rock that caused by hydraulic pressure exerted by the fluid which is a way for assessing state of tensions in the ground and increase the efficiency of oil reservoirs. In this study, by carring out laboratory test, the effect of the geometry of cracking created in the wall of the well is investigated on hydraulic fracture pressure. This investigation is important because the companies that perform the hydraulic fracture are always trying to decrease cost of pump purchase. So pressure investigation can be useful in selecting suitable pump. For testing, a series cylindrical and hollow samples with a 73 mm external diameter, 25 mm inner diameter and 150 mm height are provided. In these samples, artificial cracks were created and the effect of length, height and crack thickness on hydraulic pressure was investigated. These tests are carried out for several different modes that in each series one of the parameters is changed and two other parameters are fixed and the effect of each parameters on the hydraulic fracture pressure is investigated. For the production of cylindrical samples, a mold was made to prepare cracked sample. The experimental results indicate that hydralic fracturing pressure linearly decreases with a increasing in the length and height of the crack. This pressure nonlinearly decreases with a increasing in the crack width. Also, crack length have more effect than crack height on the hydraulic fracture pressure and is also greater than the crack width.

Hydraulic fracturing is used in the oil industry in order to increase the index of production and processing in wells whose efficiency has been dropped due to long-term harvest or the rocks around the well are low permeable. Since the hydraulic fracturing operation is costly, it is of special importance to determine the pressure required for hydraulic fracturing and the suitable pump for this operation to the project managers.
The hydraulic fracturing technique refers to the process of initiation and extension of fractures in rocks caused by the hydraulic pressure applied by a fluid. This technique was developed by Clark (19). Haimson and Fairhorst (20) continued the research on the initiation and extension of fracture. Hubbert and Willis conducted comprehensive studies on the mechanics of hydraulic fracturing to determine the direction and condition of principal stresses using the hydraulic fracturing process. Since then, numerous studies and modellings have been conducted to investigate the factors effecting the hydraulic fracturing.
The present research is important because experimental and numerical modeling were used to calculate the hydraulic fracturing pressure for different conditions and to select the suitable pump for the operation.
These simulations are aimed to investigate the fracture pressure in Loshan sandstone to determine a relationship between the pressure needed for fracturing and the confining pressure. Material and methods: The specimen examined in this study is the Loshan sandstone. Sandstone is a sedimentary rock which is formed in all geological periods and is mainly consisted of fine sand particles, different minerals and has various colors. This rock is mainly formed in the shallow seas, deltas, along the coasts, and in hot deserts. Moreover, materials such as clay and silicon oxide contributed to the cementation of its particles.
The rock sample of Loshan sandstone is a calcareous sandstone with a limestone-silica structure whose cement is calcareous (Figure 1). The main and secondary minerals in this rock include calcite, feldspar alkaline, quartz, and opaque minerals. The diagenesis of this rock includes sericitization, chertization, and calcification. The main shapers of this rock are shaped and semi-shaped quartzes with calcite.
The physical and mechanical properties of the specimens are presented in Table 1.
Table 1. Physical and mechanical properties of the Loshan sandstoneEffective Porosity (%)
Dry unit weight (KN/m3 )
Tensile strength (MPa)
Poisson’s ratio
Uniaxial compressive strength (MPa)
Elastic modulus (GPa)
7.5
21.60
6
0.21
54.62
12..22
Figure 1. Loshan sandstone Fracture pressures in the developed models are listed in table 2. The Fracture pressures obtained from numerical modeling had a 10% difference with the experimental modeling results.
Table 2. Experimental ant numerical modeling resultsFracture pressures obtained from experimental modeling
Fracture pressures obtained from numerical modeling
Confining pressure (MPa)
Axial stress
(MPa)
Model number
14.58
13.8
2
2.26
1
15.7
15
2.5
2.5
2
11.16
9.9
0
5
3
11.39
9.9
0
7
4
Figure 2 shows the relationship between the pressure required to initiate hydraulic fracturing and confining pressure for Loshan sandstone. There was a linear relationship between fracture pressure and confining pressure. Thus, with an increase of the confining pressure, the pressure required to initiate hydraulic fracturing increased. The relationship between the fracture pressure and the confining pressure for Loshan sandstone is in the form of Equation (1).
Pf = 1.7386 σ3+ 11.242                                   (1)
Figure 2. Relationship between fracture pressure and confining pressure The following conclusions were drawn from this research.
1. The increase of lateral stress led to an increase in the fracture pressure.  
2. Changes in the axial stress did not significantly change the fracture pressure.
3. The results of numerical modellings were well consistent with those of the experimental modellings.
4. Unlike other studies conducted in this field, the numerical modellings in this study were performed without any initial pre-determinations for the crack-less models. Results show that in most cases, cracks initiate from the center and are extended toward both ends of the sample. The crack extension direction was parallel to the borehole axis inside the sample and perpendicular to the lateral stress. This is fully consistent with the observations in the experimental models.

Hydraulic fracturing has two major applications: 1. determining the in-situ stress state of a site; 2. increasing the productivity of oil wells by propagating the existing fractures at the site. Hydraulic fracturing is used in the oil industry in order to increase the index of production and processing in wells whose efficiency has been dropped due to long-term harvest or the rocks around the well are low permeable.In this study, the Hoek triaxial cell was adapted for a laboratory modeling of hydraulic fracturing. The specimens under study are in the shape of thick-walled hollow cylinders with an external diameter of 54.7 mm, an internal diameter of 12 mm, and a height of 108 mm. These specimens were taken from the carbonate rocks of the Bangestan reservoir, located in the southwest of Iran. By using the cell, the hydraulic fracturing experiment can be modeled in the laboratory before being conducted at the site, so that a suitable pump can be selected. In all the experiments, the fractures are created with a vertical (along the sample axis) or near-vertical orientation. Borehole breakdown pressure increases with an increase in lateral stress but does not change much with a change in vertical stress.

The aim of this research is to investigate triggering of fault slip due to stress perturbation caused by hydraulic fracturing. The importance of this issue is to study the observed destructive effects of dam construction at locations adjacent to the superficial faults. Therefore, we use the Matlab programming and SimDesigner system as an analytical extension. Concentrated stresses are applied after defining the nodes for fracture surfaces. By having the fault surface, analyses start to reach an equilibrium state. By defining the reaction forces in boundary condition, comparison of nodal dislocations become possible. The basis for vertical stress calculation is the upper rock layer and for horizontal stress is Coulomb failure stress. We estimate the stress perturbation through theory of tip stress about tensile fractures. The resultant stress field obtained combination of fractural and regional stresses gives primary condition to study triggered fault slip and related earthquake magnitude. The results show a maximum 2 meters of cumulative slip along the fault surface close to the hydraulic fracturing. Based on moment magnitude of earthquake calculations, this slip gives a magnitude of 3.8 upon the Richter scale. This process needs the increased precision for nodal dislocations and optimized finite elements in order to better improve the future works.

The Alborz dam rock foundation is composed of marl and sandstone. With regard to the proposed plan for the grout curtain in marly rocks (relatively soft and plastic(which is significantly different from the hard and brittle rocks, the boreholes spacing (influence radius slurry), injection pressure (resistance rock), and even the composition and concentration of slurry are important. In the present paper, in order to evaluate the grout curtain of Alborz Dam, emphasis has been placed on two important parameters, namely, the coefficient of permeability and cement take. The results of cement take suggest that the distance between the primary boreholes is long and there is no proper connection between the primary and secondary boreholes. Moreover, grouting results of the fifth and sixth series of grout holes imply that the depth of some of the sixth series of grout holes has not been attained at the water tightening surface. A review of the rate of the cement take - time - pressure graphs and cement take - time graphs on the right abutment indicates that the injection pressure has not been applied in accordance to marly rocks leading to unfavorable phenomenon of opening and closing of joints (hydrojacking). Notably, the check holes results on the right abutment indicate that water tightening at this area has been provided a satisfactory and acceptable job.