Large-scale Physical Simulation of Hydraulic Fracturing under True-triaxial Conditions and Analysis of Fracture Propagation

Fan Zhang; Geng Ma; Yunqi Tao; Xiao Liu; Rui Li; Dan Feng

doi:10.6180/jase.201812_21(4).0006

Large-scale Physical Simulation of Hydraulic Fracturing under True-triaxial Conditions and Analysis of Fracture Propagation

$Schematic of hydraulic fracture intersecting precast fracture.$

Fan Zhang This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.¹ , Geng Ma^1,2,3, Yunqi Tao^1,2,3, Xiao Liu¹ , Rui Li⁴ and Dan Feng⁵

¹ School of Energy Science and Engineering, Henan Polytechnic University, Jiaozuo, Henan 454003, P.R. China
² Research Institute of Henan Energy Resource and Chemical Industry Group Co., Ltd., Zhengzhou, Henan 450046, P.R. China
³ Henan Engineering Research Center of Simultaneous Extraction of Coal and Gas with Low Permeability & Outburst Coal Seam, Zhengzhou, Henan 450046, P.R. China
⁴ Applied Technical College, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, Jiangsu 221008, P.R. China
⁵ State Key Laboratory for Coal Mine Disaster Dynamics and Control, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, P.R. China

Received: November 27, 2017
Accepted: June 27, 2018
Publication Date: December 1, 2018

Download Citation: ||https://doi.org/10.6180/jase.201812_21(4).0006

ABSTRACT

In order to study the effect of in-situ stresses and natural fractures in coal seam on fracture initiation, fracture propagation, fracture morphology and fracture width, a large-scale sample made of similar materials with inner artificial fracture was applied to conduct large-scale true triaxial hydraulic fracturing simulation experiment. Initial angle and final angle of fractured sample were measured by protractor. Fracture width in fracturing process was tested by displacement meter timely. The experimental results indicated that fracture initiation, fracture propagation path and fracture morphology are affected greatly by in-situ stresses and natural fractures in coal reservoir, in-situ stresses is the major influencing factor. Initial angle of hydraulic fracture is mainly affected by the angle between perforations and maximum horizontal stress. Natural fracture is an important factor influencing fracture propagation, which results in leak-off of fracturing fluid and formation of fracture network, but hydraulic fractures gradually turn to the direction of perpendicular to minimum horizontal stress. When vertical stress and minimum horizontal stress are constant, fracture width decreases and fracture length increases with the increasing of maximum horizontal stress. The research results are consistent with existing fracturing theory (fracture width reduces with the increasing of horizontal stress difference) and would provide reference for the improvement of hydraulic fracturing technology and theory.

Keywords: Hydraulic Fracturing, Fracture Propagation, True Triaxial, Simulation Experiment, Fracture Width

REFERENCES

[1] Chen, S. K., T. H. Yang, P. G. Ranjith, and C. H. Wei (2017) Mechanism of the Two-phase Flow Model for Water and Gas Based on Adsorption and Desorption in Fractured Coal and Rock, Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering 50, 571586. doi: 10.1007/s00603-016- 1119-5
[2] Song, D. Z., Z. T. Liu, E. Y. Wang, et al. (2015) Evaluation of Coal Seam Hydraulic Fracturing Using the Direct Current Method, International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences 78, 230239. doi: 10.1016/j.ijrmms.2015.06.004
[3] Xu, B. X., X. F. Li, M. Haghighi, et al. (2013) Optimization of Hydraulically Fractured Well Configuration in Anisotropic Coal-bed Methane Reservoirs, Fuel 107, 859865. doi: 10.1016/j.fuel.2013.01.063
[4] Xu, J. Z., C. Zhai, L. Qin, and G. Q. Yu (2017) Evaluation Research of the Fracturing Capacity of Non-explosive Expansion Material Applied to Coal-seam Roof Rock, International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences 94, 103111. doi: 10.1016/j.ijrmms. 2017.03.004
[5] Huang, B. X., P. F. Li, J. Ma, and S. L. Chen (2014) Experimental Investigation on the Basic Law of Hydraulic Fracturing after Water Pressure Control Blasting, Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering 47(4), 1321 1334. doi: 10.1007/s00603-013-0470-z
[6] Koplos, J., M. E. Tuccillo, and B. Ranalli (2014) Hydraulic Fracturing Overview: How, Where, and Its Role in Oil and Gas, Journal American Water Works Association 106(11), 3846. doi: 10.5942/jawwa.2014.106. 0153
[7] Zhang, L. Q., J. Zhou, and Z. H. Han (2017) Hydraulic Fracturing Process by Using a Modified Two-dimensional Particle Flow Code-method and Validation, Progress in Computational Fluid Dynamics 17(1), 5262. doi: 10.1504/PCFD.2017.081715
[8] Rybacki, E., J. Herrmann, R. Wirth, and G. Dresen (2017) “Creep of Posidonia Shale at Elevated Pressure and Temperature, Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering B4, 120. doi: 10.1007/s00603-017-1295-y
[9] Li, Q. S. and H. L. Xing (2016) Influences of the Intersection Angle between Interlayer and in Situ Stresses during Hydraulic Fracturing Process, Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 36, 963985. doi: 10.1016/j.jngse.2016.11.032
[10] Zhang, S. K. and S. D. Yin (2014) Determination of in Situ Stresses and Elastic Parameters from Hydraulic Fracturing Tests by Geomechanics Modeling and Soft Computing, Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 124, 484492. doi: 10.1016/j.petrol.2014.09. 002
[11] Azarov, A. V., M. V. Kurlenya, A. V. Patutin, and S. V. Serdyukov (2015) Mathematical Modeling of Stress State of Surrounding Rocks around the Well Subjected to Shearing and Normal Load in Hydraulic Fracturing Zone, Journal of Mining Science 51(6), 1063 1069. doi: 10.1134/S1062739115060296
[12] Siripatrachai, N., T. Ertekin, and R. T. Johns (2017) “Compositional Simulation of Hydraulically Fractured Tight Formation Considering the Effect of Capillary Pressure on Phase Behavior, SPE Journal 22(4), 1046 1063. doi: 10.2118/179660-PA
[13] Zhou, Z., H. Abass, X. Li, et al. (2016) Mechanisms of Imbibition during Hydraulic Fracturing in Shale Formations, Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 141, 125132. doi: 10.1016/j.petrol.2016.01.021
[14] Ma, G., F. Zhang, X. Liu, and D. Feng (2017) Experimental Study on Hydraulic Fracture Propagation in Fractured Reservoir, Journal of Mining & Safety Engineering 34(5), 993999. doi: 10.13545/j.cnki.jmse. 2017.05.025
[15] Yan, C. Z., H. Zheng, G. H. Sun, and X. R. Ge (2016) Combined Finite-discrete Element Method for Simulation of Hydraulic Fracturing, Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering 49(4), pp. 13891410. doi: 10.1007/ s00603-015-0816-9
[16] Deng, J. Q., C. Lin, Q. Yang, et al. (2016) Investigation of Directional Hydraulic Fracturing Based on True Triaxial Experiment and Finite Element Modeling, Computers and Geotechnics 75, 2847. doi: 10.1016/j. compgeo.2016.01.018
[17] Patel, S. M., C. H. Sondergeld, and C. S. Rai (2017) Laboratory Studies of Hydraulic Fracturing by Cyclic Injection, International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences 95, 815. doi: 10.1016/j.ijrmms. 2017.03.008
[18] Lin, H. X. and C. Z. Du (2011) Experimental Research on the Quasi Three-axis Hydraulic Fracturing of Coal, Journal of China Coal Society 36(11), 1801 1805. doi: 10.13225/j.cnki.jccs.2011.11.019
[19] Pater, C. J. D., J. Groenenboom, D. B. V. Dam, and R. Romijn (2001) Active Seismic Monitoring of Hydraulic Fractures in Laboratory Experiments, International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences 38(6), 777785. doi: 10.1016/S1365-1609(01)00042-9
[20] Abdollahipour, A., M. F. Marji, A. Y. Bafghi, and J. Gholamnejad (2017) Simulating the Propagation of Hydraulic Fractures from a Circular Wellbore Using the Displacement Discontinuity Method, International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences 80, 281291. doi: 10.1016/j.ijrmms.2015.10.004
[21] Xu, P., H. C. Liu, A. P. Sasmito, et al. (2017) Effective Permeability of Fractured Porous Media with Fractal Dual-porosity Model, Fractals 25(4), 17. doi: 10. 1142/S0218348X1740014X
[22] Zhang, F., G. Ma, X. Liu, et al. (2017) Experimental Analysis of the Ratio of Similar Materials by Similarity Model Test on Raw Coal, Current Science 113(11), 21742179. doi: 10.18520/cs/v113/i11/2174-2179
[23] Liu, D., J. Xu, G. Z. Yin, et al. (2014) Development and Application of Multi-field Coupling Test System for Coal-bed Methane (CBM) Exploitation, Chinese Journal of Rock Mechanics and Engineering 33(Supp. 2), 35053514. doi: 10.13722/j.cnki. jrme.2014.s2.014
[24] Ma, G., F. Zhang, X. Liu, et al. (2016) Experimental Study of Impact of Crustal Stress on Fracture Pressure and Hydraulic Fracture, Rock and Soil Mechanics 37, 216222. doi: 10.16285/j.rsm.2016.S2.026