Measurement of width and pressure in a propagating hydraulic fracture

Journal Article · Fri Feb 01 00:00:00 EST 1985 · SPEJ, Soc. Pet. Eng. J.; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2118/11648-PA· OSTI ID:5589302

Warpinski, N R

Measurements of width and pressure in a propagating hydraulic fracture have been made in tests conducted at the U.S. DOE's Nevada test site. This was accomplished by creating an ''instrumented fracture'' at a tunnel complex (at a depth of 1,400 ft (425 m)) where realistic insitu conditions prevail, particularly with respect to stress and geologic features such as natural fractures and material anisotropy. Analyses of these data show that the pressure drop along the fracture length is much larger than predicted by viscous theory, which currently is used in models. This apparently is caused by the tortuosity of the fracture path, multiple fracture strands, roughness, and sharp turns (corners) in the flow path resulting from natural fractures and rock property variations. It suggests that fracture design models need to be updated to include a more realistic friction factor so that fracture lengths are not overestimated.

• Research Organization: Sandia National Laboratories
• OSTI ID: 5589302
• Journal Information: SPEJ, Soc. Pet. Eng. J.; (United States), Vol. 25:1
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
HYDRAULIC FRACTURES
DIMENSIONS
FRACTURE MECHANICS
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
PRESSURE MEASUREMENT
BENCH-SCALE EXPERIMENTS
MEASURING METHODS
PRESSURE DROP
SIMULATION
TEST FACILITIES
US DOE
FAILURES
FRACTURES
MECHANICS
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
US ORGANIZATIONS
020300* - Petroleum- Drilling & Production