Seismic monitoring of the growth of a hydraulic fracture zone at Fenton Hill, New Mexico

Journal Article · Thu Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1998 · Geophysics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1190/1.1444304· OSTI ID:599954

Li, Y; Cheng, C H; Toksoez, M N ^[1]

---

1. Massachusetts Inst. of Tech., Cambridge, MA (United States)

The hydraulic fracturing technique is an important method for enhancing hydrocarbon recovery, geothermal energy extraction, and solid waste disposal. Determination of the geometry and growth process of a hydraulic fracture zone is important for monitoring and assessing subsurface fractures. A relative-source-location approach, based on a waveform correlation and a grid search method, has been developed to estimate relative hypocenter locations for a cluster of 157 microearthquakes induced by hydraulic fracturing at the Los Alamos Hot Dry Rock (HDR) geothermal site. Among the 157 events, 147 microearthquakes occurred in a tight cluster with a dimension of 40 m, roughly defining a vertical hydraulic fracture zone with an orientation of N40{degree}W. The length, height, and width of the hydraulic fracture zone are estimated to be 40, 35, and 5 m, respectively. Analysis of the spatial-temporal pattern of the induced microearthquakes reveals that the fracture zone grew significantly, averaging 0.2m/ minute in a two-hour period toward the northwest along the fracture zone strike.

• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: FG02-86ER13636
• OSTI ID: 599954
• Journal Information: Geophysics, Journal Name: Geophysics Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 63; ISSN GPYSA7; ISSN 0016-8033
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY
DATA ANALYSIS
HOT-DRY-ROCK SYSTEMS
HYDRAULIC FRACTURING
MICROEARTHQUAKES
MONITORING
NEW MEXICO
RESERVOIR ENGINEERING
SEISMIC SURVEYS