A new method for determining dominant fluid flow paths during hydraulic fracturing

Conference · Thu Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1987

OSTI ID:6545092

Fehler, M

Although hydraulic fracturing is a method that has been applied for many years to increase fracture permeability of reservoirs, there is no direct way other than drilling additional boreholes to determine where the injected fluid has gone and thus what direction fractures have propagated. Information about fluid flow paths is important for designing subsequent fracturing operations for nearby wells or for choosing a trajectory for a second well to drill through the fracture system, and thus create a hot dry rock geothermal energy reservoir. A method has been developed for determining the orientations and locations of fractures along which fluid flows during hydraulic fracturing. The method is based on accurate determination of the locations of microseismic events, or microearthquakes, that accompany the hydraulic injection. The method has been applied to data collected during a massive hydraulic fracturing experiment carried out as part of the hot dry rock project. Planes with five different orientations were found in the data. The planes determined using the method intersect the injection borehole and a second, nearby borehole, in regions where other data indicate that fractures are present.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Lab., NM (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-36
• OSTI ID: 6545092
• Report Number(s): LA-UR-87-1115; CONF-8704110-2; ON: DE87008986
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY
COMMINUTION
EARTHQUAKES
ENERGY SYSTEMS
FLUID FLOW
FRACTURING
GEOLOGIC FRACTURES
GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES
GEOTHERMAL SYSTEMS
Geothermal Legacy
HOT-DRY-ROCK SYSTEMS
HYDRAULIC FRACTURING
HYPOCENTERS
MICROEARTHQUAKES
ORIENTATION
SEISMIC EVENTS