Locating hydraulically active fracture planes

Conference · Fri Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1988

OSTI ID:887234

Malzahn, Mark; Dreesen, Donald; Fehler, Michael

If analysis of the microseismicity accompanying fluid injections is to be of maximum use in predicting hot dry rock (HDR) reservoir performance, it should lead to the determination of both the rock volume and active flowing surface area of the reservoir. In the granitic rock at the HDR geothermal site at Fenton Hill, New Mexico, the micro-earthquakes located during hydraulic fracturing occur in large three-dimensional volumes called seismic clouds. Cores cut from the region prior to fracturing show numerous planar fractures, some mineral-filled, at virtually random orientations. Evidence supports the hypothesis that only a few of these planes make up the flow path between wells for most of the injected fluid. If this is indeed the case, then it is necessary to be able to distinguish between fractures that accept flow from those which do not. We accomplish this by defining “flow-probable” planes to be those which have seismicity located relatively farther away from lines where other planes intersect. We show that these flow probable planes intercept wellbores at locations where other data confirm the presence of hydraulically active fractures.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AS07-84ID12529
• OSTI ID: 887234
• Report Number(s): SGP-TR-113-33
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

Geothermal Legacy