Steps for conducting a valid hydraulic fracturing laboratory test

Several parameters are involved in a hydraulic-fracturing operation, which is a technique used mainly in tight formations to enhance productivity. Formation properties, state of stresses in the field, injecting fluid characteristics, and pumping rate are among several parameters that can influence t...

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Main Authors: Sarmadivaleh, Mohammad, Joodi, Bahman, Nabipour, Amin, Rasouli, Vamegh
Format: Journal Article
Published: Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association Limited 2013
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/12691
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author Sarmadivaleh, Mohammad
Joodi, Bahman
Nabipour, Amin
Rasouli, Vamegh
author_facet Sarmadivaleh, Mohammad
Joodi, Bahman
Nabipour, Amin
Rasouli, Vamegh
author_sort Sarmadivaleh, Mohammad
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Several parameters are involved in a hydraulic-fracturing operation, which is a technique used mainly in tight formations to enhance productivity. Formation properties, state of stresses in the field, injecting fluid characteristics, and pumping rate are among several parameters that can influence the process. Numerical analysis is conventionally run to simulate the hydraulic-fracturing process. Before operating the expensive fracturing job in the field, however, it would be useful to understand the effect of various parameters by conducting physical experiments in the lab. Laboratory experiments are also valuable for validating the numerical simulations. Applying the scaling laws, which are to correspond to the field operation with the test performed in the lab, are necessary to draw valid conclusions from the experiments. Dimensionless parameters are introduced through the scaling laws that are used to scale-down different parameters including the hole size, pump rate and fluid viscosity to that of the lab scale. Sample preparation and following a consistent and correct test procedure in the lab, however, are two other important factors that play a substantial role in obtaining valid results. The focus of this peer-reviewed paper is to address the latter aspect; however, a review of different scaling laws proposed and used will be given. The results presented in this study are the lab tests conducted using a true triaxial stress cell (TTSC), which allows simulation of hydraulic-fracturing under true field stress conditions where three independent stresses are applied to a cubic rock sample.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-126912017-01-30T11:32:14Z Steps for conducting a valid hydraulic fracturing laboratory test Sarmadivaleh, Mohammad Joodi, Bahman Nabipour, Amin Rasouli, Vamegh sample preparation scaling laws triaxil stress cell laboratory test Hydraulic-fracturing Several parameters are involved in a hydraulic-fracturing operation, which is a technique used mainly in tight formations to enhance productivity. Formation properties, state of stresses in the field, injecting fluid characteristics, and pumping rate are among several parameters that can influence the process. Numerical analysis is conventionally run to simulate the hydraulic-fracturing process. Before operating the expensive fracturing job in the field, however, it would be useful to understand the effect of various parameters by conducting physical experiments in the lab. Laboratory experiments are also valuable for validating the numerical simulations. Applying the scaling laws, which are to correspond to the field operation with the test performed in the lab, are necessary to draw valid conclusions from the experiments. Dimensionless parameters are introduced through the scaling laws that are used to scale-down different parameters including the hole size, pump rate and fluid viscosity to that of the lab scale. Sample preparation and following a consistent and correct test procedure in the lab, however, are two other important factors that play a substantial role in obtaining valid results. The focus of this peer-reviewed paper is to address the latter aspect; however, a review of different scaling laws proposed and used will be given. The results presented in this study are the lab tests conducted using a true triaxial stress cell (TTSC), which allows simulation of hydraulic-fracturing under true field stress conditions where three independent stresses are applied to a cubic rock sample. 2013 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/12691 Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association Limited fulltext
spellingShingle sample preparation
scaling laws
triaxil stress cell
laboratory test
Hydraulic-fracturing
Sarmadivaleh, Mohammad
Joodi, Bahman
Nabipour, Amin
Rasouli, Vamegh
Steps for conducting a valid hydraulic fracturing laboratory test
title Steps for conducting a valid hydraulic fracturing laboratory test
title_full Steps for conducting a valid hydraulic fracturing laboratory test
title_fullStr Steps for conducting a valid hydraulic fracturing laboratory test
title_full_unstemmed Steps for conducting a valid hydraulic fracturing laboratory test
title_short Steps for conducting a valid hydraulic fracturing laboratory test
title_sort steps for conducting a valid hydraulic fracturing laboratory test
topic sample preparation
scaling laws
triaxil stress cell
laboratory test
Hydraulic-fracturing
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/12691