Numerical simulation of hydraulic fracturing and associated microseismicity using finite-discrete element method  

作　　者：Qi Zhao Andrea Lisjak Omid Mahabadi Qinya Liu Giovanni Grasselli 

机构地区：[1]Department of Civil Engineering, University of Toronto,Toronto, ON, Canada [2]Geomechanica Inc.,Toronto, ON, Canada [3]Department of Physics, University of Toronto,Toronto, ON, Canada

出　　处：《Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering》2014年第6期574-581,共8页岩石力学与岩土工程学报（英文版）

基　　金：supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada through Discovery Grant 341275 (G. Grasselli) and Engage EGP 461019-13

摘　　要：Hydraulic fracturing （HF） technique has been extensively used for the exploitation of unconventional oiland gas reservoirs. HF enhances the connectivity of less permeable oil and gas-bearing rock formationsby fluid injection, which creates an interconnected fracture network and increases the hydrocarbonproduction. Meanwhile, microseismic （MS） monitoring is one of the most effective approaches to evaluatesuch stimulation process. In this paper, the combined finite-discrete element method （FDEM） isadopted to numerically simulate HF and associated MS. Several post-processing tools, includingfrequency-magnitude distribution （b-value）, fractal dimension （D-value）, and seismic events clustering,are utilized to interpret numerical results. A non-parametric clustering algorithm designed specificallyfor FDEM is used to reduce the mesh dependency and extract more realistic seismic information.Simulation results indicated that at the local scale, the HF process tends to propagate following the rockmass discontinuities; while at the reservoir scale, it tends to develop in the direction parallel to themaximum in-situ stress. 2014 Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Production and hosting byElsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Hydraulic fracturing （HF） technique has been extensively used for the exploitation of unconventional oiland gas reservoirs. HF enhances the connectivity of less permeable oil and gas-bearing rock formationsby fluid injection, which creates an interconnected fracture network and increases the hydrocarbonproduction. Meanwhile, microseismic （MS） monitoring is one of the most effective approaches to evaluatesuch stimulation process. In this paper, the combined finite-discrete element method （FDEM） isadopted to numerically simulate HF and associated MS. Several post-processing tools, includingfrequency-magnitude distribution （b-value）, fractal dimension （D-value）, and seismic events clustering,are utilized to interpret numerical results. A non-parametric clustering algorithm designed specificallyfor FDEM is used to reduce the mesh dependency and extract more realistic seismic information.Simulation results indicated that at the local scale, the HF process tends to propagate following the rockmass discontinuities; while at the reservoir scale, it tends to develop in the direction parallel to themaximum in-situ stress. 2014 Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Production and hosting byElsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

关 键 词：Hydraulic fracturing(HF) Numerical simulation Microseismic(MS) Finite-discrete element method(FDEM) Clustering Kernel density estimation(KDE) 

分 类 号：TE357.1[石油与天然气工程—油气田开发工程]