| Affiliations: | |
| Project Leader: | Sergei Parsegov parsegov@tamu.edu Petroleum Engineering |
| Faculty Mentor: | David Schechter, Ph.D. |
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Meeting Times:
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Summer 2016 (complete) |
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Team Size:
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3 (Team Full) |
| Open Spots: | 0 |
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Special Opportunities:
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Exploring your field, attending a conferences/trainings/audit PETE courses, earning co-authorship on publications, OR/AND becoming a full member of your research group. |
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Team Needs:
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Reading and writing skills, lab work with rocks (mechanical testing, SEM/EDS measurement), statistics, geomechanics, geology, geophysics, MATLAB, C/C++, Java, ImageJ |
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Description:
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Hydraulic fracturing (HF) is a key method to assure production from Ultra Low Permeability (ULP) reservoirs. Miller et al. (2011) showed that on average 30% of all HF stages are not producing and 1/3 of the stages result in 2/3 of production. According to Shlyapobersky (1985) Linear Elastic Fracture Mechanics (LEFM) does not properly describe failure of quasi-brittle rocks and HF propagation. Numerous experiments provided Net pressure(Pnet) inside the fracture higher than expected from LEFM. Therefore, there must be some additional loss of energy other than that predicted by LEFM. Considerable effort has been exerted to match Pnet by the extended LEFM. This includes tip effects, near wellbore tortuosity, variable K1c, bedding planes, HF height confinement uncertainty, mixed fracture opening modes (Mode I and Mode II) and perhaps other phenomenon. Our current understanding of the phenomenon of fracture initiation and propagation is limited to grid block averaged parameters: fracture toughness (K1C), horizontal stresses (σHmax and σHmin), Poisson’s ratio (ν), and Plain Strain Modulus (E’=E/(1- ν^2 )), etc. Warpinsky and Teufel (1987) concluded from Nevada mineback experiments that geological discontinuities that are favorably located can lead to parallel fracture propagation. Fisher et al (2004) founded that in Barnett shale there is strong evidence of interaction of HF and the Natural Fracture (NF) system. Miller et. al. (2010) referred to strong relations between the presence of NF, stress distribution and mineralogy. Gale et al. (2007) and Landry et al. (2014) observed for Barnett shale and Eagle Ford shale respectively that SEM is capable of distinguishing between natural and artificially induced fractures. This leads to the idea to measure rock properties and texture features on multiple scales. Analysis of multiscale heterogeneity will provide new physics driven methods of multistage HF design optimization. |