Hydraulic Fracturing and Well Stimulation, Volume 1

Fred Aminzadeh, PhD, is a world-renowned academic and engineer in the energy industry. A professor at the University of Southern California, he has extensive experience not only in oil and gas, but also in geothermal energy and other areas of energy. He has been a co-author on multiple books and has authored numerous papers that have been well-received by academics and industry experts alike. He is the editor of the journal, The Journal of Sustainable Energy Engineering, formerly of Scrivener Publishing, and he is currently editing the series, Sustainable Energy Engineering, for the Wiley-Scrivener imprint.

• Foreword xiiiPart 1: Introduction 11 Hydraulic Fracturing, An Overview 3Fred Aminzadeh1.1 What is Hydraulic Fracturing? 41.2 Why Hydraulic Fracturing is Important 51.3 Fracture Characterization 81.4 Geomechanics of Hydraulic Fracturing 111.5 Environmental Aspects of Hydraulic Fracturing 141.6 Induced Seismicity 181.7 Case Study: Fracturing Induced Seismicity in California 231.8 Assessment of Global Oil and Gas Resources Amenable for Extraction via Hydraulic Fracturing 271.9 Economics of HF 271.10 Conclusions 28Acknowledgement 30References 30Part 2: General Concepts 352 Evolution of Stress Transfer Mechanisms During Mechanical Interaction Between Hydraulic Fractures and Natural Fractures 37Birendra Jha2.1 Introduction 372.2 Physical Model 392.3 Mathematical Formulation 402.4 Numerical Model 432.5 Simulation Results 442.6 Effect of Hydraulic Fracturing on Natural Fractures 462.7 Conclusion 49References 503 Primer on Hydraulic Fracturing Concerning Initiatives on Energy Sustainability 53Michael Holloway and Oliver Rudd3.1 Hydraulic Fracturing 543.1.1 Environmental Impact – Reality vs. Myth 543.1.2 The Tower of Babel and How it Could be the Cause of Much of the Fracking Debate 553.1.3 Frac Fluids and Composition 573.1.4 Uses and Needs for Frac Fluids 573.1.5 Common Fracturing Additives 583.1.6 Typical Percentages of Commonly Used Additives 603.1.6.1 Proppants 613.1.6.2 Silica Sand 633.1.6.3 Resin Coated Proppant 653.1.6.4 Manufactured Ceramics Proppants 653.2 Additional Types 663.3 Other Most Common Objections to Drilling Operations 663.3.1 Noise 673.4 Changes in Landscape and Beauty of Surroundings 683.5 Increased Traffic 693.6 Chemicals and Products on Locations 703.6.1 Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) 723.6.1.1 Contents of an MSDS 733.6.1.2 Product Identification 733.6.1.3 Hazardous Ingredients of Mixtures 743.6.1.4 Physical Data 743.6.1.5 Fire & Explosion Hazard Data 753.6.1.6 Health Hazard Data 763.6.1.7 Reactivity Data 763.6.1.8 Personal Protection Information 773.7 Conclusion 77Bibliography 784 A Graph Theoretic Approach for Spatial Analysis of Induced Fracture Networks 79Deborah Glosser and Jennifer R. Bauer4.1 Background and Rationale 804.2 Graph-Based Spatial Analysis 834.2.1 Acquire Geologic Data and Define Regional Bounding Lithology 844.2.2 Details of the Topological Algorithm 854.2.2.1 Data Acquisition, Conditioning and Quanta 854.2.2.2 Details of the k-Nearest Neighbor Algorithm 864.2.3 The Value of the Topological Approach Algorithm 864.3 Real World Applications of the Algorithm 874.3.1 Bradford Field: Contrasting the Graph-Based Approaches; k Sensitivity 874.3.1.1 Data Sources 884.3.1.2 Results 884.3.2 Armstrong PA: Testing the Algorithms Against a Known Leakage Scenario 884.3.2.1 Data Sources 904.3.2.2 Results 904.4 Discussion 914.4.1 Uses for Industry and Regulators 934.5 Conclusions 93Acknowledgements 94References 94Part 3: Optimum Design Parameters 995 Fracture Spacing Design for Multistage Hydraulic Fracturing Completions for Improved Productivity 101D. Maity, J. Ciezobka and I. Salehi5.1 Introduction 1015.2 Method 1035.2.1 Impact of Natural Fractures 1045.2.2 Workflow 1075.2.3 Model Fine-Tuning 1085.2.4 Need for Artificial Intelligence 1095.3 Data 1105.4 Results 1145.4.1 Applicability Considerations 1205.5 Concluding Remarks 121Acknowledgement 122References 1226 Clustering-Based Optimal Perforation Design Using Well Logs 125Andrei S. Popa, Steve Cassidy and Sinisha Jikich6.1 Introduction 1266.2 Objective and Motivation 1276.3 Technology 1286.4 Clustering Analysis 1296.4.1 C-Means (FCM) Algorithm 1306.5 Methodology and Analysis 1316.5.1 Available Data 1316.6 Applying the FCM Algorithm 1346.7 Results and Discussion 1366.8 Conclusions 139Acknowledgements 139References 1397 Horizontal Well Spacing and Hydraulic Fracturing Design Optimization: A Case Study on Utica-Point Pleasant Shale Play 141Alireza Shahkarami and Guochang Wang7.1 Introduction 1427.2 Methodology 1437.2.1 The Base Reservoir Simulation Model 1437.3 Optimization Scenarios 1477.4 Results and Discussion 1487.4.1 Base Reservoir Model – A Single Well Case 1487.4.2 Multi-Lateral Depletion – Finding the Optimum Number of Wells 1487.4.3 Completion Parameters 1517.4.4 Second Economic Scenario, Reducing the Cost of Completion 1537.5 Conclusion 154Acknowledgments 156Part 4: Fracture Reservoir Characterization 159Ahmed OuenesIntroduction 159References 1618 Geomechanical Modeling of Fault Systems Using the Material Point Method – Application to the Estimation of Induced Seismicity Potential to Bolster Hydraulic Fracturing Social License 163Nicholas M. Umholtz and Ahmed Ouenes8.1 Introduction 1648.2 The Social License to Operate (SLO) 1658.3 Regional Faults in Oklahoma, USA and Alberta, Canada used as Input in Geomechanical Modeling 1668.4 Modeling Earthquake Potential using Numerical Material Models 1688.5 A New Workflow for Estimating Induced Seismicity Potential and its Application to Oklahoma and Alberta 1738.6 The Benefits of a Large Scale Predictive Model and Future Research 1788.7 Conflict of Interest 179Acknowledgements 179References 1799 Correlating Pressure with Microseismic to Understand Fluid-Reservoir Interactions During Hydraulic Fracturing 181Debotyam Maity9.1 Introduction 1819.2 Method 1829.2.1 Pressure Data Analysis 1829.2.2 Microseismic Data Analysis 1869.3 Data 1879.4 Results 1889.4.1 Pitfalls in Analysis 1969.5 Conclusions 1969.6 Acknowledgements 197References 19710 Multigrid Fracture Stimulated Reservoir Volume Mapping Coupled with a Novel Mathematical Optimization Approach to Shale Reservoir Well and Fracture Design 199Ahmed Alzahabi, Noah Berlow, M.Y. Soliman and Ghazi AlQahtani10.1 Introduction 20010.2 Problem Definition and Modeling 20310.2.1 Geometric Interpretation 20310.2.1.1 Fracture Geometry 20310.2.2 The Developed Model Flow Chart 20410.2.3 Well and Fracture Design Vector Components 20410.3 Development of a New Mathematical Model 20410.3.1 Methodology 20710.3.2 Objective Function 20710.3.3 Assumptions and Constraints Considered in the Mathematical Model 20710.3.3.1 Sets 20810.3.3.2 Variables 20810.3.3.3 Decision Variables 20810.3.3.4 Extended Sets 20810.3.3.5 Constant Parameters 20910.3.3.6 Constraints 20910.3.4 Stimulated Reservoir Volume Representation 21010.3.5 Optimization Procedure 21110.4 Model Building 21210.4.1 Simulation Model of Well Pad and SRV’s Evaluation 21410.5 Results and Discussions 21610.6 Conclusions and Recommendations 216References 218Appendix A: Abbreviations 220Appendix B: Definition of the Fracturability Index Used in the Well Placement Process 220Appendix C: Geometric Interpretation of Parameters Used in Building the Model 22111 A Semi-Analytical Model for Predicting Productivity of Refractured Oil Wells with Uniformly Distributed Radial Fractures 227Xiao Cai, Boyun Guo and Gao li11.1 Introduction 22811.2 Mathematical Model 22911.3 Model Verification 23111.4 Sensitivity Analysis 23111.5 Conclusions 233Acknowledgements 234References 234Appendix A: Derivation of Inflow Equation for Wells with Radial Fractures under Pseudo-Steady State Flow Conditions 235Part 5: Environmental Issues of Hydraulic Fracturing 243Introduction 243References 24512 The Role of Human Factors Considerations and Safety Culture in the Safety of Hydraulic Fracturing (Fracking) 247Jamie Heinecke, Nima Jabbari and Najmedin Meshkati12.1 Introduction 24812.2 Benefits of Hydraulic Fracturing 25012.3 Common Criticisms 25012.4 Different Steps of Hydraulic Fracturing and Proposed Human Factors Considerations 25212.5 Hydraulic Fracturing Process: Drilling 25412.6 Hydraulic Fracturing Process: Fluid Injection 25712.7 Fracking Fluid 25812.8 Wastewater 25812.9 Human Factors and Safety Culture Considerations 25912.9.1 Human Factors 25912.9.1.1 Microergonomics 26012.9.1.2 Macroergonomics 26012.9.2 Safety Culture 26112.10 Examples of Recent Incidents 26312.11 Conclusion and Recommendations 265Acknowledgment 266References 26613 Flowback of Fracturing Fluids with Upgraded Visualization of Hydraulic Fractures and Its Implications on Overall Well Performance 271Khush Desai and Fred Aminzadeh13.1 Introduction 27213.2 Assumptions 27213.3 Upgraded Visualization of Hydraulic Fracturing 27313.3.1 Concept 27313.3.2 Results 27413.4 Reasons for Partial Flowback 27513.4.1 Fracture Modelling 27513.4.2 Depth of Penetration 27613.4.3 Closing of Fractures 27713.4.4 Chemical Interaction of Fracturing Fluids 27713.5 Impact of Parameters under Control 27813.6 Loss in Incremental Oil Production 27913.7 Conclusions 28013.8 Limitations 281References 281Appendix A 28214 Assessing the Groundwater Contamination Potential from a Well in a Hydraulic Fracturing Operation 285Nima Jabbari, Fred Aminzadeh and Felipe P. J. de Barros14.1 Introduction 28614.2 Risk Pathways to the Shallow Groundwater 28814.3 Problem Statement 28914.4 Mathematical Formulation 29014.5 Hypothetical Case Description and the Numerical Method 29114.6 Results and Discussion 29414.7 Conclusion 297References 298Index 303