Application of Nitrogen Fracturing in the Ohio Shale

Abel, J.C.

doi:10.2118/10378-ms

Cited by 11 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…in fracturing treatments. 2 This indicated damage mlght be caused by treatments using even the moderate amounts of water found in conventi ona 1 foam.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Foamed Sand Provides Improved Stimulation Results from Devonian Shale

Strang

Norton

1983

SPE Eastern Regional Meeting

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Generally, water saturations in the Devonian Shale are low. Production records indicate minimal, if any, water in the areas produci ng gas or gas and oil. This low water saturation appears to be the key to stimulating the shale, especially in the oil-producing areas.The introduction of water in the stimulation fluid appears to reduce the permeability to oil, which is reflected in poorer production.The relative permeabil ity reduction seems to be more of a problem than particle migration or clay swell ing. and ~ould explain the good initial results froo stralght nltrogen treatments. However, the lack of a proppant, even with low closure stress, leads to very rapid declines.Water-base stimulation fluids appear to increase water saturation in the Devonian Shale. Use of 90+ quality foam with sand should provide a method of minimizing saturation changes while creating a propped fracture.Initial results indicate this technique provides better sustained production increases in the Devonian Shale.This paper defines areas of production, describes the geology and presents physical data of the Devonian Shale. It also compares results of several types of treatments that have been used in the Devonian Shale. These results indicate 90+ quality foam with sand should provide an improved stimulation technique for this formation. RESULTSThe 90+ quality foam treatments to date have been done in Monroe and Noble counties, Ohio, and Ritchie and Raleigh counties in West Virginia.

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“…in fracturing treatments. 2 This indicated damage mlght be caused by treatments using even the moderate amounts of water found in conventi ona 1 foam.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Foamed Sand Provides Improved Stimulation Results from Devonian Shale

Strang

Norton

1983

SPE Eastern Regional Meeting

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“…Yet, width reductions in unpropped fractures typically occur in the early stage of production. In the Ohio Shale Formation, nitrogen gas fracturing, even without proppants, outperformed conventional stimulation systems (Abel 1981). Nitrogen is inert, and problems of clay swelling, clay migration, or oil and water emulsions are eliminated (Gottschling and Royce 1985).…”

Section: Influence Of Fracturing Fluid Propertiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cryogenic Fracturing of Wellbores Under True Triaxial-Confining Stresses: Experimental Investigation

et al. 2018

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A laboratory study of cryogenic fracturing was performed to test its ability to improve oil/gas recovery from low-permeability reservoirs. Our objective is to develop well-stimulation technologies using cryogenic fluids, e.g. liquid nitrogen (LN) to increase permeability in a large reservoir volume surrounding wells. The new technology has the potential to reduce formation damage caused by current stimulation methods as well as minimize or eliminate water usage. The concept of cryogenic fracturing is that sharp thermal gradient (thermal shock) created at the surfaces of formation rocks by applying cryogenic fluid can cause strong local tensile stress and initiate fractures. We developed a laboratory system for cryogenic fracturing under true-triaxial loading, with liquid nitrogen delivery/control and measurement systems. The loading system simulates confining stresses by independently loading each axis up to about 5000 psi on 8"×8"×8" cubes. Both temperature in boreholes and block surfaces and fluid pressure in boreholes were continuously monitored. Acoustic and pressure-decay measurements were obtained before and at various stages of stimulations. Cubic blocks (8"×8"×8") of Niobrara shale, concrete, and sandstones were tested, and stress levels and anisotropies varied. Three schemes were considered: gas fracturing without cryo-stimulation, gas fracturing after low-pressure cryogen flowthrough, and gas fracturing after high-pressure cryogen flow-through. Results from pressure decay tests show that liquid nitrogen stimulation clearly increases permeability, and repeated stimulations further increase the permeability. Acoustic velocities and amplitudes decreased significantly following cryo-stimulation indicating fracture creation. In the gas fracturing without the stimulation, breakdown (complete fracturing) occurs suddenly without any initial leaking, and major fracture planes form along the plane containing principal stress and intermediate stress directions as expected theoretically. However, in the gas fracturing after cryogenic stimulations, breakdown occurred gradually and with massive leaking due to thermal fractures created during stimulation. In addition, the major fracture direction does not necessarily follow the plane containing principal stress direction, especially at low confining stress levels. In tests, we observed that cryogenic stimulation seems to disrupt the internal stress field. The increase in borehole temperature after stimulation affects the permeability of the specimen. When a stimulated specimen is still cold, it maintains high permeability because fractures remain open and local thermal tension is maintained near the borehole. When the rock warms back, fractures close and permeability decreases. In these tests, we have not used proppants. Overall, fractures are clearly generated by low and high-pressure thermal shocks. The added pressure of the high-pressure thermal shocks helps to further propagate cryogenic fractures 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 2 generated by thermal shock. Breakdown pressure ...

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“…As early as 1981, Abel used nitrogen gas as a fracturing fluid in the Ohio Shale Formation [16]. e results showed that this technology succeeded in production promotion, even without a propping agent, and it had outperformed other stimulation systems.…”

Section: State Of the Artmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Comparative Study on Fracture Characteristics of the Red Sandstone under Water and Nitrogen Gas Fracturing

Gao

Wang

et al. 2018

Advances in Civil Engineering

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Because of the disadvantages in fracturing with the water-base fracturing fluids and the development of reservoir reconstruction technology, nonaqueous fracturing fluid plays a more and more important role in the worldwide exploitation of unconventional natural gas. In this paper, the fracturing experiments of the red sandstone by using water and nitrogen gas are firstly carried out, and the breakdown pressures and failure patterns of the red sandstone specimens under different fracturing fluids are compared.en, based on the governing equations, the fracturing experiments with water and nitrogen gas are modeled by using a finite element method software-COMSOL Multiphysics. e conclusions can be obtained as follows: (1) e breakdown pressure of the nitrogen gas fracturing is 60% that of the water fracturing. e ultralow viscosity property of nitrogen gas is the reason for this phenomenon. (2) Compared with the water fracturing, the nitrogen gas fracturing causes greater volumetric strain and a more complex fracture pattern in terms of the number, length, and width of the cracks. (3) e numerical results are close to the experimental data. It implies that numerical modeling in this study can be used as a tool for predicting the breakdown pressure and rupture time. (4) After a sensitive study based on the numerical modeling, it can be found that the loading rate will influence the seepage range which dominates the pore pressure distribution and affects the breakdown pressure for the water fracturing. However, for the nitrogen gas fracturing, the breakdown pressure almost does not change with the loading rate as the nitrogen gas can easily penetrate the specimen from the radial direction.

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Application of Nitrogen Fracturing in the Ohio Shale

Cited by 11 publications

References 3 publications

Foamed Sand Provides Improved Stimulation Results from Devonian Shale

Foamed Sand Provides Improved Stimulation Results from Devonian Shale

Cryogenic Fracturing of Wellbores Under True Triaxial-Confining Stresses: Experimental Investigation

A Comparative Study on Fracture Characteristics of the Red Sandstone under Water and Nitrogen Gas Fracturing

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