Geomechanical modeling as a reservoir characterization tool at Rulison Field, Piceance Basin, Colorado

Higgins, Shannon Marie; Bratton, Tom

doi:10.1190/1.2369846

Cited by 8 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…More recently Baujard and Bruel (2006) studied the influence of fluid density differences on the pressure distribution in the reservoir during stimulation and fluid circulation tests. Higgins (2006) reported that geomechanics is a powerful tool for reservoir characterization in oil field exploration. Geomechanical modeling is used to understand how the in-situ earth stresses relate to the geology, production and completion practices of tight gas reservoir at Rulison Field, Colorado.…”

Section: Modeling Coupled Processesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Application of the geomechanical facies approach and comparison of exploration and evaluation methods used at Soultz-sous-Forêts (France) and Spa Urach (Germany) geothermal sites

Tenzer¹,

Park

Kolditz

et al. 2010

Environ Earth Sci

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Earth-reservoirs are increasingly exploited today with the extraction of resources, such as heat and hydrocarbons, and the large-scale emplacement of waste, such as CO 2 sequestration. The characterization, site investigation, predictive modeling and long-term monitoring are dependent on the processes being investigated and modeled. In most cases complex coupled processes have to be addressed in a geologically complex rock mass system. In this paper we present a conceptual holistic framework known as geomechanical facies linking all the scales of investigation, characterization and reservoir development methods. We demonstrate this concept on the work undertaken during the design and development of the enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) systems at the forefront of European HotDry-Rock (HDR) technology, Soultz-sous-Forêts (France) and Spa Urach (Germany). Soultz-sous-Forêts is situated within granitic rocks and an active tectonic graben system in the central part of the Rhine Graben. It presents conditions of lithology, temperature, stress, hydraulics and geochemistry that are very different from those at Spa Urach, located in a very dense gneiss formation in the South German crystalline complex. Spa Urach exhibits more elastic behavior and is set tectonically within an almost inactive strike-slip stress field described in more detail in Sects. ''Drill core analysis'' and ''Hydraulic stimulation at Spa Urach''. This paper compares the exploration and field development methods used at these two sites against the back drop of the geomechanical facies concept. Issues addressed include the key parameters for flow and heat transport properties, coupled hydro-mechanical process identification, the success of the HDR reservoir as a heat exchanger and exploration techniques applicable to the different facies. Identification of the key geomechanical facies gives an indication as to which technologies will prove more efficient in the application of HDR technology. The results of this study will hopefully help in developing heat recovery schemes for the long-term economical operation of future HDR plants and EGS as well as assist in the understanding of engineered geosystems.

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Section: Modeling Coupled Processesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Application of the geomechanical facies approach and comparison of exploration and evaluation methods used at Soultz-sous-Forêts (France) and Spa Urach (Germany) geothermal sites

Tenzer¹,

Park

Kolditz

et al. 2010

Environ Earth Sci

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“…In the field, however, it is expensive and difficult to orient the guns to a prescribed direction, and sometimes the information of in-situ stress orientation is not reliable in complex geological environment. In addition, most of the pre-existing natural fractures deviate a few degrees from the maximum horizontal in-situ stress direction [Higgins, 2006]. It is known that near wellbore stress varies with the hoop direction [Fjar et al 2008]; consequently SIFs of pre-existing fractures at different deviation angle vary.…”

Section: Influence Of Crack Orientation On Breakdown Pressurementioning

confidence: 99%

Breakdown Pressure Determination - A Fracture Mechanics Approach

Jin

Shah

Roegiers

et al. 2013

SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition

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Accurate determination of breakdown pressure in the presence of pre-existing fracture (e.g., natural fractures or perforations) can assist engineers better manage expected fracture gradients. The classical models by Hubbert and Willis, and Haimson and Fairhurst did not account for the existence of pre-existing fractures in predicting breakdown pressure. In addition, the available fracture models for the calculation of breakdown pressure do not consider nonlinear internal pressure distribution in the pre-existing fracture. Finally, some of them either ignored near wellbore stress concentrations, or they are limited to specific fracture dimensions. To overcome the limitations of current methodologies, a weight function method is applied to predict breakdown pressure of two general symmetrical radial fractures emanating from a borehole. A weight function parameter table and three weight function parameter correlations are provided for continuous dimensionless crack lengths from 0.001 to 100. For uniform pressure distribution in the pre-existing fracture, the weight function based breakdown pressure is compared against the PSA method [Paris and Sih, 1965; Abou-Sayed et al., 1978], the results show a good agreement. Weight functions are applied to predict breakdown pressure for uniform and nonuniform pressure distribution in a pre-existing fracture, and the results prove that the pressure distribution affects the breakdown pressure. Sensitivity studies are conducted to investigate the influence of pre-existing crack length, orientation, in-situ stress contrast, and fracture toughness on breakdown pressure. It indicates that breakdown pressure (1) does not always increase with increasing dimensionless crack length at different stress contrast, and (2) increase with increasing absolute value of deviation angle and fracture toughness. The weight function based breakdown pressure is further verified against measured breakdown pressure from laboratory hydraulic fracturing experiments by finetuning fracture toughness. The results are also in good agreement for selected successful fracturing experiments.

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Breakdown pressure prediction with weight function method and experimental verification

Zeng

Jin

Ding

et al. 2019

Engineering Fracture Mechanics

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Geomechanical modeling as a reservoir characterization tool at Rulison Field, Piceance Basin, Colorado

Cited by 8 publications

References 3 publications

Application of the geomechanical facies approach and comparison of exploration and evaluation methods used at Soultz-sous-Forêts (France) and Spa Urach (Germany) geothermal sites

Application of the geomechanical facies approach and comparison of exploration and evaluation methods used at Soultz-sous-Forêts (France) and Spa Urach (Germany) geothermal sites

Breakdown Pressure Determination - A Fracture Mechanics Approach

Breakdown pressure prediction with weight function method and experimental verification

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