Microseismic and Deformation Imaging of Hydraulic Fracture Growth and Geometry in the C Sand Interval, GRI/DOE M-Site Project

Warpinski, N.R.; Branagan, P.T.; Peterson, R.E.; Fix, James E.; Uhl, J.E.; Engler, B.P.; Wilmer, R.

doi:10.2118/38573-ms

Cited by 46 publications

(16 citation statements)

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“…Ongoing evaluation of this configuration entails adding noise to the arrival time picks, and incorporating S-waves and inaccurate velocity models into the search procedure. Warpinski et al (1997) clearly demonstrate the utility of microseismic event location for mapping hydraulically induced fractures within a fluvial sand-shale petroleum reservoir. Figures 2 -4 display 20 event positions obtained by inverting P-wave and S-wave arrival times observed by an array of cemented, triaxial accelerometers deployed in a single monitor well.…”

Section: Synthetic Data Examplementioning

confidence: 69%

Grid search algorithm for 3D seismic source location

Aldridge¹,

Bartel²,

Symons³

et al. 2003

SEG Technical Program Expanded Abstracts 2003

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The spatial and temporal origin of a seismic energy source are estimated by minimizing (in the weighted least squares sense) the misfit between observed and predicted arrival times at a set of receiver stations. A search is conducted for the best source position within a 3D gridded volume of trial locations. Rapid calculation of predicted traveltimes is achieved by evaluating closed-form formulae appropriate for a homogeneous or 1D layered velocity model. The method is applicable to microseismic event location for mapping hydraulic fracturing in a petroleum reservoir.

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Section: Synthetic Data Examplementioning

confidence: 69%

Grid search algorithm for 3D seismic source location

Aldridge¹,

Bartel²,

Symons³

et al. 2003

SEG Technical Program Expanded Abstracts 2003

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show abstract

“…Tensile opening can be a physical process following fluid injection and hydraulic fracturing operations. Although in some cases, no evidence for tensile source radiation patterns was found (Nolen-Hoeksema & Ruff, 2001;Phillips, Fairbanks, Rutledge, & Anderson, 1998;Warpinski, 1997), later studies identified significant non-DC terms for hydrofracture events (Jechumt alov a & Eisner 2008; Sileny et al, 2009;Warpinski & Du, 2010). Similar non-DC source models have also been proposed for induced seismicity in geothermal environments (Zhao, K€ uhn, Oye, & Cesca, 2014).…”

Section: The Microseismic Sourcementioning

confidence: 85%

Full Waveform Seismological Advances for Microseismic Monitoring

Cesca¹,

Grigoli²

2015

Advances in Geophysics

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“…The depth distribution of microearthquakes presented by Rutledge and Phillips (2003) is generally contained in intervals with heights of less than 10 m around approximately 5-m perforation zones. Closer to the Rulison site, a series of six hydrofracture operations in the 15-m-thick B-Sand of the lower fluvial interval of the Williams Fork at the MWX site produced a range of fracture heights from 12 to 41 m, with an average of 22.4 m. Warpinski et al (1997) similarly found that hydrofractures were generally contained within the C-sand during injections in that unit.…”

Section: Vertical Extent Of Hydraulic Fracturesmentioning

confidence: 86%

“…Most estimates are the result of interpretation of microseismic signals. Warpinski et al (1997) used a variety of data, including intersecting wells, to demonstrate that microseismic activity can provide a reliable image of a hydraulic fracture. The ideal hydraulic fracture is usually considered a single feature spreading from the stimulated well (a "bi-wing" fracture).…”

Section: Hydraulic Fracture Zone Geometrymentioning

confidence: 99%

Tritium Transport at the Rulison Site, a Nuclear-stimulated Low-permeability Natural Gas Reservoir

Cooper¹,

Ye²,

Chapman³

2008

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARYThe U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and its predecessor agencies conducted a program in the 1960s and 1970s that evaluated technology for the nuclear stimulation of lowpermeability natural gas reservoirs. The second project in the program, Project Rulison, was located in west-central Colorado. A 40-kiltoton nuclear device was detonated 2,568 m below the land surface in the Williams Fork Formation on September 10, 1969. The natural gas reservoirs in the Williams Fork Formation occur in low permeability, fractured sandstone lenses interbedded with shale. Radionuclides derived from residual fuel products, nuclear reactions, and activation products were generated as a result of the detonation. Most of the radionuclides are contained in a cooled, solidified melt glass phase created from vaporized and melted rock that re-condensed after the test. Of the mobile gas-phase radionuclides released, tritium ( 3 H or T) migration is of most concern. The other gas-phase radionuclides ( 85 Kr, 14 C) were largely removed during production testing in 1969 and 1970 and are no longer present in appreciable amounts. Substantial tritium remained because it is part of the water molecule, which is present in both the gas and liquid (aqueous) phases.The objectives of this work are to calculate the nature and extent of tritium contamination in the subsurface from the Rulison test from the time of the test to present day (2007), and to evaluate tritium migration under natural-gas production conditions to a hypothetical gas production well in the most vulnerable location outside the DOE drilling restriction. The natural-gas production scenario involves a hypothetical production well located 258 m horizontally away from the detonation point, outside the edge of the current drilling exclusion area. The production interval in the hypothetical well is at the same elevation as the nuclear chimney created by the detonation, in order to evaluate the location most vulnerable to tritium migration.A three-dimensional geologic model was developed of the local Williams Fork Formation at the Rulison site that includes a sequence of sandstone and shale lenses conditioned on observations at two site wells. The dominant flow and transport direction is east-west, in agreement with the direction of regional fractures in the area. The average sandstone lens length is approximately 161 m, and mean thickness is 7.5 m. The sandstone lenses are characterized by very low intrinsic permeability in core measurements (on the order of 10 -18 m 2 ), while reservoir tests often indicate higher permeabilities (up to 10 -16 m 2 ) presumably as a result of fractures encountered at the field scale. Porosity of Williams Fork sandstone units is generally reported as being between 0.01 and 0.1. Shale units are considered barriers to flow, with intrinsic permeability of 10 -20 m 2 .A conceptual flow and transport model for the area around the emplacement well (where the nuclear device was located) was developed to investigate the rates of tritium transport in...

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Microseismic and Deformation Imaging of Hydraulic Fracture Growth and Geometry in the C Sand Interval, GRI/DOE M-Site Project

Cited by 46 publications

References 0 publications

Grid search algorithm for 3D seismic source location

Grid search algorithm for 3D seismic source location

Full Waveform Seismological Advances for Microseismic Monitoring

Tritium Transport at the Rulison Site, a Nuclear-stimulated Low-permeability Natural Gas Reservoir

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