Water Injection and Water Flooding Under Fracturing Conditions

Noirot, Jean-Christophe; Hoek, P.J. van den; Zwarts, D.; Bjoerndal, Hans-Petter; Stewart, Greg L.; Drenth, Rik J.J.; Al-Masfry, Rashid Ahemed; Wassing, B.; Saeby, Jan; Al-Masroori, M.; Zarafi, A.

doi:10.2118/81462-ms

Cited by 19 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Noirot et al demonstrated injection-related rock fracturing using downhole microseismic data from water disposal wells in deep geologic formations. They developed analytical and numerical models to investigate the interaction between pressure buildup and mechanical integrity of the host formation and caprock [29]. Using numerical simulation models, they designed a safe injection process by considering the acceptable limit of injection pressure increase due to caprock integrity and formation fracturing.…”

Section: Research Gaps and Objectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prediction of Pressure Increase during Waste Water Injection to Prevent Seismic Events

Jin

Wojtanowicz

2022

Energies

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A considerable increase of seismicity has occurred in the USA in the last decade (2009–2020) with an annual average of 345 M3+ earthquakes. Numerous field cases have shown that excessive well pressure due to a high injection rate may have triggered seismic events. This study defines conditions for inducing a seismic event by excessive injection in the well’s pressure that may cause geomechanical damage to the rock. Introduced here is an analytical model and method for predicting pressure increase during injection of produced water contaminated with oil. The model calculates time-dependent advancement of the captured oil saturation causing the well’s injectivity damage and pressure increase. Critical conditions for a seismic event are set by defining rock failure when well pressure exceeds the fracturing pressure of the wellbore or when the increased pore pressure reduces the effective normal stress at the “weak” interface inside the rock, computed with a geomechanical model. This concept is demonstrated in three field case studies using data from geological formations in areas of petroleum operations. The results confirm field observations of the initial rapid increase of oil invasion and injection pressure that could only be controlled by reducing the rate of injection to assure continuing long-time operation.

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Section: Research Gaps and Objectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prediction of Pressure Increase during Waste Water Injection to Prevent Seismic Events

Jin

Wojtanowicz

2022

Energies

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“…The efficiency of waterflooding carried out to increase oil recovery from hydrocarbon-bearing rocks is predicated in part on the initiation and propagation of hydraulic fractures at injection wells to ensure a more efficient sweep of the reservoir. [1][2][3] These fracture allow the injected water to leak through the crack surfaces, which eventually leads to the establishment of a quasi-linear flow pattern around the borehole-fracture system.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hydraulic fracturing of weak rock during waterflooding

Detournay

Hakobyan

2021

Num Anal Meth Geomechanics

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This paper describes a KGD-type model of a hydraulic fracture created by injecting fluid in weak, poorly consolidated rocks. The model is based on the key assumption that the hydraulic fracture is propagating within a domain where the hydraulic fields are quasi-stationary. By further assuming a negligible toughness, the fracture is shown to grow as a square root of time. The asymptotic fracture propagation regimes at small and large time are constructed and the transient solution is computed by solving a nonlinear system of algebraic equations formulated in terms of the fracture aperture. At early time, the fracture is hydraulically invisible and the injection pressure increases with time 𝑡 as log 𝑡, while at late time, leak-off from the borehole is negligible and the injection pressure decreases as 𝑡 −1∕4 . According to this model, the peak injection pressure observed when injecting fluid in weak, poorly consolidated rocks should not be interpreted as indicating a breakdown of the formation, but rather as marking the transition between two asymptotic flow regimes. The timescale that legislates the transition between the small and large time asymptotic regimes is shown to be a strongly nonlinear function of a dimensionless injection rate.

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“…The efficiency of waterflooding carried out to increase oil recovery from hydrocarbonbearing rocks is predicated in part on the initiation and propagation of hydraulic fractures at injection wells to ensure a more efficient sweep of the reservoir [Sharma et al, 2000, van den Hoek and Mclennan, 2000, Noirot et al, 2003. These fracture allow the injected water to leak through the crack surfaces, which eventually leads to the establisment of a quasi-linear flow pattern around the borehole-fracture system.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hydraulic Fracturing of Poorly Consolidated Reservoir During Waterflooding

Detournay,

Hakobyan

2021

Preprint

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This paper describes a KGD-type model of a hydraulic fracture created by injecting fluid in weak, poorly consolidated rocks. The model is based on the key assumption that the hydraulic fracture is propagating within a domain where the hydraulic fields are quasi-stationary. By further assuming a negligible toughness, the fracture is shown to grow as a square root of time. The asymptotic fracture propagation regimes at small and large time are constructed and the transient solution is computed by solving a nonlinear system of algebraic equations formulated in terms of the fracture aperture. At early time the fracture is hydraulically invisible and the injection pressure increases with time t as log t, while at late time leak-off from the borehole is negligible and the injection pressure decreases as t −1/4 . According to this model, the peak injection pressure observed when injecting fluid in weak, poorly consolidated rocks should not be interpreted as indicating a breakdown of the formation, but rather as marking the transition between two asymptotic flow regimes. The timescale that legislates the transition between the small and large time asymptotic regimes is shown to be a strongly nonlinear function of a dimensionless injection rate.

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Water Injection and Water Flooding Under Fracturing Conditions

Cited by 19 publications

References 5 publications

Prediction of Pressure Increase during Waste Water Injection to Prevent Seismic Events

Prediction of Pressure Increase during Waste Water Injection to Prevent Seismic Events

Hydraulic fracturing of weak rock during waterflooding

Hydraulic Fracturing of Poorly Consolidated Reservoir During Waterflooding

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