Optimization of Lattice-based Models for Simulation of Multi-stage Hydraulic Fracturing
Branko Damjanac
Itasca Consulting Company
ABSTRACT: Treatment of rock mass by fluid injection is a technology used for various objectives by various industries (for example, petroleum, mining, and geothermal). Initially, fluid injection was used by the petroleum industry, as hydraulic fracturing, to increase permeability of oil and gas reservoirs. In the past 10 years, development of multi-stage hydraulic fracturing from horizontal wells was one of the main reasons oil and gas production from shale reservoirs changed the global energy landscape. Damjanac describes a new numerical code based on lattice implementation of the synthetic rock mass (SRM) method, an analytical tool that could be applied for well and stimulation strategy designs and optimization of fractured reservoir treatments by fluid injection. The code can simulate different regimes of hydraulic fracture propagation in naturally fractured reservoirs initiated from multiple perforation clusters and stages. Damjanac describes the formulation of the numerical code including optimizations for different fracture propagation regimes, and he presents results illustrating interactions of hydraulic fractures for typical field conditions.
