Research on the Fracture Propagation Law of Separate Layered Fracturing in Unconventional Sandstone Reservoirs

Qiquan Ran, Xin Zhou (), Mengya Xu, Jiaxin Dong, Dianxing Ren and Ruibo Li
Additional contact information
Qiquan Ran: Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development, No. 20 Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100083, China
Xin Zhou: Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development, No. 20 Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100083, China
Mengya Xu: Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development, No. 20 Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100083, China
Jiaxin Dong: Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development, No. 20 Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100083, China
Dianxing Ren: Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development, No. 20 Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100083, China
Ruibo Li: Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development, No. 20 Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100083, China

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 13, 1-19

Abstract: The unconsolidated sandstone is a type of rock that has poor cementation, a low strength, a high porosity, and permeability. It is highly compressible under high stress and exhibits non-linear plastic deformation during hydraulic fracturing construction in its reservoir. In this study, the mechanical properties of unconsolidated sandstone with a different permeability were studied, and a three-dimensional hydraulic fracture propagation numerical model was established based on the modified traditional Cambridge model. This model was used to simulate the fracture propagation law of unconsolidated sandstone in separate layer fracturing under different construction conditions. During hydraulic fracturing construction, the fracturing fluid slowly invades the reservoir when the displacement of the fracturing fluid is small. The unconsolidated sandstone undergoes compaction and hardening, followed by shear expansion, and then complete destruction. A larger displacement will cause the reservoir rock to directly enter the state of destruction from compaction and hardening. This study found that several critical parameters are obtained for fracturing construction. When the displacement is greater than 5 m 3 /min, the fracturing fluid exceeds 100 mPa·s, or when the filtration coefficient exceeds 1.2 × 10 −3 m/ s , the second and third layers will be penetrated. This study provides valuable insights into the mechanical properties of unconsolidated sandstone and reveals the critical parameters for the successful hydraulic fracturing construction in this type of reservoir.

Keywords: unconsolidated sandstone; separate layer fracturing; modified Cam-clay model; fracture propagation law (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/13/10444/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/13/10444/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:13:p:10444-:d:1185517

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().