Distributed Fiber Optic Strain Sensors for Hydraulic Fracture Geometry
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current hydraulic fracturing technologies face challenges in accurately diagnosing far-field fracture geometry and proppant placement due to complexity in reservoirs and limited diagnostic capabilities, leading to uncertainties in well performance and stimulation design.
Innovation Solution
High-resolution distributed strain sensing systems, utilizing fiber optic technologies like Rayleigh scattering and Brillouin scattering, are deployed in monitor wells to measure axial strain patterns, providing insights into hydraulic fracture properties such as number, length, and orientation, enabling more precise fracture geometry analysis.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If fracture propagation models are used to estimate fracture length, then diagnostic capabilities are maintained at current levels, but measurement precision and reliability of fracture geometry data deteriorate due to significant uncertainty in results
Solution Approach 1:
A monitor well equipped with high-resolution distributed strain sensing systems is introduced as an intermediary between the fracturing operation and the diagnostic analysis. This monitor well directly measures strain patterns in the formation, providing accurate fracture length data without requiring complex post-treatment analysis of indirect indicators. The strain sensing system in the monitor well acts as a mediator that captures direct physical evidence of fracture propagation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical diagnostic methods (such as microseismic monitoring, tilt meters, and pressure transient analysis) with optical-based distributed strain sensing systems. These optical systems use light scattering phenomena (Rayleigh, Brillouin, Raman scattering) to measure strain along the entire length of the monitor well, providing continuous, high-resolution data that supersedes discrete mechanical measurement points.
2Measurement precision
If advanced fracture mapping technologies are deployed to measure created fracture length, then measurement precision improves, but the ability to determine propped and effective fracture lengths deteriorates due to lack of insights into proppant placement
Solution Approach 1:
The distributed strain sensing system provides continuous measurement along the entire length of the monitor well, capturing strain patterns at every point rather than at discrete locations. This continuous data stream allows identification of the transition zone where proppant begins and ends, as well as the effective fracture length, by analyzing the continuous strain profile rather than isolated measurement points.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from one-dimensional point measurements (microseismic events, discrete pressure sensors) to one-dimensional continuous distributed measurements along the wellbore. By measuring strain continuously along the entire length of the monitor well, the system adds the dimension of spatial continuity, enabling identification of proppant placement boundaries and effective fracture zones that cannot be determined from discrete point data.
3Device complexity
If trial-and-error approaches are used for stimulation decisions, then diagnostic data collection is minimized, but productivity and cost efficiency deteriorate due to lost wells and suboptimal operational parameters
Solution Approach 1:
The monitor well with distributed strain sensing provides real-time or near-real-time feedback on fracture propagation during the stimulation process. This feedback allows operators to adjust injection rates, proppant concentrations, and treatment parameters mid-operation to optimize fracture geometry and proppant placement, eliminating the need for trial-and-error approaches and associated well losses.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach allows for detailed diagnostics of hydraulic fracture properties, enhancing the understanding of far-field fracture geometry and proppant placement, thereby improving well performance and completion strategies by providing accurate data on fracture length, orientation, and multi-planar complex fracture growth.
Implementation Method 1
High-resolution distributed strain sensing systems, utilizing fiber optic technologies like Rayleigh scattering and Brillouin scattering, are deployed in monitor wells to measure axial strain patterns
Implementation Method 2
High-resolution distributed strain sensing systems, utilizing fiber optic technologies like Rayleigh scattering and Brillouin scattering, are deployed in monitor wells to measure axial strain patterns
Data Source
AI summary
The use of a distributed fiber optic strain sensor system in horizontal hydraulic fracturing wells to determine several measurements of hydraulic fracture system geometry including number of far-field fractures, hydraulic and propped fracture length, fracture azimuth, and multi-planar fracture complexity.