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Explore new frontiers of geomechanics!
Injection strategies are crucial for geothermal projects
March 29, 2021 at 6:00:00 a.m.
The fear of earthquakes is one of the main reasons for reservations about geothermal energy. In order to get hot water from the depths, crevices in the rock underground often have to be created. This is done by injecting large quantities of water under high pressure. The problem is that such hydraulic stimulation is accompanied by vibrations in the underground, known as ''induced seismicity''. A new study from the now points a way that could help to reduce the seismic risk.
Back Analysis of Joslyn Steam Release Incident
Using Coupling Reservoir Geomechanical Model
March 26, 2021 at 6:00:00 a.m.
This paper presents the initial work on creating the geomechanical and flow models and the coupled reservoir geomechanical simulation approach which will be used for the back analysis. The model includes Discrete Fracture Network modeling, discontinuum modeling, and coupling with CMGSTARS as a reliable representative for complicated geometry of fractured media. This approach may provide an opportunity to model real complex systems of a heterogeneous and anisotropic reservoir systems.
Energy and CO2 Emissions Penalty Ranges for Geologic Carbon Storage Brine Management
March 26, 2021 at 6:00:00 a.m.
Safe and cost-effective geologic carbon storage will require active CO2 reservoir management, including brine extraction to minimize subsurface pressure accumulation. While past simulation and experimental efforts have estimated brine extraction volumes, carbon management policies must also assess the energy or emissions penalties of managing and disposing of this brine. We estimate energy and CO2 emission penalties of extracted brine management on a per tonne of CO2 stored basis by spatially integrating CO2 emissions from U.S. coal-fired electric generating units, CO2 storage reservoirs, and brine salinity data sets under several carbon and water management scenarios. We estimate a median energy penalty of 4.4–35 kWh/tonne CO2 stored, suggesting that brine management will be the largest post capture and compression energy sink in the carbon storage process. These estimates of energy demand for brine management are useful for evaluating end-uses for treated brine, assessing the cost of CO2 storage at the reservoir level, and optimizing national CO2 transport and storage infrastructure.
Geohazard Risk Reduction Technologies in Geotechnical Engineering
March 26, 2021 at 6:00:00 a.m.
A geohazard is defined as a natural or man-made phenomenon capable of causing serious damage to civil engineering structures. Examples of geohazards include landslides, debris flows, avalanches, rockfalls, earth fissures, earthquakes, sinkholes, tsunamis, subsidence, volcanoes, lahars, and hydrothermal activity.
With industries developing, cities growing, and the pace of global warming accelerating, geological hazards are quickly emerging as the greatest current threat to buildings and infrastructures. For instance, on July 27th, 2011, intense rainfall triggered mass debris flows and rockfalls in South Korea, resulting in multiple fatalities and inflicting extensive physical and financial infrastructural damage. As a result, debris flow control structures and smart monitoring systems have since been implemented in Seoul to protect civil engineering structures and prevent similar scenarios arising in the future.
Carbon dioxide can be stored underground for 10 times the length needed to avoid climatic impact
March 26, 2021 at 6:00:00 a.m.
Study of natural-occurring 100,000-year-old carbon dioxide reservoirs shows no significant corroding of 'cap rock', suggesting the greenhouse gas hasn't leaked back out -- one of the main concerns with greenhouse gas reduction proposal of carbon capture and storage.
Analysis of Hydraulic Fracture Propagation Using a Mixed Mode
and a Uniaxial Strain Model considering Geomechanical
Properties in a Naturally Fractured Shale Reservoir
March 18, 2021 at 6:00:00 a.m.
This study proposes a hydraulic fracture propagation model with a mixed mode comprising opening and sliding modes to describe a complex fracture network in a naturally fractured shale gas formation. We combine the fracture propagation model with the mixed mode and the uniaxial strain model with tectonic impacts to calculate the stress distribution using geomechanical properties. A discrete fracture network is employed to realize the fracture network composed of natural and hydraulic fractures.
We compare the fracture propagation behaviours of three cases representing the Barnett, Marcellus, and Eagle Ford shale gas formations. Sensitivity analysis is performed to investigate the effects of the geomechanical properties of the reservoir on the sliding mode’s contribution to the mixed mode. The numerical results highlight the significance of the mixed mode for the accurate assessment of fracture propagation behaviours in shale gas formations with high brittleness.
GEOMECHANICS OF HYDRAULIC FRACTURING – WHY IT MATTERS
March 18, 2021 at 6:00:00 a.m.
Massive multistage hydraulic fracturing (MSHF) has been used to develop unconventional resources in Canada for over 30 years; but it has only been within the last decade that horizontal wells, and other advanced completion techniques, have allowed the extraction of oil and gas from tight gas sand and shale reservoirs across the country to develop into a major part of our industry. The resource contained within these tight shale and sand reservoirs is massive, with an estimated 30x1012 cubic metres (m3) of gas reserves in Canadian shale basins. Shale plays, including the Montney, Horn River, Bakken, Duvernay and Utica, are all currently either being developed or being explored for development opportunities.
Geophysical research: The Earth’s non-linear properties
March 11, 2021 at 7:00:00 a.m.
Successful integration between the mechanics of deformable solid bodies and Earth Sciences resulted in a new theory of non-classical tectonophysics. By moving from the idea of linearity of elastic waves and deformations of solid media to the concept of nonlinearity, an approach is proposed for an adequate determination of the tectonophysical parameters of the geodynamically evolving Earth.
Prediction of Production Performance of Refractured Shale Gas Well considering Coupled Multiscale Gas Flow and Geomechanics
March 9, 2021 at 7:00:00 a.m.
Production simulation is an important method to evaluate the stimulation effect of refracturing. Therefore, a production simulation model based on coupled fluid flow and geomechanics in triple continuum including kerogen, an inorganic matrix, and a fracture network is proposed considering the multiscale flow characteristics of shale gas, the induced stress of fracture opening, and the pore elastic effect. The complex transport mechanisms due to multiple physics, including gas adsorption/desorption, slip flow, Knudsen diffusion, surface diffusion, stress sensitivity, and adsorption layer are fully considered in this model.
Estimation of Sand Production Rate Using Geomechanical and
Hydromechanical Models
March 9, 2021 at 7:00:00 a.m.
This paper aims to develop a numerical model that can be used in sand control during production phase of an oil and gas well. The model is able to predict not only the onset of sand production using critical bottom hole pressure inferred from geomechanical modelling, but also the mass of sand produced versus time as well as the change of porosity versus space and time using hydromechanical modelling. A detailed workflow of the modelling was presented with each step of calculations. The empirical parameters were calibrated using laboratory data. Then the modelling was applied in a case study of an oilfield in Cuu Long basin. In addition, a sensitivity study of the effect of drawdown pressure was presented in this paper. Moreover, a comparison between results of different hydromechanical models was also addressed. The outcome of this paper demonstrated the possibility of modelling the sand production mass in real cases, opening a new approach in sand control in petroleum industry.
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