A practical fracability evaluation for tight sandstone reservoir with natural interface

Abstract

Hydraulic fracturing has been widely applied to enhance the conductivity in tight sandstone reservoirs, i.e. reservoirs with low porosity and permeability. The interaction between a hydraulic fracture (HF) and a natural fracture (NF), including crossing, arresting and opening (tensile or dilation), are crucial for controlling the fracability of a reservoir. Previous studies have elucidated that shear dilation is the main mechanism for enhancing the permeability of an unconventional reservoir. Moreover, the brittleness index (BI) is considered another critical parameter that controls the fracability of candidates. However, the fracability of candidates with respect to both shear dilation and BI have not been fully investigated. We performed a practical fracability evaluation by integrating the shear dilation mechanism and BI quantification. We obtained the mechanical parameters from mechanical tests conducted on synthetic tight sandstone samples, and we manufactured specimens with different friction coefficients and shear strengths. Next, we performed scaled hydraulic fracturing experiments on 15 identical 10 cm cubic samples using a true tri-axial stress cell, and the interaction mechanisms between HFs and NFs were investigated. We also evaluated the brittleness of each specimen based on a previous BI model and our own novel BI model. We found that a weak interface cohesion with an interaction (between HF and NF) angle of 60° exhibited a shear dilation (or reactivation) mechanism and a higher BI. We thus conclude that such conditions are more favourable for reservoir stimulation (i.e. hydraulic fracturing) in the field.