Experimental Study on Indoor Multi-Cluster Fracturing Based on Distributed Fibre-Optical Monitoring

Abstract

Abstract Hydraulic fracturing is an important stimulation technique for unconventional oil and gas fields, and real-time monitoring of fractures technology is crucial to evaluate the result of reservoir stimulation. This paper combines distributed sensing equipment based on OFDR with large-scale true triaxial fracturing physical simulation equipment. Then, the laboratory single-cluster and multiple-cluster hydraulic fracturing physical simulation experiments were carried out, while conducted real-time fracture monitoring using bare optical fibre. The experimental results indicate that the location and sequence of fractures initiation can be determined based on the strain evolution of the optical fibre. The general law of fracture propagation on fibre strain evolution can be obtained in single-cluster hydraulic fracturing experiments. In addition to determine the sequence and location of fractures initiation, multi-cluster experiments can also observe the mutual influence of different fractures, and the amount of liquid entering each fractures. These laboratory hydraulic fracturing experiments by distributed optical fibre sensing were conducted under true triaxial conditions, which can provide reference and guidance for on-site oilfield fracturing design.