Numerical Simulation of Hydraulic Fracturing for Horizontal Wells

by
Xiuping Wang, MSE

University of Texas at Austin, 2000
Supervisor: Jon E. Olson

Hydraulic fracturing for a horizontal or deviated well often results in complex, non-planar fracture geometry. Compared to that of planar fracture simulators, the literature about non-planar fracture simulators is quite sparse.

This thesis describes a pseudo-3D simulator for non-planar hydraulic fracture propagation. The simulation incorporates the combined effects of in-situ stress resolution, a non-planar propagation path, and fracture-induced stress fields. The model to be utilized in this thesis is based on the two-dimensional, plane strain model of Olson (1995), which utilized the elastic displacement discontinuity technique (Crouch 1976) to represent the fractures. A correction factor is included to approximate the 3D effects of finite-height fractures. A height growth calculation along the wings of the fracture is implemented using Simonsons's method for either symmetric or asymmetric in-situ stress distributions. A simplified simulator for investigating simultaneous, multiple-fracture propagation from a horizontal well is also developed and described in this thesis.

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