Effect of ground stress on hydraulic fracturing of methane well

作     者：DU Chun-zhi MAO Xian-biao MIAO Xie-xing WANG Peng 

作者机构：School of Sciences China University of Mining ＆ Technology Xuzhou Jiangsu 221008 China 

出 版 物：《Journal of China University of Mining and Technology》 (中国矿业大学学报（英文版）)

年 卷 期：2008年第18卷第2期

页      面：204-209页

核心收录：

学科分类：081901[工学-采矿工程] 0819[工学-矿业工程] 08[工学] 

基　　金：Projects 2007CB209400 supported by the National Basic Research Program of China 50490273 by the National Natural Science Foundation of China 

主　　题：ground stress hydraulic fracturing breakdown pressure RFPA^2D-Flow design of wells 

摘      要：Most of the coal reservoirs in China are of low-permeability, so hydraulic fracturing is widely used to improve the per- meability in the extraction of gas by ground drilling. The ground stress around the well was analyzed by using theory of elasticity. The pressure when the well fractured is formulated and the effect of ground stress on pressure is discussed. The effect of ground-stress-differences on hydraulic fracturing was analyzed by using the numerical software RFPA2D-Flow in reference to the tectonic stress in Jincheng coal area. The results show that: 1) the position where initial fracture appears is random and fracture branches emerge when the fractures expand if ground stresses in any two directions within a horizontal plane are equal; 2) other- wise, the fractures expand in general along the direction of maximum ground stress and the critical pressure decreases with in- creasing ground-stress-differences and 3) the preferred well-disposition pattern is diamond shaped. The preferred well spacing is 250 m×300 m. This study can provide a reference for the design of wells.