Utah FORGE Project 3-2417: Simulations for Distributed Acoustic Sensing Strain Signatures as an Indicator of Fracture Connectivity

Description

This dataset encompasses simulations of strain signatures from both hydraulically connected and "near-miss" fractures in enhanced geothermal systems (EGS). The files and results are presented from the perspective of digital acoustic sensing's (DAS) potential to differentiate the two fracture types. This dataset was acquired by the FOGMORE R&D project (Fiber Optic Geophysical MOnitoring of Reservoir Evolution), under Utah FORGE R&D Project 3-2417. Included are simulation and results via MatLab and COMSOL files, as well as a thesis and paper summarizing the results. Some stimulated fractures may be incomplete, approaching but not intersecting the production well. These "near-miss" fractures can be addressed in future stimulation stages or re-stimulated to complete the connection. We propose the use of fiber optic distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) as a method by which near-miss stimulated fractures may be identified and distinguished from hydraulically connected fractures. The low-frequency sub-nanostrain signatures of both complete and near-miss fractures in DAS data are simulated in this study using a hydrogeomechanical discrete fracture network model. The spatial distribution of strain was found to be an accurate indicator. However, this indicator must be evaluated in the context of DAS gauge length and spatial sampling. These simulations are a precursor to tests conducted at FORGE in 2023.

Resources

Name Format Description Link
33 This readme document lists the files contained in the zipped data file: COMSOL and MatLab Files.zip https://gdr.openei.org/files/1582/ReadMeCOMSOLFiles.pdf
57 Model, plotting, and example results files referenced in the Ward-Baranyay Thesis. See attached ReadMeCOMSOLFiles.pdf for information on all files. https://gdr.openei.org/files/1582/WardBaranyay_COMSOL_MATLAB_Files.zip
33 This MS thesis was completed by Megan Ward-Baranyay and describes the motivation, design, and results of this modelling study. Some of this material was also presented as a paper to the Stanford Geothermal Meeting held in February 2023. https://gdr.openei.org/files/1582/Ward-Baranyay%20Thesis%20Final.pdf
33 This is a paper submitted to the Stanford Geothermal Meeting in Feb 2023 summarizing some of the simulations documented herein. https://gdr.openei.org/files/1582/Wardbaranyay%20Stanford%20Geothermal%202023.pdf

Tags

  • near-miss-fracture
  • utah
  • strain
  • geophysics
  • distributed-acoustic-sensing
  • modeling
  • forge
  • egs
  • utah-forge
  • sub-nanostrain
  • matlab
  • dfn
  • comsol
  • milford
  • fogmore
  • code
  • stimulation
  • das
  • hydrogeomechanics
  • simulation
  • geothermal
  • energy

Topics

Categories