EP0231708A1 - Vorrichtung und Verfahren zur Bestimmung der Orientierung von Spalten in einer geologischen Formation - Google Patents

Vorrichtung und Verfahren zur Bestimmung der Orientierung von Spalten in einer geologischen Formation Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0231708A1
EP0231708A1 EP86402913A EP86402913A EP0231708A1 EP 0231708 A1 EP0231708 A1 EP 0231708A1 EP 86402913 A EP86402913 A EP 86402913A EP 86402913 A EP86402913 A EP 86402913A EP 0231708 A1 EP0231708 A1 EP 0231708A1
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EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
orientation
tubular element
fracture
fluid
chamber
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Granted
Application number
EP86402913A
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English (en)
French (fr)
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EP0231708B1 (de
Inventor
Jacques Marrast
André Pauc
Christian Wittrisch
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IFP Energies Nouvelles IFPEN
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IFP Energies Nouvelles IFPEN
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Application filed by IFP Energies Nouvelles IFPEN filed Critical IFP Energies Nouvelles IFPEN
Publication of EP0231708A1 publication Critical patent/EP0231708A1/de
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Publication of EP0231708B1 publication Critical patent/EP0231708B1/de
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    • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
    • E21—EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; MINING
    • E21B—EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; OBTAINING OIL, GAS, WATER, SOLUBLE OR MELTABLE MATERIALS OR A SLURRY OF MINERALS FROM WELLS
    • E21B49/00—Testing the nature of borehole walls; Formation testing; Methods or apparatus for obtaining samples of soil or well fluids, specially adapted to earth drilling or wells
    • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
    • E21—EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; MINING
    • E21B—EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; OBTAINING OIL, GAS, WATER, SOLUBLE OR MELTABLE MATERIALS OR A SLURRY OF MINERALS FROM WELLS
    • E21B47/00—Survey of boreholes or wells
    • E21B47/02—Determining slope or direction

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a device and a method for measuring the orientation of fractures or drains in a geological formation.
  • Hydraulic fracturing consists of cracking the producing rock by increasing fluid pressure in the well and keeping the fracture thus created open. It develops according to a plan whose orientation depends on the stresses exerted on the reservoir: - the main vertical stress due to the weight of the sediment ( ⁇ 1), - the main horizontal stresses which depend in particular on the tectonics of the site ( ⁇ 2 and ⁇ 3).
  • the fracture plane develops perpendicular to the weakest of these three constraints: the fracture will generally be horizontal at shallow depth (less than 600 m), the vertical stress being weaker than the two horizontal constraints, and vertical for greater depths , the fracturing plane being perpendicular to the lower of the two horizontal stresses.
  • Hydraulic fracturing is sometimes used to connect two wells at the level of a geological formation, for example to carry out the underground gasification of a layer of coal whose permeability is too low to ensure between the two wells the circulation of the flow of gas necessary for the maintenance of a back combustion.
  • Geophones or accelerometers pressed against the wall detect noises related to fracturing.
  • the availability of such a listening well is quite random and, moreover, the methods of interpretation do not, for the moment, make it possible to deduce from the numerous noises recorded an even approximate direction of the fracture.
  • the device according to the present invention eliminates these drawbacks, because its object is to determine, at the start and / or during fracturing, a direction of fractures from a well as well cased and perforated as a well in discovered and limit the loss of time on the well by easy, rapid and inexpensive implementation, the apparatus in fact forming part of the fracturing lining itself and not requiring any additional maneuvers.
  • the object of the invention is also to determine the values of the stress.
  • the invention provides a device for determining the orientation of fractures or drains in a geological formation having a substantially vertical or oblique fracture zone from a well, this device comprising a tubular element whose cross section is substantially circular, said tubular element connecting to a source of hydraulic fluid and having at least one flow orifice through which the fluid can escape.
  • the invention also provides a method for determining the orientation of fractures or drains in a geological formation having a fracture zone, substantially vertical or oblique, from a well.
  • a hydraulic fluid is introduced into a tubular element having at least one flow orifice, the fluid is made to circulate in a movable orientation element situated substantially at the same depth as the fracture zone while letting escape the fluid through at least one outlet orifice in a direction, preferably inclined on the axis of the well, so as to rotate said orientation element to a final position in relation to the orientation of the fracture and we mark said position.
  • the orientation element can be moved to the right of the fracture and then be in a position directly related to the orientation of the fracture, where it can be moved to a position which may or may not be facing the fracture if the device is provided with a return member, for example, but that can be correlated, for example by calibration, to the orientation of the fracture.
  • said tubular element comprises at least one flow orifice situated substantially along at least one generator. It can also include at least two diametrically opposed mobile orientation elements.
  • the device comprises a tubular element with at least one flow orifice arranged according to a generator, at least one fixed pallet arranged parallel to the axis of said element and located in the immediate vicinity of said flow orifice , at least one movable pallet arranged parallel to the axis of the tubular element, said movable pallet being separated from said fixed pallet by said flow orifice, said movable pallet being articulated around said element by delimiting with said fixed pallet a chamber, said chamber being in communication with said flow orifice, said movable pallet being adapted to move by rotation from an initial position determined by a return member to said final position corresponding to the evacuation of said fluid from said chamber towards the fracture zone.
  • the hydraulic fluid injected can advantageously be water, or a viscous liquid which may contain chemical additives or even proppants, such as sand or zirconia beads for example.
  • the pumping rate allowing the device to operate is between 0.1 and a few tens of m3 per minute and preferably between 1 and 2 m3 per minute.
  • this reference generator of the probe is then determined relative to a geographic reference which may be either magnetic or geographic north, or a vertical reference plane passing through the axis of the well or of the probe, it i.e. either the azimuth ⁇ in the case of vertical wells, or in the case of deviated wells the aziut ⁇ , the inclination i and the angle of rotation u between the planes defined by the axis of the well (or the probe) and the reference generator, on the one hand, and the vertical direction and the axis of the well, on the other.
  • a geographic reference which may be either magnetic or geographic north, or a vertical reference plane passing through the axis of the well or of the probe, it i.e. either the azimuth ⁇ in the case of vertical wells, or in the case of deviated wells the aziut ⁇ , the inclination i and the angle of rotation u between the planes defined by the axis of the well (or the probe) and the reference generator, on the one hand,
  • the azimuth ⁇ is the angle formed between the projection of the direction of magnetic north on the horizontal plane and the projection of the axis of the well or the probe on the horizontal plane.
  • the inclination i is the angle made by the axis of the well with the vertical while the angle of rotation u is formed between the vertical plane passing through the axis of the probe and the plane passing through the reference generator and l axis of the probe.
  • the angle ⁇ can be obtained, in all cases, by at least one proximity sensor associated, for example, with small magnets.
  • the azimuth ⁇ and the inclination i which are constant values which only depend on the drilling, only the angle u is measured, for example, by a transverse pendulum cooperating with a potentiometric track or by two or three static accelerometers. It is then combined with the angle ⁇ in the form: u ⁇ ⁇ .
  • the compass, inclinometers and static accelerometers are fixed on the probe (fixed part) while the measuring instrument the angular position consists of a fixed part comprising at least one proximity sensor fixed to the probe or to the tubular element, this sensor cooperating with a mobile part, consisting of a plurality of magnets, for example, arranged on the movable orientation element.
  • the reference 20 in FIG. 1 designates a deviated or vertical oil well and the reference 21 the device according to the invention making it possible to detect the orientation of a fracture 5 to be created or present in a geological formation 5a.
  • a casing 1 or casing is put in place in a manner known per se. It includes an area which has been perforated 4 by known means and which has been placed in the immediate vicinity of the geological layer 5a containing the fracture 5 or in which a fracture is going to be made 5.
  • the perforations 4 are reported in different radial directions. In the various figures, only the perforations 4 which are close to the fracture have been represented. and by which there will be a flow of fluid. At the depths of geological formations containing oil or gas, the fractures will rather be substantially vertical or oblique to the longitudinal axis of the well.
  • the device according to the invention 21 is placed on the surface on a tubular element 2, before the operation of descent into the well.
  • This tubular element 2 is pierced with at least one flow orifice 6 in its lower part.
  • the device 21 is composed of a rotating element 11 or cage mounted on bearings 12a and 12b allowing easy rotation of the cage 11 around the tubular element 2.
  • This rotating element 11 in the form of a volume of revolution is located substantially at same level as the fracture zone and is in communication with the flow orifice 6. It determines a chamber 22 and has in its periphery an outlet orifice 13 in the form of a slot or hole or a plurality of holes arranged substantially along a generator of the volume of revolution or in the immediate vicinity of the generator.
  • This orifice 13 constitutes a movable orientation element.
  • the element 11 may comprise, to promote its rotation, at least one strip 25 located in the immediate vicinity of the orifice 13 between the tubular element 2 and the cage 11 and the length of which is such that this strip does not touch the tubular element 2. Excellent results are obtained when the element 11 has two diametrically opposite strips.
  • the rotating element 11 comprises a plurality of magnets 14, for example, which constitute the mobile part and which are associated with at least one proximity detector or sensor 15 connected by a link 29 to the electric cable 9.
  • This sensor is fixed on the probe 10.
  • the other devices 8, such as compass, accelerometers, inclinometers, magnetometers and gyroscope, are arranged on the probe. According to this embodiment, only the magnets 14 are fixed on the movable element 11 and the measurement system (15, 8) can be raised by the cable 9 with the probe 10.
  • the orifices 4, 13 and 6 are therefore substantially at the same depth as the fracture 5 whose direction we want to determine.
  • a packer 3a ensures upstream of the device 21 the seal between the casings 1 and 2 as well as the centering of the installation.
  • Another packer 3b can optionally seal downstream if it turns out that the space between the rotating element 11 and the casing 1 or the wall of the well is too large.
  • the locating means 10 (probe with its measuring instruments) is sent by an electric cable 9 controlled from the surface, substantially below the fractured zone and will come into contact with a stop 7 forming a seat.
  • the probe thus obtains the closure of the base of the tubular element 2. Sealing can also be ensured by satisfactory tension of the cable 9 from the surface.
  • the chamber 22 is annular and is closed, optionally by the locating means.
  • the tubular element 2 comprises at least one radial orifice 6.
  • the information is either processed on the surface or stored and processed after the probe 10 has risen to the surface where the pumping control and control operations for the hydraulic fluid delivered by a pump are also carried out, for example from the surface.
  • Means of known type, not shown in the figure, housed in the probe make it possible to determine the value of the stress.
  • the tubular element 2 has two diametrically opposite flow orifices 6 and the rotating element 11 also shows two diametrically opposite outlet orifices 13.
  • This configuration facilitates the motor torque of the mobile assembly. It is advantageously possible to provide on the external edge of the orifice 13 at least one means 23 (restriction lip for example) for introducing an asymmetric pressure drop on the path of the fluid.
  • the chamber 22 is cylindrical and the base of the cage 11 obtains the obturation.
  • the cage 11 may optionally include strips 25 facilitating its rotation and is supported by at least two reinforcing elements 26, attached to the fixed tubular element 2, the cage resting on a guide member 27 such as a needle.
  • the reinforcing elements 26 and the guide member 27 thus maintain the cage at the time of pumping and react to the effects of the pressure of the fluid on the base of the cage.
  • the magnets 14 are arranged on the cage 11 and the proximity sensors 15 fixed on the tubular element 2 are connected by a link 24 to a male connector 28a on which is plugged a female connector 28b of the cable 9.
  • the rotating element 11 mounted on the bearings 12a and 12b comprises two movable pallets 17 of rectangular, diametrically opposite shape, for example, while the tubular element 2 has two flow orifices in the immediate vicinity of which there may be two fixed pallets 16 diametrically opposite.
  • a return member 18 of known type keeps the movable pallets 17 in reproducible and perfectly known rest position, that is to say that they substantially face the fixed pallets 16 while being separated by the flow orifice 6.
  • a tab 19 can possibly stop the action of the return member 18 (Fig. 5).
  • a tubular element 2 equipped with two sealing members and whose flow orifices 6 will be substantially at the depth of the fractured layer.
  • Hydraulic fluid (gel) under pressure is sent through the surface pumping installations at a flow rate of 1 m3 / min, which first circulates inside the tubular element 2, then passes into the chamber 22 through the orifices. flow 6 and is finally evacuated to the fracture zone by moving the mobile orientation element (mobile pallets Fig. 4: 17,; Fig. 1: 11 and 13) which will be positioned facing the fracture, indicating thus a final direction corresponding to the direction of the fracture, ie the angular position ⁇ .
  • mobile orientation element mobile pallets Fig. 4: 17,; Fig. 1: 11 and 13
  • This direction is then measured by the system of magnets 14 and proximity sensors 15 and the information is stored or sent to the surface for processing (determination of the magnitude ⁇ ⁇ ⁇ ).
  • the rotation measurement systems are lowered at the same time as the tubular element.
  • the bottom electrical connector 28b is lowered by the cable 9, and one plugs this connector 28b into the measuring device.
  • the fluid is then pumped and the angular position (rotation) of the rotating element 13, 11 indicating the direction of the fracture is measured.

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  • Geology (AREA)
  • Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Mining & Mineral Resources (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Environmental & Geological Engineering (AREA)
  • Fluid Mechanics (AREA)
  • General Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
  • Geochemistry & Mineralogy (AREA)
  • Geophysics (AREA)
  • Geophysics And Detection Of Objects (AREA)
  • Investigation Of Foundation Soil And Reinforcement Of Foundation Soil By Compacting Or Drainage (AREA)
  • Sorting Of Articles (AREA)
EP86402913A 1985-12-30 1986-12-23 Vorrichtung und Verfahren zur Bestimmung der Orientierung von Spalten in einer geologischen Formation Expired EP0231708B1 (de)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
FR8519464 1985-12-30
FR8519464A FR2592426B1 (fr) 1985-12-30 1985-12-30 Dispositif et procede pour determiner l'orientation de fractures dans une formation geologique

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0231708A1 true EP0231708A1 (de) 1987-08-12
EP0231708B1 EP0231708B1 (de) 1989-04-26

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ID=9326345

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Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP86402913A Expired EP0231708B1 (de) 1985-12-30 1986-12-23 Vorrichtung und Verfahren zur Bestimmung der Orientierung von Spalten in einer geologischen Formation

Country Status (7)

Country Link
US (1) US4803874A (de)
EP (1) EP0231708B1 (de)
CA (1) CA1276452C (de)
DE (1) DE3663055D1 (de)
DK (1) DK627686A (de)
FR (1) FR2592426B1 (de)
NO (1) NO165217C (de)

Families Citing this family (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4942923A (en) * 1989-05-04 1990-07-24 Geeting Marvin D Apparatus for isolating a testing zone in a bore hole screen casing
US5121363A (en) * 1990-12-26 1992-06-09 Conoco Inc. Fracture detection logging tool
US5467533A (en) * 1994-01-28 1995-11-21 Avionic Displays Corporation Night vision inclinometer
US5922975A (en) * 1997-12-15 1999-07-13 Butler; Gilbert S. Multi-screen groundwater monitoring well system
WO2008031914A1 (en) * 2006-09-12 2008-03-20 Posiva Oy Measuring head and measuring method
FI120324B (fi) * 2006-09-12 2009-09-15 Posiva Oy Virtausmittari

Citations (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2923358A (en) * 1957-06-03 1960-02-02 Jersey Prod Res Co Formation fracture detector
US3181608A (en) * 1961-08-11 1965-05-04 Shell Oil Co Method for determining permeability alignment in a formation
US3288210A (en) * 1963-11-04 1966-11-29 Exxon Production Research Co Orienting method for use in wells
US4109717A (en) * 1977-11-03 1978-08-29 Exxon Production Research Company Method of determining the orientation of hydraulic fractures in the earth
US4178506A (en) * 1977-09-06 1979-12-11 Dresser Industries, Inc. Method for detecting fractures in formations surrounding earth boreholes
US4446433A (en) * 1981-06-11 1984-05-01 Shuck Lowell Z Apparatus and method for determining directional characteristics of fracture systems in subterranean earth formations

Family Cites Families (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4043192A (en) * 1976-06-08 1977-08-23 The United States Of America As Represented By The United States Energy Research And Development Administration Apparatus for providing directional permeability measurements in subterranean earth formations

Patent Citations (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2923358A (en) * 1957-06-03 1960-02-02 Jersey Prod Res Co Formation fracture detector
US3181608A (en) * 1961-08-11 1965-05-04 Shell Oil Co Method for determining permeability alignment in a formation
US3288210A (en) * 1963-11-04 1966-11-29 Exxon Production Research Co Orienting method for use in wells
US4178506A (en) * 1977-09-06 1979-12-11 Dresser Industries, Inc. Method for detecting fractures in formations surrounding earth boreholes
US4109717A (en) * 1977-11-03 1978-08-29 Exxon Production Research Company Method of determining the orientation of hydraulic fractures in the earth
US4446433A (en) * 1981-06-11 1984-05-01 Shuck Lowell Z Apparatus and method for determining directional characteristics of fracture systems in subterranean earth formations

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
NO165217C (no) 1991-01-09
NO165217B (no) 1990-10-01
DK627686D0 (da) 1986-12-23
FR2592426B1 (fr) 1988-04-08
FR2592426A1 (fr) 1987-07-03
NO865280D0 (no) 1986-12-23
NO865280L (no) 1987-07-01
US4803874A (en) 1989-02-14
DE3663055D1 (en) 1989-06-01
CA1276452C (fr) 1990-11-20
EP0231708B1 (de) 1989-04-26
DK627686A (da) 1987-07-01

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