This article presents an analysis of the effectiveness of HYDRAULIC FRACTURING for increasing hydrocarbon production, emphasizing the challenges and limitations of this method. Sustainable alternatives are explored, including waterless HYDRAULIC FRACTURING technologies such as the use of carbon dioxide, liquid nitrogen, petroleum gas, and liquefied natural gas. A systematic analysis highlights their practical applications, advantages, and limitations. These methods are shown to reduce environmental impact and are suitable for use in water-scarce regions. However, their implementation is associated with accelerated equipment wear due to the effects of cryogenic fluids and high pressures, necessitating careful material selection and system design. Furthermore, attention is given to the issue of hydro- and gas-abrasive wear, which damages critical equipment components such as turbine blades and pump gears. The wear patterns are found to depend on the angle of impact of abrasive particles, underscoring the need for innovative solutions to mitigate these effects. The study's findings confirm the significant potential of waterless HYDRAULIC FRACTURING technologies to enhance hydrocarbon production efficiency and highlight the importance of further research aimed at improving their economic and environmental sustainability. The proposed approaches contribute to advancing the oil and gas industry's transition to more efficient and sustainable practices.

One of the most dangerous threats which embankment dams face with is HYDRAULIC fracture. This phenomenon usually happens during first water impounding when the water pressure increases instantly in dam’s core. There are different methods to study HYDRAULIC FRACTURING in embankment dams. In this paper Hyttejuvet Dam, a rock fill dam in Norway, which has been damaged by HYDRAULIC fracture, is selected to evaluate the efficiency of these methods. Behavior of the dam during construction and first water impounding is modeled using finite element method. Afterwards using different methods, HYDRAULIC FRACTURING is investigated for the Hyttejuvet Dam. In the next step using relations which correctly predicted FRACTURING in Hyttejuvet dam, the risk of this phenomenon is studied for Galabar Dam in Zanjan Province, Iran. Therefore coupled pore fluid-displacement analysis has been conducted for the dam during construction and first water impounding stage. These investigations showed that HYDRAULIC fracture in the Hyttejuvet dam is correctly predicted by Komakpanah and Ghambari relations. Also HYDRAULIC FRACTURING of Glabar Dam is judged unlikely.

HYDRAULIC FRACTURING is a widely used and efficient technique for enhancing oil extraction from heavy oil sands deposits. Application of this technique has been extended from cemented rocks to uncemented materials, such as oil sands. Models, which have originally been developed for analyzing HYDRAULIC FRACTURING in rocks, are in general not satisfactory for oil sands. This is due to a high leak-off in oil sands, which causes the mechanism of HYDRAULIC FRACTURING to be different from that for rocks. A thermal hydro-mechanical fracture finite element model is developed, which is able to simulate HYDRAULIC FRACTURING under isothermal and non-isothermal conditions. Plane strain or axisymmetric HYDRAULIC fracture problems can be simulated by this model and various boundary conditions, such as specified pore pressure/fluid flux, specified temperature/heat flux, and specified loads/traction, can be modeled. The developed model has been verified by comparing its results to existing analytical and numerical solutions for thermoelastic consolidation problems. The model has been used to simulate a laboratory experiment of HYDRAULIC fracture propagation in oil sands. The results from the numerical model are in agreement with experimental observations. The numerical model and laboratory experiments both indicate that, for uncemented porous materials, such as sands (as opposed to rocks), a single planar fracture is unlikely to occur and a system of multiple fractures or a fracture zone consisting of interconnected tiny cracks should be expected.

The effectiveness of HYDRAULIC FRACTURING fluid injection is influenced by numerous factors, including pre-existing discontinuities such as discrete fracture networks (DFNs). Among the geometric characteristics of DFNs, fracture density is a critical factor. In deep reservoirs, which often consist of hot dry rock (HDR), thermal conduction through the rock and fluid, as well as advection and convective heat transfer within the fluid, can significantly impact fluid–rock interactions. This study examines the influence of DFN density on HYDRAULIC fracture (HF) propagation in HDR, with a particular focus on the thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) behavior of HDR using the combined finite-discrete element method (FDEM). Key controlling factors, such as flow rate, fluid kinematic viscosity, in-situ stress magnitude, pre-existing fracture aperture, and working fluid temperature, are analyzed. The findings highlight the significant role of DFN density in determining the pattern and extent of HF propagation under varying conditions. Additionally, the interaction between the working fluid and DFNs is shown to vary considerably with changes in these controlling factors. However, the study reveals that variations in DFN density or the values of the controlling factors have minimal impact on the temperature field. This is attributed to the rapid heat exchange between the cold fluid and the HDR, which quickly raises the fluid temperature, resulting in negligible temperature variations.

HYDRAULIC FRACTURING defined as a process in which a HYDRAULIC loading caused by fluid injection in a part of wells result fracture propagation in the rock. The main purpose of this research is simulation of HYDRAULIC FRACTURING based on the concepts of Finite Element Method (FEM) and parameters affecting it. For this goal, ABAQUS software has been used to examine HYDRAULIC fracture initiation pressure in a simulated petroleum reservoir in which the cohesive elements theory with traction-separation law existed. To do so, a cohesive crack model has been introduced, govern equations has been discussed and then the way of building a poroelastic three-dimensional model with cohesive elements is described. The results show that the fracture pressure obtained from FEM model is in agreement with the analytical values. Fluid leak-off rate diagram shows three different time steps that the first two steps represent the expression of leak-off jump and third stage shows dynamic leak-off. Fluid pressure changes along the fracture shows a decreasing trend as the fluid pressure is lower than the initial pore pressure due to the phenomenon of fluid-lag at the fracture tip. Finally, a sensitivity analysis was conducted on a number of parameters on the fracture initiation pressure and results show increasing in all parameters except for Poisson's ratio, led to an increase in fracture initiation pressure. Also, the sensitivity function calculations for each of the parameters show that Young's modulus and leak-off coefficient have the highest and lowest effect on fracture initiation pressure, respectively.

Introduction: HYDRAULIC FRACTURING is used in the oil industry in order to increase the index of production and processing in wells whose efficiency has been dropped due to long-term harvest or the rocks around the well are low permeable. Since the HYDRAULIC FRACTURING operation is costly, it is of special importance to determine the pressure required for HYDRAULIC FRACTURING and the suitable pump for this operation to the project managers. The HYDRAULIC FRACTURING technique refers to the process of initiation and extension of fractures in rocks caused by the HYDRAULIC pressure applied by a fluid. This technique was developed by Clark (19). Haimson and Fairhorst (20) continued the research on the initiation and extension of fracture. Hubbert and Willis conducted comprehensive studies on the mechanics of HYDRAULIC FRACTURING to determine the direction and condition of principal stresses using the HYDRAULIC FRACTURING process. Since then, numerous studies and modellings have been conducted to investigate the factors effecting the HYDRAULIC FRACTURING. The present research is important because experimental and numerical modeling were used to calculate the HYDRAULIC FRACTURING pressure for different conditions and to select the suitable pump for the operation.

According to experts, the use of HYDRAULIC FRACTURING can increase the oil and gas recovery factor by 10-15%. The Perm Territory belongs to the old oil-producing region of the Russian Federation. To date, more than 60% of the remaining recoverable oil reserves of the fields of the Perm region are concentrated in carbonate deposits. Most of the fields are currently in the late stages of development. These fields, as a rule, are characterized by the presence of undrained zones with residual reserves and low well flow rates. Most of the remaining reserves of the fields are concentrated in low-permeability reservoirs with a high degree of heterogeneity and difficult fluid filtration. Unfortunately, the results obtained in practice do not always correspond to preliminary calculations and do not reach the planned oil production rates. In connection with the above, the problem arises of predicting the effectiveness of HYDRAULIC FRACTURING operations using mathematical methods of analysis. The effectiveness of HYDRAULIC FRACTURING is undoubtedly influenced by both geological and technological parameters. In this paper, for the carbonate Kashirsky (K) and Podolsky (Pd) productive deposits of one of the oil fields in the Perm region, using step-by-step regression analysis based on geological and technological parameters, a forecast of the initial oil production rate after HYDRAULIC FRACTURING was made. There was good agreement between model and experimental results obtained.

HYDRAULIC FRACTURING is one of the most common methods of well stimulation for reservoirs with low permeability. HYDRAULIC FRACTURING increases the flow capacity, alters flow geometry, bypasses damage and improves recovery factor. The pressure of most of Iranian oil reservoirs is declined and consequently the production is reduced. It is necessary to improve the production by using new stimulation techniques, like HYDRAULIC FRACTURING. In general, HYDRAULIC FRACTURING treatments are used to increase the production rate, furthermore increasing recovery factor. In such cases, the fracture length is an appropriate optimization design variable against an economic criterion, e. g., the Net Present Value (NPV). This involves the balancing of incremental future revenue against the cost of operation. The production response in economic terms shows the effect of this design parameter. In this paper, a HYDRAULIC FRACTURING operation has been designed by the simulator FracCADE 5. 1 then its impact on production and ultimate recovery has been investigated by ECLIPSE. According to NPV, the HYDRAULIC FRACTURING schedule was designed to achieve an optimum fracture half-length. The results show that HYDRAULIC FRACTURING increases oil recovery factor and production rate significantly. According to the NPV diagram, the best fracture half-length for AZ-X well is 1100 feet and for MNS-Y well is 900 feet.

HYDRAULIC FRACTURING is a reservoir stimulation technique which is used to increase the flow from low permeability formations. In this paper, the mechanism of HYDRAULIC FRACTURING with a focus on factors affecting HYDRAULIC FRACTURING pressure has been investigated. The effects of axial and confining stresses are examined via a triaxial cell that has been designed and made in Sahand University of Technology. To this end, thirty one rock samples including reservoir samples (Aghagari sandstone, As- mari limestone and Sarvak limestone) and non-reservoir samples (Varzaghan field sandstone) are used. Water-based mud is used to study the effect of fluid type and viscosity. Xanthan gum, Guar gum, and polymer are added to increase the viscos- ity of the water. Axial stress applied to the top of cylindrical sample and the confin- ing stress applied radially. The direction of failure by stresses (axial and confining stress) is determined. The results show that the fracture pressure increases by increasing the confining stress; also, fracture pressure goes through a maximum of 10 MPa by raising the axial stress but decrease from 10 Mpa. The initiation and extension of cracks in HYDRAULIC FRACTURING are influenced by the rock permeability and the FRACTURING fluid viscosity. The fracture pressure for low viscosity fluid (water) is less than that of high viscosity fluid (xanthan gum).

HYDRAULIC FRACTURING is a phenomenon in which cracks propagate through the porous medium due to high pore fluid pressure. HYDRAULIC FRACTURING appears in different engineering disciplines either as a destructive phenomenon or as a useful technique. Modeling of this phenomenon in isothermal condition requires analysis of soil deformation, crack and pore fluid pressure interactions. In this paper a numerical scheme is presented for analysis of soil stresses and deformations and fluid flow in a coupled manner, which is also capable to detect the initiation of fracture in the medium. Applications of the model are shown by illustrative examples.