Impact of Depositional and Diagenetic Heterogeneity on Multiscale Mechanical Behavior of Mancos Shale New Mexico and Utah USA
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52nd U.S. Rock Mechanics/Geomechanics Symposium
The fluid injection into deep geological formations altar the states of pore pressure and stress on the faults, potentially causing earthquakes. In the multiphase flow system, the interaction between fluid flow and mechanical deformation in porous media is critical to determine the spatio-temporal distribution of pore pressure and stress. The contrast of fluid and rock properties between different structures produces the changes in pressure gradients and subsequently stress fields. Assuming two-phase fluid flow (gas-water system), we simulate the two-dimensional reservoir including a basement fault, in which injection-induced pressure encounters the fault directly given injection scenarios. The single-phase flow model with the same setting is also conducted to evaluate the multiphase flow effects on mechanical response of the fault to gas injection. A series of sensitivity tests are performed by varying the fault permeability. The presence of gaseous phase reduces the pressure buildup within the gas-saturated region, causing less Coulomb stress change. The low-permeability fault prevent diffusion initially as observed in the single-phase flow system. Once gaseous phase approaches, the fault acts as a capillary barrier that causes increases in pressure within the fault zone, potentially inducing earthquakes even without direct diffusion.
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The purpose of the project was to perform multiscale characterization of low permeability rocks to determine the effect of physical and chemical heterogeneity on the poromechanical and flow responses of shales and carbonate rocks with a broad range of physical and chemical heterogeneity . An integrated multiscale imaging of shale and carbonate rocks from nanometer to centimeter scales include s dual focused ion beam - scanning electron microscopy (FIB - SEM) , micro computed tomography (micro - CT) , optical and confocal microscopy, and 2D and 3D energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). In addition, mineralogical mapping and backscattered imaging with nanoindentation testing advanced the quantitative evaluat ion of the relationship between material heterogeneity and mechanical behavior. T he spatial distribution of compositional heterogeneity, anisotropic bedding patterns, and mechanical anisotropy were employed as inputs for brittle fracture simulations using a phase field model . Comparison of experimental and numerical simulations reveal ed that proper incorporation of additional material information, such as bedding layer thickness and other geometrical attributes of the microstructures, can yield improvements on the numerical prediction of the mesoscale fracture patterns and hence the macroscopic effective toughness. Overall, a comprehensive framework to evaluate the relationship between mechanical response and micro-lithofacial features can allow us to make more accurate prediction of reservoir performance by developing a multi - scale understanding of poromechanical response to coupled chemical and mechanical interactions for subsurface energy related activities.
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