**Author details**

Neda Zangeneh\* , Erik Eberhardt, R. Marc Bustin and Amanda Bustin

\*Address all correspondence to: neda@eos.ubc.ca

University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

### **References**

[1] Hollister, J. C, & Weimer, R. J. Geophysical and Geological Studies of the Relation‐ ship Between the Denver Earthquakes and the Rocky Mountain Arsenal Well. Qua‐ terly, Colorado School of Mines (1968). , 63(1), 1-251.

[2] Ohtake, M. Seismic Activity Induced by Water Injection at Matsushiro, Japan. Jour‐ nal of Physics of the Earth (1974). , 22, 163-176.

event, or stress drop. For the case modeled here, the 0.8 mm of average slip produced corre‐ sponds to an event with a magnitude equal to 2.45, which is in the range shown in Figure 6.

A numerical modeling study has been carried out to investigate the application of the distinct element technique to the simulation of fault slip and induced seismicity resulting from a hydraulic fracture treatment via a wellbore in the vicinity of a natural fault. The model was able to predict the occurrence of post-injection seismicity in response to diffusion of the injected fluids, in a system governed by fracture permeability, long after the hydraulic fracturing

In most areas, regional-scale faults should be easily identified during geological site charac‐ terization studies. Smaller-scale faults or those that are shallow dipping (i.e., that do not daylight on surface and therefore would not be detected through surface mapping) may be more difficult to locate *a priori*. Experience gained from monitoring hundreds of hydraulic fracturing treatments with downhole geophones has shown that the occurrence of seismic events induced by the treatments is greatly influenced by the injection volume used during the operation. Improved understanding of this condition will allow designers and operators to control the amount of injection during a hydraulic fracturing treatment to minimize fluid

The simulations presented here show great potential in providing a deeper understanding of the effect of natural fracture systems and pressure diffusion of fracing fluids into a neighboring fault causing shear slip and induced seismicity after a hydraulic fracture treatment. Future work will include modeling of hydrofrac fluid diffusion into a fault in the vicinity of the

, Erik Eberhardt, R. Marc Bustin and Amanda Bustin

[1] Hollister, J. C, & Weimer, R. J. Geophysical and Geological Studies of the Relation‐ ship Between the Denver Earthquakes and the Rocky Mountain Arsenal Well. Qua‐

University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

terly, Colorado School of Mines (1968). , 63(1), 1-251.

**7. Discussion and conclusions**

486 Effective and Sustainable Hydraulic Fracturing

treatment is finished and shut-in is initiated.

pressure diffusion and subsequent slip of a neighboring fault.

hydrofrac treatment site in a three-dimensional model.

\*Address all correspondence to: neda@eos.ubc.ca

**Author details**

Neda Zangeneh\*

**References**


[16] Haring, M. O, Schanz, U, Ladner, F, & Dyer, B. C. Characterisation of the Basel 1 En‐ hanced Geothermal System. Geothermics (2008). , 31, 469-495.

**Section 7**

**Well Completions and Fracture Initiation 2**


**Well Completions and Fracture Initiation 2**

[16] Haring, M. O, Schanz, U, Ladner, F, & Dyer, B. C. Characterisation of the Basel 1 En‐

[17] De Pater, C. J, & Baisch, S. Geomechanical Study of Bowland Shale Seismicity, Syn‐

[18] BCOGInvestigation of Observed Seismicity in the Horn River Basin. British Colum‐

[19] Cundall, P. A, & Hart, R. D. Numerical Modeling of Discontinua. Comprehensive Rock Engineering (1993). A. Hudson, ed. Oxford: Pergamon Press Ltd., 2, 231-243. [20] Kramer, S. L. Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs,

[21] Hanks, T. C, & Kanamori, H. A Moment Magnitude Scale. Journal of Geophysical

[22] Idriss, I. M. Evaluating Seismic Risk in Engineering Practice. Conference Proceeding, 11th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering,

[23] Stein, S, & Wysession, M. An Introduction to Seismology, Earthquakes and Earth

hanced Geothermal System. Geothermics (2008). , 31, 469-495.

bia Oil and Gas Commission Report (2012).

thesis Report (2011).

488 Effective and Sustainable Hydraulic Fracturing

N. J., 653; (1996).

(1985). , 1

Research (1979). , 84, 2348-2350.

Structure. Blackwell, Oxford; (2002).

**Chapter 24**

**Numerical Simulation of Hydraulic Fracturing in**

Xiaoxi Men, Chun'an Tang, Shanyong Wang,

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

Yongping Li, Tao Yang and Tianhui Ma

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/56012

**Abstract**

perimental results.

**1. Introduction**

**Heterogeneous Rock: The Effect of Perforation Angles**

**and Bedding Plane on Hydraulic Fractures Evolutions**

Considering the heterogeneity of rock, the hydraulic fracturing process of rock specimen due to internal hydraulic pressure was numerically simulated in a meso-scale by RFPA2D2.0 (Realistic Failure Process Analysis). The differences of perforation angle, bed‐ ding angle and bedding material of rock specimens are considered. The numerical results showed that the initiation and propagation of hydraulic fractures were controlled by both global pore pressure's distribution gradient and local pore pressure around the crack tip. Both the lateral compressive pressure ratio and the bedding angle could affect the evolution of the hydraulic fractures. The numerically simulated results were in agreement with the ex‐

**Keywords** Hydraulic fracturing, heterogeneity, numerical simulation, fracture evolution

Hydraulic fracturing is an important technology of production enhancement of oil and gas wells and intensified injection of wells. The first experimental hydraulic fracturing operation took place in the United States in 1947 in the Hugoton gas field in Grant County, Kansas, and after decades, the hydraulic fracturing technology has being widely used and become the dominant factor that determines the development plan of low permeability oilfield. In practical

and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

© 2013 Men et al.; licensee InTech. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use,

© 2013 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution,

distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
