Effects of different fracture parameters on microseisms induced by hydraulic fracturing

AbstractThe microseism induced by hydraulic fracturing is of great significance to the development of geothermal reservoirs and the site selection of geothermal systems. In this study, taking geothermal field data from Qiabuqia as a geological reference, several models are developed for hydraulic fracturing simulations based on the models included in the commercial FracMan™ software suit. A series of numerical simulations are carried out to explore the effects of different fracture parameters, including the existence of faults, in-situ stress state, fracture occurrence, and fracture distribution near faults, on the induced microseisms. The results show that during hydraulic fracturing, the existence of faults does affect the propagation direction of the newly generated fractures, causing the fractures to extend toward the fault. The faults also increase the magnitude of microseismic events and make the distribution of microseismic events farther. Under three different in-situ stress states, the magnitudes of induced microseisms and the distance between microseismic events and injection wells are different, mainly due to the different forms of energy release. The total energy of induced microseisms under the reverse faulting stress state (RF) is the largest. Under the normal faulting stress state (NF), the number of microseismic events is the least, with only 28, and these microseismic events are concentrated near the well, with the farthest distribution distance of only 150 m. The fracture occurrence has a significant effect on induced microseisms, mainly affecting the number and distribution range of induced microseisms. With the same number of fractures, as the fracture concentration to the fault increases, both the maximum magnitude and the farthest distribution distance of the induced microseisms increase.