Estimation of hydraulic fracture geometry from pumping pressure measurements
US4858130A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Aug 10, 1987 |
| Grant date | Aug 15, 1989 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Aug 10, 2007 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01V1/46
- WIPO fieldCivil engineering
- WIPO sectorOther fields
Abstract
A pump is coupled through a discharge line to a wellbore, which in turn intersects a fracture, the wellbore and fracture being filled with fluid to form a fluid system. Sensors are located in position at the top and, under certain circumstances, at the bottom of the wellbore. The dimensions of the fracture are calculated from data generated by the sensors by analyzing the incident and reflected waves within the fluid system the acoustic waves being generated by pressure pulses from a pump and travel from the pump through the fluid into the fracture. In preferred embodiments of this invention, transfer functions are developed by analysis of the data, so that the data recorded by sensors at the top of the wellbore accurately represent pressure fluctuations at the bottom of the wellbore. Transfer functions relating pressure fluctuations at the top of the wellbore to pressure fluctuations at the bottom of the wellbore, i.e., at the mouth of the fracture, exhibit resonant phenomena in the fracture from which fracture length can be determined. A Fourier transform is generated of transfer fucntions relating the impulse at the top of the annulus to the impulse response at the fracture entr…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.