HYDRAULIC FRACTURING

摘要

Method and apparatus for forecasting curving of an hydraulic fracture to be initiated in the vicinity of one or more previously placed fractures along a bore hole. Physical parameters (18) that will affect the growth of the hydraulic fracture are received by a dimensionless parameter deriver (16) which derives a series of dimensionless parameters (20) as groupings of the physical parameters that are selected as similarity parameters with respect to the shape of the hydraulic fracture path. The dimensionless parameters (20) may comprise a dimensionless viscosity parameter (22), a dimensionless confining stress parameter (24), a coefficient of friction parameter (26) and a dimensionless deviatoric stress parameter (28). A (comparator 30) sequentially compares the determined dimensionless parameters with predetermined threshold values to provide an indication as to possible curving of the hydraulic fracture.