LITMIR.BIZ

Figure 5.11 Changes in the uniaxial Skempton coefficients B/3 and B^F/3 during Frac IIb scCO₂ injection test. The difference between the fracture and the matrix is proportional to the wave‐induced pressures between them if the fluid within the pores and the fracture is not allowed to move. A large difference at the initial water‐saturated state reduces when the scCO₂ saturation of the fracture increases by fast passing of the fluid to the fracture (here, the matrix scCO₂ saturation is assumed to be unaffected). In the final stage, the difference between the coefficients recovers to some degree.

      When the two mechanisms (near‐monotonic decreases in the modulus and increases in attenuation from the heterogeneous invasion of scCO₂ in the matrix, and nonmonotonic changes in the modulus and attenuation from interactions between the matrix and the fracture) are combined, the observed complex behavior of the sample's dynamic properties can be explained. However, dynamic poroelastic modeling of the scCO₂‐invasion‐induced dynamic rock property changes would be needed for their quantitative validation.

5.5. CONCLUSIONS

      In this chapter, we presented a series of laboratory experiments on the seismic property changes of fractured Carbon Tan sandstone cores during supercritical CO₂ injection. The use of a modified resonant bar technique (Split‐Hopkinson Resonant Bar method) allowed us to make the measurements at crosshole seismic survey frequencies, at approximately 1.4–1.5 kHz for longitudinal waves (or Young's modulus) and 800–900 Hz for torsional waves (or shear modulus). Evolving distributions of water and scCO₂ in the samples were also determined via X‐ray CT imaging.

      The experiments showed that CO₂ injection resulted in little to no changes in the overall Young's modulus of the sample when the fracture was highly compliant and parallel to the core axis. In contrast, samples containing a core‐perpendicular fracture exhibited large decreases in the Young's modulus, particularly when the leading edge of the invading scCO₂ reached the fracture by fast passing along high‐permeability features in the sample. In both cases, large increases in the attenuation were observed. However, the attenuation in the latter samples showed a sudden decrease when the scCO₂ reached the fracture, corresponding to the maximum rate of decrease in the Young's modulus.

In our experiments, the pressure diffusion length in water‐saturated, intact rock matrix was a little over 1 cm, and the diameter and the length of the core sample were 3.8 cm and ~10 cm, respectively. This indicates that the fluid‐substitution‐induced changes in the rock's bulk modulus occurred locally within the sample, unless the wave‐induced perturbation of the fluid pressure could propagate along a high‐permeability fracture. We observed the Young’s modulus of a sample with a core‐parallel fracture was insensitive to scCO2 injection. An analysis using a simple, isotropic Gassmann model showed this was possibly attributed to the large (drained) normal fracture compliance, combined with the equalization of the wave‐induced fluid pressure throughout the core, which was facilitated by the fracture. In contrast, the nonmonotonic changes in both Young's modulus and attenuation for the sample containing a core‐perpendicular fracture cannot be explained by the Gassmann model which assumes uniform pressure within the core. For this sample, because the length of the sample (and the separation distance between the fracture and the sample interfaces) far exceeded the pressure diffusion length, the effect of the fracture on the fluid substitution was seen only when the scCO₂ arrived at the fracture.

      The laboratory‐observed changes in seismic velocity and attenuation during scCO₂ injection were strongly dependent upon the orientation of the fractures. Particularly, there is an indication that preferential saturation of a fracture by scCO₂, oriented perpendicular to the compressional wave direction, can result in sudden decreases in the seismic velocity and attenuation. Because fracture orientation has a dominant effect on the migration of scCO₂ and its saturation in reservoir rock, the observed changes can be used for improved assessment of the scCO₂'s behavior from seismic measurements. Caution must be used in their applications, however, because the pressure diffusion length in reservoir rock is often very short even at the surface seismic exploration frequencies, limiting some of the laboratory‐observed fluid‐substitution‐induced changes in the rock properties (seismic properties) to a small volume around the fractures. Additionally, observed changes in seismic waves in the field are averaged over the effects from multiple fractures with different mechanical properties and orientations.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

      Initial experimental work in this research was supported by the Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy, Office of Natural Gas and Petroleum Technology, CSRP Program, through the National Energy Technology Laboratory. Additional experiments (Frac IIb test) and the rock‐physics analyses were supported by the Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Chemical Sciences of the U.S. Department of Energy, under the U.S. DOE Contract No. DE‐AC02‐05CH11231.

REFERENCES