Hydraulic fracturing is widely used in the exploitation of unconventional reservoirs, such as shale gas and tight gas. However, a full understanding of the activation of natural fractures, prediction of fracture growth, distribution of proppant, and network fracture system effectiveness remain unresolved. The onset of fracturing in the media requires energy and this is due to the buildup of pressure within the rock due to continuous injection of fluid. In other words, when the energy associated with the injection fluid reaches the fracture strength of the rock, the fracture initiates and propagates into the formation. Here, we use gelatin in hydraulic fracturing laboratory tests and compare the results to a modified radial hydraulic fracturing theory. The mechanics of the gelatin, procedures to make a testing gelatin block, and procedures to conduct the test are described. The results show that the fracture evolving behaviours from experiments are well matched by the theory. The results are then scaled up to understand fracture growth behaviour in a tight rock reservoir.

中文翻译：

---

压裂凝胶作为类似物以了解页岩气储层中的压裂行为

水力压裂广泛应用于页岩气、致密气等非常规油气藏的开采。然而，对天然裂缝的激活、裂缝增长的预测、支撑剂的分布和网络裂缝系统有效性的全面了解仍未得到解决。介质中的压裂开始需要能量，这是由于连续注入流体导致岩石内压力积聚。换句话说，当与注入流体相关的能量达到岩石的断裂强度时，裂缝开始并扩展到地层中。在这里，我们在水力压裂实验室测试中使用明胶，并将结果与​​改进的径向水力压裂理论进行比较。明胶的力学，制作测试明胶块的程序，并描述了进行测试的程序。结果表明，实验得到的裂缝演化行为与理论吻合较好。然后将结果放大以了解致密岩石储层中的裂缝生长行为。