Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Evaluation of Borehole Hydraulic Fracturing in Coal Seam Using the Microseismic Monitoring Method

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Accurate evaluation of the influence range of borehole hydraulic fracturing (HF) in coal seam is crucial for optimizing the design scheme of HF. In this study, we adopted the microseismic (MS) monitoring technology to monitor and characterize the spatial shape of cracks caused by borehole HF in coal seam in an underground coal mine. And we also tested and analyzed the stress and moisture content changes of coal mass at different distances from the borehole after HF program. The number of MS waveforms and the energy of MS events show a good positive correlation with the water pressure curve. The response of the energy curve to the extension of the hydraulic cracks is ahead of the water pressure curve. Based on the short-time average/long-time average (STA/LTA), the interference signal recognition method (ISR) and the improved Akaike information criterion (AIC) method, we developed a comprehensive MS event detection and arrival time picking (CMDP) program that are suitable for the weak MS signals with low signal to noise ratio (SNR) induced by HF in coal seam. And then we were able to more accurately locate the MS events of the hydraulic cracks using the simplex source location method. We have conducted a comprehensive analysis of the relationship between the temporal and spatial distribution of MS events and hydraulic cracks propagation. The results show that there is an apparent correlation between the MS activities and HF operation. The expansion of hydraulic cracks generates MS events, and the larger the size of the cracks, the greater the energy of MS events. Based on the MS monitoring results, the HF produces a crack network of flat ellipsoid in the No. 6 coal seam, which indicates that there is obvious stimulated reservoir volume (SRV) fracturing effect during the borehole HF process. The influence radius of HF based on the moisture content is the smallest (about 20 m), followed by the stress monitoring (about 30 m), and the MS monitoring is the largest (about 40 m). The high-precision MS source location (location errors < 2.5 m) results combined with roadway roof watering phenomenon indicate that the influence radius of HF based on the moisture content and stress release may be underestimated. And the effective influence radius of the borehole HF is about 40 m for this HF program.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12
Fig. 13
Fig. 14

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adachi J, Siebrits E, Peirce A, Desroches J (2007) Computer simulation of hydraulic fractures. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci 44:739–757

    Google Scholar 

  • Akram J, Eaton DW (2014) A review and appraisal of arrival-time picking methods for downhole microseismic data. Geophysics 81(2):KS71–KS91

    Google Scholar 

  • Allen R (1978) Automatic earthquake recognition and timing from single traces. Bull Seismol Soc Am 68:1521–1532

    Google Scholar 

  • Bao XW, Eaton DW (2016) Fault activation by hydraulic fracturing in western Canada. Science 354(6318):1406–1409

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen BR, Feng XT, Zeng XH, Xiao YX, Zhang ZT, Ming HJ, Feng GL (2011) Real-time microseismic monitoring and its characteristic analysis during TBM tunneling in deep-buried tunnel. Chin J Rock Mech Eng 30(2):275–283

    Google Scholar 

  • Dou LM, Mu ZL, Lu CP (2014) Theory and technology of mining geophysics. Science press, Beijing

    Google Scholar 

  • Economides MJ, Martin T (2007) Modern fracturing: enhancing natural gas production. Energy Tribune Publishing, Houston

    Google Scholar 

  • Eisner L, Hulsey BJ, Peter D, Jurick D, Werner H (2010) Comparison of surface and borehole locations of induced seismicity. Geophys Prospect 58:809–820

    Google Scholar 

  • Ellsworth WL (2013) Injection-induced earthquakes. Science 341(6142):1225942

    Google Scholar 

  • Fehler M, Jupe A, Asanuma H (2001) More than cloud: new techniques for characterizing reservoir structure using induced seismicity. Leading Edge 20(3):324–328

    Google Scholar 

  • Fischer T, Bouskova A, Eisner L, Calvez JL (2007) Automated P- and S-wave picking of microearthquakes recorded by a vertical array. In: Proceedings of the 69th EAGE conference & exhibition, London, UK, 11–14 June

  • Ge MC (2003) Analysis of source location algorithms, part II: iterative methods. J Acoust Emiss 21:29–51

    Google Scholar 

  • Geertsma J, Deklerk F (1969) A rapid method of predicting width and extent of hydraulically induced fractures. J Pet Technol 21(12):1571–1581

    Google Scholar 

  • Gibbons SJ, Ringdal F, Kvaerna T (2008) Detection and characterization of seismic phases using continuous spectral estimation on incoherent and partially coherent arrays. Geophys J Int 172:405–421

    Google Scholar 

  • Grechka V, Duchkov AA (2011) Narrow-angle representations of the phase and group velocities and their applications in anisotropic velocity-model building for microseismic monitoring. Geophysics 76(6):WC127–WC142

    Google Scholar 

  • Hardy HR (2003) Acoustic emission/microseismic activity: principles, techniques and geotechnical applications, vol 1. A.A. Balkema Publishers, Amsterdam

    Google Scholar 

  • Huang BX (2012) Theory and application of hydraulic fracture of coal and rock mass. China University of Mining and Technology Press, Xuzhou

    Google Scholar 

  • Huang BX, Liu JW (2017) Experimental investigation of the effect of bedding planes on hydraulic fracturing under true triaxial stress. Rock Mech Rock Eng 50(10):2627–2643

    Google Scholar 

  • Jiang FX, Yang SH, Cheng YH, Zhang XM, Mao ZY, Xu FJ (2006) A study on microseismic monitoring of rock burst in coal mine. Chin J Geophys 49(5):1511–1516

    Google Scholar 

  • Karrenbach M, Ridge A, Cole S, Boone K, Kahn D, Rich J, Silver K, Langton D (2017) DAS microseismic monitoring and integration with strain measurements in hydraulic fracture profiling. In: Proceedings of the unconventional resources technology conference. Austin, Texas, USA, pp 1316–1330. https://doi.org/10.15530/URTEC-2017-2670716

  • Leonard M, Kennett B (1999) Multi-component autoregressive techniques for the analysis of seismograms. Phys Earth Planet Inter 113:247–263

    Google Scholar 

  • Li JL, Kuleli H, Zhang HJ, Toksoz MN (2011) Focal mechanism determination of induced microearthquakes in an oil field using full waveforms from shallow and deep seismic networks. Geophysics 76(6):WC87–WC101

    Google Scholar 

  • Li N, Wang EY, Ge MC, Sun ZY (2014a) A nonlinear microseismic source location method based on Simplex method and its residual analysis. Arab J Geosci 7(11):4477–4486

    Google Scholar 

  • Li N, Wang EY, Ge MC, Sun ZY, Li BL (2014b) A method for identifying outlier signals for microseismic event based on arrival time difference. Chin J Rock Mech Eng 33(8):1654–1661

    Google Scholar 

  • Li N, Wang EY, Ge MC (2017) Microseismic monitoring technique and its applications at coal mines: present status and future prospects. J China Coal Soc 42(S1):83–96

    Google Scholar 

  • Li L, Tan JQ, Wood DA, Zhao ZG, Becker D, Lyu Q, Shu B, Cheng HC (2019a) A review of the current status of induced seismicity monitoring for hydraulic fracturing in unconventional tight oil and gas reservoirs. Fuel 242(2019):195–210

    Google Scholar 

  • Li N, Huang BX, Zhang X, Tan YY, Li BL (2019b) Characteristics of microseismic waveforms induced by hydraulic fracturing in coal seam for coal rock dynamic disasters prevention. Saf Sci 115:188–198

    Google Scholar 

  • Li N, Li BL, Chen D, Wang EY, Tan YY, Qian JW, Jia HS (2020) Waveform characteristics of earthquakes induced by hydraulic fracturing and mining activities: comparison with those of natural earthquakes. Nat Resour Res 29(6):3653–3674. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11053-020-09699-z

  • Lin BQ (2010) Theory and technology of coal mine gas prevention. China University of Mining and Technology Press, Xuzhou

    Google Scholar 

  • Ma TH, Tang CA, Tang LX, Zhang WD, Wang L (2016) Mechanism of rock burst forcasting based on micro-seismic monitoring technology. Chin J Rock Mech Eng 35(3):470–483

    Google Scholar 

  • Maity D, Ciezobka J (2019) Using microseismic frequency-magnitude distributions from hydraulic fracturing as an incremental tool for fracture completion diagnostics. J Pet Sci Eng 176(2019):1135–1151

    Google Scholar 

  • Maity D, Salehi I (2016) Neuro-evolutionary event detection technique for downhole microseismic surveys. Comput Geosci 86(2016):23–33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cageo.2015.09.024

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maity D, Aminzadeh F, Karrenbach M (2014) Novel hybrid artificial neural network based autopicking workflow for passive seismic data. Geophys Prospect 62:834–847. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2478.12125

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maxwell S (2010) Microseismic: growth born from success. Lead Edge 29:338–343

    Google Scholar 

  • Maxwell S (2014) Microseismic imaging of hydraulic fracturing: improved engineering of unconventional shale reservoirs. Society of Exploration Geophysicists, Tulsa, p 2014

    Google Scholar 

  • Nelder JA, Mead R (1965) A simplex method for function minimization. Comput J 7(4):308–313

    Google Scholar 

  • Nordgren RP (1972) Propagation of a vertical hydraulic fracture. Soc Pet Eng J 12(04):306–314

    Google Scholar 

  • Pan YS, Zhao YF, Guan FH, Li GZ, Ma ZS (2007) Study on rockburst monitoring and orientation system and its application. Chin J Rock Mech Eng 26(5):1002–1011

    Google Scholar 

  • Perkins TK, Kern LR (1961) Widths of hydraulic fractures. J Pet Technol 13(09):937–949

    Google Scholar 

  • Rassenfoss S (2019) Technology senior fracturing creates hundreds of fractures-only a few matter. J Pet Technol 12(71):24–29

    Google Scholar 

  • Rutledge JT, Phillips WS (2003) Hydraulic stimulation of natural fractures as revealed by induced microearthquakes, Carthage Cotton Valley gas field. Geophysics 68:441–452

    Google Scholar 

  • Shen J, Zhao YS, Duan KL (1997) Numerical simulation of hydraulic fracture in low permeable coal and rock mass. J China Coal Soc 22(6):580–585

    Google Scholar 

  • Siebrits E, Peirce AP (2002) An efficient multi-layer planar 3D fracture growth algorithm using a fixed mesh approach. Int J Numer Methods Eng 53(3):691–717

    Google Scholar 

  • Sleeman R, Eck VT (1999) Robust automatic P-phase picking: an on-line implementation in the analysis of broadband seismogram recordings. Phys Earth Planet Inter 113:265–275

    Google Scholar 

  • Song FX, Toksoz MN (2011) Full-waveform based complete moment tensor inversion and source parameter estimation from downhole microseismic data for hydraulic fracturing. Geophysics 76(6):WC103–WC116

    Google Scholar 

  • Song FX, Kuleli HS, Toksöz MN, Ay E, Zhang H (2010) An improved method for hydrofracture-induced microseismic event detection and phase picking. Geophysics 75(6):A47–A52

    Google Scholar 

  • Tan YY, Zhang HJ, Li JL, Yin C, Wu FR (2018) Focal mechanism determination for induced seismicity using the neighbourhood algorithm. Geophys J Int 214(3):1715–1731

    Google Scholar 

  • Tan YY, Hu J, Zhang HJ, Chen Y, Qian JW, Wang QF, Zha HS, Tang P, Nie Z (2020) Hydraulic fracturing induced seismicity in the southern Sichuan Basin due to fluid diffusion inferred from seismic and injection data analysis. Geophys Res Lett 47(4):e2019GL084885. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL084885

  • Tang LZ, Xia KW, Li X (2010) Seismic multi-fractal characteristics in mines and seismicity prediction. Chin J Rock Mech Eng 29(9):1818–1824

    Google Scholar 

  • Tang Y, Tang X, Wang GY, Zhang O (2011) Summary of hydraulic fracturing technology in shale gas development. Geol Bull China 30(2/3):393–399

    Google Scholar 

  • Tian X, Zhang W, Zhang J (2017) Cross double-difference inversion for simultaneous velocity model update and microseismic event location. Geophys Prospect 65:259–273

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang WD (2016) Experimental study on acoustic emission monitoring and fracture instability characteristic during hydraulic fracturing in coal. Anhui University of Science and Technology, Huainan

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang XL (2017) Numerical simulation of hydraulic fracturing in shale gas reservoirs based on the extended finite element method. University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang YF, He XQ, Wang EY, Li YZ (2014) Research progress and development tendency of the hydraulic technology for increasing the permeability of coal seams. J China Coal Soc 39(10):1945–1955

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang XR, Li N, Wang EY, Liu XF (2020) Microcracking mechanisms of sandstone based on acoustic emission source inversion. Chin J Geophys 64(7):2578–2587

    Google Scholar 

  • Webster P, Wall J, Perkins C, Molenaar M (2013) Micro-seismic detection using distributed acoustic sensing. In: Proceedings of the 2013 SEG annual meeting, pp 2459–2463

  • Wu S, Yamada M, Tamaribuchi K, Beck JL (2015) Multi-events earthquake early warning algorithm using a Bayesian approach. Geophys J Int 200(2):789–806. https://doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggu437

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu JJ, Zhang SH, Sun PH, Cao H, Chen JZ (2017) Experimental study on acoustic emission characteristics in coal seam pulse hydraulic fracturing. J Cent South Univ Sci Technol 48(7):1866–1874

    Google Scholar 

  • Xia YX, Kang LJ, Qi QX, Mao DB, Ren Y, Lan H, Pan JF (2010) Five indexes of microseismic and their application in rock burst forecastion. J China Coal Soc 3542(12):2011–2016

    Google Scholar 

  • Yang Y, Yang YM, Ma S, Ju Y, Guo YC, Yu Y (2013) Crack propagation induced by hydraulic fracturing in low permeability rocks using CT technology. J Min Saf Eng 30(5):739–743

    Google Scholar 

  • Yuan L, Lin BQ, Yang W (2015) Research progress and development direction of gas control with mine hydraulic technology in China coal mine. Coal Sci Technol 43(1):45–49

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhai HY, Chang X, Wang YB, Yao ZX (2016) Inversion for microseismic focal mechanisms in attenuated strata and its resolution. Chin J Geophys 59(8):3025–3036

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang HJ, Thurber C, Rowe CA (2003) Automatic P-wave arrival detection and picking with multiscale wavelet analysis for single-component recordings. Bull Seismol Soc Am 93(5):1904–1912

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhu QJ, Feng Y, Cai M, Liu JH, Wang HH (2017) Interpretation of the extent of hydraulic fracturing for rockburst prevention using microseismic monitoring data. J Nat Gas Sci Eng 38(2017):107–119

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhuang Z, Liu ZL, Wang T, Gao Y, Wang YH, Fu HF (2016) The key mechanical problems on hydraulic fracture in shale (in Chinese). Chin Sci Bull 61:72–81

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The detailed HF test data supporting this research are not accessible to the public or research community due to the confidentiality agreement with the operators, which may be available by contacting corresponding author. We would like to thank the editor and two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments. We would like to thank Engineer Licheng Zhu and Peng Zhang from Xieqiao coal mine, Engineer Huasheng Zha from the Anhui Wantai Geophysical Technology Company and Dr. Jiawei Qian form University of Science and Technology of China for their help in installing the MS sensors and doing field test. This research also benefits from discussions with Dr. Yuyang Tan from Ocean University of China and Dr. Haijiang Zhang from University of Science and Technology of China. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51874296), The Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (BK20190080), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation Grant (2018M640533), and the State Key Laboratory of Coal Resources and Mine Safety of China (SKLCRSM19X002).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Coal Resources and Safe Mining, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, 221116, Jiangsu, China

    Nan Li, Liulin Fang, Weichen Sun & Xin Zhang

  2. School of Mines, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, 221116, Jiangsu, China

    Nan Li, Liulin Fang & Xin Zhang

  3. School of Safety Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, 221116, Jiangsu, China

    Weichen Sun

  4. State Key Laboratory for Geomechanics and Deep Underground Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, 221116, Jiangsu, China

    Dong Chen

Authors
  1. Nan Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Liulin Fang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Weichen Sun
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Xin Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Dong Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nan Li.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Li, N., Fang, L., Sun, W. et al. Evaluation of Borehole Hydraulic Fracturing in Coal Seam Using the Microseismic Monitoring Method. Rock Mech Rock Eng 54, 607–625 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-020-02297-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-020-02297-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation