Deflection of Hydraulic Fractures and Shear Stress Disturbance Considering Thermal Effects: A Numerical Case Study.

Quantitative characterization of propagation behaviors and morphology of hydraulic fractures is crucial for controlling and optimizing hydrofracturing effects. To study the disturbance deflection behaviors of multiple hydraulic fractures, a three-dimensional field-scale numerical model for multistage fracturing is established to study the shear stress disturbance and unstable propagation behavior of hydraulic fractures under different perforation cluster spacing. In the model, the thermal diffusion, fluid flow and deformation in reservoirs are considered to describe the thermal-hydro-mechanical coupling. In the numerical case study, the derived results show that the thermal effect between fracturing fluid and rock matrix is an important factor affecting fracture propagation, and thermal effects may increase the extent of fracture propagation. The size of stress shadow areas and the deflection of hydraulic fractures will increase with a decrease in multiple perforation cluster spacing in horizontal wells. The shear stress disturbance caused by fracture propagation is superimposed in multiple fractures, resulting in the stress shadow effect and deflection of fractures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]