The development of multi-scale computational tools to model multiple hydraulic fractures propagating in complex media.

在过去的十年里，全球能源格局发生了重大变化，这主要是由于一种通常被称为“水力压裂”的方法，该方法使从页岩气储层中提取碳氢化合物在经济上可行。这一过程已经通过一种新技术实现，该技术使得从水平威尔斯井产生多个水力裂缝（HF）成为可能。虽然水力压裂法一直存在争议，但由于碳氢化合物泄漏到地下水中的风险，这种新技术也可以通过在地热储层中创建裂缝网络来产生更清洁的能源。由于地壳顶部10公里处的能量是所有石油和天然气储量的5万倍，因此这项创新技术也具有产生清洁能源的巨大潜力。为了最小化压裂的环境风险并优化HF的放置，有必要具有可以模拟这些不断发展的HF的新配置的设计工具。然而，高频技术的这些重要发展已经使现场实践超出了当前的计算机模拟工具。现有的工具主要集中在模拟一个单一的HF在分段均匀的弹性介质中传播的演变。现在所需要的是模拟同时在复杂固体介质中传播并与预先存在的接头和故障相互作用的多个HF的能力。

The past decade has seen a significant change in the global energy landscape, largely due to a process commonly known as “fracking” that has made the extraction of hydrocarbons from shale gas reservoirs economically viable. This process has been enabled by a new technology that makes possible the generation of multiple hydraulic fractures (HFs) from horizontal wells. While fracking has been controversial, due to the risk of hydrocarbons leaking into groundwater, this novel technology can also be used to generate cleaner energy by creating fracture networks in geothermal reservoirs. Since the top 10 km of the earth’s crust holds 50,000 times as much energy as all oil and gas reserves, this innovative technology also has huge potential for generating clean energy. To minimize the environmental risk of fracking and to optimize the placement of HF, it is necessary to have design tools that can simulate these new configurations of evolving HF. However, these important developments in HF technology have put field practice beyond current computer simulation tools. Existing tools are primarily focused on simulating the evolution of a single HF propagating in a piece-wise homogeneous elastic medium. What is now required is the capacity to simulate multiple HF that simultaneously propagate in complex solid media and interact with pre-existing joints and faults.