Hydraulic fracture propagation in high porosity media

        In the present work, a foam rubber sheet installed between two transparent thick flat glasses was used as a physical model of a permeable oil reservoir. The elastic properties of foam rubber and its coefficient of friction on glass are supposed to be measured in separate experiments. In the center of the foam sheet there is a round hole, which is a model of the end face of the well in the oil reservoir. Before the experiment, cuts are made from the hole in opposite directions and to a certain length, simulating a previously closed crack. Using a vacuum pump it is possible to change the pressure of glasses per layer and thereby simulate the increase in "rock pressure" on a productive oil reservoir . A fluid is pumped through the hole in the end of the well. Under the action of fluid filtration, the surface of the walls along the cut of the foam layer are moved apart, forming a gap.The dependence of the pressure gradient on the length of the crack formed was obtained. The overall picture of the growth of hydraulic fracturing is recorded by camera. Continuous physical observations of the formation of a fracture in time allow subsequently predict the optimal fracture geometry.

The reported study was funded by RFBR, project number №. 20-35-80028 and state task 0146-2019-0007