Experimental study of fracture tip screen-out with aid of X-ray CT considering its application to fracture control

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K14520
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Earth system and resources engineering
• Research Institution: Tohoku University
• Principal Investigator: ITO Takatoshi 東北大学, 流体科学研究所, 教授 (00184664)
• Research Collaborator: YAMAMOTO KOJI 石油天然ガス・金属鉱物資源機構, 技術センター, 研究員
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 石油天然ガス開発 / フラクチャリング / スクリーンアウト / 室内実験 / X線CT

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We succeeded in reproducing the screenout phenomenon which is a problem in the fracturing technique indispensable for oil and natural gas production by laboratory experiments and visualizing the fracture behavior with the CT scanner. To this end, by using a soft material, fracture has become possible to open to a size that can be visualized even with a small test specimen, and by using a pressure vessel that well combines CFRP and engineering plastic with excellent X-ray transparency, it has become possible to apply any axisymmetric compressive stresses to a cylindrical specimen. Moreover, it has been found that the fluid to which barium sulfate was added is effective for observation of flow and clogging at fracture tip.

Free Research Field

岩石力学