Poroelastic Model for Production- and Injection-Induced Stresses in Reservoirs with Elastic Properties Different from the Surrounding Rock
Publication: International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 7, Issue 5
Abstract
Closed-form and semianalytical solutions for induced poroelastic stresses and strains are extremely useful for the design of subsurface fluid storage in caverns because of their relative ease of implementation and their suitability for parameter sensitivity analyses. This paper describes the use of Eshelby’s inhomogeneity theory to derive equations that can be used to predict the induced stresses and strains for reservoirs that are elliptical in cross section, under plane strain conditions. Sensitivity analyses demonstrate that the induced stresses are relatively insensitive to the Poisson’s ratio of the surrounding rock, but they are strongly affected by the Poisson’s ratio of the reservoir, and the ratio of shear modulus of the reservoir to that of the surrounding rock. Results are presented in terms of dimensionless parameters, which facilitate their application to a broad range of reservoir dimensions and pressure-change magnitudes. These equations can also be used to predict the induced stresses around a cavity, which represents the special case of an inhomogeneity with a shear modulus of zero.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
This study was funded in part by a scholarship from the Department of Civil and Geological Engineering, University of Saskatchewan, and the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada.
References
Eshelby, J. D. (1957). “The determination of the elastic field of an ellipsoidal inclusion and related problems.” Proc. R. Soc. London, Ser. A, 241(1226), 376–396.
Eshelby, J. D. (1959). “The elastic field outside an ellipsoidal inclusion.” Proc. R. Soc. London, Ser. A, 252(1271), 561–569.
Geertsma, J. (1966). “Problems of rock mechanics in petroleum production engineering.” Proc. 1st Congress of the Int. Society of Rock Mechanics, Vol. I, National Laboratory of Civil Engineering, Lisbon, 585–594.
Goodier, J. N. (1937). “On the integration of the thermoelastic equations.” Philos. Mag., 7(23), 1017–1032.
Love, A. E. H. (1944). A treatise on the mathematical theory of elasticity, Dover, New York, 186–189.
Mase, E. G. (1970). Continuum mechanics, Schaum’s outline series, McGraw-Hill, New York, 8–23.
Mura, T. (1982). Micromechanics of defects in solids, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, The Hague, The Netherlands, 33–71.
Rudnicki, J. W. (1999). “Alteration of regional stress by reservoirs and other inhomogeneities: Stabilizing or destabilizing?” Proc., 9th Int. Congress. on Rock Mechanics, Vol. 3, Swets & Zeitlinger, Lisse, The Netherlands, 1629–1637.
Segall, P. (1985). “Stress and subsidence resulting from subsurface fluid withdrawal in the epicentral region of 1983 Coalinga earthquake.” J. Geophys. Res., 90(B8), 6801–6816.
Segall, P., and Fitzgerald, S. D. (1998). “A note on induced stress change in hydrocarbon and geothermal reservoirs.” Tectonophysics, 289(1–3), 117–128.
Segall, P. Grasso, J. R., and Mossop, A. (1994). “Poroelastic stressing and induced seismicity near the Lacq gas field, southwestern France.” J. Geophys. Res., [Solid Earth], 99(B8), 15423–15438.
Soltanzadeh, H. and Hawkes, C. D. (2007). “Semianalytical models for stress change and fault reactivation induced by reservoir production and injection.” J. Pet. Sci. Eng., in press.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 7 • Issue 5 • September 2007
Pages: 353 - 361
Copyright
© 2007 ASCE.
History
Received: Mar 17, 2006
Accepted: Sep 14, 2006
Published online: Sep 1, 2007
Published in print: Sep 2007
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.