Name: _______________________ PETE 1209/2209 CEE 1809/2809 Midterm Exam S2015

PETE 1209/2209, CEE 1809/2809

Hydraulic Fracturing Mechanics and Applications
Midterm Exam, 60 points
4 March 2015

Each question is worth 3 points unless otherwise indicated.

Select or fill in the appropriate answer(s) for each of the following. Clearly indicate your
answers. Note that you may leave numerical answers as powers and fractions (i.e. 1/ 2
instead of 0.70).

1) Which of the following accurately describes the development of hydraulic fracturing

technology (choose all that apply)
____a. A majority of treatments during the first 5 years of hydraulic fracturing used
water due to its low cost and to address concerns about worker safety.
____b. Hydraulic fracturing for petroleum applications was first developed in
response to the energy crisis in the USA in the early 1970s.
____c. Targeting of unconventional gas and oil reservoirs has driven a trend
towards large volume slickwater treatments.

2) (6 pts) Which of the following is a technically and historically valid supporting statement
to the argument “Hydraulic Fracturing is ‘new’”? (choose all that apply)
____a. There were more rigs drilling in the US in 2013 than ever before.
____b. Hydraulic fracturing of horizontal wells has only been done for the past 5
years.
____c. The fluid volume associated with typical treatments is considerably higher
than it was during the previous major growth periods during the early
1950s and mid to late 1970s.
____d. The shale gas boom has driven a drastic increase in the proportion of
treatments that use oil-based fracturing fluids instead of aqueous fluids.
____e. Fluid volumes associated with typical treatments are the same today as
they were in the 1950s.
____f. Since 2000 almost all hydraulic fracturing treatments have entailed small
volume injections aimed at bypass of near wellbore damage.

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Name: _______________________ PETE 1209/2209 CEE 1809/2809 Midterm Exam S2015

3) “Poiseuille equation is applicable only for hydraulic fractures that grow in impermeable
or extremely low permeability rocks.” This statement is:
____a. True
____b. False

“Containment of hydraulic fractures within the reservoir is typically promoted by the

fact that the reservoir has a lower minimum (least compressive) stress than the
surrounding layers.” This statement is:
____c. True
____d. False

“Minimum stress is directed horizontally in most petroleum reservoirs.” This statement

is:
____a. True
____b. False

4) Hydraulic fractures tend to orient in a vertical plane if (choose all that apply):
____a. The minimum stress is directed horizontally.
____b. They grow from a vertical rather than horizontal well.
____c. They are driven by cross-linked gel.

5) Consider the volume balance equation given by

Fluid volume injected between time 0 and time t = Volume of the hydraulic fracture at time t

Which of the following assumptions are required for this statement to hold (choose all
that apply):
____a. Fluid is incompressible
____b. Rock is not damaged by the deformation except for creation of the crack
itself and damage of a small zone near the crack tip
____c. Fluid leakoff can be modeled using 1D diffusion

6) Assuming that the injection rate is not significantly changed, which of the following are
valid reasons to change from slickwater to cross-linked gel fluids (choose all that apply):
____a. It has become apparent that the slickwater fractures are resulting in too
much fluid loss to the formation and cross-linked gel could alleviate this
issue
____b. There is a drive to reduce the cost of each treatment
____c. The slickwater fractures are apparently not generating enough fracture
width to admit proppant

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Name: _______________________ PETE 1209/2209 CEE 1809/2809 Midterm Exam S2015

7) “Limiting formation damage by reducing the potential for inducing swelling of clay
minerals within the formation is a common reason for selecting oil-based fluids that
carry with them higher risk to workers and the environment.” This statement is:
____a. True
____b. False

8) Consider the continuity equation

∂w ∂q 2CL
+ + = 0
∂t ∂x t − T ( x)
where q is the fluid flux, w is the crack opening, CL is the Carter leakoff coefficient,
t − T ( x) is the time since the hydraulic fracture first arrived at location x , where x is the
spatial coordinate. Which of the following violate(s) the underlying assumptions of this
equation (choose all that apply):
____a. The fluid is non-Newtonian
____b. The rock is permeable
____c. The velocity of the diffusion front greatly exceeds the velocity of the
hydraulic fracture tip

9) “Young’s modulus of an isotropic rock can be estimated as long as one has reliable
estimates of both the shear modulus and Poisson’s ratio.” This statement is:
____a. True
____b. False

“Carter’s leakoff model is not valid if the reservoir is completely saturated by a liquid
such as water or oil prior to hydraulic fracturing.” This statement is:
____c. True
____d. False

“The temperature of the drilling mud can be considered as an upper bound estimate on
the temperature of the formation at the depth of the bit.” This statement is:
____a. True
____b. False

10) Which of the following are consequences of non-linearity in the stress-strain behavior
of rocks (choose all that apply):
____a. It is not necessary to measure the rock density when estimating elastic
moduli from compressional and shear wave measurements
____b. Static and dynamic measurements of elastic moduli are almost always
independent of the level of confining stress to which the specimen is
subjected
____c. Estimates of elastic moduli from static and dynamic measurements are
usually different from each other

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Name: _______________________ PETE 1209/2209 CEE 1809/2809 Midterm Exam S2015

df f
11) I. Which of the following will be best approximated by ≈ ?
dt t

(a) (b) (c)

dg g (0)
II. Which of the following will be best approximated by ≈− ?
dx L

(a) (b) (c)

Which approximation could be applied to all 3 functions that are shown graphically in
part II?
dg g (L/ 2) L L

dx
≈
L
∫0 g ( x ) d x ≈ g ( L / 2) × L ∫0 g ( x)dx ≈ g (0) × L

(a) (b) (c)

12) For a 2D (plane strain) hydraulic fracture in the toughness dominated regime for an
impermeable rock, doubling the fluid viscosity will have which of the following effects
on the net fluid pressure at any given time t:
____a. Net pressure will substantially increase
____b. Net pressure will substantially decrease
____c. Net pressure will not be significantly changed

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Name: _______________________ PETE 1209/2209 CEE 1809/2809 Midterm Exam S2015

13) A “pad” of clean fluid (i.e. with no proppant) must be pumped for a certain time until
the opening at the wellbore, w(0, t ) , becomes large enough to admit the proppant
grains. An operator wishes to reduce the time of pumping for the pad by a factor of 2
while keeping the opening at the wellbore at the end of the pad the same and keeping
the same injection rate. What will be the ratio between the fluid viscosity for the new
design and the viscosity for the old design, µnew / µold .

You may assume this early stage is characterized by 2D (plane strain) growth in the
viscosity dominated regime for an impermeable rock. Use the following space for any
necessary calculations (use extra sheets of paper if needed), and be sure to circle/box
your answer.

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Name: _______________________ PETE 1209/2209 CEE 1809/2809 Midterm Exam S2015

14) Matching: Draw lines connecting each of these quantities with the valid statement(s)
describing them (you do not have to use all 3 statements)

A rock property associated with the energy

Fracture Toughness K IC required for breakage

A calculated quantity related to the energy

available to drive crack propagation
Stress Intensity Factor K I
A critical quanitity controlling hydraulic
fracture growth in the viscosity dominated
regime

15) List the 3 main ingredients (parts) of the hydraulic fracturing models we consider in this
class:

_____________________________

_____________________________

_____________________________

16) For a 2D (plane strain) hydraulic fracture in the viscosity dominated regime for an
impermeable rock, by what factor should the viscosity be increased in order to increase
the fluid net pressure after 100 seconds of pumping from 500 psi to 750 psi?

_____________________________

Use the following space for any necessary calculations (use extra sheets of paper if
needed):

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Name: _______________________ PETE 1209/2209 CEE 1809/2809 Midterm Exam S2015

17) For a 2D (plane strain) hydraulic fracture in the toughness dominated regime for an
impermeable rock, reducing the injection rate from 30 bbl/min to 20 bbl/min will cause
the rate of increase in the length (i.e. the tip velocity or d  / dt for hydraulic fracture
half-length  ) after 500 seconds of pumping to change by what factor?

_____________________________

Use the following space for any necessary calculations (use extra sheets of paper if
needed):

18) A sudden change in a resistivity log could indicate (choose all that apply):
____a. A change between rock layers that have different porosities
____b. A change from a layer mostly containing brine to a layer mostly containing
oil
____c. A change between layers with different water saturation fractions

19) A layer with a relatively large sonic velocity could indicate (choose all that apply):
____a. Lower porosity
____b. Higher permeability
____c. Presence of lower salinity water than in surrounding layers