Study on temperature distribution prediction of horizontal wells during fracturing treatment

Abstract

In recent years, fiber-optic distributed temperature sensors (DTS) have been widely used for the dynamic monitoring of horizontal well during fracturing treatments. It is proposed to address the frequent issues of unknown artificial fracture initiation location, unclear crack extension pattern, unknown fracturing fluid injection success, and difficult fracturing effect evaluation in the hydraulic fracturing of horizontal wells. The temperature prediction model is the basis for fracturing diagnosis based on DTS monitoring, however, the quantitative prediction of temperature distribution throughout the horizontal well fracturing process remains a challenge. In this paper, a set of temperature-distribution prediction model for multi-stage fracturing in horizontal wells is established, with various micro-heat effects taken into account, and the models are solved through coupling. The temperature distribution during multi-cluster fracturing, and the temperature distribution characteristics during staged fracturing of horizontal wells have been analyzed. Moreover, the influence of fracturing fluid displacement, formation filtration coefficient, fracture width, and height on temperature distribution has also been clarified. The findings of this study provide theoretical support for fracturing performance diagnosis, fracture initiation identification, and analysis of the whereabouts of fracturing fluids using DTS monitoring. It has a great significance on fracturing effect evaluation and fracturing design optimization for horizontal wells.