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Characterization of Hydraulic Fractures Growth During the Äspö Hard Rock Laboratory Experiment (Sweden)

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Abstract

A crucial issue to characterize hydraulic fractures is the robust, accurate and automated detection and location of acoustic emissions (AE) associated with the fracture nucleation and growth process. Waveform stacking and coherence analysis techniques are here adapted using massive datasets with very high sampling (1 MHz) from a hydraulic fracturing experiment that took place 410 m below surface in the Äspö Hard Rock Laboratory (Sweden). We present the results obtained during the conventional, continuous water injection experiment Hydraulic Fracture 2. The resulting catalogue is composed of more than 4000 AEs. Frequency–magnitude distribution from AE magnitudes (MAE) reveals a high b value of 2.4. The magnitude of completeness is also estimated approximately MAE 1.1, and we observe an interval range of MAE between 0.77 and 2.79. The hydraulic fractures growth is then characterized by mapping the spatiotemporal evolution of AE hypocentres. The AE activity is spatially clustered in a prolate ellipsoid, resembling the main activated fracture volume (~105 m3), where the lengths of the principal axes (a = 10 m; b = 5 m; c = 4 m) define its size and its orientation can be estimated for a rupture plane (strike ~123°, dip ~60°). An asymmetric rupture process regarding to the fracturing borehole is clearly exhibited. AE events migrate upwards covering the depth interval between 404 and 414 m. After completing each injection and reinjection phase, the AE activity decreases and appears located in the same area of the initial fracture phase, suggesting a crack-closing effect.

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Acknowledgments

This work is funded by the EU H2020 SHEER project (www.sheerproject.eu—Grant agreement No. 640896). The in situ experiment (Nova project 54-14-1) was supported by the GFZ German Research Center for Geosciences (75%), the KIT Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (15%) and the Nova Center for University Studies, Research and Development (10%). An additional in-kind contribution of Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Co (SKB) for using Äspö Hard Rock Laboratory as test site for geothermal research is greatly acknowledged. Francesco Grigoli is currently founded by the EU H2020 DESTRESS (Grant agreement No. 691728). The data for this paper are available by contacting A. Zang at zang@gfz-potsdam.de.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Telegrafenberg, 14473, Potsdam, Germany

    J. A. López-Comino, S. Cesca, S. Heimann, C. Milkereit, T. Dahm & A. Zang

  2. ETH Zurich, Swiss Seismological Service, Zurich, Switzerland

    F. Grigoli

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  1. J. A. López-Comino
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  2. S. Cesca
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Correspondence to J. A. López-Comino.

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López-Comino, J.A., Cesca, S., Heimann, S. et al. Characterization of Hydraulic Fractures Growth During the Äspö Hard Rock Laboratory Experiment (Sweden). Rock Mech Rock Eng 50, 2985–3001 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-017-1285-0

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