Earth, Atmosphere & Environment Sciences
Title : | Thermo-hydro-mechanical controls and induced seismicity during hydraulic fracturing and unconventional energy exploration. |
Area of research : | Earth, Atmosphere & Environment Sciences |
Principal Investigator : | Dr. Bankim Chandra Mahanta, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bhubaneswar, Odisha |
Timeline Start Year : | 2022 |
Timeline End Year : | 2024 |
Contact info : | bankim42mahanta@gmail.com |
Equipments : | High performance computing facility
Experimental setup controlled fracture formation
High performance computing facility
Experimental setup controlled fracture formation |
Details
Executive Summary : | The project investigates a coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical modelling considering the induced seismicity during hydraulic fracturing for unconventional energy exploration such as shale gas and coalbed methane. The project will be an integrated approach with the combination of experimental investigations followed by numerical modelling incorporating the experimental results. It will be an extensive study aiming for the influence of stresses and material properties of fracturing, particularly their initiation and propagation, the effect of fracturing fluids, the rate of fracturing fluids on fracturing nature. An investigation will be made to provide special attention to the induced seismicity produced by hydro-fracking, and the post injected wastewater after the hydro-fracking. During the proposed work, various geomechanical properties of the rock will be evaluated in confined and unconfined conditions, water-rock interaction addressing the flow properties of the rocks, the thermal alteration in response to reservoir conditions. A valid regional-scale reservoir model will be founded using the available experimental data. Through simulations, the newly developed understanding will support the developments in the primary and secondary recovery of shale gas and coalbed methane from these reservoirs. |
Total Budget (INR): | 30,64,556 |
Organizations involved