Continuous fibers for use in hydraulic fracturing applications
First Claim
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1. A system for use in connection with a hydraulic fracturing operation comprising:
- a plurality of continuous fibers deployable into a plurality of fractures within a subterranean rock formation, each fiber when deployed being continuous from a borehole into the subterranean rock formation;
a fiber management module adapted and positioned to facilitate deployment of and communication with the plurality of continuous fibers,at least one parameter of the plurality of continuous fibers is communicated to the fiber management module, the at least one parameter includes a length measurement of at least one continuous fiber of the plurality of continuous fibers so that the plurality of continuous fibers provide a set of length measurements, each length measurement of the set of length measurements is identified into one or more groups, at least one group includes erroneous measured fiber measurements that is discounted from the set of length measurements; and
a quantitative description of a geometry of the fracture is determined from the set of length measurements,wherein the number of deployable continuous fibers provides sufficient redundancy to make at least a target measurement relating to the fracturing operation.
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Abstract
Methods and related systems are described for use with hydraulic fracturing and other oilfield applications. A tool body is positioned in a wellbore at a location near a subterranean rock formation being fractured. The tool body contains a plurality of deployable continuous fibers. At least some of the deployable continuous fibers are deployed into fractures within a subterranean rock formation. Each deployed fiber is continuous from the tool body to the rock formation. The number of deployable continuous fibers provides sufficient redundancy to make at least a target measurement relating to the fracturing process.
80 Citations
72 Claims
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1. A system for use in connection with a hydraulic fracturing operation comprising:
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a plurality of continuous fibers deployable into a plurality of fractures within a subterranean rock formation, each fiber when deployed being continuous from a borehole into the subterranean rock formation; a fiber management module adapted and positioned to facilitate deployment of and communication with the plurality of continuous fibers, at least one parameter of the plurality of continuous fibers is communicated to the fiber management module, the at least one parameter includes a length measurement of at least one continuous fiber of the plurality of continuous fibers so that the plurality of continuous fibers provide a set of length measurements, each length measurement of the set of length measurements is identified into one or more groups, at least one group includes erroneous measured fiber measurements that is discounted from the set of length measurements; and a quantitative description of a geometry of the fracture is determined from the set of length measurements, wherein the number of deployable continuous fibers provides sufficient redundancy to make at least a target measurement relating to the fracturing operation. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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37. A method for use in connection with a hydraulic fracturing operation, the method comprising:
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deploying a plurality of continuous fibers into a plurality of fractures within a subterranean rock formation, each deployed fiber being continuous from a borehole into the subterranean rock formation, at least one parameter of the plurality of continuous fibers is communicated to a fiber management module, the at least one parameter includes a length measurement of at least one continuous fiber of the plurality of continuous fibers that using a technique selected from a group consisting of;
optical reflectometry, electrical reflectometry, and electrical resonance measurements, so that the plurality of continuous fibers provide a set of length measurements to provide a quantitative description of a geometry of the fracture;wherein the number of deployed continuous fibers provides sufficient redundancy to make at least a target measurement relating to the fracturing operation. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68)
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69. A system for use in connection with a hydraulic fracturing operation, the system comprising:
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a plurality of continuous fibers deployable into a plurality of fractures within the subterranean rock formation, each fiber of the plurality of continuous fibers when deployed is continuous from a borehole into the subterranean rock formation and is capable of providing; 1) an alarm signal situation based on a measured physical property value exceeding a pre-determined threshold, then transmitting the alarm signal to an adjacent fiber, each adjacent fiber is capable of receiving and transmitting the alarm signal to another adjacent fiber, and 2) a non-alarm signal situation based on the measured physical property value not exceeding the pre-determined threshold, then not transmit an non-alarm signal; a fiber management module adapted and positioned to facilitate deployment of and communication with the plurality of continuous fibers, at least one parameter of the plurality of continuous fibers is communicated to the fiber management module, the at least one parameter includes a length measurement of at least one continuous fiber of the plurality of continuous fibers so that the plurality of continuous fibers provide a set of length measurements, each length measurement of the set of length measurements is identified into one or more groups, at least one group includes erroneous measured fiber measurements that is discounted from the set of length measurements; and a quantitative description of a geometry of the fracture is determined from the set of length measurements, wherein the number of deployable continuous fibers provides sufficient redundancy to make at least a target measurement relating to the fracturing operation.
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70. A system for use in connection with a hydraulic fracturing operation comprising:
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a plurality of continuous fibers deployable into a plurality of fractures within a subterranean rock formation, each fiber when deployed being continuous from a borehole into the subterranean rock formation; a fiber management module adapted and positioned to facilitate deployment of and communication with the plurality of continuous fibers; and at least one parameter of the plurality of continuous fibers is; a) communicated to the fiber management module; b) from the group consisting of one of a length, a velocity or a tension, wherein the length is measured using a technique selected from a group consisting of;
optical reflectometry, electrical reflectometry, and electrical resonance measurements; andc) capable of providing one of a mapping of fluid velocities, a detection of one or more voids or a quantitative description of a geometry of the fracture, wherein the number of deployable continuous fibers provides sufficient redundancy to make at least a target measurement relating to the fracturing operation.
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71. A system for use in connection with a hydraulic fracturing operation comprising:
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a plurality of continuous fibers deployable into a plurality of fractures within a subterranean rock formation, each fiber when deployed being continuous from a borehole into the subterranean rock formation, wherein at least some of the deployed fibers each have one or more sensors for making measurements within the subterranean rock formation, and data from the one or more sensors is transmitted along the fibers to a tool body; a fiber management module adapted and positioned to facilitate deployment of and communication with the plurality of continuous fibers; and at least one parameter of the plurality of continuous fibers is; a) communicated to the fiber management module; and b) includes a length measurement of at least one continuous fiber of the plurality of continuous fibers, and a set of length measurements provides for one of a quantitative description of a geometry of the fracture and to make local measurements of fracture widths, wherein the number of deployable continuous fibers provides sufficient redundancy to make at least a target measurement relating to the fracturing operation.
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72. A method for use in connection with a hydraulic fracturing operation, the method comprising:
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deploying a plurality of continuous fibers into a plurality of fractures within a subterranean rock formation, each deployed fiber being continuous from a borehole into the subterranean rock formation, wherein at least some of the deployed fibers each have one or more sensors for making measurements within the subterranean rock formation, and data from the one or more sensors is transmitted along the fibers to the tool body; at least one parameter of the plurality of continuous fibers is communicated to a fiber management module, wherein the at least one parameter includes a length measurement of at least one continuous fiber of the plurality of continuous fibers so that the plurality of continuous fibers provide a set of length measurements to provide one of a quantitative description of a geometry of the fracture and to make local measurements of fracture widths; wherein the number of deployed continuous fibers provides sufficient redundancy to make at least a target measurement relating to the fracturing operation.
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Specification