Constricted hydraulic fracture opening. This project aims to develop experimentally verified models for designing and monitoring of hydraulic fractures with constricted openings, to ensure adequate and robust hydraulic fracture control for example in petroleum production. Hydraulic fractures are often constricted by bridges that hold two sides of the fracture together. Failure to account for bridges and constriction of fractures can lead to premature screen-out (exceeding available pump pressure ....Constricted hydraulic fracture opening. This project aims to develop experimentally verified models for designing and monitoring of hydraulic fractures with constricted openings, to ensure adequate and robust hydraulic fracture control for example in petroleum production. Hydraulic fractures are often constricted by bridges that hold two sides of the fracture together. Failure to account for bridges and constriction of fractures can lead to premature screen-out (exceeding available pump pressure) of proppant and inadequate fracking control. The project results are expected to substantially increase the accuracy of design and monitoring of fracture opening, geometry and fluid flow to improve efficiency, safety and environmental security of the resource and energy extraction.Read moreRead less
Quantification of Multiphysics phenomena of Gas flow in organic rich shales. We address the scientific question of the nature of gas extraction from nominally impermeable rocks such as shales. Our main aim is to develop a fully coupled microstructurally enriched thermodynamic continuum model to predict the Multiphysics behaviour of shale reservoirs during gas production and verify the model with representative experiments conducted on formations from three Australian Basins including Cooper, Per ....Quantification of Multiphysics phenomena of Gas flow in organic rich shales. We address the scientific question of the nature of gas extraction from nominally impermeable rocks such as shales. Our main aim is to develop a fully coupled microstructurally enriched thermodynamic continuum model to predict the Multiphysics behaviour of shale reservoirs during gas production and verify the model with representative experiments conducted on formations from three Australian Basins including Cooper, Perth and Beetaloo, where the samples are available to the investigators. We approach this problem in a hybrid theoretical-numerical-experimental study. This is the first international attempt to develop such experimentally verified thermodynamic based model, particularly for Australian shales.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE120100061
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$285,000.00
Summary
A new seismic facility for investigating tectonic collision zones, earthquake hazards and passive imaging techniques. A new seismic facility will enable collaboration with overseas partners to better understand plate margin tectonics and earthquake hazard in our region for mutual benefit. It will also be used in pilot studies of areas endowed with deep earth resources, and in assessing regions of heightened earthquake activity in Australia.