The Influence of Thermoelastic Effect on Cracks of Automatic Hydraulic Fracturing in Injection Wells
Water injection with reservoir pressure maintenance changes the state of reservoir system and requires special attention. Formation of man-made cracks and cracks caused by automatic hydraulic fracturing is one of the risk factors in rapid flooding of production wells. The temperatures changes in the area of injection well affect local stresses in the reservoir and are manifested in the form of thermoelastic effect. This effect reduces the distribution pressure of existing hydraulic fracturing cracks. The article considers the probability of thermoelastic effect in injection wells in which hydraulic fracturing processes have been carried out. Examples and calculations are given for determining the probable occurrence of cracks caused by automatic hydraulic fracturing. It was found that for more than half of the cases cracks occur by automatic hydraulic fracturing due to the influence of thermoelastic effect.