Energy analysis of hydraulic fracturing

Abstract

In this paper, numerical simulations of circular boreholes under internal hydraulic pressure are carried out to investigate the energy transferred to the surrounding rock and the breakdown pressure. The simulations are conducted by using a micromechanical continuum damage model proposed by Golshani et al. (2006). The simulation results suggest that the borehole breakdown pressure and the energy transferred to the surrounding rock are dependent on the mechanical properties of the rock and borehole size. Although the energy transferred to the surrounding rock increases with increasing borehole size, the borehole breakdown pressure decreases.