Concept

Induced seismicity

Related publications (20)

A fully-coupled highly-parallelized geomechanical simulator for assessing induced seismicity

Jean-François Molinari, Brice Tanguy Alphonse Lecampion, Guillaume Anciaux, Nicolas Richart, Emil Gallyamov

Induced seismicity caused by anthropogenic modification of the subsurface effective stress state has been observed in a number of industrial applications -- from hydrocarbon extraction (e.g., Groningen [1]), drilling waste-water disposal (e.g., [2]) to the ...

2023

Single-Well Pore Pressure Preconditioning for Enhanced Geothermal System Stimulation

Marie Estelle Solange Violay, Mathias Alexandre David Lebihain, Barnaby Padraig Fryer

The stress state is an important parameter in terms of both earthquake nucleation and rupture. Here, a new stimulation technique is proposed for Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGSs), which have previously been burdened with a number of high-profile incidence ...

2023

Three-dimensional fluid-driven frictional ruptures: theory and applications

Alexis Alejandro Sáez Uribe

Fluid-driven frictional ruptures are important in a broad range of subsurface engineering technologies and natural earthquake-related phenomena. Some examples of subsurface operations where borehole fluid injections can induce frictional slip are deep geot ...

EPFL2023

Three-dimensional hydraulic fracture propagation in homogeneous and heterogeneous media

Carlo Peruzzo

Hydraulic fractures are tensile fractures that occur in solid materials due to the natural intrusion or anthropogenic injection of a viscous fluid into a fracture channel. The deliberate creation of hydraulic fractures is part of an industrial technology h ...

EPFL2023

Reactivation of variably sealed joints and permeability enhancement in geothermal reservoir rocks

Alexandra Roma Larisa Kushnir, Michael Heap

Hydraulic stimulation of enhanced deep geothermal reservoirs commonly targets pre-existing joint networks with the goal of increasing reservoir permeability. Here, we study the permeability and strength of joint-free and jointed Buntsandstein sandstones fr ...

2023

Bounding the localized to ductile transition in porous rocks: implications for geo-reservoirs

Marie Estelle Solange Violay, Gabriel Gérard Dominique Meyer

Porous rocks have long been the focus of intense research driven by their importance in our society as host to our most essential resources (oil, gas, water, geothermal energy, etc), yet their rheology remains poorly understood. With increasing depth, poro ...

2023

Long-term triggered seismicity on the Mosha fault by Damavand volcano, Iran: Implications on the seismic hazard of Tehran metropolis

Seyyedmaalek Momeni

The seismic history of the Mosha fault, the largest and most active fault of Eastern Tehran metropolis, and its relation to the Damavand active volcano, the highest mountain in the Middle East, is investigated. We deduce that the central Mosha, near the Da ...

2022

On the scale dependence in the dynamics of frictional rupture: Constant fracture energy versus size-dependent breakdown work

Marie Estelle Solange Violay, François Xavier Thibault Passelègue, Mathias Alexandre David Lebihain, Federica Paglialunga, Fabian Barras

Potential energy stored during the inter-seismic period by tectonic loading around faults is released during earthquakes as radiated energy, frictional dissipation and fracture energy. The latter is of first importance since it is expected to control the n ...

2022

On the effects of fluid pressure variations on rock-mass and fault mechanical behaviour

Corentin Jean-Marie Rémi Noël

In the past 20 years, the growing interest in deep geo-reservoirs for purposes such as carbon storage, waste water disposal, or geothermal energy exploitation have led to large-volume fluid injections into the upper continental crust. These fluid injection ...

EPFL2021

Combining active and passive acoustic methods to image hydraulic fracture growth in laboratory experiments

Brice Tanguy Alphonse Lecampion, Seyyedmaalek Momeni, Dong Liu

We combine active and passive acoustic measurements to improve the spatio- temporal imaging of hydraulic fracture growth performed under true triaxial confinement in the laboratory. 64 active piezo-electric transducers (54 P waves, 10 S waves) work in sour ...

IOP2021

Stress management in the context of induced seismicity in subsurface reservoirs

Barnaby Padraig Fryer

The stress state of the subsurface has been shown to have an influence on a number of key processes. For example, the criticality of the stress state indicates how large stress changes need to be before a fault begins to slip, the mean effective stress con ...

EPFL2020

Hydraulic stimulation of pre-existing discontinuities in tight rocks

Federico Ciardo

Hydraulic stimulation is an engineering technique whose aim is to enhance the permeability of fractured rock masses at depths ranging from one to five kilometers. It consists in the injection of fluid at sufficiently high pressure in order to shear pre-exi ...

EPFL2020

Effect of Fluid Viscosity on Earthquake Nucleation

Marie Estelle Solange Violay, Chiara Cornelio

Injection of fluids in geo-reservoirs can reduce the effective stresses at depth, lubricating the nearby faults, promoting slip and, potentially, earthquakes. High-viscous fluids are often used during hydraulic fracturing and production phases in geo-reser ...

2020

Experimental studies of hydro-mechanical couplings in Enhanced Geothermal Reservoirs

Mateo Alejandro Acosta

Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) allow for worldwide geothermal electricity production. They target deep (3-5 km), fractured rock reservoirs whose permeability is artificially increased through hydraulic stimulations (fluid injections). The injections mod ...

EPFL2020

Mechanical behaviour of fluid lubricated faults during earthquake nucleation and propagation

Chiara Cornelio

The need for new forms of energy, and in particular the need for renewable and clean ones, led to develompment of Enanched Geothermal Systems, where the well designed stimulation of a geothermal reservoir is the key parameter for the safe development of th ...

EPFL2020

Fault reactivation during fluid pressure oscillations: transition from stable to unstable slip

Marie Estelle Solange Violay, François Xavier Thibault Passelègue, Carolina Giorgetti, Corentin Jean-Marie Rémi Noël

High‐pressure fluid injection in deep geo‐reservoirs can induce earthquakes. Recent observations suggest that cyclic injections might trigger less seismicity than monotonic injections. Here, we report triaxial laboratory experiments conducted on faulted qu ...

2019

Effect of fluid viscosity on fault reactivation and co‐seismic weakening

Marie Estelle Solange Violay, François Xavier Thibault Passelègue, Chiara Cornelio

High‐viscosity fluids are often used during hydraulic fracking operations in geo‐reservoirs. Here, we performed dedicated experiments to study the influence of fluid viscosity on fault reactivation and associated induced earthquakes. Experiments were condu ...

2019

Reservoir stimulation’s effect on depletion-induced seismicity

Lyesse Laloui, Barnaby Padraig Fryer, Gunter Siddiqi

Depletion-induced seismicity can pose a problem in some fluid-producing subsurface reservoirs, in some cases requiring production rate control in order to limit the seismicity. This study investigates the use of reservoir stimulation to reduce the depletio ...

2018

Numerical methods for hydraulic fracture propagation: a review of recent trends

Brice Tanguy Alphonse Lecampion, Xi Zhang

Development of numerical methods for hydraulic fracture simulation has accelerated in the past two decades. Recent advances in hydraulic fracture modeling and simulation are driven by increased industry and research activity in oil and gas, a drive toward ...

2018

A methodology to detect and locate low-permeability faults to reduce the risk of inducing seismicity of fluid injection operations in deep saline formations

Lyesse Laloui, Victor Vilarrasa Riano

Fluid injection in the subsurface has significantly increased over the last decades. Fluid injection causes pressure buildup, which reduces effective stresses and thus, shear failure conditions may eventually occur, inducing microseismic and seismic events ...

Elsevier Sci Ltd2017