Research Features, continued
Doctorate student Juan Carlos Carratu works with Dr. Miskimins under the FAST consortium. His research includes laboratory experiments focusing on fracture mechanics for tight sandstone and mud rock (shale)
environments, specifically diving into fracture tip mechanisms.
Pictured below left is Mines’s True Triaxial Test Unit (TTTU) located at Alderson Hall’s High Bay lab. The picture below center provides a clear interpretation for tip mechanisms, in terms of PZS and dilation. The main crack is seen opening in the direction of the net pressure but as it progresses towards the fracture tip, its width decreases until disappearing at the crack tip. The image to the right to that shows three views of the main crack progression, where a thinner main crack is seen at the beginning of fracture development,
but as it progresses, its width becomes larger and thinner bifurcated cracks are seen departing the main
crack.
Ph.D. student Berk Coskuner’s research is regarding the reduction of ferric ions. His project is under the supervision of Dr. Yin and Dr. Ozkan under the UREP consortium. Pictured is a negative pressure
chamber which contains the experimental setup as well as CO
detectors as represented by the image. During the CO injection period of the experiment, the plastic curtain is closed to maintain the negative pressure environment, so that any possible CO leakage
will be diverted away from the laboratory.
The Proppant Transport and Distribution Among Perforation Clusters in Horizontal
Wellbores project is led by PhD Graduate Faraj Ahmad. Pictured above is the
experimental apparatus and set up of the project. The objectives of the project
were to investigate the parameters that have a significant effect on proppant distribution in the wellbore and among perforation clusters for a single fracturing
stage using slickwater fluids and to investigate the change in the perforation
orientation on proppant placement in multiple clusters.
PETROLEUM .MINES. EDU 17
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