Systems and methods for optimizing hydraulic fracturing

Abstract

Systems and methods presented herein are configured to optimize a hydraulic fracturing job design through the use of an advanced wellbore proppant transport model and coupled hydraulic fracture simulator. For example, a data processing system is configured to simulate, via a wellbore flow simulator being executed by the data processing system, a distribution of proppant between a plurality of perforation clusters of a wellbore during a hydraulic fracturing job design; to simulate, via a hydraulic fracture simulator being executed by the data processing system, one or more hydraulic fractures propagating through a subterranean formation through which the wellbore extends; and to automatically adjust, via fracturing design software executed by the data processing system, the hydraulic fracturing job design by dynamically exchanging data relating to the distribution of the proppant and the one or more hydraulic fractures between the wellbore flow simulator and the hydraulic fracture simulator.

1 . A method, comprising:
 simulating, via a wellbore flow simulator being executed by one or more processing devices, a distribution of proppant between a plurality of perforation clusters of a wellbore during a hydraulic fracturing job design;   simulating, via a hydraulic fracture simulator being executed by the one or more processing devices, one or more hydraulic fractures propagating through a subterranean formation through which the wellbore extends; and   automatically adjusting, via fracturing design software executed by the one or more processing devices, the hydraulic fracturing job design by dynamically exchanging data relating to the distribution of the proppant and the one or more hydraulic fractures between the wellbore flow simulator and the hydraulic fracture simulator.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising automatically adjusting, via an optimization module, a completion design associated with the hydraulic fracturing job design, a pumping schedule of one or more proppants associated with the hydraulic fracturing job design, one or more properties of the one or more fluids associated with the hydraulic fracturing job design, or some combination thereof. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising automatically implementing one or more operational parameters of the hydraulic fracturing job design based at least in part on the adjusted hydraulic fracturing job design. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the data relating to the distribution of the proppant comprises flow rate distributions of one or more proppants associated with the hydraulic fracturing job design. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the data relating to the one or more hydraulic fractures comprises pressure distribution in one or more near-wellbore zones. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising simulating, via the wellbore flow simulator being executed by the one or more processing devices, the distribution of the proppant between the plurality of perforation clusters based at least in part on a pumping schedule of one or more proppants associated with the hydraulic fracturing job design. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising simulating, via the wellbore flow simulator being executed by the one or more processing devices, the distribution of the proppant between the plurality of perforation clusters based at least in part on one or more material properties of one or more proppants associated with the hydraulic fracturing job design. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising simulating, via the wellbore flow simulator being executed by the one or more processing devices, the distribution of the proppant between the plurality of perforation clusters based at least in part on one or more perforation parameters of perforations of the plurality of perforation clusters. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , comprising determining, via perforation design software being executed by the one or more processing devices, the one or more perforation parameters of the perforations of the plurality of perforation clusters based at least in part on a completion design associated with the hydraulic fracturing job design. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising simulating, via the hydraulic fracture simulator being executed by the one or more processing devices, the one or more hydraulic fractures based at least in part on one or more formation properties of the subterranean formation. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising simulating, via the hydraulic fracture simulator being executed by the one or more processing devices, the one or more hydraulic fractures based at least in part on one or more material properties of one or more proppants associated with the hydraulic fracturing job design. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising estimating, via production simulation software being executed by the one or more processing devices, hydrocarbon production from the subterranean formation based at least in part on one or more fracture parameters of the one or more hydraulic fractures. 
     
     
         13 . A data processing system, comprising:
 one or more processors configured to execute instructions stored on one or more memory media, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the data processing system to:
 simulate, via a wellbore flow simulator being executed by the data processing system, a distribution of proppant between a plurality of perforation clusters of a wellbore during a hydraulic fracturing job design; 
 simulate, via a hydraulic fracture simulator being executed by the data processing system, one or more hydraulic fractures propagating through a subterranean formation through which the wellbore extends; and 
 automatically adjust, via fracturing design software executed by the data processing system, the hydraulic fracturing job design by dynamically exchanging data relating to the distribution of the proppant and the one or more hydraulic fractures between the wellbore flow simulator and the hydraulic fracture simulator. 
   
     
     
         14 . The data processing system of  claim 13 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the data processing system to automatically adjust, via an optimization module, a completion design associated with the hydraulic fracturing job design, a pumping schedule of one or more proppants associated with the hydraulic fracturing job design, one or more properties of the one or more fluids associated with the hydraulic fracturing job design, or some combination thereof. 
     
     
         15 . The data processing system of  claim 13 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the data processing system to automatically implement one or more operational parameters of the hydraulic fracturing job design based at least in part on the adjusted hydraulic fracturing job design. 
     
     
         16 . The data processing system of  claim 13 , wherein the data relating to the distribution of the proppant comprises flow rate distributions of one or more proppants associated with the hydraulic fracturing job design. 
     
     
         17 . The data processing system of  claim 13 , wherein the data relating to the one or more hydraulic fractures comprises pressure distribution in one or more near-wellbore zones. 
     
     
         18 . The data processing system of  claim 13 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the data processing system to simulate, via the wellbore flow simulator being executed by the data processing system, the distribution of the proppant between the plurality of perforation clusters based at least in part on a pumping schedule of one or more proppants associated with the hydraulic fracturing job design. 
     
     
         19 . The data processing system of  claim 13 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the data processing system to simulate, via the wellbore flow simulator being executed by the data processing system, the distribution of the proppant between the plurality of perforation clusters based at least in part on one or more material properties of one or more proppants associated with the hydraulic fracturing job design. 
     
     
         20 . The data processing system of  claim 13 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the data processing system to simulate, via the wellbore flow simulator being executed by the data processing system, the distribution of the proppant between the plurality of perforation clusters based at least in part on one or more perforation parameters of perforations of the plurality of perforation clusters. 
     
     
         21 . The data processing system of  claim 20 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the data processing system to determine, via perforation design software being executed by the data processing system, the one or more perforation parameters of the perforations of the plurality of perforation clusters based at least in part on a completion design associated with the hydraulic fracturing job design. 
     
     
         22 . The data processing system of  claim 13 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the data processing system to simulate, via the hydraulic fracture simulator being executed by the data processing system, the one or more hydraulic fractures based at least in part on one or more formation properties of the subterranean formation. 
     
     
         23 . The data processing system of  claim 13 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the data processing system to simulate, via the hydraulic fracture simulator being executed by the data processing system, the one or more hydraulic fractures based at least in part on one or more material properties of one or more proppants associated with the hydraulic fracturing job design. 
     
     
         24 . The data processing system of  claim 13 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the data processing system to estimate, via production simulation software being executed by the data processing system, hydrocarbon production from the subterranean formation based at least in part on one or more fracture parameters of the one or more hydraulic fractures.