Terry Engelder, Thesis Supervisor Dr. Peter J Heaney, Thesis Honors Advisor
Keywords:
Microseismic Peforation shot Uncertainty Location
Abstract:
Microseismic is an effective method of monitoring hydraulic fracture propagation in unconventional shale oil and gas field development. In this study, microseismic events are located by grid search method while location uncertainty is quantified in probability contours at the same time. We test the impact of different algorithm inputs on the location uncertainty. Variables include the choice(s) of velocity model, downhole array(s) geometry, seismic phase(s) (P-wave, SH-wave) and particle motion. We picked one perforation event recorded during the hydraulic fracturing of the Utica Shale in Ohio. By altering variables, we find out that S-wave arrival is better in constrain the uncertainty of location; whip array is better than single array; back-azimuth is not effective in downhole vertical array.