Hydraulic fracturing optimization framework based on PKN and Cinco-Ley methods

In an era of decreasing number of discoveries of conventional hydrocarbon reservoirs, in the global oil and gas industry we can observe growing interest in unconventional resources. Conducting effective production from this type of reservoirs is associated with carrying out the intensification processes of production, among which hydraulic fracturing is the most popular. Fracturing project design consist of several technological parameters, i.e. the type of fracturing fluid and quantity of proppant, which have a direct impact on the process effectiveness. The actual shape of the fracture is difficult to predict due to the local heterogeneity of the reservoir and the superposition of the phenomena occurring during stimulation treatment. In this paper optimization model was proposed, which allows for selection appropriate parameters of fracturing technology. Developed optimization algorithm is based on two-dimensional PKN fracture model and Cinco-Ley analytical method. Optimization method used in this paper based on nature - inspired algorithms which were compared with gradient method.