XSite is a special-purpose software package designed to meet the needs of hydraulic fracturing simulation. Main features available with XSite include:
- No assumptions regarding the fracture shape or trajectory
- Fracture propagation in inhomogeneous and naturally fractured rock masses
- Interactions between hydraulic fractures, joints, and between stages and wells (including the stress shadow effect and hydraulic connectivity) are accounted for
- In situ stresses may be specified
- Arbitrary number of wellbores and injection points
- Synthetic microseismicity is generated as the fractures slip or propagate, providing a method for model calibration with field observations
- Non-steady fluid flow within joints and the intact rock
- Proppant transport and placement
- Thermal analysis
- Heat conduction (and thermo-mechanical effects) in the rock and heat exchange with the fluid in fractures can be simulated
- Approximated heat advection by injected fluid
- Easy setup of models for multi-stage simulation
The model shown below simulates open-hole, sliding-sleeve hydraulic stimulation along the horizontal section of the borehole. Five stages are included in the model. The Sh,min in 50-m high reservoir is 30 MPa. The verical stress and SH,max are 42 MPa. The stress barrier between the reservoir and underburden and overburden is approximately 2 MPa. The horizontal segment of the borehole is oriented in the direction of Sh,min. For the sake of simplicity, the DFN was not explicitly represented in this model. For each stage, slick water was injected for 33 minutes at a rate of 11 m3/min.
