Multi-data settlement prediction along a road section integrating InSAR and coastal subsurface information with data assimilation

This paper presents a novel approach to examining the impact of soil settlement and its spatial distribution on infrastructure. The study focuses on a specific road section in the Friesland coastal plain in the north of the Netherlands, investigating how the Holocene coastal subsurface architecture influences settlement patterns. Our study underscores the importance of integrating multiple datasets, providing data at varying resolutions. The road segment traverses lithostratigraphical units, which include tidal channel and tidal flat deposits, overlaying an older tidal basin system and intercalated peat beds. Through data assimilation of a settlement model optimized with InSAR measurements, we have identified settlement heterogeneities that can be explained by combining high-resolution variations in lithology with gradual changes in lithostratigraphy. This was accomplished by utilizing a medium-resolution model (MRM) based on borehole descriptions and a high-resolution data (HRD) approach based on cone penetration tests along the road. The HRD method proved more effective in capturing abrupt changes in lithology between channel structures, while the MRM provided a continuous representation of the lithostratigraphic setting of the area. Our study demonstrates that subsurface heterogeneities have significant implications for subsidence along roads. Settlement rates increase from 2–4 mm/year towards 9 mm/year along the road section, resulting in a differential settlement of more than 5 mm/year over a distance of less than a kilometer. This is primarily attributed to variations in lithostratigraphy. Overall, this new innovative approach offers a practical and cost-effective solution for predicting subsidence due to settlement, eliminating the need for expensive laboratory tests. By integrating lithology and lithostratigraphy, more efficient road maintenance and management become possible

Time-resolved model for geothermal engineering in high porosity Slochteren sandstone

This work is an extension of the time-resolved poro-elasto-plastic Mohr-Coulomb model by Fokker et al to include a more realistic constitutive model. Experiments on Slochteren sandstone revealed that the inelastic deformation contributes significantly in compressive deformation almost in all stages of loading and instigated the development of a Cam-Clay-like model to reproduce the Slochteren sandstone behavior. This model was adopted for the current extension. A typical behavior of this model is that the presence of a borehole causes both elastic and inelastic deformation everywhere in the reservoir, as opposed to the conventional philosophy with plastic and elastic zones. Our solution handles the spatial and temporal evolution of pressures, permeability, elastic and plastic properties under the assumption of symmetric loading. The applicability of the approach is demonstrated through a number of cases, like fluid injection, shut-in, production, stimulation, and an injection-production sequence

Applications of harmonic pulse testing to field cases

Harmonic pulse testing is a well testing technique in which the injection or production rate is varied in a periodic way. The pressure response to the imposed rates, both in the pulser well and in the observer wells, can be analyzed in the frequency domain to evaluate the reservoir properties. The advantages of this type of test are that dedicated well testing surface equipment is not required and that the test can be performed during ongoing field operations. In an earlier study we demonstrated that the harmonic pulse testing methodology can be used to evaluate the effective permeability to hydrocarbons and the reservoir total compressibility even for such a heterogeneous case as in a water injection scenario. The analysis can be performed using a numerical simulator in the Fourier domain, by which heterogeneities can be explicitly taken into account. As time-stepping is not required in such a simulation, calculations are much faster than calculations in the time domain. In the present paper we report on the application of the methodology to two field cases. The first case is a gas storage reservoir, operated with a day–night injection–shut in scenario. Data analysis proved that the reservoir was homogeneous and that a minor fault identified by the seismic was not hindering hydraulic communication between the pulser and the observer wells. The second case is a set of harmonic test experiments on three groundwater wells, the details of which have been published earlier together with a first attempt to interpret the data. The previous analysis was based on the hypothesis of homogeneous formation, but could not consistently explain all the measurements. With our novel methodology it was possible to investigate the effects of heterogeneity and we demonstrated that the presence of a fault zone with reduced permeability may explain the observations

The future of subsidence modelling : compaction and subsidence due to gas depletion of the Groningen gas field in the Netherlands

The Groningen gas field has shown considerable compaction and subsidence since starting production in the early 1960s. The behaviour is understood from the geomechanical response of the reservoir pressure depletion. By integrating surface movement measurements and modelling, the model parameters can be constrained and understanding of the subsurface behaviour can be improved. Such a procedure has been employed to formulate new compaction and subsidence forecasts. The results are put into the context of an extensive review of the work performed in this field, both in Groningen and beyond. The review is used to formulate a way forward designed to integrate all knowledge in a stochastic manner

The future of subsidence modelling : compaction and subsidence due to gas depletion of the Groningen gas field in the Netherlands

The Groningen gas field has shown considerable compaction and subsidence since starting production in the early 1960s. The behaviour is understood from the geomechanical response of the reservoir pressure depletion. By integrating surface movement measurements and modelling, the model parameters can be constrained and understanding of the subsurface behaviour can be improved. Such a procedure has been employed to formulate new compaction and subsidence forecasts. The results are put into the context of an extensive review of the work performed in this field, both in Groningen and beyond. The review is used to formulate a way forward designed to integrate all knowledge in a stochastic manner

A semianalytic time-resolved poro-elasto-plastic model for wellbore stability and stimulation

Wellbore stability problems and stimulation operations call for models helping in understanding the subsurface behaviour and optimizing engineering performance. We present a fast, iteratively coupled model for the flow and mechanical behaviour that employs a time-sequential approach. Updates of pore pressure are calculated in a timestepping approach and propagated analytically to updates of the mechanical response. This way, the spatial and temporal evolution of pressure and mechanical response around a wellbore can be evaluated. The sequential approach facilitates the incorporation of pressure diffusion and of time-dependent plasticity. Also, it facilitates the implementation of permeability evolving with time, due to plasticity or stimulation. The model has been validated by means of a coupled numerical simulator. Its capabilities are demonstrated with a selection of sensitivity runs for typical parameters. Ongoing investigations target geothermal energy operations through the incorporation of thermo-elastic stresses and more advanced plasticity models

Harmonic pulse testing for well performance monitoring

Harmonic testing was developed as a form of well testing that can be applied during ongoing production or injection operations, as a pulsed signal is superimposed on the background pressure trend. Thus no interruption of well and reservoir production is needed before and during the test. If the pulsed pressure and rate signal analysis is performed in the frequency domain, strong similarity exists between the derivative of the harmonic response function versus the harmonic period and the pressure derivative versus time, typical of conventional well testing. Thus the interpretation of harmonic well tests becomes very straightforward. In this paper, we present the analytical models for the most commonly encountered well and reservoir scenarios and we validate the model for horizontal wells against real data of a harmonic test performed on a gas storage well in Italy

Harmonic pulse testing for well performance monitoring

Harmonic testing was developed as a form of well testing that can be applied during ongoing production or injection operations, as a pulsed signal is superimposed on the background pressure trend. Thus no interruption of well and reservoir production is needed before and during the test. If the pulsed pressure and rate signal analysis is performed in the frequency domain, strong similarity exists between the derivative of the harmonic response function versus the harmonic period and the pressure derivative versus time, typical of conventional well testing. Thus the interpretation of harmonic well tests becomes very straightforward. In this paper, we present the analytical models for the most commonly encountered well and reservoir scenarios and we validate the model for horizontal wells against real data of a harmonic test performed on a gas storage well in Italy