On the theory of seepage waves of pressure in a fracture in a porous permeable medium

Abstract

Seepage pressure waves in fractures in a porous permeable medium are studied. The effects of the reservoir and fracture porosity and permeability, the fracture width, and the rheological properties of the saturating fluid on the perturbation dynamics in the fracture are analyzed. It is shown that in porous permeable reservoirs, fractures are wave channels through which low-frequency fluctuations of borehole pressure propagate. Accurate solutions are obtained which describe the evolution of pressure fields in a fracture with an instantaneous change in the borehole pressure by a constant value. Based on these solutions, dependences of the fluid flow rate on time and interface pressure are determined.