TY  - JOUR
A1  - Niemz, Peter
A1  - Cesca, Simone
A1  - Heimann, Sebastian
A1  - Grigoli, Francesco
A1  - von Specht, Sebastian
A1  - Hammer, Conny
A1  - Zang, Arno
A1  - Dahm, Torsten
T1  - Full-waveform-based characterization of acoustic emission activity in a mine-scale experiment
BT  - a comparison of conventional and advanced hydraulic fracturing schemes
JF  - Geophysical journal international / the Royal Astronomical Society, the Deutsche Geophysikalische Gesellschaft and the European Geophysical Society
N2  - Understanding fracturing processes and the hydromechanical relation to induced seismicity is a key question for enhanced geothermal systems (EGS). Commonly massive fluid injection, predominately causing hydroshearing, are used in large-scale EGS but also hydraulic fracturing approaches were discussed. To evaluate the applicability of hydraulic fracturing techniques in EGS, six in situ, multistage hydraulic fracturing experiments with three different injection schemes were performed under controlled conditions in crystalline rock at the Aspo Hard Rock Laboratory (Sweden). During the experiments the near-field ground motion was continuously recorded by 11 piezoelectric borehole sensors with a sampling rate of 1 MHz. The sensor network covered a volume of 30x30x30 m around a horizontal, 28-m-long injection borehole at a depth of 410 m. To extract and characterize massive, induced, high-frequency acoustic emission (AE) activity from continuous recordings, a semi-automated workflow was developed relying on full waveform based detection, classification and location procedures. The approach extended the AE catalogue from 196 triggered events in previous studies to more than 19600 located AEs. The enhanced catalogue, for the first time, allows a detailed analysis of induced seismicity during single hydraulic fracturing experiments, including the individual fracturing stages and the comparison between injection schemes. Beside the detailed study of the spatio-temporal patterns, event clusters and the growth of seismic clouds, we estimate relative magnitudes and b-values of AEs for conventional, cyclic progressive and dynamic pulse injection schemes, the latter two being fatigue hydraulic fracturing techniques. While the conventional fracturing leads to AE patterns clustered in planar regions, indicating the generation of a single main fracture plane, the cyclic progressive injection scheme results in a more diffuse, cloud-like AE distribution, indicating the activation of a more complex fracture network. For a given amount of hydraulic energy (pressure multiplied by injected volume) pumped into the system, the cyclic progressive scheme is characterized by a lower rate of seismicity, lower maximum magnitudes and significantly larger b-values, implying an increased number of small events relative to the large ones. To our knowledge, this is the first direct comparison of high resolution seismicity in a mine-scale experiment induced by different hydraulic fracturing schemes.
KW  - Fracture and flow
KW  - Spatial analysis
KW  - Statistical methods
KW  - Time-series analysis
KW  - Induced seismicity
Y1  - 2020
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggaa127
SN  - 0955-419X
SN  - 1365-246X
VL  - 222
IS  - 1
SP  - 189
EP  - 206
PB  - Oxford Univ. Press
CY  - Oxford
ER  -