Underground microseismic monitoring of a hydraulic fracturing operation for CBM reservoirs in a coal mine

Hydraulic fracturing can evidently improve the coalbed methane production in underground coal mines, but it is difficult to delimit the stimulated area accurately. In order to evaluate the stimulated area, microseismic (MS) monitoring technique is proposed to investigate the seismic responses of the induced fractures of hydraulic fracturing. Three coal seams were targeted to be treated in a coal mine. An array of geophones was set along the underground roadway to detect the MS signals caused by HF. In order to verify the result of MS monitoring, water content of each coal seam has been measured before and after HF treatment. The results showed that a series of MS events were detected during the entire HF process, and a sharp MS event usually occurred during the first hour of HF process. The energy of the sharp MS event had higher magnitude than others. The MS distribution exhibited complex morphological features. The directionless MS response was distributed over a radius of less than 40 m but tended to be significantly conjugated with a radius of more than 40 m. HF could stimulate both the coal seam and the rock layers nearby. The achievable stimulated area in the coal seam was determined to be 50 m x 50 m according to the MS density and water content. The stimulated area in terms of MS density was easily found to be broader than the area of water direct intrusion. The present study indicated that MS monitoring technique could potentially be used for evaluation of HF in underground coal mine.