An efficient inversion method to interpret distributed temperature measurement of horizontal wells in shale gas reservoirs

In order to obtain accurate production profile and fracture parameters of horizontal wells in shale gas reservoir from distributed temperature sensing (DTS) data, an efficient inversion method based on improved dichotomy (ID) algorithm has been developed. It has realized quantitative interpretation of production profile and fracture parameters. The synthetic case indicates the inversion calculation of the ID inversion model is 9 times faster than that of conventional inversion algorithm. Finally, the ID inversion model has been applied to a field case to inverse the DTS data. 69 effective artificial fractures have been identified. The production profile and fracture half-length of the field well are obtained. The interpreted fracture half-length indicates that the extension of the hydraulic fractures is extremely uneven. There are obvious dominant fractures in several fracturing stages of which the fracture half-length is more than 120 m, however, the average fracture half-length of the field case is only 61.21 m. The inversion simulated temperature profile matches the measured DTS data well. The interpreted production profile is in good agreement with the PLT testing results that verifies the reliability of the developed ID inversion model.