Downhole Microseismic Monitoring Using FOSS and Its Field Test Comparison With Moving-Coil Geophone

We report downhole microseismic monitoring field test results of a fiber-optic-based seismic sensor (FOSS) array in a multistage hydraulic fracturing stimulation and present, for the first time, its systematic comparison with the conventional moving-coil geophone array deployed on-site. Perforation shots' analysis demonstrates that the FOSS has similar to 7.5 dB higher narrow-band signal-to-noise ratio and, thus, 2.3 times smaller azimuth calibration error than the commercial moving-coil geophone. These benefits are mainly attributed to the intrinsic immunity to electromagnetic interference and a higher frequency resonance of FOSS. Field test results show that the FOSS can identify P- and S-waves of microseismic events, the temporal and spatial distributions of which are consistent with the geophone. In addition, the FOSS is found preferable to detect microseismic events with higher frequencies from some hundreds of Hz-to-kHz range. This superior ability contributes to distinct signatures in the identified P- and S-waves, including a shorter event duration and more concentrated frequency band, comparing to those collected by the geophone. The fracture interpretation results validate the application of fiber-optic seismic sensors on downhole microseismic monitoring.