IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v11y2018i11p3035-d180621.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Numerical Study on the Diversion Mechanisms of Fracture Networks in Tight Reservoirs with Frictional Natural Fractures

Author

Listed:
  • Daobing Wang

    (School of Mechanical Engineering, Beijing Key Laboratory of Pipeline Critical Technology and Equipment for Deepwater Oil & Gas Development, Beijing Institute of Petrochemical Technology, Beijing 102617, China
    School of Aeronautic Science and Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100083, China
    Current address: 19 Qing-yuan North Road, Huang-cun, Da-xing District, Beijing 102617, China.
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Fang Shi

    (Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, Huaiyin Institute of Technology, Huai’an 223003, China
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Bo Yu

    (School of Mechanical Engineering, Beijing Key Laboratory of Pipeline Critical Technology and Equipment for Deepwater Oil & Gas Development, Beijing Institute of Petrochemical Technology, Beijing 102617, China)

  • Dongliang Sun

    (School of Mechanical Engineering, Beijing Key Laboratory of Pipeline Critical Technology and Equipment for Deepwater Oil & Gas Development, Beijing Institute of Petrochemical Technology, Beijing 102617, China)

  • Xiuhui Li

    (The Conventional Natural Gas Research Institute, China Univeristy of Petroleum, Beijing 102249, China)

  • Dongxu Han

    (School of Mechanical Engineering, Beijing Key Laboratory of Pipeline Critical Technology and Equipment for Deepwater Oil & Gas Development, Beijing Institute of Petrochemical Technology, Beijing 102617, China)

  • Yanxin Tan

    (The Conventional Natural Gas Research Institute, China Univeristy of Petroleum, Beijing 102249, China)

Abstract

An opened natural fracture (NF) intercepted by a pressurized hydro-fracture (HF) will be diverted in a new direction at the tips of the original NF and subsequently form a complex fracture network. However, a clear understanding of the diversion behavior of fracture networks in tight reservoirs with frictional NFs is lacking. By means of the extended finite element method(XFEM), this study investigates the diversion mechanisms of an opened NF intersected by an HF in naturally fractured reservoirs. The factors affecting the diversion behavior are intensively analyzed, such as the location of the NF, the horizontal principal stress difference, the intersection angle between HF and NF, and the viscosity of the fracturing fluid. The results show that for a constant length of NF (7 m): (1) the upper length of the diverted fracture (DF) decreases by about 2 m with a 2 m increment of the upper length of NF ( L u p p e r ), while the length of DF increases 9.06 m with the fluid viscosity increased by 99 mPa · s; (2) the deflection angle in the upper parts increases by 30.8° with the stress difference increased by 5 MPa, while the deflection angle increases by 61.2° with the intersection angle decreased by 30°. It is easier for the opened NF in lower parts than that in upper parts to be diverted away from its original direction. It finally diverts back to the preferred fracture plane (PFP) direction. The diversion mechanisms of the fracture network are the results of the combined action of all factors. This will provide new insight into the mechanisms of fracture network generation in tight reservoirs with NFs.

Suggested Citation

  • Daobing Wang & Fang Shi & Bo Yu & Dongliang Sun & Xiuhui Li & Dongxu Han & Yanxin Tan, 2018. "A Numerical Study on the Diversion Mechanisms of Fracture Networks in Tight Reservoirs with Frictional Natural Fractures," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-28, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:11:y:2018:i:11:p:3035-:d:180621
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/11/11/3035/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/11/11/3035/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Amjed M. Hassan & Mohamed A. Mahmoud & Abdulaziz A. Al-Majed & Ayman R. Al-Nakhli & Mohammed A. Bataweel & Salaheldin Elkatatny, 2019. "Mitigation of Condensate Banking Using Thermochemical Treatment: Experimental and Analytical Study," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-12, February.
    2. Jianchao Cai & Zhien Zhang & Qinjun Kang & Harpreet Singh, 2019. "Recent Advances in Flow and Transport Properties of Unconventional Reservoirs," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-5, May.
    3. Yingying Wang & Cong Wang & Guoheng Liu & Chong Zhang & Jianchang Li, 2022. "An Assessment Method of Sealing Performance and Stress Intensity Factors at Crack Tip of Subsea Connector Metal Sealing Rings," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-16, June.
    4. Yu Suo & Zhixi Chen & Hao Yan & Daobing Wang & Yun Zhang, 2019. "Using Cohesive Zone Model to Simulate the Hydraulic Fracture Interaction with Natural Fracture in Poro-Viscoelastic Formation," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-12, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:11:y:2018:i:11:p:3035-:d:180621. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.