IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v16y2023i4p1601-d1058708.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Fully Coupled Hydro-Mechanical Approach for Multi-Fracture Propagation Simulations

Author

Listed:
  • Yinghao Deng

    (State Key Laboratory of Shale Oil and Gas Enrichment Mechanisms and Effective Development, Beijing 102206, China
    State Energy Center for Shale Oil Research and Development, Beijing 100728, China
    State Key Laboratory of Petroleum Resources and Prospecting, Beijing 102249, China)

  • Di Wang

    (State Key Laboratory of Shale Oil and Gas Enrichment Mechanisms and Effective Development, Beijing 102206, China
    State Energy Center for Shale Oil Research and Development, Beijing 100728, China)

  • Yan Jin

    (State Key Laboratory of Petroleum Resources and Prospecting, Beijing 102249, China)

  • Yang Xia

    (State Key Laboratory of Petroleum Resources and Prospecting, Beijing 102249, China)

Abstract

Hydraulic fracturing is a complex nonlinear hydro-mechanical coupled process. Accurate numerical simulation is of great significance for reducing fracturing costs and improving reservoir development benefits. The aim of this paper is to propose an efficient numerical simulation method for the fracturing-to-production problem under a unified framework that has good convergence and accuracy. A hydro-mechanical coupled fracturing model (HMFM) is established for poroelastic media saturated with a compressible fluid, and the local characteristics of the physical field are fully considered. Each fracture is explicitly characterized using the discrete fracture model (DFM), which can better reflect the physical characteristics near fractures. Based on the extended finite element method (XFEM) and the Newton–Raphson method, a fully coupled approach named Unified Extended Finite Element (UXFEM) is developed, which can solve the nonlinear system of equations that describe the solution under a unified framework. UXFEM can accurately capture the local physical characteristics of different physical fields on the orthogonal structured grids. It realizes the grid-fracture decoupling, and fractures can propagate in any direction, which shows greater flexibility in simulating fracture propagation. The fully coupled approach can better reflect the essential relationship between pressure, stress, and fracture, which is beneficial to studying hydro-mechanical coupled problems. To validate the UXFEM, UXFEM is compared with the classical KGD model, analytic solution, and COMSOL solution. Finally, based on UXFEM, the interference phenomenon and fracturing-to-production study are carried out to prove the broad practical application prospect of this new fully coupled approach.

Suggested Citation

  • Yinghao Deng & Di Wang & Yan Jin & Yang Xia, 2023. "A Fully Coupled Hydro-Mechanical Approach for Multi-Fracture Propagation Simulations," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(4), pages 1-23, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:16:y:2023:i:4:p:1601-:d:1058708
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/4/1601/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/4/1601/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Devloo, Philippe R.B. & Fernandes, Paulo Dore & Gomes, Sônia M. & Bravo, Cedric Marcelo Augusto Ayala & Damas, Renato Gomes, 2006. "A finite element model for three dimensional hydraulic fracturing," Mathematics and Computers in Simulation (MATCOM), Elsevier, vol. 73(1), pages 142-155.
    2. Li, Sanbai & Feng, Xia-Ting & Zhang, Dongxiao & Tang, Huiying, 2019. "Coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical analysis of stimulation and production for fractured geothermal reservoirs," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 247(C), pages 40-59.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Heinze, Thomas, 2021. "Constraining the heat transfer coefficient of rock fractures," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 177(C), pages 433-447.
    2. Yang, Fujian & Wang, Guiling & Hu, Dawei & Liu, Yanguang & Zhou, Hui & Tan, Xianfeng, 2021. "Calibrations of thermo-hydro-mechanical coupling parameters for heating and water-cooling treated granite," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 544-558.
    3. Liu, Jun & Zhao, Peng & Peng, Jiao & Xian, Hongyu, 2024. "Insight into the investigation of heat extraction performance affected by natural fractures in enhanced geothermal system (EGS) with THM multiphysical field model," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 231(C).
    4. Liao, Jianxing & Xu, Bin & Mehmood, Faisal & Hu, Ke & Wang, Hong & Hou, Zhengmeng & Xie, Yachen, 2023. "Numerical study of the long-term performance of EGS based on discrete fracture network with consideration of fracture deformation," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 216(C).
    5. Qiu, Lihua & He, Li & Kang, Yu & Liang, Dongzhe, 2022. "Assessment of the potential of enhanced geothermal systems in Asia under the impact of global warming," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 194(C), pages 636-646.
    6. Xufeng Yan & Kangsheng Xue & Xiaobo Liu & Xiaolou Chi, 2023. "A Novel Numerical Method for Geothermal Reservoirs Embedded with Fracture Networks and Parameter Optimization for Power Generation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-18, June.
    7. Jiansheng, Wang & Lide, Su & Qiang, Zhu & Jintao, Niu, 2022. "Numerical investigation on power generation performance of enhanced geothermal system with horizontal well," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 325(C).
    8. Zheng, Shuai & Li, Sanbai & Zhang, Dongxiao, 2021. "Fluid and heat flow in enhanced geothermal systems considering fracture geometrical and topological complexities: An extended embedded discrete fracture model," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 163-178.
    9. Ma, Yuanyuan & Li, Shibin & Zhang, Ligang & Liu, Songze & Liu, Zhaoyi & Li, Hao & Shi, Erxiu & Zhang, Haijun, 2020. "Numerical simulation study on the heat extraction performance of multi-well injection enhanced geothermal system," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 782-795.
    10. Du, Xin & Jiang, Yuxi & Yang, Feng & Lu, Detang, 2024. "Thermo-hydro-mechanical fully coupled model for enhanced geothermal system and numerical solution method based on finite volume method," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 237(PA).
    11. Wu, Xiaotian & Yu, Likui & Hassan, N.M.S. & Ma, Weiwu & Liu, Gang, 2021. "Evaluation and optimization of heat extraction in enhanced geothermal system via failure area percentage," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 169(C), pages 204-220.
    12. Yu, Likui & Wu, Xiaotian & Hassan, N.M.S. & Wang, Yadan & Ma, Weiwu & Liu, Gang, 2020. "Modified zipper fracturing in enhanced geothermal system reservoir and heat extraction optimization via orthogonal design," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 373-385.
    13. Watanabe, Noriaki & Saito, Kohei & Okamoto, Atsushi & Nakamura, Kengo & Ishibashi, Takuya & Saishu, Hanae & Komai, Takeshi & Tsuchiya, Noriyoshi, 2020. "Stabilizing and enhancing permeability for sustainable and profitable energy extraction from superhot geothermal environments," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 260(C).
    14. Zhang, Jie & Xie, Jingxuan, 2020. "Effect of reservoir’s permeability and porosity on the performance of cellular development model for enhanced geothermal system," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 824-838.
    15. Wang, Jiacheng & Zhao, Zhihong & Liu, Guihong & Xu, Haoran, 2022. "A robust optimization approach of well placement for doublet in heterogeneous geothermal reservoirs using random forest technique and genetic algorithm," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 254(PC).
    16. Zhou, Chunwei & Liu, Gang & Liao, Shengming, 2024. "Probing fractured reservoir of enhanced geothermal systems with fuzzy-genetic inversion model: Impacts of geothermal reservoir environment," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 290(C).
    17. Wang, Zhipeng & Ning, Zhengfu & Guo, Wenting & Zhan, Jie & Zhang, Yuanxin, 2024. "Study of fracture monitoring and heat extraction evaluation in geothermal reservoir modified by abandoned well pattern: Numerical models and case studies," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 296(C).
    18. Chai, Rukuan & Liu, Yuetian & Xue, Liang & Rui, Zhenhua & Zhao, Ruicheng & Wang, Jingru, 2022. "Formation damage of sandstone geothermal reservoirs: During decreased salinity water injection," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 322(C).
    19. Chen, Guodong & Jiao, Jiu Jimmy & Jiang, Chuanyin & Luo, Xin, 2024. "Surrogate-assisted level-based learning evolutionary search for geothermal heat extraction optimization," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 189(PB).
    20. Liu, Yujie & Wu, Hui & Taleghani, Arash Dahi & Zhang, Kun & Zhang, Jinjiang & Yang, Ming & Zhang, Bo, 2024. "Effects of temperature-dependent viscosity on thermal drawdown-induced fracture flow channeling in enhanced geothermal systems," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 235(C).

    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:16:y:2023:i:4:p:1601-:d:1058708. 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.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with 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.