Friday, 6th August, 2021
7.30 PM Chennai
9.00 AM Champaign
Prof. Carlos Armando Duarte
Nathan Newmark Endowed Professor
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Three-DimensionalModeling of Multi-Stage Hydraulic Fracturing and Wave Propagation in Fluid-Filled Fractures within a Generalized Finite Element Framework
Abstract: Hydraulic fracturing is the process in which fracture propagates through the injection of pressurized fluid in its cavity. This process is widely used in the oil and gas industry to increase reservoir permeability which leads to high rates of both injection and production. Hydraulic fractures are often created in a multi-stage process which can lead to complex fracture geometries due to fracture interactions and fracture realignment with the preferential propagation direction. A precise estimate of the fracture geometry created during hydraulic stimulation operations is believed to be key to maximizing the extraction of hydrocarbons from unconventional resource plays.We are pursuing a two-pronged strategy to achieve this: Simulations are used to predict fracture geometry and to infer it from field data.
The first part of this talk focuses on recent advances of an adaptive Generalized Finite Element Method (GFEM) for the simulation of multiple 3-D non-planar hydraulic fracture propagation near a wellbore. This method is particularly appealing for the discretization of complex fractures since it does not require the finite element mesh to fit fracture faces. Several wellbore and fracture configurations are investigated to demonstrate the non-intuitive propagation behavior in these near-wellbore conditions and the robustness of the proposed GFEM methodology.
The second part of the talk presents a novel 3-D methodology to robustly simulate waves in fluid-filled fractures. This methodology can be used for inferring fracture geometry using pressure transients in the wellbore. The transient response may be generated from a controlled source input such as in hydraulic impedance testing or may be the by-product of a water hammer generated in the wellbore when pumping operations are rapidly shut down. The pressure pulse created travels down the wellbore and back multiple times and the interaction with open fractures connected to the wellbore influences the frequency and attenuation of this traveling wave. The governing equations for simulating waves in fluid-filled fractures are presented and representative examples are explored to analyze the behavior of such waves and the robustness of the proposed Generalized Finite Element methodology for the solution of this class of wave propagation problem.
The first part of this talk focuses on recent advances of an adaptive Generalized Finite Element Method (GFEM) for the simulation of multiple 3-D non-planar hydraulic fracture propagation near a wellbore. This method is particularly appealing for the discretization of complex fractures since it does not require the finite element mesh to fit fracture faces. Several wellbore and fracture configurations are investigated to demonstrate the non-intuitive propagation behavior in these near-wellbore conditions and the robustness of the proposed GFEM methodology.
The second part of the talk presents a novel 3-D methodology to robustly simulate waves in fluid-filled fractures. This methodology can be used for inferring fracture geometry using pressure transients in the wellbore. The transient response may be generated from a controlled source input such as in hydraulic impedance testing or may be the by-product of a water hammer generated in the wellbore when pumping operations are rapidly shut down. The pressure pulse created travels down the wellbore and back multiple times and the interaction with open fractures connected to the wellbore influences the frequency and attenuation of this traveling wave. The governing equations for simulating waves in fluid-filled fractures are presented and representative examples are explored to analyze the behavior of such waves and the robustness of the proposed Generalized Finite Element methodology for the solution of this class of wave propagation problem.