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Study of the Effects of Geo-mechanical and Hydro-mechanical Parameters on Hydraulic Fracturing Characteristics in Oil Reservoirs by Numerical Modeling

Esfandiari, Morteza | 2020

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  1. Type of Document: M.Sc. Thesis
  2. Language: Farsi
  3. Document No: 53782 (09)
  4. University: Sharif University of Technology
  5. Department: Civil Engineering
  6. Advisor(s): Pak, Ali
  7. Abstract:
  8. Increasing the permeability of hydrocarbon reservoirs by creating artificial cracks that are induced by injection of fluids under high pressures is called Hydraulic Fracturing operation. This method is widely used in petroleum reservoir engineering. For design of Hydraulic Fracture operations, a number of methods have been developed. KGD and PKN are the first and most used methods in this area and despite the development of advanced softwares in recent years, these methods are still popular and are used in a number of softwares. KGD is commonly used for induced fractures where the height of fracture is greater than its length, and PKN is normally used where the length of the fracture is greater than its height. In both models Plane Strain condition is assumed (for the former in horizontal plane and for the latter in vertical plane) and the characteristics of the fracture namely: fracture length ( L) , fracture width / aperture (w), and fluid pressure at the crack opening (p) are determined based on closed form relations. In these relations the reservoir rock stiffness, Poisson’s ratio, injection rate and injection time are taken into account.Despite their ease of use, KGD and PKN models do not consider some important geo-mechanical and hydro-mechanical parameters and this shortcoming renders their solutions to be approximate. The aim of this research is evaluating the effects of these parameters on the fracture length, width, and fluid pressure using Finite Element simulations, employing XFEM method. The parameters that have been studied are: in-situ stress field, viscosity of the injecting fluid, permeability of the reservoir rock, length and direction of perforations, and initial pore fluid pressure in the reservoir. The outcome of this research is a number of correction factors that can be used for improvement of the results of KGD and PKN models for scrutinizing the design of hydraulic fracture process in oil reservoirs
  9. Keywords:
  10. Hydraulic Fracturing ; Extended Finite Element Method ; Numerical Modeling ; Khristianovic-Geertsma-Deklek Model ; Perkins-Kern-Nordgren Model ; Geomechanical Process ; Permeability

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