Effects of Heterogeneous Fracture Aperture on Multiphase Production from Shale Reservoirs

Production simulation from fractured shale reservoirs is often performed by simplifying the hydraulic fractures as rectangular planes with homogeneous aperture. This study investigates the effects of heterogeneous fracture aperture and proppant distribution in realistic, non-rectangular fractures on the multi-phase production from shales. The heterogeneous hydraulic fractures are generated with the GEOS multiphysics simulator under realistic 3D stress field. These fractures are embedded into the TOUGH+ multi-phase flow simulator for production simulation. The results emphasize the importance of flow barriers within the hydraulic fractures, due both to low-aperture regions caused by the stress-shadow effect and the settling of proppant. The production rate is particularly sensitive to aperture heterogeneity if the flow barriers are close to the wellbore such that a great portion of fracture volume is isolated from the well. A stage-to-stage comparison reveals that production from different stages could vary significantly because the local stress field leads to different fracture area and aperture. The use of proppant prevents fracture closure, but if the propped regions are far from the well, they do not enhance production because flow barriers between these regions and the well act as bottlenecks. The present study highlights the importance of incorporating aperture heterogeneity into production simulation, provides insights on the relationship between flow barriers, proppant concentration, and well production, and proposes a practical method to mitigate numerical difficulties when modeling heterogeneous fractures.

     

围压下泥岩断裂韧性测试与解释方法

根据围压条件下的断裂力学理论 ,采用双翼裂纹厚壁圆筒 ,对泥岩进行了不同围压和不同泥质含量条件下的人工岩样断裂韧性测试。建立了有限元方法解释断裂韧性的数值模型。在进行大量实验测试的基础上 ,通过回归分析表明 ,断裂韧性与围压、泥质含量有较好的线性统计关系。解决了水力压裂设计中断裂韧性参数的准确获取问题 ,有利于提高压裂设计、预测的精度     

Experimental Method to Simulate Coal Fines Migration and Coal Fines Aggregation Prevention in the Hydraulic Fracture

A simple and effective experimental method is proposed to simulate coal fines migration through the proppant pack; such migration inevitably occurs during the process of fracturing fluid flowback or dewatering and gas production in coalbed methane (CBM) reservoirs. The damage to conductivity caused by coal fines migration in the pack and the factors affecting such migration are analyzed. A dispersion agent of coal fines applicable to hydraulic fracturing in CBM is optimized, consequently solving the problem of coal fines aggregation and retention in the proppant pack. Discharging coal fines with water or water-based fracturing fluid from the proppant pack can be difficult because of the adsorption and hydrophobicity of coal fines. Thus, coal fines are likely to aggregate and be retained in the proppant pack, thereby resulting in pore throat plugging, which causes serious damage to fracture conductivity. Two percent coal fines can reduce propped fracture conductivity by 24.4 %. The mobility and retention of coal fines in the proppant pack are affected by proppant size, proppant type, flowback rate, and coal fines property. When flowback rate exceeds the critical value, coal fines can be discharged from the pack, consequently reducing damage to propped fracture conductivity. More importantly, the steady discharging of coal fines requires steady dewatering and gas production to avoid flow shock, which causes pressure disturbance to drive coal fines in a remote formation. The optimized dispersant FSJ-02 employed in this paper can effectively change the wettability and surface potential of coal fines to improve their suspension and dispersion in water-based fracturing fluid. The recovery rate of coal fines increased by 31.5 %, whereas conductivity increased by 13.3 %.     

A Novel Method for Gas–Water Relative Permeability Measurement of Coal Using NMR Relaxation

Using the conventional volumetric method in unsteady-state relative permeability measurements for unconventional gas reservoirs, such as coal and gas shale, is a significant challenge because the movable water volume in coal or shale is too small to be detected. Moreover, the dead volume in the measurement system adds extra inaccuracy to the displaced water determination. In this study, a low-field nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometer was introduced into a custom-built relative permeability measurement apparatus, and a new method was developed to accurately quantify the displaced water, avoiding the drawback of the dead volume. The changes of water in the coal matrix and cleats were monitored during the unsteady-state displacement experiments. Relative permeability curves for two Chinese anthracite and bituminous coals were obtained, matching the existing research results from the Chinese coalbed methane area. Moreover, the influences of confining pressure on the shape of the relative permeability curve were evaluated. Although uncertainties and limits exist, the NMR-based method is a practical and applicable method to evaluate the gas/water relative permeability of ultra-low permeability rocks.     

压裂页岩气藏多尺度耦合流动数值模拟研究

在碳达峰的国策背景之下,页岩气成为传统能源向绿色清洁低碳能源转型的重要过渡和能源支点.压后页岩气藏流体流动力学成为高效开发页岩气的关键力学问题.文章将小尺度低导流天然裂缝等效升级为连续介质,建立有机质-无机质-天然裂缝三重连续介质模型,同时对大尺度高导流裂缝采用离散裂缝模型刻画,嵌入天然裂缝连续介质中,构建多重连续/离散裂缝模型.综合考虑吸附气的非平衡非线性解吸附和表面扩散,自由气的黏性流和克努森扩散,给出页岩气在多尺度复杂介质中的非线性耦合流动数学模型.提出多尺度扩展有限单元法对离散裂缝进行显式求解,创新性构建三类加强形函数捕捉离散裂缝的局部流场特征,解决了压后页岩海量裂缝及多尺度流动通道的流动模拟难题.文章提出的模型和方法既能准确刻画高导流裂缝对渗流的影响,又克服了海量多尺度离散裂缝导致计算量增大的问题.通过算例展示了压后页岩各连续介质的压力衰减规律,发现裂缝中自由气、有机质中自由气、无机质中吸附气依次滞后的压力(浓度)扩散现象,重点分析了吸附气表面扩散系数、自由气克努森扩散系数、天然裂缝连续介质渗透率和吸附气解吸附速率对页岩气产量的影响.文章重点解决压后页岩多尺度流动通道的表征和...     

页岩气高效开采的可压裂度和射孔簇间距预测

页岩储层的可压裂性是影响页岩气产量的关键因素. 本文基于断裂力学理论, 以高围压下岩石层理弱面的剪切破坏为主要研究对象, 依据岩石抗拉强度和层理弱面抗剪强度的比值关系, 首先提出了可压裂度的概念, 给出了无量纲的定性曲线图, 涵盖了岩石脆性矿物质含量, 粘性主导和韧性主导裂缝尖端流体压强、射孔簇分布间距的综合地质与工程因素. 接着提出了一种新的表征高围压下页岩可压裂度的无量纲参数, 在保证达到充分解吸附的最小压裂间距前提下, 依据该参数可计算水平井压裂中的射孔簇间距, 可作为工程参考指标. 本文将断裂力学理论结合水力压裂高效开采页岩气工程, 具有力学理论意义和工程应用前景.      

页岩储层体积压裂的地应力变化研究

页岩储层属于致密超低渗透储层,需改造形成复杂缝网才有经济产能.体积压裂是页岩储层增产改造的主要措施,而地应力场特别是水平主应力差值是体积压裂的关键控制因素. 理论研究表明:(1)当初始两向水平主应力差较小时,容易形成缝网,反之不易产生缝网;(2)人工裂缝的形成能够改变地层初始应力场. 因此应在前人研究的基础上优化设计压裂方式,以克服和翻转初始水平主应力差值,产生体积缝网.基于此,建立了页岩气藏水平井体积压裂数值模型,模型中采用多孔介质流固耦合单元模拟页岩基质的行为,采用带有孔压的"cohesive"单元描述水力裂缝的性质,模型对"Texas Two-Step" 压裂方法进行了数值模拟,模拟结果得到了压裂过程中地层应力场的分布及其变化,模拟结果和解析公式计算结果吻合良好.模拟结果表明:(1)裂缝的产生减弱了地层应力场的各向异性;(2 对于低水平应力差页岩储层,采用"Texas Two-Step"压裂方法可以产生缝网. 对于采用"Texas Two-Step"压裂方法无法产生缝网的高应力差页岩储层,提出了三次应力"共振" 和四次应力"共振" 压裂方法并进行了数值模拟,模拟结果得到了压裂过程中页岩储层应力场的分布及其变化,得到了缝网形成的区域,模拟结果表明:(1)对于高应力差页岩储层,采用"Texas Two-Step" 压裂方法无法产生缝网;(2)对于高应力差页岩储层,三次应力"共振" 和四次应力"共振"压裂方法是有效的体积压裂缝网形成的方法.      

Gas Permeability of Fractured Sandstone/Coal Samples under Variable Confining Pressure

Rock fractures transmit underground gas effectively once they have sufficient widths and interconnection. However, the fracture geometries needed for gas transport are strongly influenced by surrounding pressure conditions. In order to inspect and quantify the influence of surrounding pressure, we design and manufacture a set of gas flow apparatus that can be connected to the MTS815 material testing system, which provides loads and exhibits external pressures in the experiment. With the apparatus and MTS815, we test the fractured samples of sandstone and coal and obtain their relationship between permeability and external pressure. In particular, our permeability calculation based on collection of gas flux and pressure difference has involved the influence of non-Darcian flow. In addition, our study also includes a numerical simulation in the RFPA software platform to display the internal field changes of cracks. The results show that fracture permeability strongly depends on confining pressure, and a critical pressure probably occurs, about 1.5–2 MPa in our experiments, to split each of the permeability curves into two stages, a slow climb and an exponential rush. As a complement, the numerical simulation also demonstrates one more stage for the permeability curve, the post-rush steady fluctuation.     

Experimental Study and Fractal Analysis of Heterogeneity in Naturally Fractured Rocks

Capillary pressure curves of six low porosity and low permeability core samples from The Geysers geothermal field were measured using the mercury-intrusion approach to characterize the heterogeneity of rock. One high permeability Berea sandstone core sample was analyzed similarly, for comparison. The maximum pressure of mercury intruded into the rock was about 200 MPa to reach the extremely small pores. Experimental data showed that the capillary pressure curves of The Geysers rock are very different from that of the Berea sandstone. It was found that the frequently used capillary pressure models could not be used to represent the data from The Geysers rock samples. This might be because of the fractures in the rock. To this end, a fractal technique was proposed to model the features of the capillary pressure curves and to characterize the difference in heterogeneity between The Geysers rock and Berea sandstone. The results demonstrated that the rock from The Geysers geothermal field was fractal over a scaling range of about five orders of magnitude. The values of the fractal dimension of all the core samples (six from The Geysers and one Berea sandstone) calculated using the proposed approach were in the range from 2 to 3. The results showed that The Geysers rock with a high density of fractures had a greater fractal dimension than Berea sandstone which is almost without fractures. This shows that The Geysers rock has greater heterogeneity, as expected.     

Experiment and simulation of slurry flow in irregular channels to understand proppant transport in complex fractures

Slurry flow and proppant placement in irregular fractures are crucial to evaluate hydraulic fracturing stimulation but need to be better understood. This study aims to investigate how irregular fracture affects proppant transport and distribution using laboratory experiments and micro-scale numerical models. The unresolved method of the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and the discrete element method (DEM) considers Saffman lift force, Magnus force, and virtual mass force to accurately capture the frequent interaction between proppant and slickwater. Experimental results validated the reliability of the optimized CFD-DEM model and calibrated primary parameters. The effects of crack height and width, bending angle, and distance between the crack and inlet on particle distribution were studied. The results indicated that the improved numerical method could rationally simulate proppant transport in fractures at a scale factor. The small crack height causes downward and upward flows, which wash proppant to the fracture rear and form isolated proppant dunes. A wider region in the fracture is beneficial to build up a large dune, and the high dune can hinder particle transport into the fracture rear. When the crack is close to the inlet, the primary fracture without proppants will close to hinder gas production. The smaller the bending angle, the smaller the proppant dune. A regression model can precisely predict the dune coverage ratio. The results fundamentally understand how complex fractures and natural cracks affect slurry flow and proppant distribution.     

含水合物粉质黏土压裂成缝特征实验研究

水力压裂技术是一种重要的油气井增产、增注措施,已经广泛应用于页岩油气等非常规资源的商业开采中.目前对于粉质黏土水合物沉积物的水力压裂成缝能力尚不清楚.本文采用南海水合物沉积层的粉质黏土制备沉积物试样,并与实验室配制的粉细砂土沉积物对比,分析粉质黏土沉积物的水力成缝能力及主控因素.实验结果表明含水合物和冰的沉积物破裂压力较高,这与粉质黏土沉积物特殊的应力-应变特征和渗透性有关.当沉积物应变高于6%时, 试样强度迅速上升, 呈现应变强化的特征,对水力拉伸裂缝的扩展具有一定的阻碍作用. 粉质黏土沉积物粒径细小, 渗透性差,难以通过渗透作用传递压力, 提高了沉积层的破裂压力. 此外,粉质黏土水合物沉积层裂缝扩展存在明显延迟效应,说明裂缝扩展受到流体压力和热应力的共同影响. 适当延长注入时间,保持流体与沉积层充分接触, 会起到分解水合物、降低破裂压力的作用.该研究成果有利于深入理解水力裂缝在水合物沉积层中的扩展规律,对探索压裂技术在水合物沉积层开发中的应用具有重要意义.      

考虑蠕变效应的页岩气水平井控压生产增产机理研究

页岩储层具有基质渗透率低、天然裂缝发育复杂等特点,主要采用多段压裂水平井的方式进行开发.页岩气井的生产分为放压生产和控压生产两种方式,目前学者们普遍认为控压生产能够增加EUR,且应力敏感性是控压生产效果优于放压生产效果的主要原因.文章在考虑基质和裂缝应力敏感的基础上,进一步考虑基质岩石的蠕变效应,建立变压蠕变影响的嵌入式离散裂缝模型,通过数值模拟方法分析应力敏感和蠕变效应对不同生产方式生产效果的影响.结果表明,只考虑应力敏感时,放压生产优于控压生产,只有考虑蠕变效应时,控压生产效果才会优于放压生产,抑制页岩的蠕变效应是控压生产提高气井EUR的机理之一.随控压时长的增加,气井EUR呈现先增加后降低的趋势,控压生产存在一个最优值;基质蠕变参数越大、人工裂缝导流能力越高、基质渗透率越小、吸附体积越小、控压生产增产的效果越好.本研究从机理上解释了控压生产的增产机理,为页岩气井的生产制度优化奠定了基础.     

页岩气藏压裂水平井试井分析

页岩气藏资源丰富,开发潜力巨大,已成为目前研究的热点.与常规气藏相比,页岩气藏运移机制复杂,流动模式呈非线性,有必要考虑页岩气的吸附解吸,天然微裂缝的应力敏感性,人工裂缝内的非达西流等非线性因素对压裂水平井压力响应的影响. 基于双重介质和离散裂缝混合模型,分别采用Langmuir等温吸附方程描述吸附解吸,渗透率指数模型描述应力敏感,Forchheimer方程描述非达西效应,建立页岩气藏压裂水平井数值试井模型. 运用伽辽金有限元法对模型进行求解.根据试井特征曲线,划分流动阶段,着重分析非线性因素对压力响应的影响.结果表明:页岩气藏压裂水平井存在压裂裂缝线性流、压裂裂缝径向流、地层线性流、系统径向流及封闭边界影响5 种流动阶段.吸附解吸的影响发生窜流之后,Langmuir吸附体积增大,拟压力导数曲线凹槽更加明显,系统径向流出现时间与压力波传播到边界时间均延迟;天然裂缝系统的应力敏感性主要影响试井曲线的晚期段,拟压力和拟压力导数曲线均表现为上翘,应力敏感效应越强,上翘幅度越大;高速非达西效应对早期段影响较大,非达西效应越强,拟压力降幅度越大,试井曲线上翘.与解析解的对比以及矿场实例验证了模型的正确性与适用性.      

基于REV尺度格子Boltzmann方法的页岩气流动数值模拟

结合页岩扫描电镜图像,提出页岩气藏物理模型,采用表征单元体积(representative elementary volume,REV)尺度格子Boltzmann方法,考虑滑脱效应,模拟页岩气在页岩气藏中的流动.模拟结果表明,页岩气主要沿着天然裂缝窜进,但在有机质和无机质中也存在缓慢的流动,且有机质中的流速要略大于无机质中的流速.通过改变地层压力,研究地层压力对页岩气渗流特性的影响.研究结果表明,整个流场的速度和渗透率均随着地层压力的下降而增加.     

考虑多重运移机制耦合页岩气藏压裂水平井数值模拟

页岩作为典型的微纳尺度多孔介质,游离气与吸附气共存,传统的达西定律已无法准确描述气体在页岩微纳尺度的运移规律.基于双重介质模型和离散裂缝模型构建页岩气藏分段压裂水平井模型,其中基岩中考虑气体的黏性流、Knudsen 扩散以及气体在基岩孔隙表面的吸附解吸,吸附采用Langmuir等温吸附方程;裂缝中考虑黏性流和Knudsen扩散,在此基础上建立基岩-裂缝双重介质压裂水平井数学模型并采用有限元方法对模型进行求解.结果表明,基岩固有渗透率越小,表面扩散和Knudsen扩散的影响越大,反之则越小;人工裂缝的性质包括条数、开度、半长以及间距,主要影响压裂水平井生产早期,随着人工裂缝参数值的增加,压裂水平井产能增加,累产气量也越大.其次,页岩气藏压裂诱导缝和天然裂缝的发育程度对页岩气藏的产能有很大的影响,水平井周围只有人工裂缝,周围天然裂缝不开启或不发育时,页岩气藏的水平井的产能较低.      

考虑诱导缝多段压裂水平井非均质改造压力动态模型研究

为了准确模拟致密油藏水平井大规模压裂形成复杂裂缝网络系统和非均质储层井底压力变化,建立考虑诱导缝矩形非均质储层多段压裂水平井不稳定渗流数学模型,耦合裂缝模型与储层模型得到有限导流裂缝拉普拉斯空间井底压力解,对两种非均质储层模型分别利用数值解、边界元和已有模型验证其准确性.基于压力导数曲线特征进行流动阶段划分和参数敏感性分析,得到以下结果:和常规压裂水平井井底压力导数曲线相比较,理想模式下,考虑诱导缝影响时特有的流动阶段是综合线性流阶段、诱导缝向压裂裂缝“补充”阶段、储层线性流动阶段和拟边界控制流阶段.诱导缝条数的增加加剧了综合线性流阶段的持续时间,降低了流体渗流阻力,早期阶段压力曲线越低;当诱导缝与压裂裂缝导流能力一定时,裂缝导流能力越大,线性流持续时间越长;当所有压裂裂缝不在一个区域时,沿井筒方向两端区域低渗透率弱化了低渗区域诱导缝流体向压裂裂缝“补充”阶段,因此,沿井筒方向两端区域渗透率越低,早期阶段压力曲线越高;当所有压裂裂缝在一个区域时,渗透率变化只影响径向流阶段之后压力曲线形态,外区渗透率越低,早期径向流阶段之后压力曲线越高.通过实例验证,表明该模型和方法的实用性和准确性.     

New Correlative Models to Improve Prediction of Fracture Permeability and Inertial Resistance Coefficient

Presence of fracture roughness and occurrence of nonlinear flow complicate fluid flow through rock fractures. This paper presents a qualitative and quantitative study on the effects of fracture wall surface roughness on flow behavior using direct flow simulation on artificial fractures. Previous studies have highlighted the importance of roughness on linear and nonlinear flow through rock fractures. Therefore, considering fracture roughness to propose models for the linear and nonlinear flow parameters seems to be necessary. In the current report, lattice Boltzmann method is used to numerically simulate fluid flow through different fracture realizations. Flow simulations are conducted over a wide range of pressure gradients through each fracture. It is observed that creeping flow at lower pressure gradients can be described using Darcy’s law, while transition to inertial flow occurs at higher pressure gradients. By detecting the onset of inertial flow and regression analysis on the simulation results with Forchheimer equation, inertial resistance coefficients are determined for each fracture. Fracture permeability values are also determined from Darcy flow as well. According to simulation results through different fractures, two parametric expressions are proposed for permeability and inertial resistance coefficient. The proposed models are validated using 3D numerical simulations and experimental results. The results obtained from these two proposed models are further compared with those obtained from the conventional models. The calculated average absolute relative errors and correlation coefficients indicate that the proposed models, despite their simplicity, present acceptable outcomes; the models are also more accurate compared to the available methods in the literature.     

循环冲击层理煤岩动力学行为及破坏规律研究

为研究复杂地况下含特征层理煤岩的动态力学行为,采用■50 mm分离式霍普金森压杆实验系统,对含层理(0°、30°、45°、60°、90°)煤岩进行动态三轴循环冲击实验研究,并结合3D轮廓扫描仪量化其断裂界面,分析层理效应和围压效应对煤岩动态力学特性及其损伤破坏规律的影响。研究表明：围压的施加使煤岩应力-应变曲线出现弹性后效现象;较无围压状态,抗压强度提高3.9～4.2倍,失效应变增大2.59～3.05倍。随着层理角度的增大,煤岩的动态抗压强度、弹性模量和能量透射率均呈现先降低后升高的U形分布,在层理角为45°时均达到最小值;能量吸收率和断面粗糙度呈现先增大后减小的∩形分布,损伤变量呈现N形分布,在层理角为45°时达到最大值。煤岩的损伤破坏特征随层理角度的变化可概括为张拉破坏（0°）-剪切破坏（30°、45°和60°）-劈裂破坏（90°）的演变过程,所得特征规律可为实际复杂环境下煤层气资源安全高效开采提供理论支持。     

ADVANCES IN RESEARCH OF HYDRAULIC FRACTURES IN UNCONSOLIDATED SANDS

疏松砂岩水力压裂裂缝的典型特征是大量分支缝、微裂缝和一定钝度的裂缝尖端及剪切带的形成等. 主要通过对相关文献的调研,分析了剪切作用、拉伸作用等对裂缝形态特征（起裂、转向、延伸）等力学行为所产生的影响,通过针对一些疏松砂岩的压裂实验研究发现,其滤失过程主要受到缝尖区域的影响,而且滤失一般发生在裂缝扩展之前. 裂缝缝尖周围的局部应力往往是影响裂缝起裂和裂缝开度的主导参数,裂缝的形态特征则是应力、渗透率、流态等综合作用的结果,对疏松砂岩裂缝形态特征的形成做了进一步的解释.     

页岩气和致密砂岩气藏微裂缝气体传输特性

页岩气和致密砂岩气藏发育微裂缝,其开度多在纳米级和微米级尺度且变化大,因此微裂缝气体传输机理异常复杂.本文基于滑脱流动和努森扩散模型,分别以分子之间碰撞频率和分子与壁面碰撞频率占总碰撞频率的比值作为滑脱流动和努森扩散的权重系数,耦合这两种传输机理,建立了微裂缝气体传输模型. 该模型考虑微裂缝形状和尺度对气体传输的影响. 模型可靠性用分子模拟数据验证.结果表明:(1)模型能够合理描述微裂缝中所有气体传输机理,包括连续流动,滑脱流动和过渡流动;(2)模型能够描述不同开发阶段,微裂缝中各气体传输机理对传输贡献的逐渐变化过程;(3)微裂缝形状和尺度影响气体传输,相同开度且宽度越大的微裂缝,气体传输能力越强,且在高压和微裂缝大开度的情况下表现更明显.