An investigation of hydraulic fracturing. Part I: one-phase flow model

The prediction of the growth of a hydraulic fracture in an oil bearing formation based on the injection rate of fluid is valuable in applications of the waterflood technique in secondary oil recovery. In this paper, the problem of hydraulic fracture growth is studied under the assumption of uniform distribution of pressure in the fracture and unidirectional permeating flow in an infinitely large isothermal linearly elastic porous medium saturated with a one-phase incompressible fluid. The condition of plane strain is imposed in the study. A comparison of the constant fracture toughness criterion based on the asymptotic value for large crack growth with the crack tip ductility criterion for an ideally plastic solid under plane strain and small-scale yielding conditions indicates that the effect of ductility of rock on the crack growth is so small that the steady state value of the energy release rate can be reached within a short period of crack growth. Thus we can employ the constant fracture toughness criterion in our study. The analysis includes the effects of both fracture volume increase and leak-off of fluid from the surface of the fracture. A nonlinear singular integro-differential equation can be formulated for the quasi-static hydraulic fracture growth under a prescribed injection rate. It is solved numerically by a modified fourth order Runge-Kutta method.     

Analysis of heating a three-dimensional porous bed utilizing the two energy equation model

In this paper heating a three-dimensional porous packed bed by a non-thermal equilibrium flow of incompressible fluid is analytically investigated. A two energy equation model is employed to simulate the temperature difference between the fluid and solid phases. Using the perturbation technique, an analytical solution for the problem is obtained. It is shown that the temperature difference between the fluid and solid phases forms a wave localized in space and propagating from the fluid inlet boundary in the direction of the flow. The amplitude of the wave decreases while the wave propagates downstream.     

The dynamic response of an incompressible non-linearly elastic membrane tube subjected to a dynamic extension

The dynamic response of an isotropic hyperelastic membrane tube, subjected to a dynamic extension at its one end, is studied. In the first part of the paper, an asymptotic expansion technique is used to derive a non-linear membrane theory for finite axially symmetric dynamic deformations of incompressible non-linearly elastic circular cylindrical tubes by starting from the three-dimensional elasticity theory. The equations governing dynamic axially symmetric deformations of the membrane tube are obtained for an arbitrary form of the strain-energy function. In the second part of the paper, finite amplitude wave propagation in an incompressible hyperelastic membrane tube is considered when one end is fixed and the other is subjected to a suddenly applied dynamic extension. A Godunov-type finite volume method is used to solve numerically the corresponding problem. Numerical results are given for the Mooney-Rivlin incompressible material. The question how the present numerical results are related to those obtained in the literature is discussed.     

On the flow of a viscous fluid driven along a channel by suction at porous walls

This paper is a theoretical treatment of the flow of a viscous incompressible fluid driven along a channel by steady uniform suction through porous parallel rigid walls. Many authors have found such flows when they are symmetric, steady and two-dimensional, by assuming a similarity form of solution due to Berman in order to reduce the Navier-Stokes equations to a nonlinear ordinary differential equation. We generalise their work by considering asymmetric flows, unsteady flows and three-dimensional perturbations. By use of numerical calculations, matched asymptotic expansions for large values of the Reynolds number, and the theory of dynamical systems, we find many more exact solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations, examine their stability, and interpret them. In particular, we show that most previously found steady solutions are unstable to antisymmetric two-dimensional disturbances. This leads to a pitchfork bifurcation, stable asymmetric steady solutions, a Hopf bifurcation, stable time-periodic solutions, stable quasi-periodic solutions, phase locking and chaos in succession as the Reynolds number increases.     

Interaction between hydraulic and natural fractures

The results of a numerical simulation of the interaction between a hydraulic fracture propagating under plane-strain conditions in an infinite impermeable elastic medium and an already existing natural fault are presented. The fracture is created by an incompressible Newtonian fluid injected at a constant flow rate from a source located at its center; the behavior of the fault is described by a dry friction model of the Mohr-Coulomb type. The results obtained are in agreement with the available studies in this field of research.     

An effective model for the lubrication with micropolar fluid

In this paper, using asymptotic analysis, we study the lubrication process with incompressible micropolar fluid. Starting from 3D micropolar equations, we derive the higher-order asymptotic model explicitly acknowledging the microstructure effects. The effective equations are similar to the Brinkman model for porous medium flow.     

The flow of closely fitting particles in tapered tubes

The flow of rigid spheres, truncated cones and elastic incompressible spheres in tapered tubes is investigated assuming that the Reynolds equation is valid in the fluid and the linear theory of elasticity is applicable in the solid. It is shown that leading terms in the asymptotic expansion of pressure drop in terms of minimum fluid film thickness for neutrally buoyant rigid spheres and truncated cones are of higher order of magnitude compared to the corresponding terms for the flow of these particles in circular cylindrical tubes. The effect of taper angle on pressure drop is reduced in the case of soft elastic particles because of particle deformations and significant velocities at the particle surface.     

Numerical modeling of flow past a volumeless and thin rigid body using direct forcing immersed boundary method

The new capability has been added as the numerical method for modeling volumeless and thin rigid bodies to the direct forcing immersed boundary (DFIB) method. The DFIB approach is based on adding a virtual force to the Navier–Stokes equations of incompressible flow to account for the interaction between the fluid and structures. The volume of a solid function (VOS) identifies the stationary or moving solid structures in a given fluid domain. A new VOS-based algorithm was developed to identify thin, rigid structure boundary points in fluid flow and ensure that the fluid cannot cross through the boundary of a thin rigid structure while moving or stationary. The DFIB method was first validated in a three-dimensional (3D) turbulent flow over a circular cylinder. The large-eddy simulation simulated the turbulent flow scales. The proposed algorithm was tested using a 3D turbulent flow past a stationary and rotating Savonius wind turbine that functions as a thin, rigid body. The validation results showed that the selected DFIB approach, combined with the novel algorithm, could simulate a thin, volumeless, rigid structure that is stationary and rotating in incompressible turbulent flows. The current method is also applicable for two-way fluid-structure interaction problems.     

Modelling the three-dimensional flow of a semi-dilute polymer solution in microfluidics—on the effect of aspect ratio

The flow of polymer solutions in microfluidic devices is inherently three-dimensional, especially in the non-linear flow regime, and often results in flow phenomena that might not even be encountered in macro-devices. Using a multi-mode Phan-Thien–Tanner model, three-dimensional (3-D) simulations of a semi-dilute polyethylene oxide (PEO) solution through 8:1 planar contraction micro-channels with various depths have been carried out to systematically study the effect of the aspect ratio on the flow fields. Vortex dynamics in the upstream flow section and excess pressure drop are quantified in detail. A transition from a salient-corner vortex mechanism to a lip vortex mechanism is observed as the aspect ratio is varied from 1 to 1/4, which corresponds to the elasticity numbers El = 36.3 to 48.3. The numerical results show that varying the aspect ratio of microfluidic channels has similar effects to varying other parameters, such as fluid properties, which influence the elasticity number. Thus, our results support the view that vortex growth mechanism is determined by the elasticity number, which is fixed for a given fluid and geometry. The principle is of significance to the design of new microfluidic chips for a wide range of applications.     

Self-similar solutions of the problem of formation of a hydraulic fracture in a porous medium

The problem of hydraulic fracture formation in a porous medium is investigated in the approximation of small fracture opening and inertialess incompressible Newtonian fluid fracture flow when the seepage through the fracture walls into the surrounding reservoir is asymptotically small or large. It is shown that the system of equations describing the propagation of the fracture has self-similar solutions of power-law or exponential form only. A family of self-similar solutions is constructed in order to determine the evolution of the fracture width and length, the fluid velocity in the fracture, and the length of fluid penetration into the porous medium when either the fluid flow rate or the pressure as a power-law or exponential function of time is specified at the fracture entrance. In the case of finite fluid penetration into the soil the system of equations has only a power-law self-similar solution, for example, when the fluid flow rate is specified at the fracture entrance as a quadratic function of time. The solutions of the self-similar equations are found numerically for one of the seepage regimes.     

Displacement of Cr(III)–Partially Hydrolyzed Polyacrylamide Gelling Solution in a Fracture in Porous Media

During waterflooding of a fractured formation, water may channel through the fracture or interconnected network of fractures, leaving a large portion of oil bearing rock unswept. One remedial practice is injection of a gelling solution into the fracture. Such placement of a gelling mixture is associated with leak-off from the fracture face into the adjoining matrix. Design of a gel treatment needs understanding of the flow of gelling mixture in and around the fracture. This flow is addressed here for Cr(III)–partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide formulation through experiments and conceptual model. A fractured slab was used to develop a lab-model, where the flow along the fracture and simultaneous leak-off into the matrix can be controlled. Also, the fracture and matrix properties had to be evaluated individually for a meaningful analysis of the displacement of gelling solution. During this displacement, the gelling fluid leaked off from the fracture into the matrix as a front, resulting in a decreasing velocity (and pressure gradient) along the fracture. With pressure in the fracture held constant with time, the leak-off rate decreased as the viscous front progressed into the matrix. The drop in leak-off rate was rapid during the initial phase of displacement. A simple model, based on the injection of a viscous solution into the dual continua, could explain the displacement of Cr(III)–polyacrylamide gelling mixture through the fractured slab. This study rules out any major complication from the immature gelling fluid, e.g., build-up of cake layer on the fracture face. The model, due to its simplicity may become useful for quick sizing of gel treatment, and any regression-based evaluation of fluid properties in a fracture for other applications.     

Stagnation-point viscous flow of an incompressible fluid between porous plates with uniform blowing

The axially-symmetric laminar flow of an incompressible viscous fluid resulting from uniform injection through two parallel porous plates is analyzed. An exact numerical solution as well as asymptotic solutions for high and low Reynolds numbers are obtained. It is found that the velocity component normal to the porous plates is everywhere independent of radial position. This property of uniform accessibility may make this flow geometry a useful experimental tool analogous to the rotating disc. The analysis of high Peclet number mass transfer across the center plane of this geometry is presented as an example.     

Unsteady flow of a dusty Bingham fluid through a porous medium in a circular pipe

A time-varying flow through a porous medium of a dusty viscous incompressible Bingham fluid in a circular pipe is studied. A constant pressure gradient is applied in the axial direction, whereas the particle phase is assumed to behave as a viscous fluid. The effect of the medium porosity, the non-Newtonian fluid characteristics, and the particle phase viscosity on the transient behavior of the velocity, volumetric flow rates, and skin friction coefficients of both the fluid and particle phases is investigated. A numerical solution is obtained for the governing nonlinear momentum equations by using the method of finite differences.     

Slow Motion of a Porous Sphere Translating Along the Axis of a Circular Cylindrical Pore Subject to a Stress Jump Condition

The coupled flow problem of an incompressible axisymmetrical quasisteady motion of a porous sphere translating in a viscous fluid along the axis of a circular cylindrical pore is discussed using a combined analytical–numerical technique. At the fluid–porous interface, the stress jump boundary condition for the tangential stress along with continuity of normal stress and velocity components are employed. The flow through the porous particle is governed by the Brinkman model and the flow in the outside porous region is governed by Stokes equations. A general solution for the field equations in the clear region is constructed from the superposition of the fundamental solutions in both cylindrical and spherical coordinate systems. The boundary conditions are satisfied first at the cylindrical pore wall by the Fourier transforms and then on the surface of the porous particle by a collocation method. The collocation solutions for the normalized hydrodynamic drag force exerted by the clear fluid on the porous particle is calculated with good convergence for various values of the ratio of radii of the porous sphere and pore, the stress jump coefficient, and a coefficient that is proportional to the permeability. The shape effect of the cylindrical pore on the axial translation of the porous sphere is compared with that of the particle in a spherical cavity; it found that the porous particle in a circular cylindrical pore in general attains a lower hydrodynamic drag than in a spherical envelope.     

Propagation of a penny-shaped fluid-driven fracture in an impermeable rock: asymptotic solutions

This paper presents an analysis of the propagation of a penny-shaped hydraulic fracture in an impermeable elastic rock. The fracture is driven by an incompressible Newtonian fluid injected from a source at the center of the fracture. The fluid flow is modeled according to lubrication theory, while the elastic response is governed by a singular integral equation relating the crack opening and the fluid pressure. It is shown that the scaled equations contain only one parameter, a dimensionless toughness, which controls the regimes of fracture propagation. Asymptotic solutions for zero and large dimensionless toughness are constructed. Finally, the regimes of fracture propagation are analyzed by matching the asymptotic solutions with results of a numerical algorithm applicable to arbitrary toughness.     

Experimental studies of model porous media fluid dynamics

The three-dimensional, steady flow velocity components of a viscous, incompressible, Newtonian fluid in model porous media were measured. The model porous geometries were constructed from 3 mm glass rods. A laser Doppler anemometer was used to measure two of the velocity components and the third was calculated by integrating the continuity equation. The effects of viscous drag, inertial flow fields and eddy losses in the model were studied. The results showed that the measured flow was laminar and stable such that micromixing of the fluid was absent. Inertial flow effects were absent due to high viscous drag coefficients.     

Unsteady flow of a fourth-grade fluid due to an oscillating plate

The governing non-linear high-order, sixth-order in space and third-order in time, differential equation is constructed for the unsteady flow of an incompressible conducting fourth-grade fluid in a semi-infinite domain. The unsteady flow is induced by a periodically oscillating two-dimensional infinite porous plate with suction/blowing, located in a uniform magnetic field. It is shown that by augmenting additional boundary conditions at infinity based on asymptotic structures and transforming the semi-infinite physical space to a bounded computational domain by means of a coordinate transformation, it is possible to obtain numerical solutions of the non-linear magnetohydrodynamic equation. In particular, due to the unsymmetry of the boundary conditions, in numerical simulations non-central difference schemes are constructed and employed to approximate the emerging higher-order spatial derivatives. Effects of material parameters, uniform suction or blowing past the porous plate, exerted magnetic field and oscillation frequency of the plate on the time-dependent flow, especially on the boundary layer structure near the plate, are numerically analysed and discussed. The flow behaviour of the fourth-grade non-Newtonian fluid is also compared with those of the Newtonian fluid.     

Experimental Study on the Pore Structure Fractals and Seepage Characteristics of a Coal Sample Around a Borehole in Coal Seam Water Infusion

In this study, a two-dimensional fully coupled computational model is developed for simulation of proppant settlement in hydro-fractures with the use of the extended finite element framework. The porous domain is governed by the well-known \((\mathbf{u}-p)\) formulation, which consists of the momentum balance equation of the bulk, in conjunction with the momentum balance and continuity equations of the pore fluid. The hydro-fracture inflow is modeled as a 1D flow on the basis of the Darcy law, in which fracture permeability is incorporated by means of the cubic law. Contact constraints are elaborated to eliminate the overlap of fracture edges and the leak-off flow. Proppant settlement is conducted on the basis of Stokes’ law for particle terminal velocity, in which the effects of fracture walls, concentration, viscosity and bridging are incorporated into the model. A fixed-point algorithm is introduced to achieve the optimum combination for the proppant injection. Using the extended finite element method, the strong discontinuity in the displacement field due to crack body, as well as the weak discontinuity in the pressure field due to leakage, is included in the model with the use of the Heaviside and modified level set enrichment functions, respectively. The robustness and versatility of the proposed numerical algorithm in determining the optimum proppant injection is examined through several numerical simulations.     

Propagation of a plane-strain hydraulic fracture with a fluid lag: Early-time solution

This paper studies the propagation of a plane-strain fluid-driven fracture with a fluid lag in an elastic solid. The fracture is driven by a constant rate of injection of an incompressible viscous fluid at the fracture inlet. The leak-off of the fracturing fluid into the host solid is considered negligible. The viscous fluid flow is lagging behind an advancing fracture tip, and the resulting tip cavity is assumed to be filled at some specified low pressure with either fluid vapor (impermeable host solid) or pore-fluids infiltrating from the permeable host solid. The scaling analysis allows to reduce problem parametric space to two lumped dimensionless parameters with the meaning of the solid toughness and of the tip underpressure (difference between the specified pressure in the tip cavity and the far field confining stress). A constant lumped toughness parameter uniquely defines solution trajectory in the parametric space, while time-varying lumped tip underpressure parameter describes evolution along the trajectory. Further analysis identifies the early and large time asymptotic states of the fracture evolution as corresponding to the small and large tip underpressure solutions, respectively. The former solution is obtained numerically herein and is characterized by a maximum fluid lag (as a fraction of the crack length), while the latter corresponds to the zero-lag solution of Spence and Sharp [Spence, D.A., Sharp, P.W., 1985. Self-similar solution for elastohydrodynamic cavity flow. Proc. Roy. Soc. London, Ser. A (400), 289–313]. The self-similarity at small/large tip underpressure implies that the solution for crack length, crack opening and net fluid pressure in the fluid-filled part of the crack is a given power-law of time, while the fluid lag is a constant fraction of the increasing fracture length. Evolution of a fluid-driven fracture between the two limit states corresponds to gradual expansion of the fluid-filled region and disappearance of the fluid lag. For small solid toughness and small tip underpressure, the fracture is practically devoid of fluid, which is localized into a narrow region near the fracture inlet. Corresponding asymptotic solution on the fracture lengthscale corresponds to that of a crack loaded by a pair of point forces which magnitude is determined from the coupled hydromechanical solution in the fluid-filled region near the crack inlet. For large solid toughness, the fluid lag is vanishingly small at any underpressure and the solution is adequately approximated by the zero-lag self-similar large toughness solution at any stage of fracture evolution. The small underpressure asymptotic solutions obtained in this work are sought to provide initial condition for the propagation of fractures which are initially under plane-strain conditions.