Title: A new method to diagnose reservoir fluids flow pattern induced by a hydraulic fracture

Authors: Jingchen Zhang; Xiaobing Bian; Chun Zhang; Jiayuan He

Addresses: MOE Key Laboratory of Petroleum Engineering, China University of Petroleum, Beijing 102249, China; Institute of Petroleum Engineering, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh EH14 4AS, UK ' Petroleum Engineering Technology Research Institute of SINOPEC, Beijing 100101, China ' The Fourth Gas Plant, Changqing Branch, China National Petroleum Corporation, Neimenggu 017300, China ' Petroleum Exploration and Production Research Institute of SINOPEC, Beijing 100083, China

Abstract: In this research, the reservoir fluids flow patterns induced by a hydraulic fracture are studies numerically to make the fracture and reservoir a best match. A 3D model coupling the reservoir system and the fracture system was established firstly. Then, fracture-flow fractions were calculated to analyse the contribution of the hydraulic fracture collecting and transmitting reservoir fluids. Sensitivity analysis of parameters implies that both permeability and fracture conductivity have significant influences on fracture-flow fraction, influences of oil viscosity and fracture half length are much less, while the influence of drawdown pressure is the least. Fracture-flow fraction is proved to be an effective method to diagnose reservoir fluids flow patterns, and the higher the fracture-flow fraction, the more likely bi-linear flow pattern occurs. Finally, plates of fracture-flow fractions were drawn to provide guidance in optimising the fracture geometry and a synthetic application example demonstrates how these plates are easily used. [Received: August 5, 2014; Accepted: September 22, 2015]

Keywords: hydraulic fracturing; fracking; radial flow patterns; bi-linear flow patterns; fracture-flow fractions; numerical simulation; fracture geometry; fracture conductivity; 3D modelling; oil viscosity; reservoir fluids; fluid flow; permeability; drawdown pressure.

DOI: 10.1504/IJOGCT.2017.083066

International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Technology, 2017 Vol.14 No.4, pp.339 - 353

Received: 30 Jan 2015
Accepted: 22 Sep 2015
Published online: 20 Mar 2017 *

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