An Integrally Embedded Discrete Fracture Model for Flow Simulation in Anisotropic Formations

Renjie Shao, Yuan Di, Dawei Wu and Yu-Shu Wu
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Renjie Shao: College of Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
Yuan Di: College of Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
Dawei Wu: College of Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
Yu-Shu Wu: Petroleum Engineering Department, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO 80401, USA

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 12, 1-21

Abstract: The embedded discrete fracture model (EDFM), among different flow simulation models, achieves a good balance between efficiency and accuracy. In the EDFM, micro-scale fractures that cannot be characterized individually need to be homogenized into the matrix, which may bring anisotropy into the matrix. However, the simplified matrix–fracture fluid exchange assumption makes it difficult for EDFM to address the anisotropic flow. In this paper, an integrally embedded discrete fracture model (iEDFM) suitable for anisotropic formations is proposed. Structured mesh is employed for the anisotropic matrix, and the fracture element, which consists of a group of connected fractures, is integrally embedded in the matrix grid. An analytic pressure distribution is derived for the point source in anisotropic formation expressed by permeability tensor, and applied to the matrix–fracture transmissibility calculation. Two case studies were conducted and compared with the analytic solution or fine grid result to demonstrate the advantage and applicability of iEDFM to address anisotropic formation. In addition, a two-phase flow example with a reported dataset was studied to analyze the effect of the matrix anisotropy on the simulation result, which also showed the feasibility of iEDFM to address anisotropic formation with complex fracture networks.

Keywords: fractured reservoir simulation; anisotropic formation; embedded discrete fracture model; matrix-fracture transmissibility (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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