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ABSTRACT: In order to evaluate the growth of fractures for cuttings re-injection, a solid transport model is included in a solid-
fluid coupled hydraulic fracturing simulator. The fracture geometry is a critical factor affecting the safety of the re-injection
operation, and solid particle flow in the fractures is known to have a dominant effect on the fracture propagation. To improve the
accuracy of the simulation, the finite element method (FEM) is introduced for modeling the particle motion in the fracture fluid. In
the model, opening of the fracture, interaction between multiple particles, and change in viscosity by the solid concentration are
taken into account. Numerical examples shown here reveal that the fracture geometry is highly dependent on the concentration of
the solid due to the change of gravity and slurry viscosity. The injected solid concentration is one of the few controllable
parameters, thus the results suggest the feasibility of geometry control.
1
9 w
From Eq. (4) and (11), the flow rate of the solid
particles qp can be written as (20)
q p (c, w) = c(1 c) wv . (15) t
The factor F (c) denotes the effect of multiple
particles that is formulated by Brown [9], as follows
The effects of non-Newtonian nature of the fluid
and fracture surfaces, we apply the same
F t
(c ) =
(1 c)
2
(21)
formulation of Clifton and Wang [4], summarized 101.82 c
as following.
For non-Newtonian fluid, Acharyas solution [6] of
a non-linear equation of Novotny [7] is used. The 3.3. Effect of solid particles on fluid viscosity
slip velocity is determined as Several models are proposed for the change of fluid
viscosity f due to the solid concentration.
1
1 D n '1 n '
v = ( f p )gD 2
In this model, one of the following three criteria is
g (16) used:
18 k ' F ( n' )
= f (1 + 2.5c) (Einstein) (22)
where
2.5 n '
3 n ' 3
33n' 5 63n' 4 11n' 3 +97 n' 2 +16n' c
F ( n' ) = 3 2 = f 1 (Landel) (23)
4n' 2 (n'+1)(n'+2)(2n'+1) c max
(17) 1
n'
1.125 c 3
c
where n is power law exponent, k is constitutive
max
index, and g is a unit vector of the vector g. This = f
1
relationship is an approximate solution for cases
1 c
3
where n is close to 1.
c
max
The relative flow rate caused by slip velocity qs in
which the effect of wall and inter-particle (Frankel and Acrivos (24)
interaction is taken in to account is derived from the
equation where is apparent viscosity of the slurry, and cmax
is the upper limit of solid concentration which is set
q s ( w, c) = g (1) (c, w)q g ( 2 ) (c, w) F t (c)q to be 0.64. In every case, the apparent viscosity
increases with the increment of solid concentration. where t is time step and is a parameter of the
According to the Landel, and Frankel and Acrivos integration.
criteria, the apparent viscosity is infinite when
c=cmax, and the fluid can no longer flow when the
concentration reaches this value. This phenomenon 4. CASE STUDIES
is known as screen-out, and is manifested as an 4.1. Effect of the solid concentration on the
unexpected pressure increase at the borehole. Such geometry
a high concentration of solid particles occurs in the To exhibit the effect of solid transport on the
situations such as: fracture propagation, growth of a fracture in
i) When the fracture enters a high leak-off uniform rock mass properties and stress condition is
formation. Fluid is lost in the formation, while the simulated. The fluid is injected with the pumping
solid particles remain in the fracture. rate 0.78 m3/min with 0%, 5%, and 20% solid
concentration at the injected points. The history of
ii) When the slurry viscosity is not high enough to
fracture heights are shown in Fig. 4., with the
suspend the solid particles, the solid concentration
record of pressure and fracture aperture in Fig. 5.
becomes very high at the bottom of the fracture due
to settlement of the particles. The result shows that the downward propagation is
inhibited by the high concentration of solid particles
Using the regular leak-off criterion written as Eq.
in 20% concentration case.
(3), the fracture front has a high leak-off rate, so
solid particles are transported there and the The final geometry of the fracture of 20% are
concentration in the front region becomes high. shown with a contour of solid concentration in Fig.
6 and with pressure distribution in Fig. 7. High
When screen-out occurs, the pumping should be
pressure drop is found in the bottom part of the
terminated as the operation has failed.
fracture associated with high concentration of the
solid particles.
3.4. FEM formulation 4.2. Application to a field case
The discretized form of Eq. (9) is written as Using the model, we simulate cuttings reinjection
dc for an offshore field in the Middle East [10].
Aij + Bi c = f ci (25)
dt A saline aquifer in the field is chosen for the
cuttings reinjection formation. This formation is a
where part of the overburden of an oil reservoir, and is
Aij = wN i N j dxdy (26) known to be a severe lost circulation zone in which
drilling fluid (sea water) frequently escapes into the
N i N i formation with cuttings. Therefore, we assume that
Bij = q x + qy N j q L N i N j dxdy the minimum horizontal stress and pore pressure are
x y very low, and similar to the hydrostatic pressure of
(27) seawater.
-200
-100
0 10 20 30 40
height (ft)
200
height upper 0%
300 height lower 0%
height upper 5%
height lower 5%
400
height upper 20%
height lower 20%
5000 1.2
high concentration of solid particles
1
4000
max. aperture (inch)
max. pressure (psi)
max. aperture 0.8 Fig. 6. The final geometry of the fracture with solid
3000
concentration. (45 min injection)
0.6
2000
0.4
0%
1000 5%
max. pressure 0.2
20%
0 0
0 10 20 30 40
pump time (min)