Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Simulation of Formation Damage
Simulation of Formation Damage
Simulation of Formation Damage
Research Article
Simulation of Formation Damage after
Long-Term Water Flooding
Copyright © 2013 Liu He et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which
permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Water flooding is a commonly used technology for enhancing oil recovery. Its main mechanism is to maintain higher pressure to
sweep oil towards production wells. However, the strong water flooding will cause higher compression pressure around the injection
wellbore. This high pressure in the reservoir causes stress redistribution and higher stress near the wellbore which induces material
damage and permeability change. We developed a fluid-solid coupling finite element model to simulate and quantitatively analyze
the pressure evolution in the reservoir as well as damage and permeability change in the formation during long-term water flooding
process. The obtained results offer theoretical understanding of the benefits (pore pressure increase in the simulation domain), rock
damage, permeability change of long-term water flooding, and the insights of how to detect and prevent wellbore failure and collapse
due to water flooding.
Perforation
Pay layer
E
A B C D
F I
Interface
G J
Barrier layer
𝑧
H
Wellbore axis 𝑟
POR POR
+1.888𝑒 + 07 +1.716𝑒 + 07
+1.814𝑒 + 07 +1.656𝑒 + 07
+1.74𝑒 + 07 +1.597𝑒 + 07
+1.666𝑒 + 07 +1.537𝑒 + 07
+1.592𝑒 + 07 +1.477𝑒 + 07
+1.518𝑒 + 07 +1.418𝑒 + 07
+1.444𝑒 + 07 +1.358𝑒 + 07
+1.37𝑒 + 07 +1.298𝑒 + 07
+1.296𝑒 + 07 +1.239𝑒 + 07
+1.222𝑒 + 07 +1.179𝑒 + 07
+1.148𝑒 + 07 +1.119𝑒 + 07
+1.074𝑒 + 07 +1.06𝑒 + 07
+1𝑒 + 07 +1𝑒 + 07
(a) One year (b) Two years
POR
+1.381𝑒 + 07
+1.349𝑒 + 07
+1.318𝑒 + 07
+1.286𝑒 + 07
+1.254𝑒 + 07
+1.222𝑒 + 07
+1.191𝑒 + 07
+1.159𝑒 + 07
+1.127𝑒 + 07
+1.095𝑒 + 07
+1.064𝑒 + 07
+1.032𝑒 + 07
+1𝑒 + 07
(c) Five years
Figure 2: Pore pressure distributions at different injection years (The model is rotated by 90∘ ).
2. Mathematical Model where 𝜎 is the total stress matrix in the formation and f is the
body force vector.
(1) Governing Equations of Stress-Seepage Flow Coupling Field The effective stress couples solid deformation with fluid
in Formation. In the current configuration, the equilibrium flow by the following formulation [10]:
equation of porous formation can be written as [9]
∇ ⋅ 𝜎 + f = 0, (1) 𝜎 = 𝜎 − 𝑝𝑤 I, (2)
Journal of Petroleum Engineering 3
18 18
Pore pressure (MPa)
14 14
12 12
10 10
pore pressure. A corresponding incremental finite element can essentially represent the mechanism of the process, but
formula was derived in detail [13], and the formula should the computation burden is greatly reduced compared to 3D
be solved with the well-known Newton-Raphson iteration model.
scheme. In order to keep the convergence of the simulation, The rock type of the reservoir is sandstone. The simu-
the upper value of damage factor is set as 0.9. lation domain is constructed of three layers: one pay layer
sandwiched between two barrier layers. The perforation is
in the middle of pay layer, and its diameter and length
3. Computational Model Description are 8.8 mm and 0.5 m, respectively. The thickness of pay
layer is 5 m. Since the simulation domain is symmetric, the
Most of the wells (including water injection and production computational model only takes the low half of the whole
wells) are perforated in the pay layer to weaken the casing model as shown in Figure 1.
before normal operation starts. The perforations are helically The radius and height of the computational model are
distributed, and usually its density is rather high (e.g. 8– both 100 m. Fluids can flow throughout the whole simulated
16 perforations/meter). Each perforation in a set of helically domain. The diameter of wellbore is 124 mm. Other basic
distributed perforations may develop a damage (or fracture) model parameters are initial elastic modulus = 20 GPa (for
zone during injecting. The configurations of the damaged pay layer) and 25 GPa (for barrier layers), Poisson’s ratio = 0.2
zones are very different. The damaged zones connect together, (for pay layer) and 0.25 (for barrier layers), initial per-
and finally a roughly circular dish-like distributed damaged meability = 1 mD (for pay layer) and 0.01 mD (for barrier
area forms [14]. Therefore in the paper article we proposed layers), void ratio = 0.1 (for pay layer) and 0.01 (for barrier
an axial symmetrical fluid-solid coupling finite element layers), initial pore pressure = 10 MPa, the water injection rate
model to simulate the long-term water flooding process. = 6.23 m3 /day, water injection duration = 5 years, threshold
Our self-developed user subroutines are incorporated into strain value of damage initiation = 0.0001, and fitting coeffi-
ABAQUS code to solve (1)–(7) simultaneously. This model cient 𝜉 = 20.
Journal of Petroleum Engineering 5
1 0
−10
0.8
−20
Damage factor
0.6 −30
−40
0.4 −50
−60
0.2
−70
0 −80
−90
0 300 600 900 1200 1500 1800
Time (day) −100
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
A
B One year Four years
F Two years Five years
Three years
Figure 7: Damage factor evolutions of points A, B, and F.
Figure 9: Intersections of damaged area and undamaged area at
different time.
1
4. Results and Discussion
0.8 Figure 2 shows the pressure distributions in the model after
different injection years. Figures 3 and 4 depict the pore
pressure evolution along AD line and EH line, respectively.
Damage factor
0.6
The following observation can be conducted from the figures.
0.4
Pore pressure increases (compared to the initial value) due
to water injection. The maximum values of pore pressure
decrease, and the influenced area enlarges during water
0.2 injecting. The inflection points in Figures 3 and 4 are
the intersection points of damaged and undamaged areas.
0 Figure 5 depicts the pore pressure evolution of points I, J, and
G. After 5-year water injection, the maximum pore pressure
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 is 13.8 MPa, which is 38% higher than the initial value. In the
Length (m) area that is 30 m far away from wellbore (such as points I and
One year Four years
G), the pressure is higher than the initial value by over 10%.
Two years Five years Higher pressure in reservoir is maintained, and the oil could
Three years be swept from the reservoir and pushed towards production
wells. This is the main purpose of water flooding.
Figure 8: Damage factor evolution along AC line. Figure 6 shows the damage factor distributions after
different injection years. Figure 7 depicts the damage fac-
tor evolutions of points A, B, and F. Figure 8 depicts the
damage factor distribution along AC line (the horizontal
axis represents the distance to point A). Figure 9 depicts
Ten points A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, and J are designated the intersection of damaged area and undamaged area.
for the following discussion. A is located at the left bound of Obviously, the damaged zone is enlarging as water flooding
the model, and the distance from A to interface is 1.25 m. B, proceeds. Point A is located on the wall of wellbore, where
C, and D are in the same horizontal line with A. The distances the compression stress is a lot higher, leading to the damage
from B and C to A are 0.5 m and 30 m, respectively. D is factor that firstly reaches the maximum value. In the region
located at the right bound of the model. E, F, G, and H are far away from wellbore, the damage factor is comparatively
in the same vertical line with B. The distances from F and G smaller.
to interface are 1 m and 52 m, respectively. E and H are located Figure 10 presents the first invariant of effective stress dis-
at the top and bottom bounds of the model, respectively. I, J, tribution after different injection years. It should be pointed
and C are in the same vertical line. I and F are in the same out that the values in the figure are the increased parts caused
horizontal line. J and G are in the same horizontal line. by water injection. With careful observations of the figures
6 Journal of Petroleum Engineering
Stress Stress
+1.787𝑒 + 07 +1.894𝑒 + 07
+1.638𝑒 + 07 +1.736𝑒 + 07
+1.489𝑒 + 07 +1.578𝑒 + 07
+1.34𝑒 + 07 +1.42𝑒 + 07
+1.192𝑒 + 07 +1.262𝑒 + 07
+1.043𝑒 + 07 +1.105𝑒 + 07
+8.937𝑒 + 06 +9.469𝑒 + 06
+7.448𝑒 + 06 +7.891𝑒 + 06
+5.959𝑒 + 06 +6.313𝑒 + 06
𝑒 + 06
+4.47 +4.736𝑒 + 06
+2.981𝑒 + 06 +3.158𝑒 + 06
8𝑒 + 06
+1.492𝑒 + 06 +1.5
+2.427𝑒 + 03 +2.332𝑒 + 03
(a) One year (b) Two years
Stress
+2.035𝑒 + 07
+1.865𝑒 + 07
+1.696𝑒 + 07
+1.526𝑒 + 07
+1.357𝑒 + 07
+1.187𝑒 + 07
+1.018𝑒 + 07
+8.48𝑒 + 06
+6.785𝑒 + 06
+5.089𝑒 + 06
+3.394𝑒 + 06
+1.698𝑒 + 06
+2.398𝑒 + 03
(c) Five years
Figure 10: The first invariant of effective stress distribution induced by water injection (The model is rotated by 90∘ ).
0
5. Conclusions
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
An axial symmetrical fluid-solid coupling finite element
Length (m)
model is established to simulate water flooding process. Our
One year Four years developed user subroutines are incorporated into ABAQUS
Two years Five years code to solve the mathematical equations.
Three years
Compared to the initial value, water flooding will cause
Figure 11: The permeability distribution along AC line. the pore to pressure increase, and the influence area enlarges
gradually. After 5-year water injection, the maximum pore
pressure may be 38% higher than the initial value. In the area
that is 30 m far away from wellbore, the pressure is higher
we can find that the maximum values of the first invariant than the initial value by over 10%. The purpose of water
are 17.9 MPa, 18.9 MPa, and 20.4 MPa at the injection point injection is achieved.
Journal of Petroleum Engineering 7
Acknowledgments
0.2
The authors highly appreciate the financial support of State
863 Projects and PetroChina Innovation Foundation.
0.15
Permeability (mD)
References
0.1
[1] M. Latil, Enhanced Oil Recovery, Editions Technip, Paris,
France, 1980.
0.05
[2] B. A. Stenger, A. B. Al-Katheeri, H. H. Hafez, and S. H. Al-
Kendi, “Short-term and long-term aspects of a water injection
0 strategy,” in Proceedings of the 13th Abu Dhabi International
Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (ADIPEC ’08), vol. 116989,
0 10 20 30 40 50
pp. 74–86, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, November 2008.
Length (m) [3] E. E. Kristian, C. Jerey, I. Orkhan, N. Julian, and A. A. K. Vegard,
“Improved oil recovery with water injection,” EiT-Gullfaks
One year Four years Village, Norwegian University of Science and Technology in
Two years Five years cooperation with Statoil ASA, 2011.
Three years
[4] J. A. Wang and H. D. Park, “Fluid permeability of sedimentary
Figure 12: The permeability distribution along FG line. rocks in a complete stress-strain process,” Engineering Geology,
vol. 63, no. 3-4, pp. 291–300, 2002.
[5] C. A. Tang, L. G. Tham, P. K. K. Lee, T. H. Yang, and L. C.
Li, “Coupled analysis of flow, stress and damage (FSD) in rock
failure,” International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining
Water injection may cause the formation property Sciences, vol. 39, no. 4, pp. 477–489, 2002.
change. As water injection proceeds, the compression stress [6] A. S. Abou-Sayed, K. S. Zaki, G. G. Wang, and M. D. Sarfare,
will redistribute and enlarge. As a result the rock material may “A mechanistic model for formation damage and fracture prop-
damage, and the damaged area enlarges during water inject- agation during water injection,” in Proceedings of the SPE 6th
ing. In this area, the formation permeability jumps up, leading European Formation Damage Conference: Delivering Sustained
Production (EFDC ’05), vol. 94606, pp. 223–230, Scheveningen,
to the pore pressure decrease. High stress concentration near
The Netherlands, May 2005.
injection point exists. Attention should be paid on the risk
[7] J. Rutqvist, L. Börgesson, M. Chijimatsu et al., “Modeling of
related to casing failure and/or formation fracture in design
damage, permeability changes and pressure responses during
and performance of water injection. excavation of the TSX tunnel in granitic rock at URL, Canada,”
Environmental Geology, vol. 57, no. 6, pp. 1263–1274, 2009.
[8] X. R. Ge, J. X. Ren, Y. B. Pu, W. Ma, and H. Sun, Macroscopic and
Nomenclature Meso Laboratory Research of Rock and Soil Damage Mechanics,
Scientific Press, Beijing, China, 2004.
D: Damage factor, dimensionless
[9] L. E. Malvern, Introduction to the Mechanics of a Continuous
E: Damaged elastic modulus of the rock material, m/Lt2 ,
Medium, Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ, USA, 1969.
Pa
[10] M. J. Economides and K. G. Nolte, Reservoir Stimulation, John
E0 : Original elastic modulus of the rock material, m/Lt2 , Pa Wiley & Sons, New York, NY, USA, 3rd edition, 2000.
f: Body force vector, m/L2 t2 , Pa/m [11] M. A. Marino and J. N. Luthin, Seepage and Groundwater,
g: Gravity acceleration vector, L/t2 , m/s2 Elsevier, New York, NY, USA, 1982.
I: Identity matrix, dimensionless [12] A. Turon, P. P. Camanho, J. Costa, and C. G. Dávila, “A damage
k: Permeability matrix, L2 , m2 model for the simulation of delamination in advanced compos-
k0 : Initial permeability, L2 , m2 ites under variable-mode loading,” Mechanics of Materials, vol.
n𝑤 : Porosity, dimensionless 38, no. 11, pp. 1072–1089, 2006.
p𝑤 : Porous pressure, m/Lt2 , pa [13] G. M. Zhang, H. Liu, J. Zhang, H. A. Wu, and X. X. Wang,
vw : Seepage flow velocity vector, L/t, m/s “Mathematical model and nonlinear finite element equation for
𝛽 : Fitting coefficient, dimensionless reservoir fluid-solid coupling,” Rock and Soil Mechanics, vol. 31,
𝜀 : Minimum principle strain and the threshold value of no. 5, pp. 1657–1662, 2010 (Chinese).
damage initiation, dimensionless [14] F. J. Biao, A study of numerical simulation on hydraulic fracture
𝜀0 : Threshold value of 𝜀, dimensionless propagation of horizontal fracture, University of Science and
𝜇 : Fluid viscosity, m/Lt3 , Pa.s Technology of China, 2010.
𝜌𝑤 : Density of porous fluid, m/L3 , kg/m3
𝜎: Total stress matrix, m/Lt2 , Pa
𝜎: Effective stress matrix, m/Lt2 , Pa
𝜎𝑖𝑖 : First invariant of effective stress tensor, m/Lt2 , Pa
𝜉 : Fitting coefficient, dimensionless.
International Journal of
Rotating
Machinery
International Journal of
The Scientific
Engineering Distributed
Journal of
Journal of
Journal of
Control Science
and Engineering
Advances in
Civil Engineering
Hindawi Publishing Corporation Hindawi Publishing Corporation
http://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014 http://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014
Journal of
Journal of Electrical and Computer
Robotics
Hindawi Publishing Corporation
Engineering
Hindawi Publishing Corporation
http://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014 http://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014
VLSI Design
Advances in
OptoElectronics
International Journal of
International Journal of
Modelling &
Simulation
Aerospace
Hindawi Publishing Corporation Volume 2014
Navigation and
Observation
Hindawi Publishing Corporation
http://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014
in Engineering
Hindawi Publishing Corporation
http://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014
Engineering
Hindawi Publishing Corporation
http://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014
Hindawi Publishing Corporation
http://www.hindawi.com
http://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014
International Journal of
International Journal of Antennas and Active and Passive Advances in
Chemical Engineering Propagation Electronic Components Shock and Vibration Acoustics and Vibration
Hindawi Publishing Corporation Hindawi Publishing Corporation Hindawi Publishing Corporation Hindawi Publishing Corporation Hindawi Publishing Corporation
http://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014 http://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014 http://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014 http://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014 http://www.hindawi.com Volume 2014