Open Access

ARTICLE

A Numerical Modelling Method of Fractured Reservoirs with Embedded Meshes and Topological Fracture Projection Configurations

Xiang Rao^1,2,*, Yina Liu^1,2

1 Cooperative Innovation Center of Unconventional Oil and Gas (Ministry of Education & Hubei Province), Yangtze University, Wuhan, China
2 School of Petroleum Engineering, Yangtze University, Wuhan, China

* Corresponding Authors: Xiang Rao. Emails: ;

Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences 2022, 131(3), 1403-1429. https://doi.org/10.32604/cmes.2022.018879

Received 22 August 2021; Accepted 01 December 2021; Issue published 19 April 2022

Abstract

Projection-based embedded discrete fracture model (pEDFM) is an effective numerical model to handle the flow in fractured reservoirs, with high efficiency and strong generalization of flow models. However, this paper points out that pEDFM fails to handle flow barriers in most cases, and identifies the physical projection configuration of fractures is a key step in pEDFM. This paper presents and proves the equivalence theorem, which explains the geometric nature of physical projection configurations of fractures, that is, the projection configuration of a fracture being physical is equivalent to it being topologically homeomorphic to the fracture, by analyzing the essence of pEDFM. Physical projection configurations of fractures may be rigorously established based on this theorem, allowing pEDFM to obtain physical numerical results for many flow models, particularly those with flow barriers. Furthermore, a natural idea emerges of employing flow barriers to flexibly ‘cut’ the formation to quickly handle the flow problems in the formation with complex geological conditions, and several numerical examples are implemented to test this idea and application of the improved pEDFM.

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Keywords

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