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Simulation of Temporary Plugging Agent Flow State in Fractures of Hot Dry Rock Considering Environmental Changes

Zongze Li¹, Zirui Yang², Yue Wu³, Chunming He⁴, Bo Yu², Daobing Wang^2,*, Yueshe Wang^1,*

1 State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Flow in Power Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China
2 School of Mechanical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Petrochemical Technology, Beijing 102617, China
3 National Key Laboratory of Petroleum Resources and Engineering, China University of Petroleum (Beijing), Beijing, 102249, China
4 Fracture & Acidizing Technical Center, Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development, PetroChina, Beijing, 100083, China

* Corresponding Authors: Daobing Wang; Yueshe Wang. Email: ;

The International Conference on Computational & Experimental Engineering and Sciences 2024, 30(1), 1-4. https://doi.org/10.32604/icces.2024.012090

Abstract

Geothermal energy is an important renewable energy source, where hot dry rock (HDR) constitutes the primary component, accounting for approximately 90% of the resource. Therefore, the establishment of an efficient HDR geothermal utilization system is a core issue in geothermal resource development. Hydraulic fracturing (HF) technology serves as a crucial means aimed at enhancing the complexity of underground fracture networks and increasing heat exchange efficiency, thus improving the performance of HDR geothermal utilization systems. However, the fracture structure formed by conventional HF techniques is relatively simple, resulting in limited heat exchange areas. Hence, the temporary plugging and diverting fracturing (TPDF) technology, which enhances fracture complexity, emerges as one of the most important techniques in hydraulic fracturing.
TPDF technology involves the injection of fracturing fluid containing temporary plugging agent particles into the fracture end, gradually sealing the fracture to alter its direction. The diversion effect of temporary plugging in fractures is closely related to the migration of plugging agents. However, existing studies often overlook the temperature changes in HDR during the migration of plugging agents. Based on the premise of considering HDR temperature variations, this study conducted a simulation investigation on the migration process of plugging agents under different conditions. The results indicate that as the migration speed of temporary plugging agents increases from 0.2m/s to 0.4m/s, the temperature rise at the fracture outlet decreases from 5.8% to 2.67%. Furthermore, under different inlet velocities, fracturing fluid viscosities, and fracture structures, varying characteristics are observed in the distribution of particle temperatures.

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Keywords

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