Assessments of the effects of various fracture surface morphology on single fracture flow: A review

Natural rock joint permeability deviates from the classic fluid flow governing equations due to the inher-ent fracture surface roughness(i.e.,contact points,spatial correlation,matching,varying aperture,iso-lated voids,infilling material,tortuosity and channellings)and engineering disturbance such as excavations.To improve the accuracy of fracture permeability evaluation,many efforts have been made in analytical,experimental,and numerical methods.This study reviews the modified mathematical gov-erning equations of fluid flow and classifies them based on different influencing factors,such as friction factor,aperture,tortuosity,inertia,and various in situ stress effects.Various experimental and simulation techniques for the coupled normal-and shear-stress flow problems were assessed,and their advantages and disadvantages were also analysed.Furthermore,different surface roughness descriptions and their impacts on mechanical and hydraulic behaviours were discussed,followed by the potential research directions for fracture flow problems.

Numerical simulations of seepage flow in rough single rock fractures

To investigate the relationship between the structural characteristics and seepage flow behavior of rough single rock fractures,a set of single fracture physical models were produced using the WeierstrasseMandelbrot functions to test the seepage flow performance.Six single fractures,with various surface roughnesses characterized by fractal dimensions,were built using COMSOL multiphysics software.The fluid flow behavior through the rough fractures and the influences of the rough surfaces on the fluid flow behavior was then monitored.The numerical simulation indicates that there is a linear relationship between the average flow velocity over the entire flow path and the fractal dimension of the rough surface.It is shown that there is good agreement between the numerical results and the experimental data in terms of the properties a of the fluid flowing through the rough single rock fractures.

Investigations of Water Flow Behaviors Induced by Local Temperature Variations through a Single Rough Fracture for the Enhanced Geothermal Systems

In recent years,Enhanced Geothermal System(EGS)technologies have been applied to the geothermal resources production in the Hot Dry Rock(HDR).The core of EGS technologies is to adopt hydraulic fracturing in the reservoir to create a connected network of discrete fractures with the consideration of water as a working fluid for hydraulic fracturing and heat production.This paper investigates the characteristics of water flow behaviors through a single rough fracture under different temperature and pressure conditions.A single fracture model with rough fracture surfaces is constructed and then characterized,and influences of the anisotropic factor on the average tortuosity and frictional resistance coefficient of water flow through a single fracture with rough surfaces have been compared and analyzed.With consideration of other impacting factors(temperature,pressure,fracture roughness),the impact of mass flow rate has also been presented.Numerical simulation results present that changes of average tortuosity for water flow through a single rough facture are mainly affected by temperature.It can be observed that higher temperature leads to larger average tortuosity but the frictional resistance coefficient shows an opposite trend.As for pressure conditions,it is found that effects of pressure on average tortuosity and frictional resistance coefficient is very small,which can be neglected under high pressure conditions.Furthermore,the average tortuosity shows a progressively linear relationship with the mass flow rate.On the contrary,the frictional resistance coefficient has a negative relationship with the mass flow rate.It is revealed that when the mass flow rate reaches a critical point,the influences of temperature on the frictional resistance coefficient will be negligible.Comparisons of single rough fractures with different anisotropic factors show that values of average tortuosity and frictional resistance coefficient have positive relationships with the increase of anisotropic factors.

Optimization of acid fracturing for a tight carbonate reservoir

In this study,acid fracturing treatments were simulated for a tight limestone reservoir within a shale formation using FRACPRO software.The purpose was to investigate the optimum acid fracturing design that leads to a higher fracture etched length and width,and higher fracture conductivity.Moreover,the impact of the rock-acid contact time and whether to consider a post-flush or fluids flowback,on the acid fracturing outcomes were also investigated.A simple geological model was constructed which consists of different lithological layers.Different acid fracturing design scenarios were considered starting from a single stage of acid injection to multi-stage treatment.In multi-stage acid treatment,alternate acid-slickwater injection was considered.Plain HCl acids with different concentrations and other acids that are already included in FRACPRO database were used.The results showed that the acid loss during post-flush is among the main problems of the acid fracturing in tight carbonate shale reservoir.For the single stage of acid injection,it is recommended to flow back the acid after well shut-in instead of considering a post-flush stage.The multi-stage alternate acid slickwater injection reduces or even eliminated the acid loss.However,it is recommended to inject a slickwater before well shut-in to reduce the rock-acid contact time,thus reducing the formation damage.The results also showed that the created fracture etched width decreases and the fracture etched length increases as the fracturing stages increase.In this study,because of the low carbonate layer permeability and compressive strength,a two-stage alternate 28%HCl and slickwater injection with a post-flush stage is recommended.