Influence of gas transport mechanisms on the productivity of multi-stage fractured horizontal wells in shale gas reservoirs

In order to investigate the influence on shale gas well productivity caused by gas transport in nanometer- size pores, a mathematical model of multi-stage fractured horizontal wells in shale gas reservoirs is built, which considers the influence of viscous flow, Knudsen diffusion, surface diffusion, and adsorption layer thickness. A dis- crete-fracture model is used to simplify the fracture mod- cling, and a finite element method is applied to solve the model. The numerical simulation results indicate that with a decrease in the intrinsic matrix permeability, Knudsen diffusion and surface diffusion contributions to production become large and cannot be ignored. The existence of an adsorption layer on the nanopore surfaces reduces the effective pore radius and the effective porosity, resulting in low production from fractured horizontal wells. With a decrease in the pore radius, considering the adsorption layer, the production reduction rate increases. When the pore radius is less than 10 nm, because of the combined impacts of Knudsen diffusion, surface diffusion, and adsorption layers, the production of multi-stage fractured horizontal wells increases with a decrease in the pore pressure. When the pore pressure is lower than 30 MPa, the rate of production increase becomes larger with a decrease in pore pressure.

Numerical simulation of hydrodynamic characteristics during the diversion closure in a horizontal tunnel

Based on water inrush accident of 1841 working face of Desheng Coal Mine in Wu'an, Hebei province, China, an evaluation model of hydrodynamic characteristics of the project is set up and simulated using Matlab. It is assumed that the pipe flow would transform into seepage flow when the aggregates are plugged into the water inrush channel and the seepage flow would disappear along with grouting process. The simulation results show that the flow velocity will increase with an increase in height of aggregates accumulation body during the aggregates filling process; the maximum seepage velocity occurs on the top of plugging zone; and the water flow decreases with increasing plugging height of water inrush channel. Finally, the field construction results show that the water inrush channel can be plugged effectively by the compacted body prepared with aggregate and cement slurry.

Numerical Investigation of Flow Motion and Performance of A Horizontal Axis Tidal Turbine Subjected to A Steady Current

Horizontal axis tidal turbines have attracted more and more attentions nowadays, because of their convenience and low expense in construction and high efficiency in extracting tidal energy. The present study numerically investigates the flow motion and performance of a horizontal axis tidal turbine with a supporting vertical cylinder under steady current. In the numerical model, the continuous equation and incompressible Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations are solved, and the volume of fluid method is employed to track free surface motion. The RNG k-ε model is adopted to calculate turbulence transport while the fractional area/volume obstacle representation method is used to describe turbine characteristics and movement. The effects of installation elevation of tidal turbine and inlet velocity on the water elevation, and current velocity, rotating speed and resultant force on turbine are discussed. Based on the comparison of the numerical results, a better understanding of flow structure around horizontal axis tidal turbine and turbine performance is achieved.

Study on Temperature Distribution of Perforated Horizontal Wellbore

The temperature distribution in the wellbore under different conditions was studied by using a designed horizontal well simulation experimental device.The experimental results showed that the Joule-Thomson effect was significant in perforated wellbore.When the opening mode was the same,the larger the gas flow rate,the lower the temperature in the wellbore.Furthermore,with the increase of liquid volume,the temperature drop effect decreased gradually.The more uniform the perforation distribution,the smaller the temperature change in the wellbore.With the increase of liquid volume,the influence of gas flow rate on temperature distribution decreased.The temperature gradient caused by Joule-Thomson effect decreased with the increase of wellbore holdup.At the same time,the experimental results were compared with the theoretical values.It was found that the error of the model was within 4%,which showed the reliability of predictions of the model.