An analytical solution for slug tracer tests in fractured reservoirs

Shan, Chao; Pruess, Karsten

doi:10.1029/2005wr004081

Cited by 10 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Such tests generally involve the injection of aqueous solutes into one or more injection wells, and monitoring of tracer returns in fluids produced from offset observation or production wells [ Shook , 2001; Sanjuan et al , 2006]. Interdiffusion of solute tracers between fractures and rock matrix produces characteristic tails in tracer breakthrough curves that may permit the determination of fracture‐matrix interface areas [ Pruess , 2002; Pruess et al , 2005; Shan and Pruess , 2005]. However, because tracer breakthrough at offset observation wells may be weak and slow, interwell tracer tests (ITT) may require fluid sampling over extended time periods of weeks or even months.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A closed‐form analytical solution for thermal single‐well injection‐withdrawal tests

Jung

Pruess

2012

Water Resources Research

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[1] Thermal single-well injection-withdrawal (SWIW) tests entail pumping cold water into a hot and usually fractured reservoir, and monitoring the temperature recovery during subsequent backflow. Such tests have been proposed as a potential means to characterize properties of enhanced geothermal systems (EGS), such as fracture spacing, connectivity, and porosity. In this paper we develop an analytical solution for thermal SWIW tests, using an idealized model of a single vertical fracture with linear flow geometry embedded in impermeable conductive wall rocks. The analytical solution shows that the time dependence of temperature recovery is dominated by the heat exchange between fracture and matrix rock, but strong thermal diffusivities of rocks as compared to typical solute diffusivities are not necessarily advantageous for characterizing fracture-matrix interactions. The effect of fracture aperture on temperature recovery during backflow is weak, particularly when the fracture aperture is smaller than 0.1 cm. The solution also shows that temperature recovery during backflow is independent of the applied injection and backflow rates. This surprising result implies that temperature recovery is independent of the height of the fracture, or the specific fracture-matrix interface areas per unit fracture length, suggesting that thermal SWIW tests will not be able to characterize fracture growth that may be achieved by stimulation treatments.Citation: Jung, Y., and K. Pruess (2012), A closed-form analytical solution for thermal single-well injection-withdrawal tests, Water Resour. Res., 48, W03504,

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A closed‐form analytical solution for thermal single‐well injection‐withdrawal tests

Jung

Pruess

2012

Water Resources Research

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“…A typical feature of fractured rocks (compared with media with predominant intergranular porosity and permeability) is early breakthrough followed by extensive late‐time tailing. This tailing usually is caused by tracer diffusion into conductive channel walls and the processes of adsorption–desorption onto the walls (Shan and Pruess, 2005).…”

Section: Laboratory and Field Observations Of Nonclassical Transport mentioning

confidence: 99%

Nonclassical Transport Processes in Geologic Media: Review of Field and Laboratory Observations and Basic Physical Concepts

Bolshov

Kondratenko

Pruess

et al. 2008

Vadose Zone Journal

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We present an overview of the problem of solute transport in unsaturated heterogeneous media. We first review field and laboratory observations that demonstrate nonclassical flow and transport behavior. The main physical principles causing anomalous transport regimes in fractured rock media are identified. The basic factors and physical concepts needed to describe anomalous transport in saturated and unsaturated fractured rock are discussed in detail.

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“…In this case, the retardation time is deduced from the classical solution by Tang et al [1981] assuming a single fracture surrounded by an infinite matrix. Based on the solution of parallel and regularly spaced fractures [ Sudicky and Frind , 1982], the method has been extended to account for nearby fractures [ Liu et al , 2000; Shan and Pruess , 2005]. Diffusion times become bounded by the presence of nearby fractures toward which particles can be transferred.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A new particle‐tracking approach to simulating transport in heterogeneous fractured porous media

Roubinet

Liu

Dreuzy

2010

Water Resources Research

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[1] Particle-tracking methods are often used to model contaminant transport in fractured porous media because they are straightforward to implement for fracture networks and are able to take into account the matrix effect without mesh generation. While classical methods assume infinite matrix or regularly spaced fractures, we have developed a stochastic method adapted to solute transport in complex fracture networks associated with irregular matrix blocks. Diffusion times in the matrix blocks are truncated by the finite size of the blocks. High ratios of matrix diffusion to fracture advection, small fracture apertures, and small blocks favor the transfer of particles to nearby fractures through matrix diffusion. Because diffusion occurs on both sides of the originating fracture before particles reach one of the neighboring fractures, transfer times to both neighboring fractures are strongly affected by the network configurations on both sides of the fracture. This new particle-tracking method is able to deal with complex fracture networks by considering heterogeneous configurations on both sides of the fracture. We finally show on simple Sierpinski lattice structures that neglecting the finite size of the matrix blocks may lead to orders of magnitude overestimations of the transfer times.Citation: Roubinet, D., H.-H. Liu, and J.-R. de Dreuzy (2010), A new particle-tracking approach to simulating transport in heterogeneous fractured porous media, Water Resour.

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An analytical solution for slug tracer tests in fractured reservoirs

Cited by 10 publications

References 11 publications

A closed‐form analytical solution for thermal single‐well injection‐withdrawal tests

A closed‐form analytical solution for thermal single‐well injection‐withdrawal tests

Nonclassical Transport Processes in Geologic Media: Review of Field and Laboratory Observations and Basic Physical Concepts

A new particle‐tracking approach to simulating transport in heterogeneous fractured porous media

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