Manufacturing Method of Large-Scale Fractured Porous Media for Experimental Reservoir Simulation

Abstract

Summary A new manufacturing method for a fractured porous model for macroscopic experimental simulation of an oil reservoir is presented to reduce significantly the uncertainty of reservoir numerical simulation. Large numbers of small-cube rocks with the same size made from natural rocks of selected outcrops are bonded in specific ways to form a big rock. The bonded faces among the small rocks compose a 3D fracture system in the big rock. The big rock is the fractured porous medium of the models for experimental reservoir simulation. Every small rock exists as a particle of the fractured medium. Because the number, size, and positions of small rocks can be adjusted optionally, the size and shape of the fractured media can also be adjusted optionally. With the selection of suitable rocks, adhesives, and bonding patterns, the distributions of physical properties in fractured media (e.g., fracture density, permeability, porosity, imbibition) are quantitatively controlled, and they can be heterogeneous and anisotropic in accordance with objective reservoirs. Experimental models made of the fractured media can fully satisfy similarity criteria. The application example in this paper showed that experimental models can be used not only to simulate and forecast directly the exploitation processes of the fractured porous-media reservoirs but also to verify and/or modify numerical reservoir simulation.

Experimental and Simulation Study of Complex Structure Well Pattern Optimization for Buried Hill Fractured Reservoirs

“…The fracture permeability at each direction is supposed to be K x , K y , K z , whereas the fracture density perpendicular to each direction is N x , N y , N z , respectively. The formulas of fracture permeability are [36] …”

Experimental Study on Waterflooding Characteristics of a Large-Scale Physical Low-Permeability Model Based on a Similarity Criterion

“…At present, constructing large-scale physical models for experimental simulation has become one of the important means of unconventional oil and gas research . By applying the similarity criterion, researchers have successfully achieved similarity in permeability anisotropy, matrix–fracture imbibition, dynamic system, and resistance system and constructed a large-scale 3D physical model, which can effectively reduce the uncertainties that are inherently present in reservoir numerical simulation. − However, it is important to note that low-permeability reservoirs are typically formed through extensive volume fracturing and prolonged water injection, resulting in the creation of irregularly distributed fractures on multiple scales. To address this complexity, the utilization of 3D solid models allows for simulation of reservoirs under various conditions, but currently prevalent 3D solid models are characterized by their large size, high cost, complex manufacturing process, demanding technical requirements, and limited popularity .…”

A general physics-based data-driven framework for numerical simulation and history matching of reservoirs

“…The "data-driven" refers to that, using history data from wells for history matching to improves the numerical model's forecast accuracy, which often needs a repeated numerical simulation procedure. However, history matching is a difficult and time-consuming task for the most often employed grid-based numerical technology (Maschio et al, 2010;Liu et al, 2013;Ding et al, 2014;Amirsardari et al, 2016;Peng et al, 2017). This is because simulating a full-scale real oilfield takes a lengthy time, and the number of grid parameters to be inversed might reach millions, resulting in a severe multiplicity of solutions.…”