CFD–DEM modelling and analysis of proppant transportation inside tortuous hydraulic fractures

Jun Li; Shibo Kuang; Fayan Huang; Pingli Liu; Aibing Yu

doi:10.1016/j.powtec.2023.119155

CFD–DEM modelling and analysis of proppant transportation inside tortuous hydraulic fractures

Jun Li, Shibo Kuang, Fayan Huang, Pingli Liu, Aibing Yu

Chemical & Biological Engineering

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Hydraulic fractures in unconventional gas/oil and tight reservoirs generally have tortuous shapes. This paper presents a numerical study of the proppant transportation and distribution in tortuous hydraulic fractures. This is done by combining computational fluid dynamics (CFD) with discrete element method (DEM). The CFD-DEM model is validated by comparing the numerical results with the experimental measurements of proppant transportation and distributions in single and multiple straight fractures. Via the model, the effect of tortuosity on proppant transportation is studied based on tortuous fractures constructed according to an actual fracture profile. The numerical results show that the packing pattern has a trapezoid shape as the fracture tortuosity varies from 0.6 to 1. It becomes triangular in the tortuosity range of 0–0.4. The horizontal distance and the vertical height of the proppant bed exhibit different trends against fracture tortuosity.

Original language	English
Article number	119155
Number of pages	16
Journal	Powder Technology
Volume	432
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.powtec.2023.119155
Publication status	Published - 2 Jan 2024

Keywords

CFD-DEM model
Proppant distribution
Proppant transportation
Tortuous fracture

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10.1016/j.powtec.2023.119155

Cite this

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title = "CFD–DEM modelling and analysis of proppant transportation inside tortuous hydraulic fractures",

abstract = "Hydraulic fractures in unconventional gas/oil and tight reservoirs generally have tortuous shapes. This paper presents a numerical study of the proppant transportation and distribution in tortuous hydraulic fractures. This is done by combining computational fluid dynamics (CFD) with discrete element method (DEM). The CFD-DEM model is validated by comparing the numerical results with the experimental measurements of proppant transportation and distributions in single and multiple straight fractures. Via the model, the effect of tortuosity on proppant transportation is studied based on tortuous fractures constructed according to an actual fracture profile. The numerical results show that the packing pattern has a trapezoid shape as the fracture tortuosity varies from 0.6 to 1. It becomes triangular in the tortuosity range of 0–0.4. The horizontal distance and the vertical height of the proppant bed exhibit different trends against fracture tortuosity.",

keywords = "CFD-DEM model, Proppant distribution, Proppant transportation, Tortuous fracture",

author = "Jun Li and Shibo Kuang and Fayan Huang and Pingli Liu and Aibing Yu",

note = "Funding Information: The authors are grateful to the Australian Research Council (ARC IH140100035 ) and the State Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Reservoir Geology and Exploitation, Southwest Petroleum University for the financial support of this study. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023 Elsevier B.V.",

year = "2024",

month = jan,

day = "2",

doi = "10.1016/j.powtec.2023.119155",

language = "English",

volume = "432",

journal = "Powder Technology",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - CFD–DEM modelling and analysis of proppant transportation inside tortuous hydraulic fractures

AU - Li, Jun

AU - Kuang, Shibo

AU - Huang, Fayan

AU - Liu, Pingli

AU - Yu, Aibing

N1 - Funding Information: The authors are grateful to the Australian Research Council (ARC IH140100035 ) and the State Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Reservoir Geology and Exploitation, Southwest Petroleum University for the financial support of this study. Publisher Copyright: © 2023 Elsevier B.V.

PY - 2024/1/2

Y1 - 2024/1/2

N2 - Hydraulic fractures in unconventional gas/oil and tight reservoirs generally have tortuous shapes. This paper presents a numerical study of the proppant transportation and distribution in tortuous hydraulic fractures. This is done by combining computational fluid dynamics (CFD) with discrete element method (DEM). The CFD-DEM model is validated by comparing the numerical results with the experimental measurements of proppant transportation and distributions in single and multiple straight fractures. Via the model, the effect of tortuosity on proppant transportation is studied based on tortuous fractures constructed according to an actual fracture profile. The numerical results show that the packing pattern has a trapezoid shape as the fracture tortuosity varies from 0.6 to 1. It becomes triangular in the tortuosity range of 0–0.4. The horizontal distance and the vertical height of the proppant bed exhibit different trends against fracture tortuosity.

AB - Hydraulic fractures in unconventional gas/oil and tight reservoirs generally have tortuous shapes. This paper presents a numerical study of the proppant transportation and distribution in tortuous hydraulic fractures. This is done by combining computational fluid dynamics (CFD) with discrete element method (DEM). The CFD-DEM model is validated by comparing the numerical results with the experimental measurements of proppant transportation and distributions in single and multiple straight fractures. Via the model, the effect of tortuosity on proppant transportation is studied based on tortuous fractures constructed according to an actual fracture profile. The numerical results show that the packing pattern has a trapezoid shape as the fracture tortuosity varies from 0.6 to 1. It becomes triangular in the tortuosity range of 0–0.4. The horizontal distance and the vertical height of the proppant bed exhibit different trends against fracture tortuosity.

KW - CFD-DEM model

KW - Proppant distribution

KW - Proppant transportation

KW - Tortuous fracture

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DO - 10.1016/j.powtec.2023.119155

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85177893226

SN - 0032-5910

VL - 432

JO - Powder Technology

JF - Powder Technology

M1 - 119155

ER -

CFD–DEM modelling and analysis of proppant transportation inside tortuous hydraulic fractures

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Keywords

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ARC Research Hub for Computational Particle Technology

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CFD–DEM modelling and analysis of proppant transportation inside tortuous hydraulic fractures

Abstract

Keywords

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ARC Research Hub for Computational Particle Technology

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