Computational Fluid Dynamics Modeling and Analysis of Axial and Radial Temperature of Wellbore during Injection and Production Process

Abstract

Summary To solve problems such as additional tubing/casing load, casing deformation, and packer failure caused by changes in annular temperature during oil and gas reservoir fracturing and production, based on the well structure of oil and gas reservoirs and transition transient heat transfer mechanism, a four-field coupling simulation model of the temperature field in the main fluid domain of the tubing, the temperature field in the solid domain of the tubing, the temperature field in the annular fluid domain, and the temperature field in the solid domain of the casing is proposed. Considering the coupling of fluid temperature, pressure, and physical parameters, boundary conditions are established based on reservoir characteristics, wellbore heat transfer characteristics, and fracturing and production conditions, and are compiled into Fluent software for simulation through the user-defined function (UDF) method. The effects of the temperature and flow rate of injected fracturing fluid and produced oil and gas on the distribution of the wellbore temperature field and temperature gradient are studied. The research results show that by applying D14-1 and D5-5 gas wells to the model, the simulated temperature is in good agreement with the measured wellbore temperature, and the maximum errors of the simulated values of the two different wells are 6.4% and 4.3%, respectively. As the injection and production operation time increase, the heat transfer between the wellbore and the formation gradually stabilizes. At this time, the injection and production flow rate have little impact on the wellbore temperature field, while the injection and production temperature have a greater impact on the wellbore temperature field. The injection and production temperature will cause changes in annular temperature and temperature gradient, leading to an increase or decrease in pressure within a limited annular volume, resulting in local stress on the tubing and casing. The research results can provide a theoretical basis for the analysis of the temperature field and pressure field of the wellbore during fracturing and oil and gas production, ensuring the safety and stability of fracturing and production.