Hydrocarbon Flow Simulations in Porous and Permeable Media Using Finite Element Analyses and Discrete Fracture Network

Abstract

Abstract Naturally fractured reservoirs, NFR are distinguished from the conventional reservoirs by the discontinuities in porous media. Prediction of non-Newtonian fluid flow behaviour in NFR is a challenging work in petroleum engineering. Large quantities of hydrocarbons are present in NFR in different regions of the world. The discontinuities in porous media have complicated the description of the petrophysical structures and the fluid flow in fractured porous and permeable media. This study uses discrete fracture network, DFN to explicitly model the flow of fluids through the fractures. In this study, hydrocarbons are treated as non-Newtonian which is the case with waxy or heavy crude oils. Multiphase fluid flow models in porous media are frequently used in many important applications of Earth Sciences, such as in ground water contamination, subsurface remediation and reservoir modeling, Diaz-Vera et al. (2008). The same is true for single-phase flow in porous media. This simulation is carried out using Carreau viscosity model and power law model to describe the relationship between viscosity and shear rate. The simulation is implemented with finite element analysis software, the COMSOL Multiphysics. The results obtained are compared with reference results of Newtonian flow. The influence of viscosity function on the shear rate is weaker in power-law than in Carreau model. Some other characteristic results along with appropriate analysis are presented.