Non-Darcy Flow in Hydraulic Fractures: Does It Really Matter?

Abstract

Abstract In recent years, non-Darcy flow has seen a significant increase in interest in the petroleum industry, especially in flow in fractures—both artificial and natural. In hydraulic fracture stimulation, non-Darcy flow can have a major impact on the reduction of a propped half-length to a considerably shorter "effective" half-length, thus lowering the well's productive capability and overall reserve recovery. These non-Darcy flow effects in propped fractures have been typically associated with high flow rates in both oil and gas wells. This paper shows that non-Darcy flow effects have an impact on the performance of a hydraulically fractured well even at low flow rates. Although not as drastic as the effects on high flow rate wells, reductions in flow capacity of 5-30% can be realized in low rate wells. Such reductions are due solely to non-Darcy effects. When combined with other concerns, such as multiphase flow, the production reduction effects are even greater. Development of a simple spreadsheet is provided to aid engineers in assessing the impact non-Darcy flow may have in a given situation. The spreadsheet is not intended to replace more in-depth investigation of non-Darcy flow effects but instead provides a conduit to assess the sensitivity of certain parameters in a hydraulic fracture stimulation situation. For comparison purposes, results of the loss in long-term dynamic conductivity on well performance and cumulative gas recovery over time in low permeability reservoirs are also presented. These calculations were performed using dynamic conductivity loss calculations coupled with a transient gas reservoir simulator. These results showed that for the cases examined, non-Darcy effects could reduce cumulative gas production by up to 18.1% over a ten-year period.