Title: Numerical simulation study on hydraulic fracture propagation in heavy oil reservoir with THM coupling

Authors: Yongquan Hu; Qiang Wang; Jinzhou Zhao; Ziyi Guo; Yong Zhang; Chun Mao

Addresses: State Key Laboratory of Oil-Gas Reservoir Geology and Exploitation, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu 610500, China ' State Key Laboratory of Oil-Gas Reservoir Geology and Exploitation, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu 610500, China ' State Key Laboratory of Oil-Gas Reservoir Geology and Exploitation, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu 610500, China ' Engineering Technology Research Institute of Qinghai Oilfield Company, Dun Huang, 736200, China ' Engineering Technology Research Institute of Qinghai Oilfield Company, Dun Huang, 736200, China ' State Key Laboratory of Oil-Gas Reservoir Geology and Exploitation, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu 610500, China

Abstract: The aim of the study involves examining the effect of heavy oil viscosity on fracture geometry in detail by establishing a heavy oil fracturing model and conventional fracturing model based on thermal-hydraulic-mechanical (THM) coupled theory, Walther viscosity model, and K-D-R temperature model. The results show that temperature exhibits the most significant influence on the heavy oil viscosity while the influence of pressure is the least. The special viscosity distribution results in significant differences in pore pressure, oil saturation, and changing trends between these two models. In the heavy oil reservoir fracturing model, the thermal effect completely exceeds the influence of pore elasticity, and the values of the fracture length, width, and static pressure exceed those calculated in the conventional fracturing model. Thus, a comparison of the measured values indicates that the results obtained by considering viscosity as a function of temperature and pressure are more accurate. [Received: February 9, 2018; Accepted: August 8, 2018]

Keywords: heavy oil fracturing; thermo-hydro-mechanical coupling; heavy oil viscosity; fracture morphology; conventional fracturing.

DOI: 10.1504/IJOGCT.2020.107031

International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Technology, 2020 Vol.24 No.2, pp.179 - 204

Received: 09 Feb 2018
Accepted: 08 Aug 2018
Published online: 01 May 2020 *

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