Understanding Hydraulic Fracturing: A Multi-Scale Problem

Hyman, Jeffrey De'Haven; Gimenez Martinez, Joaquin; Viswanathan, Hari S.; Carey, James William; Porter, Mark L.; Rougier, Esteban; Karra, Satish; Kang, Qinjun; Frash, Luke; Chen, Li; Lei, Zhou; O'Malley, Daniel; Makedonska, Nataliia

doi:10.1098/rsta.2015.0426

Title: Understanding Hydraulic Fracturing: A Multi-Scale Problem

Journal Article · Mon Sep 05 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. A, Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2015.0426· OSTI ID:1369170

^[1]; Gimenez Martinez, Joaquin ^[1];

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^[1]; Porter, Mark L. ^[1];

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^[1]; Chen, Li ^[1];

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Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

Despite the impact that hydraulic fracturing has had on the energy sector, the physical mechanisms that control its efficiency and environmental impacts remain poorly understood in part because the length scales involved range from nano-meters to kilo-meters. We characterize flow and transport in shale formations across and between these scales using integrated computational, theoretical, and experimental efforts. At the field scale, we use discrete fracture network modeling to simulate production at a well site whose fracture network is based on a site characterization of a shale formation. At the core scale, we use triaxial fracture experiments and a finite-element discrete-element fracture propagation model with a coupled fluid solver to study dynamic crack propagation in low permeability shale. We use lattice Boltzmann pore-scale simulations and microfluidic experiments in both synthetic and real micromodels to study pore-scale flow phenomenon such as multiphase flow and mixing. A mechanistic description and integration of these multiple scales is required for accurate predictions of production and the eventual optimization of hydrocarbon extraction from unconventional reservoirs.

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Research Organization:: Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE

Grant/Contract Number:: AC52-06NA25396

OSTI ID:: 1369170

Report Number(s):: LA-UR-16-21087

Journal Information:: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. A, Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, Vol. 374, Issue 2078; ISSN 1364-503X

Publisher:: The Royal Society PublishingCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 93 works

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