Work on the calculation of vertical two-phase flow gradients by Cia. Shell de Venezuela has been based mainly on the "energy-loss" method proposed by Poettmann and Carpenter in 1952. The "energy-lass-factor" correlation proposed by Poettmann and Carpenter was based on relatively lowrate flow data. This correlation proved inapplicable to high-rate flow conditions. In an attempt to establish a satisfactory correlation for high rates, a series of experiments was carried out at rates up to 5,000 BID in Cia. Shell de Venezuela's La Paz field in Venezuela, using tubing strings fitted with electronic surface-recording pressure elements.As a result of these experiments a correlation between energy-loss factor and mass flow rate was established which is believed to be applicable to a wide range of conduit sizes and crude types at high flow rates (e.g., above 900 BID for P/S-in. OD tubing). It is anticipated that the resulting gradient calculations will have an accuracy of the order of ± 5 per cent.A t lower flow rates the energy-loss factor cannot be considered as constant for any mass rate of flow, but varies with the free gas in place and the mixture velocity. No satisfactory correlating parameter was obtained. As a practical compromise for low flow rates, a modification of the curve proposed by Poettmann and Carpenter was used. In practice this was found to give gradient accuracies of approximately ± 10 per cent down to flow rates as low as 300 B/ D in 2?/8-in. tubing.

Concurrent growth of multiple fractures in brittle rock is a complex process due to mechanical interaction effects. Fractures can amplify or shield stress on other fracture tips, and stress field perturbations change continuously during fracture growth. A three-dimensional, finite-element based, quasi-static growth algorithm is validated for mixed mode fracture growth in linear elastic media, and is used to investigate concurrent fracture growth in arrays and networks.Growth is governed by fracture tip stress intensity factors, which quantify the energy contributing to fracture extension, and are validated against analytical solutions for fractures under compression and tension, demonstrating that growth is accurate even in coarsely meshed domains. Isolated fracture geometries are compared to wing cracks grown in experiments on brittle media. A novel formulation of a Paris-type extension criterion is introduced to handle concurrent fracture growth. Fracture and volume-based growth rate exponents are shown to modify fracture interaction patterns. A geomechanical discrete fracture network is generated and examined during its growth, whose properties are the direct result of the imposed anisotropic stress field and mutual fracture interaction. Two-dimensional cut-plane views of the network demonstrate how fractures would appear in outcrops, and show the variability in fracture traces arising during interaction and growth.

Fracture networks significantly alter the mechanical and hydraulic properties of subsurface rocks. The mechanics of fracture propagation and interaction control network development. However, mechanical processes are not routinely incorporated into discrete fracture network (DFN) models. A finite element, linear elastic fracture mechanics-based method is applied to the generation of three-dimensional geomechanical discrete fracture networks (GDFNs). These networks grow quasi-statically from a set of initial flaws in response to a remote uniaxial tensile stress. Fracture growth is handled using a stress intensity factor-based approach, where extension is determined by the local variations in the three stress intensity factor modes along fracture tips. Mechanical interaction between fractures modifies growth patterns, resulting in nonuniform and nonplanar growth in dense networks. When fractures are close, stress concentration results in the reactivation of fractures that were initially inactive. Therefore, GDFNs provide realistic representations of subsurface networks that honor the physical process of concurrent fracture growth. Hydraulic properties of the grown networks are quantified by computing their equivalent permeability tensors at each growth step. Compared to two sets of stochastic DFNs, GDFNs with uniform fracture apertures are strongly anisotropic and have relatively higher permeabilities at high fracture intensities. In GDFN models, where fracture apertures are based on mechanical principles, fluid flow becomes strongly channeled along distinct flow paths. Fracture orientations and interactions significantly modify apertures, and in turn, the hydraulic properties of the network. GDFNs provide a new way of understanding subsurface networks, where fracture mechanics is the primary influence on their geometric and hydraulic properties.

Accurate and flexible models of fracture interaction are sought after in the fields of mechanics and geology. Stress intensity factors (SIFs) quantify the energy concentrated at the fracture tips and are perturbed from their isolated values when two fractures are close to one another. Using a three‐dimensional finite element fracture mechanics code to simulate static fractures in tension and compression, interaction effects are examined. SIF perturbations are characterized by introducing three interaction measures: the circumferential and maximum SIF perturbation provide the “magnitude” of the effect of interaction, and the amplification to shielding ratio quantifies the balance between increased and decreased SIFs along the tip. These measures are used to demonstrate the change in interaction with fracture separation and to find the separation at which interaction becomes negligible. Interaction maps are constructed by plotting the values of the interaction measures for a static fracture as a second fracture is moved around it. These maps are presented for several common fracture orientations in tension. They explore interaction by highlighting regions in which growth is more likely to occur and where fractures will grow into nonplanar geometries. Interaction maps can be applied to fracture networks with multiple discontinuities to analyze the effect of geometric variations on fracture interaction.

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