Application of Lightning Breakdown Simulation in Inversion of Induced Fracture Network Morphology in Stimulated Reservoirs

Abstract

Accurately characterizing fracture network morphology is necessary for flow simulation and fracturing evaluation. The complex natural fractures and reservoir heterogeneity in unconventional reservoirs make the induced fracture network resulting from hydraulic fracturing more difficult to describe. Existing fracture propagation simulation and fracture network inversion methods cannot accurately match actual fracture network morphology. Considering the lightning breakdown similar as fracture propagation, a new efficient approach for inversion of fracture network morphology is proposed. Based on the dielectric breakdown model (DBM) for lightning breakdown simulation and similarity principle, an induced fracture propagation algorithm integrating reservoir in-situ stress, rock mechanical parameters, and stress shadow effect is proposed. The fractal index and random function are coupled to quantitatively characterize the probability distribution of induced fracture propagation path. At the same time, a matching rate function is proposed to quantitatively evaluate the fitting between fracture network morphology and the micro seismic data. Combined with automatic history matching method, the actual fracture network morphology can be inverted with the matching rate as objective function. The proposed approach is applied to fracture network simulation of mult-fractured horizontal wells of shale oil reservoir in China, and the fracture networks from inversion fit well with the micro seismic data. A simulation of 94 fractures in the 32 section of Well X2 shows that the well propagates more obvious branch fractures. The single-wing fracture network communicates approximately 200m horizontally and approximately 10m vertically. In single fracture flow simulation, it is necessary to consider the influence of complex fracture network morphology, but when simulating fluid flow for a single well or even a reservoir, only the main fracture needs to be considered. This paper proposes an induced fracture propagation algorithm that integrates reservoir in-situ stress, rock mechanical parameters, and stress shadowing effects. This algorithm greatly improves the calculation efficiency on the premise of ensuring the accuracy of induced fracture network morphology. The approach in this paper provides a theoretical basis for flow simulation of stimulated reservoirs and optimization of fracture networks.

Research on the data-driven inter-well fracture channeling identification method for shale gas reservoirs

“…Therefore, a single fracture cannot effectively describe the channeling fracture. Zhao et al (2021), Zhao H. et al (2020), and Sheng et al (2023) proposed a reservoir fracturing model based on lightning simulation, which can simulate the fracture morphology of complex induced fractures. In this paper, the method proposed by Zhao H. et al (2020) is used to establish a fracture channeling identification model based on the connection element method.…”

Simulation of Oil-Water Flow in Shale Oil Reservoirs Based on Smooth Particle Hydrodynamics

“…Despite the fact that the finite element method offers significant advantages in terms of computation accuracy and fit outcomes, it is not widely used. Preprocessing is difficult, and dealing with complicated boundaries, as well as some convergence concerns, can be difficult [8,9]. The finite difference approach is inefficient in solving complex boundary problems or scenarios with steep gradients [10].…”

A New Approach for Automatic Optimization of Complex Fracture Network in Shale Reservoirs

“…Consequently, the numerical simulation for shale gas reservoirs must overcome the problem that the conventional methods cannot accurately describe fractures. In 2020, Zhao et al [9] used the similarity principle to compare the similarity between the lightning formation process and the fracture network expansion and firstly proposed a calculation method for the fracture network expansion of reservoir fracturing based on lightning simulation. This method can quickly conduct large-scale fracture propagation simulation, which provides the possibility for the fracture propagation simulation of the entire reservoirs.…”