HYDROFRAC · Computational Multiscale Modelling of Hydraulic Fracturing for Shale Gas Development
FP7 — People (Marie Curie Actions)
- Duration
- 2014-07-01 → 2016-09-05
- EU contribution
- €161,969
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MC-IIF
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Results in brief
Computational Multiscale Modelling of Hydraulic Fracturing for Shale Gas Development
The project was carried out from July 1, 2014 and was requested terminate on November 30, 2015. There has also been a two months-break due to the pregnancy (including giving birth) of the Marie-Curie Fellow; this two months break is compulsory by German law. During the 17-months course of the project, most of the objectives have been achieved as planned in the proposal while certain task remains to be accomplished. The main objectives of this project were to 1. develop of a fully 3D computational multiphysics framework to gain better understanding of the HF process and 2. to apply this framework to a specific shale to shed light on the following issues: a. The resulting wellbore pressure variation due to the fracture network evolution, for a given injection flow rate and geostructural model. b. The effect/interaction of an existing fracture network due to a previous stage of HF treatment on the fracture network evolution in succeeding, adjacent stages. c. The possibility of the fracture network encroaching into adjacent layers of rock. d. The interaction of fractures with existing natural faults that intersect the shale seam. e. Determination of key input parameters (material parameters, boundary conditions, etc.) for a certain output (e.g. pressure drop). The first task of the project has been accomplished by the MC-fellow and is described in more detail in the attachment. Parts of the second key tasks (2a and e) were carried out as well while the other tasks were not completed yet. However, though the project has been terminated early, a student funded through a national project will complete these tasks. The student remains still in contact with the MC-Fellow and the work has been smoothly transferred.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
Recent advances in hydraulic fracturing (HF) have allowed for commercially viable extraction of oil/gas from deep underground shale formations previously deemed uneconomical to exploit. Indeed, HF promises to be one of the key industries for future energy exploitation. However, the use of HF in unconventional oil/gas extraction has generated controversy, so that several countries have imposed moratorium on its use for unconventional hydrocarbon extraction. Opponents of HF claim that its use poses severe environmental risks such as contamination of groundwater resources, that it depletes freshwater supply and induces seismicity.To gain a better understanding of the HF-process, the applicant proposes to develop, implement, verify and validate a 3D stochastic computational multiscale & multiphysics framework. The measurable outcome of this research will be an open-source software package that can be used to study and better understand HF and finally to improve current-practice HF.Within the computational framework, fluid flow through the evolving 3D fracture network will be modelled on a 2-stage reservoir scale. Fine-scale simulations will be performed in order to more reliably predict macroscopic material parameters at the 2-stage reservoir scale. Moreover, based on (stochastic) uncertain input parameters, the applicant will quantify uncertainties in order to provide upper and lower bounds of her predictions. The researcher will provide a framework based on graph-theory and sensitivity analysis to choose the appropriate model and discretization. This computational framework will be verified and validated by comparison to experiment and site data, and will be used to answer some of the most pressing issues in HF, e.g. the interaction between fracture networks at different stages, the possibility of the fracture network encroaching into adjacent layers of rock or the interaction of fractures with existing natural faults that intersect the shale seam, to name a few.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- BAUHAUS-UNIVERSITAET WEIMAR · WeimarCoordinatorGermany
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union