Abstract
Particle bridging is ubiquitous in many fields of oil and gas field development engineering, such as fracture plugging for lost circulation control and proppant bridging as well as temporary plugging agent bridging in hydraulic fracturing. In this work, the resolved computational fluid dynamics coupled with discrete element method (Resolved CFD–DEM) is used to capture the formation and evolution of particle bridging structures in a T-shaped fracture, and to study the effects of inlet particle concentration, fracture geometry and friction coefficient of particle on the particle bridging behaviors in the T-shaped fracture. The results indicate that both threshold particle concentration and critical particle concentration are two important parameters to describe particle bridging and are significantly influenced by friction coefficient of particle and fracture geometry. Three-particle arch structure is the main particle bridging type when the ratio of particle size to fracture width is 0.5. With the increase in friction coefficient of particle, the mean formation time of particle bridging decreases. In this work, high-resolution numerical modeling of the particle bridging in a T-shaped fracture is realized based on the resolved computational fluid dynamics coupled with discrete element method, and can be used to provide theoretical guidance for temporary plugging and diversion fracturing and lost circulation control in fractured reservoirs.
Copyright 2023, IFEDC Organizing Committee.
This paper was prepared for presentation at the 2023 International Field Exploration and Development Conference in Wuhan, China, 20-22 September 2023.
This paper was selected for presentation by the IFEDC Committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper, as presented, have not been reviewed by the IFEDC Technical Team and are subject to correction by the author(s). The material does not necessarily reflect any position of the IFEDC Technical Committee its members. Papers presented at the Conference are subject to publication review by Professional Team of IFEDC Technical Committee. Electronic reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper for commercial purposes without the written consent of IFEDC Organizing Committee is prohibited. Permission to reproduce in print is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words; illustrations may not be copied. The abstract must contain conspicuous acknowledgment of IFEDC. Contact email: paper@ifedc.org.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Zhao, L., et al.: A review of diverting agents for reservoir stimulation. J. Petrol. Sci. Eng. 187, 106734 (2020)
Golovin, S., Besov, A., Chebotnikov, A., Ermanyuk, E.: Experimental study of proppant bridging in a model of a hydraulic fracture. SPE J. 27(2), 1209–1220 (2022)
Mondal, S., Wu, C., Sharma, M.: Coupled CFD-DEM simulation of hydrodynamic bridging at constrictions. Int. J. Multiph. Flow 84, 245–263 (2016)
**ong, H., Chen, Y., Chen, M., Cheng, H., Yu, C., **ao, J.: Resolved CFD–DEM simulation on hydrodynamic bridging in a bend rectangle channel. J. Braz. Soc. Mech. Sci. Eng. 43(7), 1–15 (2021)
Xu, C., et al.: Structural formation and evolution mechanisms of fracture plugging zone. Pet. Explor. Dev. 48(1), 232–242 (2021)
Li, J., Qiu, Z., Zhong, H., Zhao, X., Huang, W.: Coupled CFD-DEM analysis of parameters on bridging in the fracture during lost circulation. J. Petrol. Sci. Eng. 184, 106501 (2020)
Zhang, R., Bo, K., Liu, Z.: A method of sizing plugging nanoparticles to prevent water invasion for shale wellbore stability based on CFD-DEM simulation. J. Petrol. Sci. Eng. 196, 107733 (2021)
Zhu, B., Tang, H., Yin, S., Chen, G., Zhao, F., Li, L.: Experimental and numerical investigations of particle plugging in fracture-vuggy reservoir: A case study. J. Petrol. Sci. Eng. 208, 109610 (2022)
Wen, Z., et al.: A review on numerical simulation of proppant transport: Eulerian-Lagrangian views. J. Petrol. Sci. Eng. 217, 110902 (2022)
Zeng, J., Li, H., Zhang, D.: Direct numerical simulation of proppant transport in hydraulic fractures with the immersed boundary method and multi-sphere modeling. Appl. Math. Model. 91, 590–613 (2021)
Kloss, C., Goniva, C., Hager, A., Amberger, S., Pirker, S.: Models, algorithms and validation for opensource DEM and CFD-DEM. Progress Comput. Fluid Dyn. 12(2–3), 140–152 (2012)
Ten, C., Nieuwstad, C., Derksen, J., Van den Akker, H.: Particle imaging velocimetry experiments and lattice-Botlzmann simulations on a single sphere settling under gravity. Phys. Fluids 14(11), 4012–4025 (2002)
Tong, S., Mohanty, K.: Proppant transport study in fractures with intersections. Fuel 181, 463–477 (2016)
Sun, H., Xu, S., Pan, X., Shi, L., Geng, X., Cai, Y.: Investigating the jamming of particles in a three-dimensional fluid-driven flow via coupled CFD–DEM simulations. Int. J. Multiph. Flow 114, 140–153 (2019)
Wang, Z., Liu, M.: Semi-resolved CFD–DEM for thermal particulate flows with applications to fluidized beds. Int. J. Heat Mass Transf. 159, 120150 (2020)
Acknowledgments
The project is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 52234003) and the Natural Science Foundation of Sichuan Province (Grant No. 2022NSFSC0186).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2024 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this paper
Cite this paper
Ding, Y., Wen, Zc., Qin, Jh., Zhang, J., Niu, Ym., Tang, Hy. (2024). Numerical Modeling of Particle Bridging in a T-Shaped Fracture with the Resolved CFD–DEM Coupling. In: Lin, J. (eds) Proceedings of the International Field Exploration and Development Conference 2023. IFEDC 2023. Springer Series in Geomechanics and Geoengineering. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-0260-2_41
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-0260-2_41
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-97-0259-6
Online ISBN: 978-981-97-0260-2
eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)