Investigation of sand production and hydraulic fracturing in petroleum sandstone reservoirs

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This proposal relates to petroleum wellbore phenomena including rock degradation, sand production, and hydraulic fracturing. The proposed research takes a comprehensive approach in understanding and quantifying these phenomena in conventional and heavy oil reservoirs by fundamental and applied research through physical and mathematical modeling. Sand production in the petroleum industry is defined as the production of solid particles together with reservoir fluids. Estimates indicate 70% of the world oil reserves are in reservoir sandstones that are prone to producing sand at some time during their production life. Sand influx into the wellbore can increase the well productivity/injectivity. It also has negative aspects and, if massive, can lead to wellbore collapse. Therefore, reliable prediction of sanding, which is a focus of this proposal, is vital to optimizing wellbore operational conditions and increasing field profitability. Development of reliable sanding models is only possible if various influential phenomena are understood and captured through improved theories and techniques. This aspect is another focus of the proposed research and includes the formulation and implementation of a constitutive law that can capture the rock degradation process. The model will be enriched to avoid the effects of artificial conditions on the numerical results.