Postdoc: Computational Simulation of Hydrofracturing

9503981 Ingraffea该项目的目的是促进模拟器的开发，用于预测套管、射孔、斜井的启动和近井传播。 该模拟器将在IBM SP2和分布式工作站并行计算环境上运行，并将使用最先进的计算和代表性方法，并正确传播任意几何形状的流体耦合裂缝。水力压裂，广泛用于刺激石油和天然气生产，往往是不成功的倾斜（非垂直）井眼。 然而，钻井倾斜井筒的经济和环境优势是压倒性的：因此，当务之急是刺激技术的改进。 这包括水力压裂过程的详细模拟。通过高效的模拟器，可以分析水力压裂处理失败的原因，并研究新的方法。 用于对由倾斜井眼呈现的几何和物理复杂性进行建模的计算资源对于现场工程师来说还不容易获得，因此创建这样的模拟器的动机很小。这种情况正在迅速改变，现在一个有用的模拟器必须能够模拟多个，非平面，传播的裂纹，相互作用，并可能相交，以及高度非线性之间的耦合在裂缝中的流体流动和弹性响应的断裂岩石。 目前的“三维”压裂模拟器在这些领域受到严重限制。

9503981 Ingraffea The purpose of this project is to contribute to the development of a simulator for predicting initiation and near-wellbore propagation from cased, perforated, deviated wellbores. This simulator will function on both the IBM SP2 and on a distributed-workstation parallel computing environment, and will use state-of-the-art computational and representational methods and correctly propagate fluid-coupled fractures of arbitrary geometries. Hydraulic fracturing, widely used for stimulating oil and gas production is often unsuccessful for deviated (non-vertical) wellbores. However, the economical and environmental advantages of drilling inclined wellbores are overwhelming: thus, it is imperative that the stimulation techniques be improved. This includes detailed simulations of the hydrofracturing process. With an efficient simulator, the causes of hydrofracturing treatment failures can be analyzed, and new approaches can be investigated. The computational resources for modeling the geometrical and physical complexities presented by deviated wellbores have not been readily available to the field engineer, so there has been little motivation to create such a simulator. This situation is rapidly changing, and now a useful simulator must be able to model the multiple, non-planar, propagating cracks which interact and possibly intersect, as well as the highly non-linear coupling between the fluid flow in the fracture and the elastic response of the fractured rock. Current "three-dimensional" fracturing simulators are severely restricted in these areas.