Simulation of Hydraulic Fracturing for Shale Gas Development

非常规页岩气开发（SGD）有可能在未来30年内为加拿大的GDP贡献数万亿美元;然而，与水力压裂（HF）相关的环境和公共健康风险仍然存在重大问题-SGD的使能技术。 “水力压裂模拟和风险”（HF-SR）研究和培训计划将a）开发有关HF力学的新知识，B）为加拿大建立全面的风险评估和风险管理（RA/RM）框架奠定基础。 这些目标将共同为公共政策提供信息，实现有效的风险评估，并导致创新的HF实践，这在经济和环境上更具可持续性。拟议的发现赠款“页岩气开发水力压裂模拟”将开发计算力学知识，以提高扩展有限元法（XFEM）HF模拟器的计算效率。 这将通过四个里程碑来实现：1）高阶XFEM近似; 2）新颖的算子分裂方法; 3）局部-全局XFEM尖端富集;以及4）降阶模型。 通过这些里程碑开发的模拟技术将部分通过NSERC战略赠款的行业合作者和其他行业合作伙伴关系进行动员。将通过出版物、会议和利益攸关方讲习班为学术界调动知识。这些里程碑的实现将导致一套仿真技术，这些技术既足够逼真又足够快，可用于工程设计和风险评估。发现补助金将培养24名高素质人才（HQP）-3名博士，1名硕士，5名本科合作教育和15名本科研究助理学生-每个HQP将成为多学科和多机构研究和培训计划的组成部分。这是HF-SR计划的一个关键变革特征。 由于HF活动将在未来五年内在全球范围内大幅增加，非营利组织，监管机构和行业将需要一支具有社会科学和工程专业知识的合格员工队伍。此外，全球存在广泛的页岩气资源，尚未开发，因此加拿大将在战略上调整，以利用HF研究和知识开发国外市场。 在接下来的五年里，该计划将在新加坡发展的关键时刻注入实现新加坡经济潜力所需的技术、知识和专家，同时确保环境的可持续性和公共健康。

Unconventional Shale Gas Development (SGD) has the potential to contribute trillions of dollars to Canada's GDP over the next 30 years; however, significant questions remain about the environmental and public health risks associated with Hydraulic Fracturing (HF)-the enabling technology of SGD. The "Hydraulic Fracture Simulation and Risk" (HF-SR) research and training program will a) develop new knowledge about the mechanics of HF and b) establish the foundations for a comprehensive Risk Assessment and Risk Management (RA/RM) framework for Canada. Together these goals will inform public policy, enable effective risk assessment, and lead to innovative HF practices, which are more economically and environmentally sustainable.******The proposed Discovery Grant "Hydraulic Fracture Simulation for Shale Gas Development" will develop computational mechanics knowledge to increase the computationally efficiency of eXtended Finite Element Method (XFEM) HF simulators based by several orders of magnitude. This will be achieved through four milestones: 1) higher-order XFEM approximations; 2) novel Operator Splitting methods; 3) local-global XFEM tip enrichments; and 4) Reduce Order Models. The simulation technology developed through these milestones will be mobilized, in part, through the industry collaborator of a NSERC Strategic grant and other industry partnerships. Knowledge will be mobilized for academics through publications, conferences, and stakeholder workshops. The achievement of these milestones will lead to a suite of simulation technologies that are both sufficiently realistic and fast enough to be used in engineering design and risk assessment.******The Discovery Grant will train 24 Highly Qualified Personnel (HQP)-3 Doctoral, 1 Masters, 5 undergraduate cooperative education, and 15 undergraduate research assistant students-each HQP will be an integral member of a multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional research and training program. This is a key transformative feature of the HF-SR program. Since HF activities will substantially increase worldwide over the next five years, non-profit organizations, regulators, and industry will need a qualified workforce with expertise from the social sciences and engineering. Furthermore, extensive shale gas resources exist worldwide and are not yet being developed and so Canada will be strategically aligned to leverage HF research and knowledge in developing foreign markets. Over the next five years, this program will inject, at a critical time in SGD, technology, knowledge, and experts needed to realize the economic potential of SGD, while ensuring environmental sustainability and public health.********