Article
Energy & Fuels
Bo Zhang, Ranjith Pathegama Gamage, Chengpeng Zhang, Ayal Wanniarachchi
Summary: This study investigates how fracture roughness affects proppant transport and placement using an improved computational fluid dynamics-discrete element method. The results show that increasing fracture roughness enhances the lateral conveyance of proppant and reduces its settling velocity. The fractal dimension of fracture walls and the fracture inclination angle also influence proppant movement and deposition.
Article
Energy & Fuels
Brian D. Yamashiro, Ingrid Tomac
Summary: The influence of rough rock surface geometry on flow behavior of neutrally buoyant particles in fractures is investigated in this study. The roughness level is evaluated by varying the root-mean-square asperity height and fractal dimension of synthetic surfaces. The effects of flow Reynolds number and multiparticle volumetric concentration are also considered. The results show that the particle transport rate is enhanced in some rough fractures at intermediate particle diameter to mechanical aperture ratio values, but further narrowing of the mechanical aperture leads to particle arrest. The evaluations of multiparticle flow and transport also reveal that increased particle interactions result in varied hydraulic aperture values.
GEOMECHANICS FOR ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Thermodynamics
Hai Qu, Yang Xu, Ying Liu, Zhelun Li, Xu Liu, Zhijun Zeng, Ruichang Guo
Summary: This paper proposes a novel method to study the particle transport characteristics in rock fractures by combining three-dimensional laser scanning and casting technology. The experimental results show that distorted streamlines, vortexes, sand settling, and dispersion are primary characteristics of particle transport. Increasing fluid velocity and viscosity can improve particle distribution.
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Hai Qu, Rui Wang, Xiang Ao, Zhonghua Liu, Hun Lin, Qianhua Xiao
Summary: Experimental investigation of particle-fluid flow in a vertical nonplanar fracture showed that narrowing width complicates slurry flow and reduces bed coverage area, with vortex flow appearing at the contraction of the cross-section and irregular bed formation due to non-uniform placement. A mathematical model was developed to predict the coverage percentage of the particle bed.
Article
Computer Science, Interdisciplinary Applications
Zhou Hangyu, Guo Jianchun, Zhang Tao, Gou Haoran, Chen Chi, Wang Shouxin, Tang Tang
Summary: This study focuses on the proppant transport and distribution in fractures, especially in rough fractures, and investigates the effect of wall retardation on proppant migration and settlement. The researchers used the two fluid method (TFM) and the Lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) to analyze the characteristics of shale and tight sandstone samples and construct rough fracture models. The study found that the wall-retardation effect is further enhanced by the unevenly distributed fracture aperture in rough fractures, and the morphology of rough fractures has little impact on proppant transport when the mean fracture aperture is above the critical value.
COMPUTERS AND GEOTECHNICS
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Multidisciplinary
Shaowen Mao, Kan Wu, George Moridis
Summary: This paper develops an integrated hydraulic fracturing simulator by coupling a planar three-dimensional fracture propagation model with an efficient Eulerian-Lagrangian proppant transport model. The simulator can efficiently deal with multi-modal particle simulations and improve the prediction of effective/propped fracture geometries. The simulation results can better the fracturing designs.
COMPUTER METHODS IN APPLIED MECHANICS AND ENGINEERING
(2023)
Article
Energy & Fuels
Yiwen Gong, Ilham El-Monier, Mohamed Mehana
Summary: The study used a coupled Eulerian-Lagrangian approach to quantify proppant distributions in complex fracture networks and validated the method's effectiveness. It was found that networks with secondary and tertiary fractures tend to receive more proppant, and the impact of fracturing fluid viscosity on proppant transport varies.
Article
Energy & Fuels
Tian-Kui Guo, Zhi-Lin Luo, Jin Zhou, Yuan-Zhi Gong, Cai-Li Dai, Jin Tang, Yang Yu, Bing Xiao, Bao-Lun Niu, Ji-Jiang Ge
Summary: This study investigates the migration and placement of proppants within complex fractures by considering fracture wall roughness using computational fluid mechanics-discrete element method (CFD-DEM). The results show that proppant placement non-uniformity and migration capacity are enhanced in rough fractures compared to smooth fractures. The injection rate and fracturing fluid viscosity have a significant impact on proppant migration and placement.
Article
Energy & Fuels
Jian-Hua Li, Bo-Bo Li, Qiao-Yun Cheng, Zheng Gao
Summary: Hydraulic fracturing technology is crucial in improving the recovery rate of shale gas. This study proposes a permeability model to examine the combined effects of a proppant and stress on permeability, taking into account changes in fracture width and porosity. The model quantifies and analyzes the compressibility and permeability of supported fractures, and its rationality is verified through test data.
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Duo Wang, Sanbai Li, Dongxiao Zhang, Zhejun Pan
Summary: The transport mechanism of densely-packed proppant bed is numerically investigated using the lattice Boltzmann-discrete element coupling method (LB-DEM). This study focuses on the bedload transport of settled proppants in the primary fracture. The results show a nonlinear relationship between particle flux and fluid flux, which is attributed to the shear-thinning property of the proppant bed. The research contributes to an improved hydraulic fracturing operation by optimizing the fracturing fluid injection scheme and proppant flowback control.
Article
Thermodynamics
Mingkun Lv, Tiankui Guo, Xuliang Jia, Duwu Wen, Ming Chen, Yunpeng Wang, Zhanqing Qu, Daibing Ma
Summary: This study investigates the impact of two different pump schedules on proppant transport behavior and sand dune shape through experiments and numerical simulations. The results show that a pump schedule with constant proppant concentration facilitates proppant transport and reduces flow fluctuations, while a pump schedule with stepwise increasing proppant concentration enhances the filling of near-well fractures.
Article
Energy & Fuels
Zhiying Wu, Chunfang Wu, Linbo Zhou
Summary: This study experimentally examines the proppant transport and placement in narrow curving channels and analyzes the factors affecting particle placement in curving fractures. The results show that non-uniform proppant placement occurs in curving fractures, with a lower dune height and covered area compared to straight fractures. The curving pathway hinders proppant distribution and leads to a dune closer to the inlet. Additionally, a large depleted zone is formed in the curving section, hindering oil and gas flowback.
Article
Energy & Fuels
Chuangang Xiang, Song Li
Summary: Using a three-dimensional visual parallel plate fracture model, we investigated the impact of various factors on proppant transport and placement pattern. Experimental results showed that increasing fiber concentration improved the channel rate and stability of proppant mass. The viscosity of the fracturing fluid influenced the formation of a perfect channel, and the optimal design displacement was 4.5 m(3)/min. Cluster perforations had a higher channel rate than large continuous perforations.
ENERGY SCIENCE & ENGINEERING
(2023)
Review
Energy & Fuels
Shanshan Yao, Chunli Chang, Ke Hai, Hai Huang, Huazhou Li
Summary: This paper critically reviewed proppant settling in hydraulic fractures, identified six influencing factors, and highlighted a gap between experimental studies and numerical simulations.
JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Geological
K. M. A. S. Bandara, P. G. Ranjith, W. G. P. Kumari
Summary: The study revealed that fractures generated in shale and siltstone formations during hydraulic fracturing exhibit different characteristics, and flow behavior is influenced by factors such as fracture tortuosity and proppant concentration.
ROCK MECHANICS AND ROCK ENGINEERING
(2022)
Article
Thermodynamics
Jingyuan Guan, Xuehua Zhang, Huazhou Li
Summary: The translation discusses the significance of isothermal compressibility and isobaric thermal expansivity in petroleum and chemical processes, as well as the development and application of volume translation strategies to enhance prediction accuracy.
FLUID PHASE EQUILIBRIA
(2022)
Article
Thermodynamics
Zhuo Chen, Ruixue Li, Huazhou Li
Summary: Asphaltene precipitation is a significant issue in petroleum engineering that can impact oil production. Predicting the conditions of asphaltene precipitation accurately is crucial for mitigating flow assurance problems. This study developed a new algorithm for three-phase vapor-liquid-asphaltene precipitation based on the free-asphaltene assumption, and validated its accuracy through comparisons with experimental data.
FLUID PHASE EQUILIBRIA
(2022)
Review
Engineering, Chemical
Zhuo Chen, Ying Zhou, Huazhou Li
Summary: This paper provides a brief review of the phase behavior mechanisms associated with CO2 storage in subsurface formations. It discusses the interactions between CO2 and formation fluids and their impact on CO2 trapping mechanisms and storage capacity. Two different CO2 storage strategies, saline aquifer storage and oil reservoir storage, are considered. The paper also introduces robust algorithms for multiphase equilibria calculations, which are essential for the design and prediction of CO2 storage capacity.
INDUSTRIAL & ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Sirui Li, Lingfei Xu, Huazhou Li
Summary: The research studied the performance of the four-phase flash calculation algorithm in two different mixture conditions, demonstrating its effectiveness and showing that it can help decrease computational costs.
INDUSTRIAL & ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Zhuo Chen, Lingfei Xu, Ying Zhou, Ruixue Li, Huazhou Li
Summary: A novel phase-boundary tracking method is proposed to accurately capture the two-phase boundaries in pressure-temperature and pressure-composition phase diagrams, and the results are consistent with those documented in the literature.
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Energy & Fuels
Xuan Du, Tong Liu, Changfeng Xi, Bojun Wang, Zongyao Qi, You Zhou, Jiacheng Xu, Lixing Lin, Georgeta Istratescu, Tayfun Babadagli, Huazhou Andy Li
Summary: Steam injection is a reliable and successful heavy oil recovery technique. However, the requirement of a large amount of energy, high operational cost, and environmental concerns hinder its future applications. Hot water injection with chemical additives is a possible alternative. Experimental results show that chemical additives can significantly improve the recovery factor, reduce cost, and lessen environmental impact.
Editorial Material
Physics, Multidisciplinary
Weiqi Fu, Jianjun Zhu, Huazhou Li, Zhiyuan Wang
FRONTIERS IN PHYSICS
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Xin Chen, Huazhou Li
Summary: In this study, we developed an algorithm for vapor-liquid-aqueous-hydrate four-phase equilibrium calculations. The algorithm includes a stability test and flash calculations. We proposed a novel criterion for determining the onset of hydrate dissociation. By conducting point-to-point equilibrium calculations, we successfully plotted the phase diagrams of several fluids.
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Lingfei Xu, Sirui Li, Huazhou Li
Summary: This work presents a new hybrid multiphase flash calculation algorithm that combines equilibrium ratios and phase fractions as iteration variables, resulting in improved computational efficiency and robustness compared to the standalone Newton-Raphson method. The algorithm demonstrates fast convergence and reduces the number of iterations required for flash calculations. The performance of the algorithm is validated by constructing phase diagrams for reservoir fluid mixtures.
INDUSTRIAL & ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Jialin Shi, Huazhou Li
Summary: In this study, an improved volume-translation model is developed for the perturbed-chain statistical associating fluid theory (PC-SAFT) equation of state (EOS). The new model uses a distance function to measure the distance between the current condition and a critical point. The proposed volume-translated PC-SAFT EOS accurately reproduces the critical properties of pure compounds and yields accurate reproductions of various fluid properties over a wide range of temperatures and pressures.
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Energy & Fuels
Xin Zhang, Huazhou Li, Nobuo Maeda
Summary: This study experimentally investigated the influence of eight salt solutions on the nucleation rate of ice and found that some monovalent salts can increase the nucleation rate of ice at low supercoolings, regardless of the salt concentrations. This finding is in contrast to the previous research on clathrate hydrate nucleation mechanisms.
Article
Energy & Fuels
Lin Du, Xuemin Lu, Huazhou Li
Summary: This paper proposes a novel approach for automatically detecting fractures from electrical image logs using the Mask R-CNN method. The approach involves generating a basic dataset with image processing algorithms and labeling the fractures. The trained Mask R-CNN model shows a high precision and recall rate of 96% and 92% in detecting fractures from the image logs.
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Facheng Gong, Hai Huang, Tayfun Babadagli, Huazhou Li
Summary: A proppant transport model using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Discrete Element Method (DEM) was proposed to study fluid-granular interactions in rough narrow fractures. The model was validated and simulations were conducted to examine the effects of fracture roughness, proppant size, and injection rate on proppant transport. The results showed that roughness characteristics increased the likelihood of proppant settling at locations with higher roughness height, and fractures with higher fractal dimensions had higher proppant coverage ratios and better fracture propping effects. Proppant coverage ratios in rough fractures increased with larger proppant sizes and lower injection rates.
Article
Energy & Fuels
Lin Du, Yao-Yu Xiao, Zhi-Chao Jiang, Hongbo Zeng, Huazhou Li
Summary: This study investigates the feasibility of achieving in-depth profile control by striking a balance between the plugging efficiency and migration depths of dispersed particle gels (DPGs) in a given porous media. Different DPG suspensions with varying particle size distributions are sequentially injected into sandpacks. The optimal scheme comprises three DPG slugs with matching coefficients of 0.72, 0.78, and 0.46, respectively, which can migrate into deeper parts of the sandpacks and yield a high plugging efficiency. This study provides a new approach of achieving in-depth profile control by optimizing the injection sequence and particle size distribution of DPGs.
Article
Energy & Fuels
Lingfei Xu, Huazhou Li
Summary: Pressure-temperature (PT) and pressure-composition (Px) phase diagrams are important in various chemical and petroleum engineering applications. This study develops a trust-region-based algorithm to construct more robust and efficient phase envelopes. By converting the problem into a minimization problem and applying the trust-region optimization method, the algorithm outperforms the conventional Newton's method in terms of computational efficiency and robustness.
GEOENERGY SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
(2023)