Fracture surface topography exhibits long-range spatial correlations resulting in a heterogeneous aperture field. This leads to the formation, within fracture planes, of preferential flow channels controlling and transport processes. By means 3-D heat model coupled with 2-D based on lubrification approximation (i.e., local cubic law), we investigate how statistical parameters determining variat...

A combination of subsurface borehole imaging data and drilling logs were used to characterize the fractures and lithology in 40 bedrock wells at the fractured-rock research site in the Mirror Lake area in Grafton County, New Hampshire. The purpose of the research was to determine whether subsurface lithology and fractures have an effect on the hydraulic conductivity of the crystalline-rock aqui...

The permeability anisotropy that results from a shear displacement ~u between the complementary self-affine walls of a rough fracture is investigated. Experiments in which a dyed fluid displaces a transparent one as it is radially injected into a transparent fracture exhibit a clear anisotropy in the presence of shear displacements, and allow us to estimate the ratio of the permeabilities for f...

Fluid-solid coupling is ubiquitous in the process of fluid flow underground and has a significant influence on the development of oil and gas reservoirs. To investigate these phenomena, the coupled mathematical model of solid deformation and fluid flow in fractured porous media is established. In this study, the discrete fracture model (DFM) is applied to capture fluid flow in the fractured por...

The major purpose of this work was to estimate the impacts of heterogeneous conditions on the heat extraction from EGS. These impacts were estimated based on a comparison of the heterogeneous reservoir responses with the response of an equivalent isotropic homogeneous reservoir. Multiple representations of a heterogeneous reservoir were considered in this analysis. The heterogeneity is a result...

Abstract Hydraulic fracturing experiments with low-viscosity fluids, such as supercritical CO2, demonstrate the formation of complex fracture networks spread throughout rocks. To study influence viscosity fluids on hydraulic propagation, a hydromechanical-coupled cohesive zone model is proposed for simulation mechanical response rock grains boundary separation. This methodology considers synerg...

Abstract The shale gas reservoir is regarded as a dual medium consisting of fracture (hydraulic and discrete natural network) rock matrix, the seepage process in matrix fully considered mathematical model flow accordance with Darcy's law was established. results show influence order hydraulic geometry on cumulative production. Compared aperture 10 –4 m, when –5 m –6 production reduced by 88.0% ...

We develop an experimental technique that uses computed tomography (CT) scanning to provide high-resolution measurements of aperture distribution and in situ saturation along with capillary pressure and relative permeability for the same roughwalled fracture. We apply this technique to an induced fracture in a cylindrical basalt core undergoing water drainage. We find that the sum of the water ...