Equivalent Permeability Distribution for Fractured Porous Rocks: Correlating Fracture Aperture and Length

Estimating equivalent permeability at grid block scale of numerical models is a critical issue for large-scale fractured porous rocks. However, it is difficult to constrain the permeability distributions for equivalent fracture models as these are strongly influenced by complex fracture properties....

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Main Author: Tao Chen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2020-01-01
Series:Geofluids
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2020/8834666
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author Tao Chen
author_facet Tao Chen
author_sort Tao Chen
collection DOAJ
description Estimating equivalent permeability at grid block scale of numerical models is a critical issue for large-scale fractured porous rocks. However, it is difficult to constrain the permeability distributions for equivalent fracture models as these are strongly influenced by complex fracture properties. This study quantitatively investigated equivalent permeability distributions for fractured porous rocks, considering the impact of the correlated fracture aperture and length model. Two-dimensional discrete fracture models are generated with varied correlation exponent ranges from 0.5 to 1, which indicates different geomechanical properties of fractured porous rock. The equivalent fracture models are built by the multiple boundary upscaling method. Results indicate that the spatial distribution of equivalent permeability varied with the correlation exponent. When the minimum fracture length and the number of fractures increase, the process that the diagonal equivalent permeability tensor components change from a power law like to a lognormal like and to a normal-like distribution slows down as the correlation exponent increases. The average dimensionless equivalent permeability for the equivalent fracture models is well described by an exponential relationship with the correlation exponent. A power law model is built between the equivalent permeability of equivalent fracture models and fracture density of discrete fracture models for the correlated aperture-length models. The results demonstrate that both the fracture density and length-aperture model influence the equivalent permeability of equivalent fracture models interactively.
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spelling doaj-art-64a8c6d4d2f14cc7801e45fab188e47f2025-02-03T01:28:34ZengWileyGeofluids1468-81151468-81232020-01-01202010.1155/2020/88346668834666Equivalent Permeability Distribution for Fractured Porous Rocks: Correlating Fracture Aperture and LengthTao Chen0Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Depositional Mineralization & Sedimentary Minerals, College of Earth Science and Engineering, Shandong University of Science and Technology, No. 579 Qianwangang Road, Qingdao 266590, ChinaEstimating equivalent permeability at grid block scale of numerical models is a critical issue for large-scale fractured porous rocks. However, it is difficult to constrain the permeability distributions for equivalent fracture models as these are strongly influenced by complex fracture properties. This study quantitatively investigated equivalent permeability distributions for fractured porous rocks, considering the impact of the correlated fracture aperture and length model. Two-dimensional discrete fracture models are generated with varied correlation exponent ranges from 0.5 to 1, which indicates different geomechanical properties of fractured porous rock. The equivalent fracture models are built by the multiple boundary upscaling method. Results indicate that the spatial distribution of equivalent permeability varied with the correlation exponent. When the minimum fracture length and the number of fractures increase, the process that the diagonal equivalent permeability tensor components change from a power law like to a lognormal like and to a normal-like distribution slows down as the correlation exponent increases. The average dimensionless equivalent permeability for the equivalent fracture models is well described by an exponential relationship with the correlation exponent. A power law model is built between the equivalent permeability of equivalent fracture models and fracture density of discrete fracture models for the correlated aperture-length models. The results demonstrate that both the fracture density and length-aperture model influence the equivalent permeability of equivalent fracture models interactively.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2020/8834666
spellingShingle Tao Chen
Equivalent Permeability Distribution for Fractured Porous Rocks: Correlating Fracture Aperture and Length
Geofluids
title Equivalent Permeability Distribution for Fractured Porous Rocks: Correlating Fracture Aperture and Length
title_full Equivalent Permeability Distribution for Fractured Porous Rocks: Correlating Fracture Aperture and Length
title_fullStr Equivalent Permeability Distribution for Fractured Porous Rocks: Correlating Fracture Aperture and Length
title_full_unstemmed Equivalent Permeability Distribution for Fractured Porous Rocks: Correlating Fracture Aperture and Length
title_short Equivalent Permeability Distribution for Fractured Porous Rocks: Correlating Fracture Aperture and Length
title_sort equivalent permeability distribution for fractured porous rocks correlating fracture aperture and length
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2020/8834666
work_keys_str_mv AT taochen equivalentpermeabilitydistributionforfracturedporousrockscorrelatingfractureapertureandlength