Semi-Analytical Method for Fracturing-Flooding Based on Unstable Seepage and Fracture Mechanics Theory
摘要
Low-permeability reservoirs are characterized by tight pore-throat structures, where conventional water flooding often encounters challenges such as poor water injection in injection wells and low production rates with decreasing reservoir energy in production wells. The introduction of fracturing-flooding has effectively addressed issues related to geological under-injection in water injection wells, low production rates, and rapid decline in reservoir energy in such reservoirs. However, there is a scarcity of research on fracturing-flooding simulation. This paper presents a semi-analytical method for solving fracturing-flooding. This method is based on the theory of elastic instability in porous media and the principle of pressure drop superposition, resulting in the derivation of the continuous solution equation for line sources in an infinite reservoir. Moreover, employing fracture mechanics theory, the fracture propagation equation is obtained using the displacement discontinuity method. After coupling and discretizing the above equations, a semi-analytical model for fracturing-flooding is established. The accuracy of the proposed method is verified through comparison with the bottomhole pressure variations in the oilfield. Furthermore, this method is applied to study the influence of bottomhole pressure variations and fracture propagation effects during fracturing-flooding. The results indicate a close correlation between daily water injection rates and bottomhole pressures during fracturing-flooding. Increasing the daily and total water injection rates can extend the length of fractures, with better results observed when employing an increasing displacement water injection method. The research presented in this paper provides technical support for designing fracturing-flooding schemes and improving the effectiveness of fracturing-flooding.