A DYNAMIC DISCRETE FRACTURE APPROACH FOR MODELING MULTIPHASE FLOW AND TRANSPORT IN FRACTURED POROUS MEDIA

A numerical study was conducted to analyze multiphase fluid flow and transport processes in naturally fractured rocks during long-term waterflooding operations, particularly the dynamic discrete fracture models present for simulation of natural fracture, induced fracture, and fracture-matrix interactions. Different flow mechanisms for porous media, such as the non-Darcy model, fracture growth with respect to poroelastic stresses, and matrix-fracture transfer were considered. The method was solved by using the discrete fracture control-volume method. Results were obtained in terms of water cut, output, and pressure distribution for various fractured porous media. Comparisons for simulation results and purely analytical solutions show an excellent match. The new model allows us to better understand the flow behavior caused by multiscale fracture systems. The results from this investigation showed that the pressure drop across porous media increased with the length of dynamic fracture. In addition, water injection rate and injection-production ratio play an important role in determining the fracture growth. The proposed simulation method can be used to optimize injection pressures and rates, and water quality for maximizing oil recovery.