Numerical Simulation of Hydraulic Frac-turing Process for an Iranian Gas Field in the Persian Gulf

Abstract

Most of the Iranian oil and gas wells in the Persian Gulf region are producing through their natural productivity and, in the near future, the use of stimulation methods will be undoubtedly necessary. Hydraulic fracturing as a popular technique can be a stimulation candidate. Due to the absence of adequate research in this field, numerical simulation can be an appropriate method to investigate the effectiveness of hydraulic fracturing. In the current study, the hydraulic fracturing process is simulated for a wellbore in the Persian Gulf region with Abaqus software. The main parameters that are necessary for the simulation are collected through wellbore logs and core tests. Fracturing process is studied with more emphasis on the pressure of fracturing fluid and fracture opening. Finally, several 3D fluid-solid coupling finite element models are generated and the main obtained results are compared.

Keywords

• hydraulic fracturing
• finite element method
• persian gulf
• abaqus
• 3d fluid-solid model