PorePy: An Open-Source Software for Simulation of Multiphysics Processes in Fractured Porous Media

TL;DR

PorePy is an open-source simulation software designed for modeling complex multiphysics processes in fractured porous media, enabling flexible and integrated simulations of flow, transport, and deformation in fractured rocks.

Contribution

The paper introduces a novel framework and implementation in PorePy for simulating coupled multiphysics processes in fractured rocks using mixed-dimensional meshes.

Findings

Validated with benchmarks for flow, poroelasticity, and fracture deformation.

Demonstrated flexible simulations of coupled flow, transport, and fracture deformation.

Open-source scripts ensure reproducibility of all results.

Abstract

Development of models and dedicated numerical methods for dynamics in fractured rocks is an active research field, with research moving towards increasingly advanced process couplings and complex fracture networks. The inclusion of coupled processes in simulation models is challenged by the high aspect ratio of the fractures, the complex geometry of fracture networks and the crucial impact of processes that completely change characteristics on the fracture-rock interface. This paper provides a general discussion of design principles for introducing fractures in simulators, and defines a framework for integrated modeling, discretization and computer implementation. The framework is implemented in the simulation software PorePy, which can serve as a flexible prototyping tool or multiphysics problems in fractured rocks. Based on a representation of the fractures and their intersections as lower-dimensional objects, we discuss data structures for mixed-dimensional meshes, formulation of multiphysics problems and discretizations that utilize existing software. We further present the implementation of these concepts in the PorePy open-source software tool, which is aimed at coupled simulation of flow and transport in three-dimensional fractured reservoirs as well as deformation of fractures and the reservoir in general. We present validation by benchmarks for flow, poroelasticity and fracture deformation in fractured porous media. The flexibility of the framework is then illustrated by simulations of fully coupled flow and transport and of injection driven deformation of fractures. All results reported herein can be reproduced by openly available simulation scripts.