Projection-based embedded discrete fracture model (pEDFM) for flow and heat transfer in real-field geological formations with corner-point grid geometries

TL;DR

This paper introduces a projection-based embedded discrete fracture model (pEDFM) for corner-point grid geometries, enabling accurate, stable simulation of flow and heat transfer in complex fractured reservoirs with flexible discretization.

Contribution

The novel pEDFM method allows for modeling complex geological formations with arbitrary fracture geometries and conductivity contrasts within corner-point grids, improving accuracy and computational stability.

Findings

pEDFM accurately captures fracture effects on flow and heat transfer.

The method demonstrates stability with fully-implicit coupling schemes.

Numerical tests validate performance on real-field models.

Abstract

In this work, the projection-based embedded discrete fracture model (pEDFM) for corner-point grid (CPG) geometry is developed for simulation of flow and heat transfer in fractured porous media. Unlike classical embedded discrete fracture approaches, this method allows for using any geologically-relevant model with a complex geometry and generic conductivity contrasts between the rock matrix and the fractures (or faults). The mass and energy conservation equations are coupled using the fully-implicit (FIM) scheme, allowing for stable simulation. Independent corner-point grids are imposed on the rock matrix and all fractures. The connectivities between the non-neighboring grid cells are described such that a consistent discrete representation of the embedded fractures occurs within the corner-point grid geometry. Various numerical tests including geologically-relevant and real-field models are conducted to demonstrate the performance of the developed method. It is shown that pEDFM can accurately capture the physical influence of both highly conductive fractures and flow barriers on the flow and heat transfer fields in complex reservoir geometries. This development casts a promising approach for flow simulations of real-field geo-models, increasing the discretization flexibility and enhancing the computational performance for capturing explicit fractures accurately.