Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Non-Fractured'

Non-Darcian flow in a finite fractured aquifer is studied in this thesis. A stream bounds the aquifer at one side and an impervious stratum at the other. The aquifer consists of fractures capable of transmitting water rapidly and porous blocks which mainly store water. Unsteady flow in the aquifer due to a sudden or a gradual rise in the stream level is analysed by the double-porosity conceptual model. Governing equations for the flow in fractures and blocks are developed using the continuity equation. The fluid velocity in fractures is often too high for the linear Darcian flow so that the governing equation for fracture flow is modified by Forcheimer&rsquo
s equation which incorporates a nonlinear term. Governing equations are coupled by an interaction term that controls the quasi-steady state fracture-block interflow. Governing equations are solved numerically by the Crank-Nicolson implicit scheme. The numerical results are compared to the analytical results for the same problem which assumes Darcian flow both in fractures and blocks. Numerical and analytical solutions give same results when Reynold&rsquo
s number is less than 0.1. The effect of non-linearity on the flow appears when Reynold&rsquo
s number is greater than 0.1. The larger the piezometric head gradient, the higher the flow rate and, thus, higher the non-linearity is. The effect of aquifer parameters on the flow is also investigated. The proposed model and its numerical solution is a unique application of non-linear flow models to the fractured aquifers. It can be used in predicting water levels in fractured aquifers and evaluating time dependent flow rates in the analysis of recession hydrographs.

Numerical analysis of multi-field problems in porous and fractured media is an important subject for various geotechnical engineering tasks such as the management of geo-resources (e.g. engineering of geothermal, oil and gas reservoirs) as well as waste management. For practical usage, e.g. for geothermal, simulation tools are required which take into account both coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) processes and the uncertainty of geological data, i.e. the model parametrization. For modeling fractured rocks, equivalent porous medium or multiple continuum model approaches are often only the way currently due to difficulty to handle geomechanical discontinuities. However, they are not applicable for prediction of flow and transport in subsurface systems where a few fractures dominates the system behavior. Thus modeling coupled problems in discretely fractured porous media is desirable for more precise analysis. The subject of this work is developing a framework of the finite element method (FEM) for modeling coupled THM problems in discretely fractured and non-fractured porous media including thermal water flow, advective-diffusive heat transport, and thermoporoelasticity. Pre-existing fractures are considered. Systems of discretely fractured porous media can be considered as a problem of interacted multiple domains, i.e. porous medium domain and discrete fracture domain, for hydraulic and transport processes, and a discontinuous problem for mechanical processes. The FEM is required to take into account both kinds of the problems. In addition, this work includes developing a methodology for the data uncertainty using the FEM model and investigating the uncertainty impacts on evaluating coupled THM processes. All the necessary code developments in this work has been carried out with a scientific open source project OpenGeoSys (OGS). In this work, fluid flow and heat transport problems in interactive multiple domains are solved assuming continuity of filed variables (pressure and temperature) over the two domains. The assumption is reasonable if there are no infill materials in fractures. The method has been successfully applied for several numerical examples, e.g. modeling three-dimensional coupled flow and heat transport processes in discretely fractured porous media at the Gross Schoenebck geothermal site (Germany), and three-dimensional coupled THM processes in porous media at the Urach Spa geothermal site (Germany). To solve the mechanically discontinuous problems, lower-dimensional interface elements (LIEs) with local enrichments have been developed for coupled problems in a domain including pre-existing fractures. The method permits the possibility of using existing flow simulators and having an identical mesh for both processes. It enables us to formulate the coupled problems in monolithic scheme for robust computation. Moreover, it gives an advantage in practice that one can use existing standard FEM codes for groundwater flow and easily make a coupling computation between mechanical and hydraulic processes. Example of a 2D fluid injection problem into a single fracture demonstrated that the proposed method can produce results in strong agreement with semi-analytical solutions. An uncertainty analysis of THM coupled processes has been studied for a typical geothermal reservoir in crystalline rock based on the Monte-Carlo method. Fracture and matrix are treated conceptually as an equivalent porous medium, and the model is applied to available data from the Urach Spa and Falkenberg sites (Germany). Reservoir parameters are considered as spatially random variables and their realizations are generated using conditional Gaussian simulation. Two reservoir modes (undisturbed and stimulated) are considered to construct a stochastic model for permeability distribution. We found that the most significant factors in the analysis are permeability and heat capacity. The study demonstrates the importance of taking parameter uncertainties into account for geothermal reservoir evaluation in order to assess the viability of numerical modeling.

Multiphase and non-Darcy flow effects in hydraulically fractured gas wells reduce effective fracture conductivity. Typical proppant pack laboratory experiments are oriented in such a way such that phase segregation is not possible, which results in mixed flow. Tidwell and Parker (1996), however, showed that in proppant packs, gravity segregation occurs for simultaneous gas and liquid injection at laboratory scale (1500 cm2). Although the impact of gravity on flow in natural fractures has been described, previous work has not fully described the effect of gravity on multiphase non-Darcy flow in hydraulic fractures. In this work, reservoir simulation modeling was used to determine the extent and impact of gravity segregation in a hydraulic fracture at field scale. I found that by ignoring segregation, effective fracture conductivity can be underestimated by up to a factor of two. An analytical solution was developed for uniform flux of water and gas into the fracture. The solution for pressures and saturations in the fracture agrees well with reservoir simulation. Gravity segregation occurs in moderate-to-high conductivity fractures. Gravity segregation impacts effective fracture conductivity when gas and liquid are being produced at all water-gas ratios modeled above 2 Bbls per MMscf. More realistic, non-uniform-flux models were also run with the hydraulic fracture connected to a gas reservoir producing water. For constant-gas-rate production, differences in pressure drop between segregated cases and mixed flow cases range up to a factor of two. As the pressure gradient in the fracture increases above 1 to 2 psi/ft, the amount of segregation decreases. Segregation is also less for fracture half-length-to-height ratios less than or close to two. When there is less segregation, the difference in effective conductivity between the segregated and mixed flow cases is reduced. I also modeled the water injection and cleanup phases for a typical slickwater fracture treatment both with and without gravity effects and found that for cases with segregation, effective fracture conductivity is significantly higher than the conductivity when mixed flow occurs. Gravity segregation is commonly ignored in design and analysis of hydraulically fractured gas wells. This work shows that segregation is an important physical process and it affects effective fracture conductivity significantly. Hydraulic fracture treatments can be designed more effectively if effective fracture conductivity is known more accurately.

Multiphase flow and transport in fractured rock is of importance to many practical and engineering applications. In the field of groundwater hydrology an issue of significant environmental concern is the release of dense non-aqueous phase liquids (DNAPLs) which can cause long-term groundwater contamination in fractured aquifers. This study deals with two fundamental processes – fluid displacement and interphase mass transfer – concerning the behavior of the multiphase contaminants in fractured media. The focus of this work has been placed on improving the current understanding of small-scale (single fracture) physics by a combined effort of numerical modeling analysis, laboratory experiments and model development. This thesis contributes to the improved understanding through several aspects. Firstly, the effect of aperture variability, as characterized by geostatistical parameters such as standard deviation and correlation length, on the DNAPL entrapment, dissolution and source-depletion behaviors in single fractures was revealed. Secondly, a novel, generalized approach (adaptive circle fitting approach) to account for the effect of in-plane curvature of fluid-fluid interfaces on immiscible fluid displacement was developed; the new approach has demonstrated good performance when applied to simulate previously published experimental data. Thirdly, the performance of a continuum-based two-phase flow model and an invasion percolation model was compared for modeling fluid displacement in a variable-aperture fracture and the dependence of fracture-scale capillary pressure – saturation relationships on aperture variability was studied. Lastly, through experimental studies and mechanistic numerical modeling of DNAPL dissolution, kinetic mass transfer characteristics of two different entrapment configurations (residual blobs and dead-end pools) were investigated. The obtained understanding from this thesis will be useful for predictive modeling of multiphase contaminant behavior at a larger (fracture network) scale.
Flerfasflöde och ämnestransport i sprickigt berg är av betydelse för många praktiska och tekniska problem. Tunga, svårlösliga organiska vätskor (engelska: dense non-aqueous phase liquids: DNAPLs; t.ex. klorerade lösningsmedel) kan orsaka långvarig förorening av vattenresurser, inklusive akviferer i sprickigt berg, och utgör ett viktigt miljöproblem inom grundvattenhydrologin. Denna studie behandlar två fundamentala processer för spridning av flerfasföroreningar i sprickiga medier – utbredning av den organiska vätskan och massöverföring mellan organisk vätska och vatten. Arbetet har fokuserat på att förbättra nuvarande kunskap om de fysikaliska processerna på liten skala (enskilda sprickor) genom en kombination av numerisk modellering, laboratorieexperiment och modellutveckling. Avhandlingen har bidragit till utökad processförståelse i flera avseenden. För det första har arbetet belyst effekterna av sprickaperturens variabilitet, uttryckt med geostatistiska parametrar som standardavvikelse och rumslig korrelationslängd, på fastläggning och lösning av organiska vätskor i enskilda sprickor, samt utmattningsbeteendet hos dessa källor till grundvattenförorening. För det andra har en ny, generell metod (adaptiva cirkelpassningsmetoden) för att ta hänsyn till effekten av krökningen av gränsytan mellan organisk vätska och vatten i sprickplanet utvecklats; denna metod har visats fungera väl i simuleringar av tidigare publicerade experimentella data. För det tredje, har en jämförelse gjorts mellan en kontinuumbaserad tvåfasflödesmodell och en invasions-perkolationsmodell med avseende på hur väl de kan simulera tvåfasflöde i en spricka med varierande apertur. Här studerades även hur relationen mellan kapillärtryck och mättnadsgrad på sprickplansskala beror av variabiliteten i sprickapertur. Till sist undersöktes lösning av den organiska vätskan i grundvatten för två fastläggningsscenarier (fastläggning i immobila droppar och ansamling i fällor – ”återvändssprickor”) både genom experiment och mekanistisk numerisk modellering. Kunskapen som tagits fram i denna avhandling bedöms vara användbar även för att modellera spridningen av flerfasföroreningar på större (spricknätverks-) skalor.

La plupart des méthodes pour la modélisation des réservoirs fracturés reposent sur le modèle de Warren et Root (1963). Mais ce modèle reste limité par : l'hypothèse d'un volume élémentaire représentatif, l'évaluation des transferts matrice-fractures, l’idéalisation du système fracturé, l'emploi de conditions aux limites locales. La méthode développée répond à ces quatre points. Un réseau de fractures et une grille de matrice sont discrétisés conjointement, puis un changement d'échelle est réalisé. Un ensemble de nœuds représentatifs est sélectionné, et un système simplifié équivalent est construit par décimation des autres nœuds en assurant la conservation des pressions et des débits sans imposer de conditions aux limites. Enfin le nombre de connexions est réduit et les transmissibilités restantes sont calculées par une procédure d'optimisation. Ces systèmes simplifiés ont été résolus plus rapidement lors de simulations d’écoulement tout en reproduisant le comportement du modèle fin
Most methods for modeling fractured reservoirs rely on the model of Warren and Root (1963). But this model is limited by: the assumption of a representative elementary volume, the evaluation of matrix-fracture transfers, the idealization of the fractured system, the use of local boundary conditions. The developed method overcomes these four points. A fracture network and a matrix grid are jointly discretized, then an upscaling is carried out. A set of representative nodes is selected, and an equivalent simplified system is built by decimating the other nodes while ensuring the preservation of pressure and flow rate and without imposing any boundary conditions. Finally the number of connexions is reduced and the remaining transmissibilities are evaluated by an optimization procedure. These simplified systems have been solved more quickly by the flow simulator while reproducing the fine model behavior

An importantmatter in the field of building physics is the questioning of how wellbuildings sustain ageing, and how their overall efficiency evolves over their lifetime.Many causes for degradation are carried by moisture transfer through these porousmaterials. Indeed, infiltratedwatermay transport chemicals, altermechanical properties,and cause freeze thaw damage or mould development. It may also affect thermalproperties and energetic efficiency, as well as the health and comfort of the occupants.The understanding of how moisture transfer properties evolve during the lifespan ofbuildingmaterials is however far fromcomplete. The pore structure of amaterial itselfmay change over time, or be altered by cracks and defects caused bymechanical loadingand aggravated bymoisture-induced degradation. All sizes of fracturesmay have astrong impact on heat and moisture flow in the building envelope, and their influenceis to be accounted for in any long-termperformance assessment, not only of buildingand building components,but of any built structure in general. A considerable amountof work has already been performed in order to allow predicting the hygrothermal behaviourof buildings over longer periods of time. However, an accurate prediction of allranges of damage in a building component, from microscopic to macroscopic cracks,supposes an extensive knowledge of all damage-inducing, time-varying boundary conditionsof the problem during the simulation time. This also implies high computationalcosts, as well as important needs formaterial characterisation.As a complement to these predictive methods, a new approach was undertaken,combining experimental characterisation of crack patterns and numerical simulationsof coupled heat and moisture transfer. First, a preliminary study was conducted, consistingof measurements of the water vapour permeability of diffusely damaged constructionmaterials.This allowed identifying the experimental and numerical requirementsof the remainder of the work, which aimed at providing measurements of fracturenetwork geometries for their explicitmodelling in heat andmoisture transfer simulations.Digital image correlation and acoustic emission monitoring were then performedduring the degradation of cementitiousmaterials, in order to obtain quantitativedata on crack pattern geometries, and to assess the possibilities for damagemonitoringat the building scale. The optical technique, along with an appropriate imageprocessing procedure, was found suitable for providing precisemeasurements of fracturenetworks. Amethodwas also proposed for the interpretation of acoustic emissionrecordings in terms of damage quantification, localisation and identification.Then, a newmodel for coupled heat andmoisturemodelling in cracked porousmediawas developed, that allows including such measurements of fracture patterns intoa finite element mesh, and simulating flow accordingly. This model was validated onthe basis of experimentalmeasurements: digital image correlationwas performed duringthe fracturing of concrete samples, in which moisture uptake was then monitoredusing X-ray radiography. A good accordance was found between experimental and numericalresults in terms of 2-dimensional moisture concentration distributions. The validated code was then used for the simulation of test cases, in order to assess the hygrothermalperformance of damagedmulti-layered building components subjected toreal climatic conditions. The consequences of fractures on themoisture accumulationin walls, on the amplitude of sorption/desorption cycles and on the thermal performance,were observed.

Fractured rock formations represent a valuable source of groundwater and can be highly susceptible to contamination by dense, non-aqueous phase liquids (DNAPLs). The goal of this research is to evaluate the effectiveness of three accepted remediation technologies for addressing DNAPL contamination in fractured rock environments. The technologies under investigation in this study are chemical oxidation, bioremediation, and surfactant flushing. Numerical simulations were employed to examine the performance of each of these technologies at the field scale. The numerical model DNAPL3D-RX, a finite difference multiphase flow-dissolution-aqueous transport code that incorporates RT3D for multiple species reactions, was modified to simulate fractured rock environments. A gridding routine was developed to allow the model to accurately capture DNAPL migration in fractures and aqueous phase diffusion gradients in the matrix while retaining overall model efficiency. Reaction kinetics code subroutines were developed for each technology so as to ensure the key processes were accounted for in the simulations. The three remedial approaches were systematically evaluated via simulations in two-dimensional domains characterized by heterogeneous orthogonal fracture networks parameterized to be representative of sandstone, granite, and shale. Each simulation included a DNAPL release at the water table, redistribution to pools and residual, followed by 20 years of ‘ageing’ under ambient gradient conditions. Suites of simulations for each technology examined a variety of operational issues including the influence of DNAPL type and remedial fluid injection protocol. Performance metrics included changes in mass flux exiting, mass destruction in the matrix versus the fractures, and percentage of injected remedial fluid interacting with the target contaminant. The effectiveness of the three remediation technologies covered a wide range; the mass of contaminants destroyed were found to range from 15% to 99.5% of the initial mass present. Effectiveness of each technology was found to depend on a variety of critical factors particular to each approach. For example, in-situ chemical oxidation was found to be limited by the organic material present in the matrix of the rocks, while the efficiency of enhanced bioremediation was found to be related to factors such as the location of indigenous bacteria present in the domain and rate of bioremediation. In the chemical oxidation study, the efficiency of oxidant consumption was observed to be poor across the suite of scenarios, with greater than 90% of the injected permanganate consumed by natural oxidant demand. This study further revealed that the same factors that contributed to forward diffusion of contaminants prior to treatment are critical to this remediation method as they can determine the extent of contaminant destruction during the injection period. Bioremediation in fractured rock was demonstrated to produce relatively good results under robust first-order decay rates and active microorganisms throughout the fractures and matrix. It was demonstrated that under ideal conditions, of the total initial mass present, up to 3/4 could be reduced to ethene, indicating bioremediation may be a promising treatment approach due to the effective penetration of electron donor into the matrix during the treatment period and the ongoing treatment that occurs after injection ceases. However, when indigenous bacteria was assumed to exist only within the fractured walls of sandstone, it was found that under the same conditions, the rate of dechlorination was 200 times less than the Base Case. Since the majority of the mass resided in the matrix, lack of bioremediation in the matrix significantly reduced the effectiveness of treatment. Surfactant treatment with Tween-80 was proven to be a relatively effective technique in enhanced solubilisation of DNAPL from the fractures within the domain. However, by comparing the aqueous and sorbed mass at the start and end of the Treatment stage, it is revealed that surfactant treatment is not efficient in removing these masses that reside within the matrix. Furthermore, DNAPLs identified in dead end vertical fractures were found to remain in the domain by the end of the simulations across all scenarios studied; indicating that the injected surfactant experiences difficulty in accessing DNAPLs entrapped in dead end fractures. Altogether, the results underscore the challenge of restoring fractured rock aquifers due to the field scale limitations on sufficient contact between remedial fluids and in situ contaminants in all but the most ideal circumstances.

Somatic copy number alterations (SCNAs) are a class of alterations that lead to deviations from diploidy in developing and established tumors. A feature that distinguishes SCNAs from other alterations is their genomic footprint. The large genomic footprint of SCNAs in a typical cancer's genome presents both a challenge and an opportunity to find targetable vulnerabilities in cancer. Because a single event affects many genes, it is often challenging to identify the tumorigenic targets of SCNAs. Conversely, events that affect multiple genes may provide specific vulnerabilities through "bystander" genes, in addition to vulnerabilities directly associated with the targets.

We approached the goal of understanding how the structure of SCNAs may lead to dependency in two ways. To improve our understanding of how SCNAs promote tumor progression we analyzed the SCNAs in 4934 primary tumors in 11 common cancers collected by the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). The scale of this dataset provided insights into the structure and patterns of SCNA, including purity and ploidy rates across disease, mechanistic forces shaping patterns of SCNA, regions undergoing significantly recurrent SCNAs, and correlations between SCNAs in regions implicated in cancer formation.

In a complementary approach, we integrating SCNA data and pooled RNAi screening data involving 11,000 genes across 86 cell lines to find non-driver genes whose partial loss led to increased sensitivity to RNAi suppression. We identified a new set of cancer specific vulnerabilities predicted by loss of non-driver genes, with the most significant gene being PSMC2, an obligate member of the 26S proteasome. Biochemically, we found that PSMC2 is in excess of cellular requirement in diploid cells, but becomes the stoichiometric limiting factor in proteasome formation after partial loss of this gene.

In summary, my work improved our understanding of the structure and patterns of SCNA, both informing how cancers develop and predicting novel cancer vulnerabilities. Our characterization of the SCNAs present across 5000 tumors uncovered novel structure in SCNAs and significant regions likely to contain driver genes. Through integrating SCNA data with the results of a functional genetic screen, we also uncovered a new set of vulnerabilities caused by unintended loss of non-driver genes.

Bien que le comportement et la modélisation des écoulements dans les réservoirs fracturés constituent une problématique de recherche abordée depuis le milieu des années soixante, la caractérisation des réservoirs fracturés soulève encore de nombreuses incertitudes. Dans le contexte du développement et de l'exploitation des réservoirs fracturés, le problème principal le plus souvent cité comprend la définition des propriétés du réseau de fractures qui détermine le réseau d'écoulement ainsi que les modalités de l'écoulements inter-porosité. L'essai de puits est l'un des outils le plus utilisé pour caractériser les propriétés géométriques et hydrodynamiques des réservoirs fracturés sur la base de solution analytique simple. La considération d'une solution analytique de type double porosité pour l'interprétation de l'essai de puits permet ainsi de renseigner le coefficient d'échange inter-porosité, ainsi que le rapport entre les propriétés hydrodynamiques des fractures et celles du réservoir. Ces informations, qui concernent un réservoir fracturé donné, sont généralement issues de l'interprétation, à l'échelle régionale, de la réponse hydrodynamique obtenue sur quelques puits seulement. Néanmoins, tous les puits d'observation n'ont pas la même réponse hydrodynamique à un essai de puits ; ceci pose la question de l'impact de la localisation du puits de pompage et du piézomètre sur la détermination des propriétés hydrodynamiques du réservoir lors de l'interprétation de l'essai de puits. Pour évaluer les différents effets liés à l'emplacement du puits de pompage sur la réponses hydrodynamique, une série d'essais de puits a été simulée dans des réseaux de fractures synthétiques et leur réponse hydrodynamique a été interprétée à l'aide d'un modèle de type double porosité L'impact de la localisation du puits de pompage et des propriété géométriques du réservoir fracturé, telles que l'espacement et la longueur des fractures, sur le comportement des écoulements et la valeur du coefficient d'échange inter-porosité est examiné dans le premier chapitre. Dans le deuxième chapitre, la relation entre réseau de fractures et réseau d'écoulement est examinée dans le cas d'un aquifère fracturé et karstique (aquifère du Lez), en considérant le comportement hydrodynamique à l'échelle locale et le comportement hydrodynamique à l'échelle régionale. De cette façon, sont appréhendés les paramètres principaux qui conditionnent le réseau d'écoulement préférentiel, et ses liens avec le réseau de fractures. Différentes propriétés géométriques, telles que la densité, l'orientation, et la longueur des fractures sont déterminées à différentes échelles : échelle du puits, échelle locale (site expérimental), et échelle régionale (aquifère). A cette fin, différentes techniques d'acquisition (imagerie de puits, mesures à l'affleurement, photographie aérienne) sont utilisées pour caractériser la fracturation. Des mesures géophysique réalisées à l'échelle locale (site expérimental) permettent d'obtenir des cartes de résistivité 2D et 3D qui illustrent la grande hétérogénéité du site, caractéristique des réservoirs fracturés. L'investigation du réseau d'écoulement est réalisée au moyen de diagraphies de puits, de tests d'interférences et de tests d'impulsions, à l'échelle locale et à l'échelle régionale. Ces différents outils nous renseignent sur la connectivité des différents puits avec le réseau d'écoulement ainsi que sur les propriété hydrodynamiques de différentes zones du réservoir fracturé. Dans le troisième chapitre, un modèle hydrogéologique conceptuel est proposé à l'échelle locale et à l'échelle régionale. Ces modèles servent de fondement à deux modèles numériques 2D basé pour voir si la geomodélisation numérique et les résultats de simulation d'écoulements de fluides confirment notre hypothèse intégrée dans les modèles conceptuels
Although the specific flow behaviour of fractured reservoirs has been identified and modelled since relatively long time, there are still lots of problem concerning the fractured reservoir characterisation. The main problem, often cited in the context of the development and exploitation of fractured reservoirs, is the difficulty in defining the fracture network properties that impact the flow path-network and the inter-porosity flow transfer between the fracture continuum and matrix continuum. Well test is one of the tools that are used for the characterisation of geometrical and hydrodynamic properties of fractured reservoir, such as inter-porosity flow exchange coefficient, fracture storativity to whole reservoir storativity ratio, and reservoir permeability. But all these information applied to characterise a fractured reservoir at regional scale are inferred from only a few boreholes. One may thus wonder if all observation boreholes have the same hydrodynamic response to a well test. In order to answer this question a series of numerical well tests are conducted in synthetic fracture networks to evaluate the effect of the pumping well location on the dual porosity pressure responses. The impact of geometrical parameters, such as fracture spacing and mean length, on fluid flow behaviour and inter-porosity exchange coefficient are investigated for different pumping well location in the first chapter. Well test simulations in the synthetic fractured reservoirs, with a non uniform distribution pattern, highlight the dependency of the measured inter-porosity flow exchange coefficient to the pumping test location. The mean fracture length (which controls connectivity) is assessed to be the main geometrical parameter which influences the reservoir hydrodynamic response during well test. In the second chapter, the relationship between fracture network and flow-path network are investigated in a real fractured and karstic carbonate aquifer (Lez aquifer, southern France). A multi-disciplinary case study, which aims to assess the main parameters which affect the preferential flow-path network, is thus performed. It comprises geological, geophysical and hydrodynamic data acquisition and interpretations. The collection of geometrical parameters such as fracture density, orientation, length is done at different scales (borehole, field site, aquifer). Applying different data acquisition techniques such as borehole image, outcrop observation and aerial photography are claimed to characterise the fracture network. In this experimental part, it is shown that geological and geophysical data such as fracture data acquisition, borehole imagery (OTV), reservoir electrical resistivity imaging are the minimum requested data for characterizing the fracture network of a given reservoir. Investigation of flow-path network is done through conducting a series of well logging, interference tests and pulse tests at two scales. This step gives some clarifications about the quality of connectivity and conductivity of fractures at different zones. Then, we assess the relationship between fracture network and flow-path network by integrating all geological, geophysical and hydrodynamic data. It is shown that conducting well test series at two different scales within the same fractured and karstic reservoir allow verifying the scale dependency of permeability within a same system; it also shows that other important factors than the scale of observation affect these permeability variations. Combination of all data (geological, geophysical and hydrodynamic) illustrates that the borehole connectivity to the flow-path network and water table level during well test operation are the parameters which mainly control the permeability value estimation, whatever the scale of observation. Finally, in the third chapter, we define the hydrogeological conceptual models at local and regional scales. Then a simple 2D numerical model based on the hydrogeological conceptual model at each scale is proposed and the numerical geomodelling and fluid flow simulation are compared to the observed hydrodynamic behaviour in the site. Results of fluid flow simulation in the numerical models at local and regional scales confirm our hypothesis about effect of borehole location and its connectivity with the flow-path network on the recorded hydrodynamic responses at borehole

Ce travail a pour objectif de développer et d'appliquer une méthode originale permettant de simuler l'écoulement dans un milieu poreux fracturé. Cette méthode repose sur une approche multicouches double continuum permettant de séparer le comportement des différents aquifères présents sur un site. La résolution des écoulements, basée sur la méthode des Eléments Finis de Crouzeix-Raviart, est associée à une méthode inverse (minimisation de type Quasi-Newton combinée à la méthode de l'état adjoint) et à une paramétrisation multi-échelle.La méthode est appliquée dans un premier temps sur l'aquifère fracturé du site expérimental de Poitiers. Les résultats montrent une bonne restitution du comportement de l'aquifère et aboutissent à des champs de transmissivité plus réguliers par rapport à ceux de l'approche simple continuum. L'application finale est réalisée sur le site de Cadarache (taille plus importante et données d'entrée moins denses). Le calage des deux aquifères présents sur le site est satisfaisant et montre que ceux-ci se comportent globalement de façon indépendante. Ce calage pourra être amélioré localement grâce à données de recharge plus fines.

碩士
國立成功大學
水利及海洋工程學系
89
ABSTRACT The general study of groundwater is based on Darcy’s law，it is usually valid in low velocity．However，the range of Darcy’s law is only between Reynold number 1~10 The movement of groundwater in some special geologic structure，such as in the media passing through gravel undermine eroded cavity fracture and pebble，it is similar to the flow in the channel in the pipe，and its velocity is usually high． The behavior of fluid flow in fracture is very complex，the important things that we want to know are hydraulic gradient，flow velocity，and discharge. The behavior of fluid flowing below ground is concern with both of them，so combined both of Non-Darcy flow and fracture rock is the main purpose of this study ,the first approximation is achieved under many ideal condition.

Numerical analysis of multi-field problems in porous and fractured media is an important subject for various geotechnical engineering tasks such as the management of geo-resources (e.g. engineering of geothermal, oil and gas reservoirs) as well as waste management. For practical usage, e.g. for geothermal, simulation tools are required which take into account both coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) processes and the uncertainty of geological data, i.e. the model parametrization. For modeling fractured rocks, equivalent porous medium or multiple continuum model approaches are often only the way currently due to difficulty to handle geomechanical discontinuities. However, they are not applicable for prediction of flow and transport in subsurface systems where a few fractures dominates the system behavior. Thus modeling coupled problems in discretely fractured porous media is desirable for more precise analysis. The subject of this work is developing a framework of the finite element method (FEM) for modeling coupled THM problems in discretely fractured and non-fractured porous media including thermal water flow, advective-diffusive heat transport, and thermoporoelasticity. Pre-existing fractures are considered. Systems of discretely fractured porous media can be considered as a problem of interacted multiple domains, i.e. porous medium domain and discrete fracture domain, for hydraulic and transport processes, and a discontinuous problem for mechanical processes. The FEM is required to take into account both kinds of the problems. In addition, this work includes developing a methodology for the data uncertainty using the FEM model and investigating the uncertainty impacts on evaluating coupled THM processes. All the necessary code developments in this work has been carried out with a scientific open source project OpenGeoSys (OGS). In this work, fluid flow and heat transport problems in interactive multiple domains are solved assuming continuity of filed variables (pressure and temperature) over the two domains. The assumption is reasonable if there are no infill materials in fractures. The method has been successfully applied for several numerical examples, e.g. modeling three-dimensional coupled flow and heat transport processes in discretely fractured porous media at the Gross Schoenebck geothermal site (Germany), and three-dimensional coupled THM processes in porous media at the Urach Spa geothermal site (Germany). To solve the mechanically discontinuous problems, lower-dimensional interface elements (LIEs) with local enrichments have been developed for coupled problems in a domain including pre-existing fractures. The method permits the possibility of using existing flow simulators and having an identical mesh for both processes. It enables us to formulate the coupled problems in monolithic scheme for robust computation. Moreover, it gives an advantage in practice that one can use existing standard FEM codes for groundwater flow and easily make a coupling computation between mechanical and hydraulic processes. Example of a 2D fluid injection problem into a single fracture demonstrated that the proposed method can produce results in strong agreement with semi-analytical solutions. An uncertainty analysis of THM coupled processes has been studied for a typical geothermal reservoir in crystalline rock based on the Monte-Carlo method. Fracture and matrix are treated conceptually as an equivalent porous medium, and the model is applied to available data from the Urach Spa and Falkenberg sites (Germany). Reservoir parameters are considered as spatially random variables and their realizations are generated using conditional Gaussian simulation. Two reservoir modes (undisturbed and stimulated) are considered to construct a stochastic model for permeability distribution. We found that the most significant factors in the analysis are permeability and heat capacity. The study demonstrates the importance of taking parameter uncertainties into account for geothermal reservoir evaluation in order to assess the viability of numerical modeling.

Experiments exploring transport and bio-containment of contaminants in fractured rock were completed using fractured-limestone samples obtained in eastern Ontario, Canada. Three single-fracture samples, a fracture-intersection sample and a fracture-network sample were set into vertical flow systems. Three phases of experiments focused on the transport and hydraulic properties of each sample, the effects of biobarriers on diffusion processes in fracture rock, and methods of improving biobarrier stability and survivability. Hydraulic apertures were determined from constant-flow measurements and transport properties were interpreted from Lissamine and KBr tracer experiments with velocities of up to 8500 m/d for all five samples. At Re > 16, linear to non-linear transitions were observed in enlarged single fracture A and the fracture intersection samples. Reversible increases in aperture were observed at Reynolds numbers (Re) of 7, 4, and 3 for single fractures A and B, and the fracture-network, respectively. Non-linear effects were not observed in these samples over the range of velocities studied (up to Re = 20). Results from the 1-D analytical transport model overestimated values of matrix porosity, suggesting that diffusion from dead zones and slow-flowing regions are also contributing to observed breakthrough curves. Methods of improving biobarrier stability in fractured rock were studied in two single-fracture samples and the fracture-network sample by stimulating naturally-occurring groundwater bacteria. Survivability was improved with successive cycles of feeding and starving and stimulating growth at lower temperatures. Modeled values of matrix porosity decreased by up to 50%, indicating that diffusion processes are strongly influenced by biofilm development. Back diffusion of Lissamine was measured using one single-fracture sample and the fracture-intersection sample. Lissamine was allowed to diffuse into the matrix of each sample and, following a suitable loading period, the back-diffusion of residual Lissamine concentrations were measured from the outflow. This was done in the presence and absence of biofilm, and following the introduction of biofilm onto the fracture surfaces, diffusion was no longer a governing process affecting transport and only advective transport was observed. Experiments were interpreted using a 3-D finite difference model with a three-layer porosity approach, and indicated a decrease in aperture and porosity following biostimulation.
Thesis (Ph.D, Civil Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2012-11-22 11:23:24.065

Hydraulic fracturing has recently been the completion of choice for most tight gas bearing formations. It has proven successful to produce these formations in a commercial manner. However, some considerations have to be taken into account to design an optimum stimulation treatment that leads to the maximum possible productivity. These considerations include, but not limited to, non-Darcy flow and multiphase flow effects inside the fracture. These effects reduce the fracture conductivity significantly. Failing to account for that results in overestimating the deliverability of the well and, consequently, to designing a fracture treatment that is not optimum. In this work a thorough investigation of non-Darcy flow and multi-phase flow effects on the productivity of hydraulically fractured wells is conducted and an optimum fracture design is proposed for a tight gas formation in south Texas using the Unified Fracture Design (UFD) Technique to compensate for the mentioned effects by calculating the effective fracture permeability in an iterative way. Incorporating non-Darcy effects results in an optimum fracture that is shorter and wider than the fracture when only Darcy calculations are considered. That leads to a loss of production of 5, 18 percent due to dry and multiphase non-Darcy flow effects respectively. A comparison between the UFD and 3D simulators is also done to point out the differences in terms of methodology and results. Since UFD incorporated the maximum dimensionless productivity index in the fracture dimensions design, unlike 3D simulators, it can be concluded that using UFD to design the fracture treatment and then use the most important fracture parameters outputs (half length and CfDopt) as inputs in the simulators is a recommended approach.

碩士
國立交通大學
環境工程系所
106
This study presents a mathematical model for describing the drawdown distribution to analyze non-Darcian flow for constant-rate pumping at a partially penetrating well in a fractured confined aquifer of infinite extent. The model is developed based on the double-porosity concept combined with a linearized non-Darcian flow approach using Izbash’s law. The solution of the model in Laplace domain is derived via the methods of finite Fourier cosine transform and Laplace transform. The time-domain results are numerically evaluated by the Crump scheme. Both large-time and small-time solutions for transient flow are derived based on the convolution theorem and the Bromwich integral and the steady-state solution is also developed. The existing solutions for non-Darcian flow are shown to be special cases of the present solution. The solution is then compared with the finite difference solution to verify its correctness. Also, the comparison between the present solution and exiting solution for Darcian flow reveals that the fluid exchange from the matrix blocks to the fractures occurring in the intermediate time. The effects of exchange coefficient and non-Darcian factor on the temporal drawdown are examined. Moreover, the sensitivity analysis is performed to investigate the drawdown behavior in response to the change in each of the hydraulic parameters. Finally, the present solution is coupled with the Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm to analyze two sets of field measured data for estimating the hydraulic parameters. This present solution is a useful tool in predicting the non-Darcian flow in fractured confined aquifers and determining the aquifer hydraulic parameters for double-porosity media.

Tight gas and shale oil play an important role in energy security and in meeting an increasing energy demand. Hydraulic fracturing is a widely used technology for recovering these resources. The design and evaluation of hydraulic fracture operation is critical for efficient production from tight gas and shale plays. The efficiency of fracturing jobs depends on the interaction between hydraulic (induced) and naturally occurring discrete fractures. In this work, a coupled reservoir-fracture flow model is described which accounts for varying reservoir geometries and complexities including non-planar fractures. Different flow models such as Darcy flow and Reynold's lubrication equation for fractures and reservoir, respectively are utilized to capture flow physics accurately. Furthermore, the geomechanics effects have been included by considering a multiphase Biot's model. An accurate modeling of solid deformations necessitates a better estimation of fluid pressure inside the fracture. The fractures and reservoir are modeled explicitly allowing accurate representation of contrasting physical descriptions associated with each of the two. The approach presented here is in contrast with existing averaging approaches such as dual and discrete-dual porosity models where the effects of fractures are averaged out. A fracture connected to an injection well shows significant width variations as compared to natural fractures where these changes are negligible. The capillary pressure contrast between the fracture and the reservoir is accounted for by utilizing different capillary pressure curves for the two features. Additionally, a quantitative assessment of hydraulic fracturing jobs relies upon accurate predictions of fracture growth during slick water injection for single and multistage fracturing scenarios. It is also important to consistently model the underlying physical processes from hydraulic fracturing to long-term production. A recently introduced thermodynamically consistent phase-field approach for pressurized fractures in porous medium is utilized which captures several characteristic features of crack propagation such as joining, branching and non-planar propagation in heterogeneous porous media. The phase-field approach captures both the fracture-width evolution and the fracture-length propagation. In this work, the phase-field fracture propagation model is briefly discussed followed by a technique for coupling this to a fractured poroelastic reservoir simulator. We also present a general compositional formulation using multipoint flux mixed finite element (MFMFE) method on general hexahedral grids with a future prospect of treating energized fractures. The mixed finite element framework allows for local mass conservation, accurate flux approximation and a more general treatment of boundary conditions. The multipoint flux inherent in MFMFE scheme allows the usage of a full permeability tensor. An accurate treatment of diffusive/dispersive fluxes owing to additional velocity degrees of freedom is also presented. The applications areas of interest include gas flooding, CO₂ sequestration, contaminant removal and groundwater remediation.
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