SMP and Fracture Modeling

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The problem of loss circulation in geothermal wells is inherently challenging due to high temperatures, brittle rocks, and presence of abundant fractures. Because of the inherent challenges in geothermal environments, there are limitations in selecting proper lost circulation materials (LCMs). Traditional LCMs such as calcium carbonates that are commonly used in the oil and gas drilling may be softened and prone to failure during geothermal drilling. Moreover, evaluating the performance of different LCMs for geothermal drilling requires unique testing setups, which is expensive, and complicated to run due to harsh environmental conditions of geothermal systems. Herein, we present a numerical approach to simulate LCM transport and bridging through fractures in downhole conditions. By discrete element methods, each individual particle trajectory, and their interactions with the fluid and surrounding particles are incorporated into the analysis. To validate the model, we used experimental results acquired from a high-temperature flow loop system built specifically for this purpose. We took a further step in this work and considered LCM particles that are made from a shape memory polymer (SMP). These particles start expanding and adhering to each other in downhole conditions. The use of SMP is shown to be advantageous in sealing large fractures (3 mm aperture). We demonstrated how numerical modelling may supplement laboratory tests to show initiation of the bridging process, fracture plugging or even its failure. Using the proposed methodology may significantly reduce the number of experiments needed to find an effective LCM recipe, hence drillers can save time and costs by assessing different LCM systems numerically.

Citation Formats

University of Oklahoma. (2021). SMP and Fracture Modeling [data set]. Retrieved from https://gdr.openei.org/submissions/1459.
Export Citation to RIS
Salehi, Saeed, Lee, Lu, Magzoub, Musaab, Taleghani, Arash D., and Li, Guoqiang. SMP and Fracture Modeling. United States: N.p., 01 Oct, 2021. Web. https://gdr.openei.org/submissions/1459.
Salehi, Saeed, Lee, Lu, Magzoub, Musaab, Taleghani, Arash D., & Li, Guoqiang. SMP and Fracture Modeling. United States. https://gdr.openei.org/submissions/1459
Salehi, Saeed, Lee, Lu, Magzoub, Musaab, Taleghani, Arash D., and Li, Guoqiang. 2021. "SMP and Fracture Modeling". United States. https://gdr.openei.org/submissions/1459.
@div{oedi_1459, title = {SMP and Fracture Modeling}, author = {Salehi, Saeed, Lee, Lu, Magzoub, Musaab, Taleghani, Arash D., and Li, Guoqiang.}, abstractNote = {The problem of loss circulation in geothermal wells is inherently challenging due to high temperatures, brittle rocks, and presence of abundant fractures. Because of the inherent challenges in geothermal environments, there are limitations in selecting proper lost circulation materials (LCMs). Traditional LCMs such as calcium carbonates that are commonly used in the oil and gas drilling may be softened and prone to failure during geothermal drilling. Moreover, evaluating the performance of different LCMs for geothermal drilling requires unique testing setups, which is expensive, and complicated to run due to harsh environmental conditions of geothermal systems. Herein, we present a numerical approach to simulate LCM transport and bridging through fractures in downhole conditions. By discrete element methods, each individual particle trajectory, and their interactions with the fluid and surrounding particles are incorporated into the analysis. To validate the model, we used experimental results acquired from a high-temperature flow loop system built specifically for this purpose. We took a further step in this work and considered LCM particles that are made from a shape memory polymer (SMP). These particles start expanding and adhering to each other in downhole conditions. The use of SMP is shown to be advantageous in sealing large fractures (3 mm aperture). We demonstrated how numerical modelling may supplement laboratory tests to show initiation of the bridging process, fracture plugging or even its failure. Using the proposed methodology may significantly reduce the number of experiments needed to find an effective LCM recipe, hence drillers can save time and costs by assessing different LCM systems numerically.}, doi = {}, url = {https://gdr.openei.org/submissions/1459}, journal = {}, number = , volume = , place = {United States}, year = {2021}, month = {10}}

Details

Data from Oct 1, 2021

Last updated Jun 22, 2023

Submitted Feb 16, 2023

Organization

University of Oklahoma

Contact

Saeed Salehi

405.325.6822

Authors

Saeed Salehi

University of Oklahoma

Lu Lee

Pennsylvania State University

Musaab Magzoub

University of Oklahoma

Arash D. Taleghani

Pennsylvania State University

Guoqiang Li

Louisiana State University

DOE Project Details

Project Name Developing Advanced Lost Prevention Methods and Smart Wellbore Strengthening Materials for Geothermal Wells

Project Lead Angel Nieto

Project Number EE0008602

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