Equivalent Permeability Distribution for Fractured Porous Rocks: The Influence of Fracture Network Properties

Equivalent fracture models are widely used for simulations of groundwater exploitation, geothermal reservoir production, and solute transport in groundwater systems. Equivalent permeability has a great impact on such processes. In this study, equivalent permeability distributions are investigated ba...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Tao Chen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2020-01-01
Series:Geofluids
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2020/6751349
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850217612186746880
author Tao Chen
author_facet Tao Chen
author_sort Tao Chen
collection DOAJ
description Equivalent fracture models are widely used for simulations of groundwater exploitation, geothermal reservoir production, and solute transport in groundwater systems. Equivalent permeability has a great impact on such processes. In this study, equivalent permeability distributions are investigated based on a state-of-the-art numerical upscaling method (i.e., the multiple boundary method) for fractured porous rocks. An ensemble of discrete fracture models is created based on power law length distributions. The equivalent permeability is upscaled from discrete fracture models based on the multiple boundary method. The results show that the statistical distributions of equivalent permeability tensor components are highly related to fracture geometry and differ from each other. For the histograms of the equivalent permeability, the shapes of kxx and kyy change from a power law-like distribution to a lognormal-like distribution when the fracture length and the number of fractures increase. For the off-diagonal component kxy, it is a normal-like distribution and its range expands when the fracture length and the number of fractures increase. The mean of diagonal equivalent permeability tensor components increases linearly with the fracture density. The analysis helps in generating stochastic equivalent permeability models in fractured porous rocks and reduces uncertainties when applying equivalent fracture models.
format Article
id doaj-art-37e2d7fb60694572bab03c820982e79d
institution OA Journals
issn 1468-8115
1468-8123
language English
publishDate 2020-01-01
publisher Wiley
record_format Article
series Geofluids
spelling doaj-art-37e2d7fb60694572bab03c820982e79d2025-08-20T02:08:00ZengWileyGeofluids1468-81151468-81232020-01-01202010.1155/2020/67513496751349Equivalent Permeability Distribution for Fractured Porous Rocks: The Influence of Fracture Network PropertiesTao Chen0Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Depositional Mineralization & Sedimentary Minerals, College of Earth Science and Engineering, Shandong University of Science and Technology, No. 579 Qianwangang Road, Qingdao 266590, ChinaEquivalent fracture models are widely used for simulations of groundwater exploitation, geothermal reservoir production, and solute transport in groundwater systems. Equivalent permeability has a great impact on such processes. In this study, equivalent permeability distributions are investigated based on a state-of-the-art numerical upscaling method (i.e., the multiple boundary method) for fractured porous rocks. An ensemble of discrete fracture models is created based on power law length distributions. The equivalent permeability is upscaled from discrete fracture models based on the multiple boundary method. The results show that the statistical distributions of equivalent permeability tensor components are highly related to fracture geometry and differ from each other. For the histograms of the equivalent permeability, the shapes of kxx and kyy change from a power law-like distribution to a lognormal-like distribution when the fracture length and the number of fractures increase. For the off-diagonal component kxy, it is a normal-like distribution and its range expands when the fracture length and the number of fractures increase. The mean of diagonal equivalent permeability tensor components increases linearly with the fracture density. The analysis helps in generating stochastic equivalent permeability models in fractured porous rocks and reduces uncertainties when applying equivalent fracture models.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2020/6751349
spellingShingle Tao Chen
Equivalent Permeability Distribution for Fractured Porous Rocks: The Influence of Fracture Network Properties
Geofluids
title Equivalent Permeability Distribution for Fractured Porous Rocks: The Influence of Fracture Network Properties
title_full Equivalent Permeability Distribution for Fractured Porous Rocks: The Influence of Fracture Network Properties
title_fullStr Equivalent Permeability Distribution for Fractured Porous Rocks: The Influence of Fracture Network Properties
title_full_unstemmed Equivalent Permeability Distribution for Fractured Porous Rocks: The Influence of Fracture Network Properties
title_short Equivalent Permeability Distribution for Fractured Porous Rocks: The Influence of Fracture Network Properties
title_sort equivalent permeability distribution for fractured porous rocks the influence of fracture network properties
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2020/6751349
work_keys_str_mv AT taochen equivalentpermeabilitydistributionforfracturedporousrockstheinfluenceoffracturenetworkproperties