Utah FORGE Modeling & Simulation Forum #12

“Hybrid fracture/matrix modeling for well completion options evaluation”

Presented by: Lynn Munday and Somayajulu L. N. Dhulipala (Idaho National Laboratory)

November 17, 2021 at 11 am MST

Orientation and completion for well pairs that have been subjected to multi-zonal stimulation play a critical role in the long-term performance of an Enhanced Geothermal Reservoir. Here we present the development of a methodology to rapidly and efficiently numerically simulate mixed fracture-matrix flow systems for evaluation of well design and completion options. The methodology is based on a loose coupling framework, allowing the fracture and matrix systems to be meshed separately. The fracture system includes the integration of fracture growth and aperture data from well stimulation simulations of stochastically generated fracture networks. Automatic mesh refinement is used in the matrix simulation to resolve heat transfer near the fracture network. This simulation framework is used to efficiently determine optimal production and injection well placement using adaptive sampling.