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Advances in Geo-Energy Research 2023, 7(3): 199-210 https://doi.org/10.46690/ager.2023.03.06
Original Article | Open Access | Issue | Published: 20 February 2023

Three-dimensional simulation of wormhole propagation in fractured-vuggy carbonate rocks during acidization

Show Author's Information Piyang Liu1,  Xue Kong1,  Gaocheng Feng2,  Kai Zhang1,3( ),  Shuyu Sun4,  Jun Yao3
School of Civil Engineering, Qingdao University of Technology, Qingdao 266520, P. R. China
CNOOC EnerTech-Drilling & Production Co., Tianjin 300452, P. R. China
School of Petroleum Engineering, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, P. R. China
Computational Transport Phenomena Laboratory, Division of Physical Sciences and Engineering, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
Keywords:
acidizing, wormholes, Carbonate rocks, fractures, vugs, reactive flow
Cite this article:
Liu P, Kong X, Feng G, et al. Three-dimensional simulation of wormhole propagation in fractured-vuggy carbonate rocks during acidization. Advances in Geo-Energy Research, 2023, 7(3): 199-210. https://doi.org/10.46690/ager.2023.03.06
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Abstract Full text About this article

Acidization is a widely used stimulation technique for carbonate reservoirs aimed at removing formation damage, and if successful, can result in the creation of wormholes of specific lengths and conductivities around the wellbore. The formation of wormholes depends on the injection rate for a particular acid-mineral system and can be predicted through numerical simulations of the reactive phenomenon during acidization. In this paper, the commonly used two-scale continuum model is enhanced to encompass fractured-vuggy porous media. The fractures are characterized by a pseudo-fracture model, while vugs are represented by a cluster of anomalous matrices with high porosity. Moreover, a method for generating random pore-fracture-vuggy models is proposed. The governing equations are discretized by the finite volume method and are solved under three-dimensional linear and radial conditions. Sensitivity analysis of dissolution dynamics with respect to fracture and vug parameters is performed. The simulation results indicate that both fractures and vugs significantly impact wormhole development. Except for fractures perpendicular to the acid flow direction, fractures in other directions play a crucial role in determining the direction of wormhole growth.


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About this article

Three-dimensional simulation of wormhole propagation in fractured-vuggy carbonate rocks during acidization

Show Author's information Piyang Liu1, Xue Kong1, Gaocheng Feng2, Kai Zhang1,3( ), Shuyu Sun4, Jun Yao3
School of Civil Engineering, Qingdao University of Technology, Qingdao 266520, P. R. China
CNOOC EnerTech-Drilling & Production Co., Tianjin 300452, P. R. China
School of Petroleum Engineering, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, P. R. China
Computational Transport Phenomena Laboratory, Division of Physical Sciences and Engineering, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Acidization is a widely used stimulation technique for carbonate reservoirs aimed at removing formation damage, and if successful, can result in the creation of wormholes of specific lengths and conductivities around the wellbore. The formation of wormholes depends on the injection rate for a particular acid-mineral system and can be predicted through numerical simulations of the reactive phenomenon during acidization. In this paper, the commonly used two-scale continuum model is enhanced to encompass fractured-vuggy porous media. The fractures are characterized by a pseudo-fracture model, while vugs are represented by a cluster of anomalous matrices with high porosity. Moreover, a method for generating random pore-fracture-vuggy models is proposed. The governing equations are discretized by the finite volume method and are solved under three-dimensional linear and radial conditions. Sensitivity analysis of dissolution dynamics with respect to fracture and vug parameters is performed. The simulation results indicate that both fractures and vugs significantly impact wormhole development. Except for fractures perpendicular to the acid flow direction, fractures in other directions play a crucial role in determining the direction of wormhole growth.

Keywords: acidizing, wormholes, Carbonate rocks, fractures, vugs, reactive flow

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Publication history

Received: 12 January 2023
Revised: 01 February 2023
Accepted: 16 February 2023
Published: 20 February 2023
Issue date: March 2023

Copyright

© The Author(s) 2023.

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 52274057 and 51804325), the Science and Technology Support Plan for Youth Innovation of University in Shandong Province under No. 2019KJH002, 111 Project under No. B08028. The authors also gratefully acknowledge the support from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) through the Nos. BAS/1/1351-01, URF/1/4074-01, URF/1/3769-01.

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