REACTION ENGINEERING INTERNATIONAL — Department of Energy SBIR Phase II: 16b

Description

The evolution of hydraulic fracturing has enabled development of unconventional natural gas resources that previously would not have been economical. The volume of water required for these operations is a major concern. Industry is actively seeking methods to reduce water usage and increase the amount of gas recovered per unit of water used to stimulate the formation. There is substantial evidence that the rate and method of flowback of the fracturing fluid has a significant impact on the amount of water recovered and well productivity. Proposed Solution: REI proposes to develop a multiphase Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model and an accompanying reduced order model (ROM) tool to predict flowback of the fracturing fluid from a well over time. The ROM tool will use a database of CFD solutions to provide quick estimates of the flowback rate and the potential impact on future gas production. The ROM will be designed to allow field operators and fracturing service companies to optimize the amount of water injected during stimulation, recover more of the injected water and increase the expected ultimate recovery of the natural gas in the formation. Phase I Work Plan REI will develop a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model of the Flowback process using the ANSYS/Fluent commercial CFD code. A database of CFD model solutions for flowback will be generated. A reduced order model (ROM) tool will be created using the database of CFD solutions. The CFD solutions and ROM tool will be benchmarked against field data. Commercial Applications and Other Benefits: The completed ROM tool will allow field operators and fracturing service companies to (a) optimize the flowback rate and recovery of the fracturing fluid (primarily water) before stimulating a well and (b) history match real flowback data with the model to better understand the geometry properties of the produced fractures. This will result in less water usage per fracturing job, higher recovery rates of water from the well, higher initial production rates and higher ultimate recovery of the resource. This will allow the United States to continue to lead in natural gas production while lowering the amount of water used.