Geostatistical modeling of clay spatial distribution in siliciclastic rock samples using the plurigaussian simulation method

In order to implement secondary and enhanced oil recovery processes in complex terrigenous formations as is usual in turbidite deposits, a precise knowledge of the spatial distribution of shale grains is a crucial element for the fluid flow prediction. The reason of this is that the interaction of water with shale grains can significantly modify their size and/or shape, which in turn would cause porous space sealing with the subsequent impact in the flow. In this work, a methodology for stochastic simulations of spatial grains distributions obtained from scanning electron microscopy images of siliciclastic rock samples is proposed. The aim of the methodology is to obtain stochastic models would let us investigate the shale grain behavior under various physico-chemical interactions and flux regimes, which in turn, will help us get effective petrophysical properties (porosity and permeability) at core scale. For stochastic spatial grains simulations a plurigaussian method is applied, which is based on the truncation of several standard Gaussian random functions. This approach is very flexible, since it allows to simultaneously manage the proportions of each grain category in a very general manner and to rigorously handle their spatial dependency relationships in the case of two or more grain categories. The obtained results show that the stochastically simulated porous media using the plurigaussian method adequately reproduces the proportions, basic statistics and sizes of the pore structures present in the studied reference images.     

Wavelet analysis of the hydrological time series of Dalai Lake, Inner Mongolia, China

An important new development in hydrological data analysis in the last decade is the application of wavelet analysis. Here, wavelet theory is used to study the complexity and multi-scale periodicity of the hydrological time series of the Dalai Lake Basin in Inner Mongolia. Two large rivers, the Kelulun and the Wurxun, are the main inflows to Dalai Lake, which is currently shrinking. The annual and monthly flows of the Kelulun River are shown to vary more than those of the Wurxun River, and the monthly flows of the two rivers vary much more than their annual flows. Db5 wavelets are shown to be more suitable for annual flow calculations, whereas Db4 wavelets are more suitable for monthly flow calculations. Multi-scale wavelet analysis of the annual and monthly flows of the Kelulun and Wurxun rivers shows that the variation of the two rivers is similar and has a 25-year cycle, 12 years of wet and 12 years of drought periods, and our results show that both rivers are expected to transition into a wet period beginning in 2012. Therefore, the Dalai Lake Basin, which has been in a drought period since 2000, is expected to gradually transit into a wet period from 2012 onward.     

The effect of stress boundary conditions on fluid-driven fracture propagation in porous media using a phase-field modeling approach

A phase-field approach for fluid-driven fracture propagation in porous media with varying constant compatible stress boundary conditions is discussed and implemented. Since crack opening displacement, fracture path, and stress values near the fracture are highly dependent on the given boundary conditions, it is crucial to take into account the impact of in situ stresses on fracturing propagation for realistic applications. We illustrate several numerical examples that include the effects of different boundary conditions on the fracture propagation. In addition, an example using realistic boundary conditions from a reservoir simulator is included to show the capabilities of our computational framework.     

A three‐dimensional staggered finite element approach for random parametric modeling of thermo‐hygral coupled phenomena in porous media

The aim of this paper is to present a three‐dimensional (3D) finite element modeling of heat and mass transfer phenomena in partially saturated open porous media with random fields of material properties. Randomness leads to transfer processes within the porous medium that naturally need a full 3D modeling for any quantitative assessment of these processes. Nevertheless, the counterpart of 3D modeling is a significant increase in computations cost. Therefore, a staggered solution strategy is adopted which permits to solve the equations sequentially. This appropriate partitioning reduces the size of the discretized problem to be solved at each time step. It is based on a specific iterative algorithm to account for the interaction between all the transfer processes. Accordingly, a suitable linearization of mass convective boundary conditions, consistent with the staggered algorithm, is also derived. After some validation tests, the 3D numerical model is used for studying the drying process of a cementitious material with regard to its intrinsic permeability randomness. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Demonstration and application of NMM‐based fractured porous medium flow model

In natural rock masses, the shapes of three‐dimensional (3‐D) blocks cut by arbitrary fracture networks may be very complex. Owing to the geometric complexity and difficulty of mesh discretization of 3‐D blocks and fracture facets, explicit consideration of fracture networks in flow analysis of fractured porous medium (FPM) is very challenging. Using the numerical manifold method based on independent covers (NMMIC), an FPM flow model was proposed that can deal with very complex 3‐D fracture networks. In this paper, the convergence of NMMIC was first demonstrated. The theoretical basis of the arbitrary refinement of computational meshes was proven. Moreover, three peculiarities of NMMIC meshes, that is, arbitrary shape, arbitrary connection, and arbitrary refinement of independent covers, were concluded. Finally, some two‐dimensional (2‐D) tunnel flow examples were analyzed and the numerical results were compared with the analytical results. 3‐D examples with complex fracture distributions were also analyzed. In addition, the computational scale of the developed program was tested by increasing the number of computational elements. The results show that our model can accurately analyze the groundwater flow of rocks surrounding tunnels with complex fracture distributions.     

Calculating the internodal transmissibilities using finite analytic method and its application for multi‐phase flow in heterogeneous porous media

In the traditional numerical reservoir simulations, the internodal transmissibility is usually defined as the harmonic mean of the permeabilities of the adjacent grids. This definition underestimates the phase flux and the speed of the saturation front, especially for the strong heterogeneous case. In this article, the internodal transmissibility is recalculated according to the nodal analytic solution. The redefined internodal transmissibility can be used directly to calculate the multiphase flow in the numerical reservoir simulations. Numerical examples show that, compared to the traditional numerical methods, the proposed scheme makes the convergences much faster as the refinement parameter increases, and the accuracy is independent of the heterogeneity. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

滇东南丘北区峰丛—洼地地貌形态特征分析

云贵高原东南部丘北区为峰丛—洼地岩溶组合地貌。利用统计分析方法考察了该区48个岩溶洼地及峰体的形态参数特征;利用分形理论方法计算了不同高程的等高线和地表水系的分维数。结果表明:（1）洼地的平均边数为5.6,平均周长3.4km,平均面积0.8km2;（2）洼地的加深和扩大近于同步,原始地面对后期溶蚀面的发育起控制作用;（3）峰丛—洼地的形态分形特征对岩溶演化具有很好的响应关系,可溶岩区等高线分维数平均为1.30,非可溶岩区为1.16,地表水文网分维数为1.07,反映岩溶区地形变化复杂,地下水文网较发育,岩溶发育程度较高;（4）研究区岩溶发育仍处于幼年至壮年期,将继续缓慢发育。      

辽东半岛黄土粒度分维特征及其环境意义

应用分形理论中的幂指函数关系法,分别选取粒径r区间和质量累计百分含量5%～95%的范围为无标度区,对辽东半岛黄土的粒度分维特征进行分析。结果显示:以粒径r区间为无标度区(0.76～263.75μm),七顶山马兰黄土的粒度分维值介于2.2085～2.3184之间,平均值为2.2744,相关系数为0.8835;离石黄土粒度分维值介于2.2748～2.4237之间,平均值为2.3467,相关系数为0.8920。全剖面粒度分维值在2.2085～2.4237之间,平均值为2.3187,相关系数达0.88以上,粒度分布具有分形特征。而以质量累计百分含量5%～95%的范围为无标度区,马兰黄土分维值介于2.4220～2.5042之间,平均值为2.4761,相关系数为0.9889,分选系数为2.4067;离石黄土分维值介于2.4268～2.545之间,平均值2.4993,相关系数为0.983,分选系数为2.5097。全剖面分维值介于2.422～2.545之间,相关系数达0.98以上。研究得出:分维值的大小对黄土的形成环境有良好的指示意义,对同一种成因以及不同种成因的沉积物分维特征研究应注意无标度区的选择。本区马兰黄土比离石黄土...     

基于薄层法的饱和土桩纵向振动研究

在饱和多孔介质理论的基础上,将桩周土体看作液固饱和两相介质,借助于Novak薄层理论得到了饱和土层的竖向动力阻抗,研究了饱和土中桩的纵向耦合振动,并对比分析了采用三维模型和薄层法的结果,验证了结果的正确性。分析讨论了桩土主要力学参数对饱和土-桩耦合体系动力行为的影响。研究结果表明,桩的长径比、桩土模量比等对饱和土桩耦合体系纵向振动的影响相对较大,而土的黏滞阻尼系数和液固耦合系数的影响相对较小。