Particle settling in narrow rough fractures is a common but poorly understood phenomenon during hydraulic fracturing.This study first constructs a large slot with two rough surfaces to simulate rock fractures and empl...Particle settling in narrow rough fractures is a common but poorly understood phenomenon during hydraulic fracturing.This study first constructs a large slot with two rough surfaces to simulate rock fractures and employs the particle image velocimetry to measure particle settling.Results show that particle settling in the rough slot is more complex than in the smooth slot.Rough pathways significantly change particle settling characteristics.The rough-walled slot alters the classic settling process by creating preferential pathways,localized trapping,and vortex-driven redistribution.Particles settle along preferential pathways,increasing settling velocity.The wall retardation effect becomes more prominent for large particles,reducing the settling velocity.Particle settling induces vortices throughout the rough surface,affecting particle behavior.Higher particle volume fractions increase settling nonuniformity,leading to unstable fluid flow within fractures,characterized by high vorticity and upward flow.The frequent interplay between particles and particle-walls,and fluid resistance complicates particle trajectories and settling behavior.Fluid viscosity significantly changes settling patterns and promotes particle clusters,forming chain-like and curtain-like clusters in rough fractures.An innovative model is proposed to predict settling velocity in rough fractures.展开更多
In-situ thermal upgrading is used to tune the pore system in low-maturity oil shales. We introduce fractal dimension(D), form factor(ff) and stochastic entropy(H) to quantify the heating-induced evolution of pore morp...In-situ thermal upgrading is used to tune the pore system in low-maturity oil shales. We introduce fractal dimension(D), form factor(ff) and stochastic entropy(H) to quantify the heating-induced evolution of pore morphological complexity and azimuthal disorder and develop a model to estimate the impact on seepage capacity via permeability. Experiments are conducted under recreated in-situ temperatures and consider anisotropic properties—both parallel and perpendicular to bedding. Results indicate that azimuthal distribution of pores in the bedding-parallel direction are dispersed, while those in the bedding-perpendicular direction are concentrated. D values indicate that higher temperatures reduce the uniformity of the pore size distribution(PSD) in the bedding-parallel direction but narrow the PSD in the bedding-perpendicular direction. The greater ff(> 0.7) values in the bedding-parallel direction account for a large proportion, while the dominated in the bedding-perpendicular direction locates within 0.2-0.7, for all temperatures. The H value of the bedding-parallel sample remains stable at ~0.925 during heating, but gradually increases from 0.808 at 25℃ to 0.879 at 500℃ for the beddingperpendicular sample. Congruent with a mechanistic model, the permeability at 500℃ is elevated~1.83 times(bedding-parallel) and ~6.08 times(bedding-perpendicular) relative to that at 25℃—confirming the effectiveness of thermal treatment in potentially enhancing production from low-maturity oil shales.展开更多
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.52274035)。
文摘Particle settling in narrow rough fractures is a common but poorly understood phenomenon during hydraulic fracturing.This study first constructs a large slot with two rough surfaces to simulate rock fractures and employs the particle image velocimetry to measure particle settling.Results show that particle settling in the rough slot is more complex than in the smooth slot.Rough pathways significantly change particle settling characteristics.The rough-walled slot alters the classic settling process by creating preferential pathways,localized trapping,and vortex-driven redistribution.Particles settle along preferential pathways,increasing settling velocity.The wall retardation effect becomes more prominent for large particles,reducing the settling velocity.Particle settling induces vortices throughout the rough surface,affecting particle behavior.Higher particle volume fractions increase settling nonuniformity,leading to unstable fluid flow within fractures,characterized by high vorticity and upward flow.The frequent interplay between particles and particle-walls,and fluid resistance complicates particle trajectories and settling behavior.Fluid viscosity significantly changes settling patterns and promotes particle clusters,forming chain-like and curtain-like clusters in rough fractures.An innovative model is proposed to predict settling velocity in rough fractures.
基金financially supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2022YFE0129800)the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 42202204)support from the G. Albert Shoemaker endowment。
文摘In-situ thermal upgrading is used to tune the pore system in low-maturity oil shales. We introduce fractal dimension(D), form factor(ff) and stochastic entropy(H) to quantify the heating-induced evolution of pore morphological complexity and azimuthal disorder and develop a model to estimate the impact on seepage capacity via permeability. Experiments are conducted under recreated in-situ temperatures and consider anisotropic properties—both parallel and perpendicular to bedding. Results indicate that azimuthal distribution of pores in the bedding-parallel direction are dispersed, while those in the bedding-perpendicular direction are concentrated. D values indicate that higher temperatures reduce the uniformity of the pore size distribution(PSD) in the bedding-parallel direction but narrow the PSD in the bedding-perpendicular direction. The greater ff(> 0.7) values in the bedding-parallel direction account for a large proportion, while the dominated in the bedding-perpendicular direction locates within 0.2-0.7, for all temperatures. The H value of the bedding-parallel sample remains stable at ~0.925 during heating, but gradually increases from 0.808 at 25℃ to 0.879 at 500℃ for the beddingperpendicular sample. Congruent with a mechanistic model, the permeability at 500℃ is elevated~1.83 times(bedding-parallel) and ~6.08 times(bedding-perpendicular) relative to that at 25℃—confirming the effectiveness of thermal treatment in potentially enhancing production from low-maturity oil shales.
