Stress dependent anisotropy of relative permeabilities in naturally fractured reservoirs

Abstract

Relative permeabilities of fracture networks as used in dual-continua simulations determine predicted producer behavior and ultimately a field's achievable recovery. We present numerically derived ensemble (upscaled) relative permeability curves as obtained from discrete fracture and matrix (DFM) imbibition simulations. Our flow simulations are based on unstructured finite element grids and fully capable to account for capillary forces which determine the fluid transfer between fractures and adjacent matrix. Joint aperture distributions are obtained for various trends of maximum horizontal stress using finite element analysis assuming a matrix obeying linear-elasticity and accounting for fra..