Systems and methods for hydraulic fracture and reservoir simulation

Abstract

Provided herein are systems and methods for modeling and simulating reservoir, wellbore, and hydraulic fracturing. The systems and methods provided herein may facilitate well life cycle simulation by integrating a three-dimensional model representative of hydraulic fracturing and fluid flow in a wellbore and reservoir. The systems and methods may couple fluid flow in the wellbore and reservoir during injection and extraction with propagation of fractures through subsurface materials during fluid injection. Integrated three-dimensional reservoir, wellbore, and hydraulic fracture simulation may be useful for the design of hydraulic fracture treatments and prediction of future reservoir production.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system for determining hydraulic fracture treatment of a production well, comprising:
 one or more processors;   a graphical user interface communicatively coupled to the one or more processors; and   a memory, communicatively coupled to the one or more processors and the graphical user interface, including instructions executable by the one or more processors, individually or collectively, to implement and to present on the graphical user interface a method for determining hydraulic fracture treatment, the method comprising:   (a) receiving, from a user via the graphical user interface, one or more input parameters comprising (i) hydraulic fracture treatment conditions of a calibration well, (ii) geological data from an area containing the calibration well, (iii) data from one or more sensors disposed at the calibration well, or (iv) production data of oil or gas from the calibration well;   (b) providing, to the user on the graphical user interface, an integrated three-dimensional (3-D) model of hydraulic fracturing and fluid flow in a wellbore and reservoir of the calibration well that is generated based on the one or more input parameters;   (c) receiving, from the user via the graphical user interface, one or more hydraulic fracture treatment conditions for the production well;   (d) performing an integrated 3-D simulation of hydraulic fracturing and fluid flow in a wellbore and reservoir of the production well based on the one or more hydraulic fracture treatment conditions for the production well and the integrated 3-D model; and   (e) outputting, a control signal to actuate one or more mechanism at a wellsite of production well based on a result of the integrated 3-D simulation of hydraulic fracturing and fluid flow in a wellbore and reservoir of the production well.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more hydraulic fracture treatment conditions of the production well include (i) spacing of perforation clusters, (ii) spacing between wells, (iii) amount of proppant injected into a perforation cluster, (iv) injection rate, (v) injection volume, (vi) length of each stage along the production well, (vii) type of proppant injected, (viii) type of fluid injected, (ix) sequencing of fluid and proppant injection during a stage, or (x) sequencing of injection stages. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the calibration well is disposed adjacent to or in the same geological formation as the production well. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more input parameters are provided to the one or more processors as an input file. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the integrated 3-D simulation simulates fracture growth and the transport of water, oil, gas, and proppant through the wellbore and reservoir of the production well. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors compares model predictions from the 3-D model of the calibration well to production data from the calibration well. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein the production data includes production rate, production pressure, injection pressure during fracturing, or fracture length. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the integrated 3-D model provides a sensitivity analysis for the geological data. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the geological data includes permeability or fracture conductivity. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the integrated 3-D model assesses which of the one or more input parameters have the largest impact on performance of the integrated 3-D simulation. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the system displays to a user via the graphical user interface one or more output properties representing the response and state of the production well at a given time. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the one or more output properties are selected from the group consisting of fluid pressure, temperature, fluid saturation, molar composition, fluid phase density, fluid phase viscosity, proppant volume fraction, and fracture aperture. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the system displays to a user via the graphical user interface one or more output properties representing the response and state of the production well at a given time. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more inputs further comprise production boundary conditions. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more hydraulic fracture treatment conditions for the production well are provided to the processor as an input file. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the input file is generated by a user with the assistance of the graphical user interface.