The impact of gravity segregation on multiphase non-darcy flow in hydraulically fractured gas wells Conference Paper uri icon

abstract

  • Multiphase and non-Darcy flow effects in hydraulically fractured gas wells reduce effective fracture conductivity. Typical proppant pack laboratory experiments are oriented in such a way that phase segregation is not possible, which results in mixed flow. In this work, reservoir simulation modeling was used to determine the impact of gravity segregation. Gravity segregation is commonly ignored in design and analysis of hydraulically fractured gas wells. We found that by ignoring segregation, effective fracture conductivity can be underestimated by up to a factor of two. Hydraulic fracture treatments can be designed more effectively if effective fracture conductivity is known more accurately. Copyright 2008, Society of Petroleum Engineers.

published proceedings

  • Proceedings - SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition

author list (cited authors)

  • Dickins, M. I., McVay, D. A., & Schubarth, S. K.

complete list of authors

  • Dickins, MI||McVay, DA||Schubarth, SK

publication date

  • December 2008