Modeling temperature behavior of multistage fractured horizontal well with two-phase flow in low-permeability gas reservoirs

Abstract

Abstract This study aims to study the temperature behaviors and quantitatively diagnose water exits for multi-fractured horizontal wells (MFHWs) in low-permeability gas reservoirs (LPGRs) with two-phase flow. Firstly, a transient temperature prediction model is developed on the basis of mass, momentum and energy conservation with consideration of a variety of subtle heat effects (e.g. Joule–Thomson effect, thermal expansion etc.). Subsequently, synthetic cases are simulated to illustrate the temperature behaviors of a two-phase MFHW with identical/non-identical fractures. The sensitivity analysis indicates that the existing of Non-Darcy flow and gas-phase slippage effect reduces the wellbore temperature. The wellbore temperature shows significant sensitivity to reservoir permeability and fracture half-length. Then, by simulating the temperature profile of MFHWs with different water/gas ratio (WGR) of each fracture, the unique characteristics of wellbore temperature variation under each WGR situation are observed. That provides the potential to diagnose the water exits of MFHWs from temperature measurement. Finally, we apply the model to a field case and the results validated the feasibility of the developed model to simulate the temperature behavior of MFHWs in LPGRs.