Naif B. Alqahtani

3D Finite Element Modeling of Laboratory Hydraulic Fracture Experiments

................................................................................................................ iii LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................... viii LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................xv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ......................................................................................... xvi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .................................................................................1 1.1 Research Objectives ...............................................................................2 1.2 Previous Project Work ...........................................................................2 1.3 Motivation and Context .........................................................................3 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................................................5 2.1 Hydraulic Fracturing ................................................................................5 2.2 Hydraulic Fracture Propagation ..............................................................6 2.3 Stress Effects .........................................................................................11 2.4 Effects of Reservoir Depletion ..............................................................13 2.5 Brief Summary of Previous Project Works ..........................................14 CHAPTER 3: FINITE ELEMENT METHOD ............................................................19 3.1 A Brief History of the Method .............................................................19 3.2 The Finite Element Method .................................................................19 3.3 Some Methods for Solving Engineering Problems ..............................22

Cryogenic Fracturing of Wellbores Under True Triaxial-Confining Stresses: Experimental Investigation

Author(s): Cha, M; Alqahtani, NB; Yao, B; Yin, X; Kneafsey, TJ; Wang, L; Wu, YS; Miskimins, JL | Abstract: Copyright

New correlations for prediction of saturated and undersaturated oil viscosity of Arabian oil fields

New correlations for saturated and undersaturated oil viscosity were developed for Saudi Arabian crude oil. The data consist of 79 and 71 experimental measurements of saturated and undersaturated crude oil viscosity, respectively, at reservoir conditions. Other PVT measurements above and below bubble point pressure are also included. The new correlations were developed using genetic programming approach. The new models were developed and tested using linear genetic programming (GP) technique. The models efficiency was compared to existing correlations. Average absolute relative deviation, coefficient of correlation, and crossplots were used to evaluate the proposed models, and their outputs indicate the accuracy of the GP technique and the superiority of the developed models in comparison with the commonly utilized models tested.