A Comparison of Discrete Fracture Models for Single Phase Flow in Porous Media Using COMSOL Multiphysics® Software

C. A. Romano-Pérez [1], M. A. Díaz-Viera [2],
[1] Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Coyoacán, DF, México
[2] Ingeniería de Recuperación Adicional, Instituto Mexicano del Petróleo, Gustavo A. Madero, DF, México
Published in 2015

A comparison of discrete fracture and explicit fracture models for single-phase flow in fractured porous media using COMSOL Multiphysics® software is presented to understand the contribution of each individual fracture to fluid flow, and the exchange between fracture and surrounding medium at a scale such that the fractures could be modeled explicitly. The derived flow models are based on the fluid pressure and considering the Darcy’s law for fluid velocity in the porous media and the fractures, it is assumed that the fractures are filled with a porous material. The models are numerically validated in an injection-production case study in two dimensions.