scholarly journals Numerical estimation of fracture network permeability based on GEOFRAC model for groundwater modeling in a tin mine

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 243-248
Author(s):  
Lei Lu ◽  
Chunxue Liu ◽  
Gang Chen ◽  
Liang Guo

Abstract Numerous geological research studies and mining operations have proved that fracture is one of the important factors controlling groundwater flow, mineralization, and ore distribution in metallic deposits. Most current approaches to groundwater flow simulation of naturally fractured media rely on the calculation of equivalent permeability tensors from a discrete fracture network (DFN). This study is aimed at developing a rational two-dimensional DFN by GEOFRAC, a geostatistical method of fracture direction and locations of sample data from a tin mine in the Gaosong area, Gejiu city, southwest China, and utilizing 3,724 outcrop fractures sampled on the ground of mountain Gaosong. Principal inputs of the DFN are density, direction, and continuity of disks that constitute a fracture plane. Fractures simulated by GEOFRAC were validated in that their directions corresponded well with those of the sample fractures. The permeability tensor of each modeling grid was then calculated based on the fracture network constructed. The results showed that GEOFRAC is valuable for two-dimensional DFN modeling in mines and other fracture-controlled geological phenomena, such as groundwater flow and slope failure.

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Ziming Xu ◽  
Juliana Y. Leung

Summary The discrete fracture network (DFN) model is widely used to simulate and represent the complex fractures occurring over multiple length scales. However, computational constraints often necessitate that these DFN models be upscaled into a dual-porositydual-permeability (DPDK) model and discretized over a corner-point grid system, which is still commonly implemented in many commercial simulation packages. Many analytical upscaling techniques are applicable, provided that the fracture density is high, but this condition generally does not hold in most unconventional reservoir settings. A particular undesirable outcome is that connectivity between neighboring fracture cells could be erroneously removed if the fracture plane connecting the two cells is not aligned along the meshing direction. In this work, we propose a novel scheme to detect such misalignments and to adjust the DPDK fracture parameters locally, such that the proper fracture connectivity can be restored. A search subroutine is implemented to identify any diagonally adjacent cells of which the connectivity has been erroneously removed during the upscaling step. A correction scheme is implemented to facilitate a local adjustment to the shape factors in the vicinity of these two cells while ensuring the local fracture intensity remains unaffected. The results are assessed in terms of the stimulated reservoir volume calculations, and the sensitivity to fracture intensity is analyzed. The method is tested on a set of tight oil models constructed based on the Bakken Formation. Simulation results of the corrected, upscaled models are closer to those of DFN simulations. There is a noticeable improvement in the production after restoring the connectivity between those previously disconnected cells. The difference is most significant in cases with medium DFN density, where more fracture cells become disconnected after upscaling (this is also when most analytical upscaling techniques are no longer valid); in some 2D cases, up to a 22% difference in cumulative production is recorded. Ignoring the impacts of mesh discretization could result in an unintended reduction in the simulated fracture connectivity and a considerable underestimation of the cumulative production.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miao Jing ◽  
Falk Heße ◽  
Wenqing Wang ◽  
Thomas Fischer ◽  
Marc Walther ◽  
...  

Abstract. Most of the current large scale hydrological models do not contain a physically-based groundwater flow component. The main difficulties in large-scale groundwater modeling include the efficient representation of unsaturated zone flow, the characterization of dynamic groundwater-surface water interaction and the numerical stability while preserving complex physical processes and high resolution. To address these problems, we propose a highly-scalable coupled hydrologic and groundwater model (mHM#OGS) based on the integration of two open-source modeling codes: the mesoscale hydrologic Model (mHM) and the finite element simulator OpenGeoSys (OGS). mHM#OGS is coupled using a boundary condition-based coupling scheme that dynamically links the surface and subsurface parts. Nested time stepping allows smaller time steps for typically faster surface runoff routing in mHM and larger time steps for slower subsurface flow in OGS. mHM#OGS features the coupling interface which can transfer the groundwater recharge and river baseflow rate between mHM and OpenGeoSys. Verification of the coupled model was conducted using the time-series of observed streamflow and groundwater levels. Moreover, we force the transient model using groundwater recharge in two scenarios: (1) spatially variable recharge based on the mHM simulations, and (2) spatially homogeneous groundwater recharge. The modeling result in first scenario has a slightly higher correlation with groundwater head time-series, which further validates the plausibility of spatial groundwater recharge distribution calculated by mHM in the mesocale. The statistical analysis of model predictions shows a promising prediction ability of the model. The offline coupling method implemented here can reproduce reasonable groundwater head time series while keep a desired level of detail in the subsurface model structure with little surplus in computational cost. Our exemplary calculations show that the coupled model mHM#OGS can be a valuable tool to assess the effects of variability in land surface heterogeneity, meteorological, topographical forces and geological zonation on the groundwater flow dynamics.


2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Hui Xiong ◽  
Liya Yao ◽  
Huachun Tan ◽  
Wuhong Wang

This paper applies method of continuous-time random walks for pedestrian flow simulation. In the model, pedestrians can walk forward or backward and turn left or right if there is no block. Velocities of pedestrian flow moving forward or diffusing are dominated by coefficients. The waiting time preceding each jump is assumed to follow an exponential distribution. To solve the model, a second-order two-dimensional partial differential equation, a high-order compact scheme with the alternating direction implicit method, is employed. In the numerical experiments, the walking domain of the first one is two-dimensional with two entrances and one exit, and that of the second one is two-dimensional with one entrance and one exit. The flows in both scenarios are one way. Numerical results show that the model can be used for pedestrian flow simulation.


2011 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaohui Ji ◽  
Tangpei Cheng ◽  
Qun Wang

Aerodynamics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vladimir Frolov

The paper presents the calculated results obtained by the author for critical Mach numbers of the flow around two-dimensional and axisymmetric bodies. Although the previously proposed method was applied by the author for two media, air and water, this chapter is devoted only to air. The main goal of the work is to show the high accuracy of the method. For this purpose, the work presents numerous comparisons with the data of other authors. This method showed acceptable accuracy in comparison with the Dorodnitsyn method of integral relations and other methods. In the method under consideration, the parameters of the compressible flow are calculated from the parameters of the flow of an incompressible fluid up to the Mach number of the incoming flow equal to the critical Mach number. This method does not depend on the means determination parameters of the incompressible flow. The calculation in software Flow Simulation was shown that the viscosity factor does not affect the value critical Mach number. It was found that with an increase in the relative thickness of the body, the value of the critical Mach number decreases. It was also found that the value of the critical Mach number for the two-dimensional case is always less than for the axisymmetric case for bodies with the same cross-section.


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