Simulation Investigation of Hydraulic Fracturing Process in the Oil Reservoirs

Summary Hydraulic fracturing is one of the most common methods of formation treatment for increasing the production rate, which can effectively enhance the productivity index. Simulation of hydraulic fracturing before the actual operation can help have the more effective treatment. In this work, the fracture width, which can be crated during hydraulic fracturing process, was simulated depending on the time. In addition, the required injection pressure for an optimum operation was determined at various injection rates. Furthermore, the effect of rock permeability and proppant mass on the productivity index and oil production rate was investigated. The simulation results showed that the optimum injection rate for hydraulic fracturing process is 4 L/s. At this rate, the maximum injection pressure was about 14.3 MPa. Moreover, the highest amount of productivity index was observed at lower values of rock permeability.