Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
5.2
2.7
Journals
Geosciences
Special Issues
Quantitative Fractured Rock Hydrology
share announcement

Quantitative Fractured Rock Hydrology

A special issue of Geosciences (ISSN 2076-3263). This special issue belongs to the section "Hydrogeology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 March 2021) | Viewed by 12380

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Corrado Fidelibus

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Dipartimento Di Ingegneria dell'Innovazione, Università del Salento, 73100 Lecce LE, Italy
Interests: fractured rock hydrology; computational geomechanics; fracture mechanics; poroelasticity; boundary element method (BEM)
Prof. Dr. Chaoshui Xu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Civil, Environmental and Mining Engineering, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia
Interests: coupled modelling of fluid flow in fractured porous rocks; stochastic rock fracture modelling; rock fracture mechanics; rock mass mechanical behaviour; stability assessment of rock excavations

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

For the prediction of subsurface fluid flows, the growing availability of computational resources is driving the use of more and more sophisticated numerical models, also documented in a rich set of scientific articles and monographs. However, there are few concerted attempts to organize this material under one cover. For this Special Issue of Geosciences, we are looking for contributions where the essential features of these models are reported and commented, in order to furnish a useful summary for practitioners and research engineers, in consideration also of more recent advancements. In these models, the rock mass is generally envisioned as a network of percolative fractures (the discrete fracture network, DFN), delimiting pervious or impervious matrix blocks. Problems mostly concern the stochastic generation of the fracture networks and the underpinning statistical theories, the single/multiphase fluid flow and hydromechanical dispersion in single fractures, the hydro-thermo-mechanical–chemical (HTMC) coupling affecting fluid flows, fractures and matrix blocks, and the solution of the partial differential equations ruling fluid flows and transports in fractured rocks. You are warmly invited to submit your contribution if you share this vision and are interested in these crucial issues.

Prof. Dr. Corrado Fidelibus
Prof. Dr. Chaoshui Xu
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Geosciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Discrete fracture networks (DFNs)
  • Stochastic generation of DFNs
  • Hydrologic properties of single fractures
  • Hydromechanical dispersion in single fractures
  • hydro-thermo-mechanical–chemical (HTMC) coupling in fractured rocks
  • Numerical methods for fluid flows and transports in DFNs
  • Particle tracking
  • Equivalent porous medium (EPM)
  • Equivalent pipe network (EPN)
  • Engineering applications of fractured rock hydrology

Published Papers (4 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

Jump to: Review

23 pages, 1551 KiB  
Article
Performance Analysis of Multi-Task Deep Learning Models for Flux Regression in Discrete Fracture Networks
by Stefano Berrone and Francesco Della Santa
Geosciences 2021, 11(3), 131; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences11030131 - 12 Mar 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2204
Abstract
In this work, we investigate the sensitivity of a family of multi-task Deep Neural Networks (DNN) trained to predict fluxes through given Discrete Fracture Networks (DFNs), stochastically varying the fracture transmissivities. In particular, detailed performance and reliability analyses of more than two hundred [...] Read more.
In this work, we investigate the sensitivity of a family of multi-task Deep Neural Networks (DNN) trained to predict fluxes through given Discrete Fracture Networks (DFNs), stochastically varying the fracture transmissivities. In particular, detailed performance and reliability analyses of more than two hundred Neural Networks (NN) are performed, training the models on sets of an increasing number of numerical simulations made on several DFNs with two fixed geometries (158 fractures and 385 fractures) and different transmissibility configurations. A quantitative evaluation of the trained NN predictions is proposed, and rules fitting the observed behavior are provided to predict the number of training simulations that are required for a given accuracy with respect to the variability in the stochastic distribution of the fracture transmissivities. A rule for estimating the cardinality of the training dataset for different configurations is proposed. From the analysis performed, an interesting regularity of the NN behaviors is observed, despite the stochasticity that imbues the whole training process. The proposed approach can be relevant for the use of deep learning models as model reduction methods in the framework of uncertainty quantification analysis for fracture networks and can be extended to similar geological problems (for example, to the more complex discrete fracture matrix models). The results of this study have the potential to grant concrete advantages to real underground flow characterization problems, making computational costs less expensive through the use of NNs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Quantitative Fractured Rock Hydrology)
►▼ Show Figures

Graphical abstract

23 pages, 4333 KiB  
Article
An Open-Source Code for Fluid Flow Simulations in Unconventional Fractured Reservoirs
by Bin Wang and Corrado Fidelibus
Geosciences 2021, 11(2), 106; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences11020106 - 22 Feb 2021
Cited by 26 | Viewed by 3603
Abstract
In this article, an open-source code for the simulation of fluid flow, including adsorption, transport, and indirect hydromechanical coupling in unconventional fractured reservoirs is described. The code leverages cutting-edge numerical modeling capabilities like automatic differentiation, stochastic fracture modeling, multicontinuum modeling, and discrete fracture [...] Read more.
In this article, an open-source code for the simulation of fluid flow, including adsorption, transport, and indirect hydromechanical coupling in unconventional fractured reservoirs is described. The code leverages cutting-edge numerical modeling capabilities like automatic differentiation, stochastic fracture modeling, multicontinuum modeling, and discrete fracture models. In the fluid mass balance equation, specific physical mechanisms, unique to organic-rich source rocks, are included, like an adsorption isotherm, a dynamic permeability-correction function, and an Embedded Discrete Fracture Model (EDFM) with fracture-to-well connectivity. The code is validated against an industrial simulator and applied for a study of the performance of the Barnett shale reservoir, where adsorption, gas slippage, diffusion, indirect hydromechanical coupling, and propped fractures are considered. It is the first open-source code available to facilitate the modeling and production optimization of fractured shale-gas reservoirs. The modular design also facilitates rapid prototyping and demonstration of new models. This article also contains a quantitative analysis of the accuracy and limitations of EDFM for gas production simulation in unconventional fractured reservoirs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Quantitative Fractured Rock Hydrology)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

18 pages, 2477 KiB  
Article
Experimental Reproducibility and Natural Variability of Hydraulic Transport Properties of Fractured Sandstone Samples
by Sascha Frank, Thomas Heinze, Mona Ribbers and Stefan Wohnlich
Geosciences 2020, 10(11), 458; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences10110458 - 13 Nov 2020
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 1853
Abstract
Flow and transport processes in fractured systems are not yet fully understood, and it is challenging to determine the respective parameters experimentally. Studies on 10 samples of 2 different sandstones were used to evaluate the reproducibility of tracer tests and the calculation of [...] Read more.
Flow and transport processes in fractured systems are not yet fully understood, and it is challenging to determine the respective parameters experimentally. Studies on 10 samples of 2 different sandstones were used to evaluate the reproducibility of tracer tests and the calculation of hydraulic transport properties under identical boundary conditions. The transport parameters were determined using the advection–dispersion equation (ADE) and the continuous time random walk (CTRW) method. In addition, the fracture surface morphology and the effective fracture aperture width was quantified. The hydraulic parameters and their variations were studied for samples within one rock type and between both rock types to quantify the natural variability of transport parameters as well as their experimental reproducibility. Transport processes dominated by the influence of fracture surface morphology experienced a larger spread in the determined transport parameters between repeated measurements. Grain size, effective hydraulic aperture and dispersivity were identified as the most important parameters to evaluate this effect, as with increasing fracture aperture the effect of surface roughness vanishes and the experimental reproducibility increases. Increasing roughness is often associated with the larger effective hydraulic aperture canceling out the expected increased influence of the fracture surface morphology. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Quantitative Fractured Rock Hydrology)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Review

Jump to: Research

35 pages, 14186 KiB  
Review
Modelling of Coupled Hydro-Thermo-Chemical Fluid Flow through Rock Fracture Networks and Its Applications
by Chaoshui Xu, Shaoqun Dong, Hang Wang, Zhihe Wang, Feng Xiong, Qinghui Jiang, Lianbo Zeng, Leon Faulkner, Zhao Feng Tian and Peter Dowd
Geosciences 2021, 11(4), 153; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences11040153 - 29 Mar 2021
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 4082
Abstract
Most rock masses contain natural fractures. In many engineering applications, a detailed understanding of the characteristics of fluid flow through a fractured rock mass is critically important for design, performance analysis, and uncertainty/risk assessment. In this context, rock fractures and fracture networks play [...] Read more.
Most rock masses contain natural fractures. In many engineering applications, a detailed understanding of the characteristics of fluid flow through a fractured rock mass is critically important for design, performance analysis, and uncertainty/risk assessment. In this context, rock fractures and fracture networks play a decisive role in conducting fluid through the rock mass as the permeability of fractures is in general orders of magnitudes greater than that of intact rock matrices, particularly in hard rock settings. This paper reviews the modelling methods developed over the past four decades for the generation of representative fracture networks in rock masses. It then reviews some of the authors’ recent developments in numerical modelling and experimental studies of linear and non-linear fluid flow through fractures and fracture networks, including challenging issues such as fracture wall roughness, aperture variations, flow tortuosity, fracture intersection geometry, fracture connectivity, and inertia effects at high Reynolds numbers. Finally, it provides a brief review of two applications of methods developed by the authors: the Habanero coupled hydro-thermal heat extraction model for fractured reservoirs and the Kapunda in-situ recovery of copper minerals from fractures, which is based on a coupled hydro-chemical model. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Quantitative Fractured Rock Hydrology)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-4
Back to TopTop