支撑剂在交叉裂缝中运移规律的数值模拟

Proppant transport is a significant fluid-particle two phase flow in hydraulic fracturing System, and how to enhance the efficiency of proppant placement is the key to improving the conductivity of stimulated formations. To solve this issue, in this paper, the CFD-DEM method is adopted to simulate the proppant transport proeess in intersected fractures, and the proppant placement law under different fracture intersection angles and different sand-carrying fluid viscosity is investigated. The results show that the Proportion of proppant transported into secondary fracture monotonically decreases as intersection angle increases, and increasing the fluid viscosity helps improving the placement efficiency of proppant in secondary fractures. Besides, under particular conditions, particle clustering phenomena can occur during transport in a narrow secondary fracture. The CFD-DEM method can accurately describe the particle-particle/wall interactions and fluid-particle interactions.