Numerical Modeling of Hydraulic Confinement around Crude Oil Storage Cavern in Fractured Rocks: Direct Application of DFN Concept

Unlined rock caverns for hydrocarbon storage are mainly excavated in strong and stable rock masses with very low-permeable matrix, where hydrocarbon migration is only possible along fractures connected to the cavern boundaries and their networks. In this paper, the hydraulic confinement around a URC...

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Main Authors: Sharifzadeh, Mostafa, Javadi, M., Shahriar, K., Sayadi, S.
Format: Journal Article
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/75183
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author Sharifzadeh, Mostafa
Javadi, M.
Shahriar, K.
Sayadi, S.
author_facet Sharifzadeh, Mostafa
Javadi, M.
Shahriar, K.
Sayadi, S.
author_sort Sharifzadeh, Mostafa
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Unlined rock caverns for hydrocarbon storage are mainly excavated in strong and stable rock masses with very low-permeable matrix, where hydrocarbon migration is only possible along fractures connected to the cavern boundaries and their networks. In this paper, the hydraulic confinement around a URC cavern was simulated by directly applying distinct fracture network (DFN) model. First, a computational code, so-called “FNETF”, was developed to generate DFN and solving fluid flow equation along fractures. Proper internal hydraulic boundary condition of water-hydrocarbon interface at cavern boundary was defined based on the fluids properties and applied in the FNETF code. Fluid flow in fracture network was numerically simulated for different outer boundary hydraulic conditions assigned by different groundwater pressures of water curtain. Finally, the assessment achieved to expect the occurrence of hydrocarbon.
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institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T11:03:37Z
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling curtin-20.500.11937-751832019-04-09T01:30:12Z Numerical Modeling of Hydraulic Confinement around Crude Oil Storage Cavern in Fractured Rocks: Direct Application of DFN Concept Sharifzadeh, Mostafa Javadi, M. Shahriar, K. Sayadi, S. Unlined rock caverns for hydrocarbon storage are mainly excavated in strong and stable rock masses with very low-permeable matrix, where hydrocarbon migration is only possible along fractures connected to the cavern boundaries and their networks. In this paper, the hydraulic confinement around a URC cavern was simulated by directly applying distinct fracture network (DFN) model. First, a computational code, so-called “FNETF”, was developed to generate DFN and solving fluid flow equation along fractures. Proper internal hydraulic boundary condition of water-hydrocarbon interface at cavern boundary was defined based on the fluids properties and applied in the FNETF code. Fluid flow in fracture network was numerically simulated for different outer boundary hydraulic conditions assigned by different groundwater pressures of water curtain. Finally, the assessment achieved to expect the occurrence of hydrocarbon. Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/75183 fulltext
spellingShingle Sharifzadeh, Mostafa
Javadi, M.
Shahriar, K.
Sayadi, S.
Numerical Modeling of Hydraulic Confinement around Crude Oil Storage Cavern in Fractured Rocks: Direct Application of DFN Concept
title Numerical Modeling of Hydraulic Confinement around Crude Oil Storage Cavern in Fractured Rocks: Direct Application of DFN Concept
title_full Numerical Modeling of Hydraulic Confinement around Crude Oil Storage Cavern in Fractured Rocks: Direct Application of DFN Concept
title_fullStr Numerical Modeling of Hydraulic Confinement around Crude Oil Storage Cavern in Fractured Rocks: Direct Application of DFN Concept
title_full_unstemmed Numerical Modeling of Hydraulic Confinement around Crude Oil Storage Cavern in Fractured Rocks: Direct Application of DFN Concept
title_short Numerical Modeling of Hydraulic Confinement around Crude Oil Storage Cavern in Fractured Rocks: Direct Application of DFN Concept
title_sort numerical modeling of hydraulic confinement around crude oil storage cavern in fractured rocks: direct application of dfn concept
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/75183