Mobile foundations: shifting paradigms in deep sea engineering. The project will generate a paradigm shift in the approach to foundation design for deepwater hydrocarbon facilities through the innovation of mobile foundations – meaning foundations that are designed to move tolerably to accommodate displacements rather than remain stationary and resist loads. Experimental, numerical and theoretical modelling will create a new understanding of mobile foundation-seabed interaction unlocking solutio ....Mobile foundations: shifting paradigms in deep sea engineering. The project will generate a paradigm shift in the approach to foundation design for deepwater hydrocarbon facilities through the innovation of mobile foundations – meaning foundations that are designed to move tolerably to accommodate displacements rather than remain stationary and resist loads. Experimental, numerical and theoretical modelling will create a new understanding of mobile foundation-seabed interaction unlocking solutions to assess the tolerability of foundation mobility though a facility life cycle. Mobile foundations will offer a more economic and reliable basis to support subsea infrastructure, making safer and more viable the development of Australia’s deepwater reserves that are currently ‘stranded’.Read moreRead less
Four Stage Permeability Evolution Theory for Low Permeable Rocks . There is a degree of public anxiety on how unconventional gases is extracted. Horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing are two key enabling technologies to extract unconventional gases. But, the current study reveals well and field productivities exhibit steep declines. This implies that current practice may not be sustainable. The successful completion of this project will provide a scientific approach to look at the susta ....Four Stage Permeability Evolution Theory for Low Permeable Rocks . There is a degree of public anxiety on how unconventional gases is extracted. Horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing are two key enabling technologies to extract unconventional gases. But, the current study reveals well and field productivities exhibit steep declines. This implies that current practice may not be sustainable. The successful completion of this project will provide a scientific approach to look at the sustainability issue through testing a hypothesis that the properties of rock blocks between hydraulic fractures determine the sustainability of gas production instead of hydraulic fracturing. Read moreRead less
Upscaling laws for hydraulic fracturing of tight formations using reproducible true tri-axial laboratory testing. Upscaling models for designing hydraulic fracture stimulation of gas reservoirs will be developed. Innovative laboratory methods of reproducing the field stress conditions and rock structure will be used. The results will advance the mechanics of hydraulic fracturing and increase efficiency of reservoir stimulation, especially in tight formations.
Multiscale modelling of multiphase interactions in shale gas reservoirs. As conventional oil and gas become depleted in most of the producing basins, extraction of unconventional gas trapped in shale formations needs to become more viable. Since Australian shales have different characteristics from North American ones, the existing knowledge cannot be directly applied. We aim to develop a novel multiscale framework for deep understanding of the complex multiphase interactions in shale gas reserv ....Multiscale modelling of multiphase interactions in shale gas reservoirs. As conventional oil and gas become depleted in most of the producing basins, extraction of unconventional gas trapped in shale formations needs to become more viable. Since Australian shales have different characteristics from North American ones, the existing knowledge cannot be directly applied. We aim to develop a novel multiscale framework for deep understanding of the complex multiphase interactions in shale gas reservoirs. The outcomes will not only enable us to effectively assess the viability of gas extraction from Australian shale reservoirs with accurate long-term production forecasting, but help to develop strategies to effectively extract this relatively low carbon-emitting fossil fuel in the transition to a renewable economy.Read moreRead less
An advanced multiphase model for geometrical evolution and anomalous flows. The project aims to provide new insights into the ways that Australia’s abundant energy resources are utilised for energy security and environmental stewardship. Simulation developments and fundamental insights on multiphase porous media flows provide significant outcomes toward the national priorities. These developments are paramount for various applications, such as geological storage of CO2, oil/gas recovery, groundw ....An advanced multiphase model for geometrical evolution and anomalous flows. The project aims to provide new insights into the ways that Australia’s abundant energy resources are utilised for energy security and environmental stewardship. Simulation developments and fundamental insights on multiphase porous media flows provide significant outcomes toward the national priorities. These developments are paramount for various applications, such as geological storage of CO2, oil/gas recovery, groundwater remediation and energy storage. This will provide benefit to the oil/gas industry which spends hundreds of millions of dollars on reservoir modelling; the proposed research will provide the fundamental insights necessary to advance the utility of these simulations and other porous media applications for energy storage.Read moreRead less
Proppant transport in non-Darcy fracture flow for reservoir integrity/yield. Hydro-fracking of a typical gas well in Australia consumes around 3000 tonnes of proppants to keep open the created fractures, costing over $1.5 million. This project investigates proppant transport behaviour in non-Darcy turbulent flow during fracking of underground reservoir rock by combining Hele-Shaw-cell experiments with Particle Image Velocimetry and conceptual/numeric modelling. The generating advanced proppant t ....Proppant transport in non-Darcy fracture flow for reservoir integrity/yield. Hydro-fracking of a typical gas well in Australia consumes around 3000 tonnes of proppants to keep open the created fractures, costing over $1.5 million. This project investigates proppant transport behaviour in non-Darcy turbulent flow during fracking of underground reservoir rock by combining Hele-Shaw-cell experiments with Particle Image Velocimetry and conceptual/numeric modelling. The generating advanced proppant transport knowledge is expected to be more accurate than laminar flow-based theories currently relied on. Expected outcomes include more efficient/safer proppant-assisted fracking strategies to reduce wasteful proppant disposition and inform industry/government management of fracking based on the reservoir geological features.Read moreRead less
A kinematically and micromechanically enriched constitutive modelling framework for failure of geomaterials. Failure at large scale such as slopes, embankments, and underground mining is fatal in terms of human lives and property loss. This project aims to develop a new methodology to connect micro-mechanisms that trigger and govern failure with the behaviour at much larger scales. In particular it will allow building constitutive models directly from micro-scale mechanisms, while possessing the ....A kinematically and micromechanically enriched constitutive modelling framework for failure of geomaterials. Failure at large scale such as slopes, embankments, and underground mining is fatal in terms of human lives and property loss. This project aims to develop a new methodology to connect micro-mechanisms that trigger and govern failure with the behaviour at much larger scales. In particular it will allow building constitutive models directly from micro-scale mechanisms, while possessing the capability to span the spatial scales. It will also transform the understanding of material property scaling into a predictive tool for engineering analysis, helping to obtain more cost effective designs with greater confidence in safety.Read moreRead less
Beyond Darcy’s Law: Influence of wettability on multiphase flow in rocks. The project aims to provide new insights into the ways that Australia’s abundant energy resources can be utilized for energy security and environmental stewardship. The simulation workflows and fundamental insights on wettability and porous media flows investigated are intended to provide significant outcomes toward the national priorities. These developments are paramount for various subsurface applications, such as geolo ....Beyond Darcy’s Law: Influence of wettability on multiphase flow in rocks. The project aims to provide new insights into the ways that Australia’s abundant energy resources can be utilized for energy security and environmental stewardship. The simulation workflows and fundamental insights on wettability and porous media flows investigated are intended to provide significant outcomes toward the national priorities. These developments are paramount for various subsurface applications, such as geological storage of CO2, oil/gas recovery, groundwater remediation and energy storage. The oil/gas industry spend hundreds of millions of dollars on core analysis for the determination of rock properties; the proposed research aims to provide the fundamental insights necessary to advance the utility of these measurement. Read moreRead less
The micro-mechanics of faulting and fluid flow in porous reservoir rocks. The project will improve the understanding of the mechanics and physics of reservoir rocks under various loading conditions. This will have impact on the recovery of hydrocarbon energy resources, storage of carbon dioxide in depleted oil reservoirs, and extraction of energy from geothermal reservoirs in Australia.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE160100577
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$372,536.00
Summary
Numerical modeling of hydraulic fracturing for unconventional gas recovery. The project seeks to improve our understanding of the mechanics and physics of hydraulic fracturing in unconventional shale/tight gas reservoirs. By determining key aspects of the mechanics and physics of hydraulic fractures in naturally fractured unconventional reservoirs the project aims to build an accurate continuum hydro-mechanical model for hydraulic fracturing stimulation. The new computational approach and softwa ....Numerical modeling of hydraulic fracturing for unconventional gas recovery. The project seeks to improve our understanding of the mechanics and physics of hydraulic fracturing in unconventional shale/tight gas reservoirs. By determining key aspects of the mechanics and physics of hydraulic fractures in naturally fractured unconventional reservoirs the project aims to build an accurate continuum hydro-mechanical model for hydraulic fracturing stimulation. The new computational approach and software is expected to improve our fundamental understanding of the underlying physics of initiation and propagation of hydraulic fractures and their interactions with pre-existing natural faults. This has the potential to benefit the natural gas industry by providing information for better hydraulic fracture treatments and mitigation of the inherent risks of hydraulic fracturing and other processes.Read moreRead less