[pt] Meios porosos fraturados estão presentes em diferentes tipos de formações geológicas, como os maciços rochosos e os reservatórios de petróleo e gás. A modelagem adequada dos sistemas de fraturas presentes nesses meios é de grande relevância para o desenvolvimento de estratégias de exploração e produção dessas formações. Isso porque os processos de fluxo de fluido são fortemente influenciados pelas características dos sistemas de fraturas. Nesse contexto, diversas abordagens têm sido desenvolvidas para a modelagem desses problemas utilizando representações explícitas e implícitas para as fraturas. A representação explícita usando modelos de fraturas discretas fornece resultados precisos, mas possui um custo computacional elevado e apresenta dificuldades na construção de modelos mais complexos. Por outro lado, modelos de representação implícita, como o de dupla porosidade/dupla permeabilidade, são muito atrativos por incorporarem o efeito das fraturas nas simulações sem a necessidade de representá-las no modelo. No entanto, esses modelos são adequados para problemas envolvendo fraturas pequenas e conectadas, possuindo aplicabilidade limitada para representar fraturas principais de maior escala que podem dominar o fluxo. Assim, este trabalho apresenta algumas das abordagens disponíveis para a representação de formações porosas fraturadas. Diferentes cenários foram estudados para avaliar pontos fortes e limitações de cada método em diferentes aplicações. Além disso, uma nova formulação foi proposta para representar o efeito de fraturas isoladas, que se demonstrou eficiente em modelos com considerável número de fraturas. / [en] Fractured porous media are present in different types of geological formations as rock masses and oil and gas reservoirs. The proper modelling of the fractured systems present in these media is of high relevance to the development of production and exploitation strategies of these formations. This is because the fluid flow processes are strongly influenced by the fractured systems characteristics. In this context, several approaches have been developed to model these problems using explicit and implicit representations to fractures. The explicit representation using discrete fracture models provides accurate results, but has a high computational cost and exhibits difficulties to construct more complex models. On the other hand, implicit representation models, as the dual porosity/dual permeability, are very attractive because they incorporate the effect of fractures to simulations without the need to represent them explicitly in the models. However, these models are suitable to problems with small and connected fractures, and have limited capability to represent major fractures of larger scale that can dominate the flow. Therefore, this work shows some of the available approaches to represent fractured porous formations. Moreover, a new formulation was proposed to represent the effect of isolated fractures, which proved to be efficient in models with considerable number of fractures.

[pt] Este trabalho apresenta o desenvolvimento/montagem de um sistema computacional para análise de fluxo em meios porosos, meios fraturados, porosos fraturados e em combinações destes meios, considerando regime permanente ou transiente, sob condições saturadas e não saturadas. O sistema consiste de quatro programas, três programas de funções específicas interligadas por rotinas de programação feitas na linguagem Cmaismais e o quarto é um visualizador de resultados. O FracGen 3D (Telles, 2006) gera fraturas ou famílias de fraturas de forma determinística ou probabilística. O programa ICEM CFD v.14 divide o domínio de interesse em sub-dominios, através da geração de malha de elementos finitos. O programa FTPF-3D (Telles, 2006) utiliza o método de elementos finitos para discretizar as equações governantes no espaço e em diferenças finitas no tempo, e para resolver a não linearidade, utiliza o método iterativo de Picard ou o método iterativo BFGS e finalmente O Pos3D é o responsável pela visualização dos resultados. Neste trabalho foram desenvolvidos cinco exemplos, dois deles para a validação deste procedimento, e três aplicados a um talude típico do Rio de Janeiro, os quais incluem fraturas verticais e juntas de alívio. Estes casos estudados verificam a influência das fraturas nos meios porosos em termos de carga de pressão, totais e campo de velocidades, para a verificação do comportamento hidráulico dos maciços e de eventuais instabilidades. / [en] This work presents the development/assembly of a computational system for flow analysis in porous media, fractured and fractured porous media and in combination of both media, considering steady or transient states under saturated and unsaturated conditions. The system comprehends four computational programs, three of them of specific functions interconnected by Cplusplus programing routines and the last program is an output viewer. FracGen 3D program (Telles, 2006) generates fractures or fracture families in a determinist or probabilistic way. ICEM CFD v.14 program divides the interest domain in sub-domains by means of the element finite mesh generation. FTPF-3D program (Telles, 2006) uses the element finite method to discretize the governing equations in the space domain and the difference finite method for the time domain and for solving the nonlinearity is used the iterative Picard or BFGS method, so that, finally, Pos3D viewer program is answerable by visualization of the results. In the present dissertation five examples were developed, two of them for the validation of this procedure and the three others applied to a typical slope in Rio de Janeiro, which include vertical fractures and relief joints on their slopes. All those studied cases evaluate the influence of the fractures on porous media in terms of pressure and total heads and velocity fields for verifying of the hydraulic behavior of solid masses and eventual instabilities.

[pt] O rebaixamento e controle das águas subterrâneas são atividades implementadas e monitoradas de forma contínua ao longo da vida dos projetos de mineração subterrânea ou a céu aberto. A implementação apropriada e eficiente destas atividades depende de estudos hidrogeológicos de grande porte, que permitem avaliar os sistemas de controle mais adequados. A procura da eficiência técnico-econômica destes processos demanda análises numéricas de fluxo tridimensionais de toda a região em estudo, caracterizada por profundas e complexas estratificações de materiais permeáveis abaixo do lençol freático, como normalmente abrangem projetos de mineração, onde as soluções analíticas não podem mais ser aplicadas. O presente trabalho de pesquisa contribui na melhor compreensão das formulações numéricas que representam o comportamento do fluxo subterrâneo, através de dois estudos de caso, o primeiro em uma mina subterrânea e segundo em uma mina superficial. No caso da mina subterrânea foram incorporadas feições cársticas através de elementos discretos 1D dentro de um modelo tridimensional de elementos finitos com o intuito de representar caminhos preferenciais de fluxo. Foram discutidas as vantagens de incorporar tais feições de forma explicita, quantificando o fluxo que passam por estas, que alimentam à mina através de conexões diretas com um rio adjacente. Estes elementos discretos permitem uma representação mais realista do meio hidrogeológico e ao mesmo tempo, uma avaliação mais aprimorada dos efeitos no comportamento do fluxo subterrâneo devido à impermeabilização superficial do rio, como a solução mais coerente para este problema de infiltração. Também foi elaborado um modelo hidrogeológico conceitual para representar o comportamento hidrogeológico de uma mina a céu aberto, desenvolvendo uma sistemática de uso adequado das condições de contorno e de restrição, a calibração deste modelo e a verificação de diferentes cenários de fluxo, como resultado da incorporação das diferentes técnicas de controle das águas avaliadas em regime transiente, que abrange poços de bombeamento, paredes cut-off assim como ponteiras filtrantes e drenos horizontais. As diferentes técnicas modeladas mostraram resultados satisfatórios, sendo que arranjos de várias técnicas, configuradas de forma localizada, resultam ser mais recomendáveis e eficientes para tratar problemas particulares. / [en] Dewatering and groundwater control are activities continuously implemented and monitored throughout the duration of underground mining or open pit projects. The proper and efficient implementation of these activities depends on large hydrogeological studies, for assessing the most appropriate control systems. The demand for technical and economic efficiency of these processes requires three-dimensional flow numerical analysis of the entire study area, characterized by deep and complex stratifications of permeable materials below the water table, as usually cover mining projects, where analytical solutions cannot be applied. The present research contributes to a better understanding of the numerical formulations that represent the behavior of groundwater flow via two case studies—the first in an underground mine and the second in a surface mine. In the case of the underground mine, 1D discrete elements were incorporated within a finite-three dimensional model in order to represent preferential flow paths. The advantages of incorporating such features explicitly to quantify the flow passing through them, that feed the mine through direct connections with an adjacent river, were discussed. The use of discrete elements allows for a more realistic representation of the hydrogeological environment and, at the same time, a more refined assessment of the effects on the behavior of groundwater flow due to surface sealing of the river, as the most coherent solution to this infiltration problem. Furthermore, a conceptual hidrogeologic model representing the hydrogeological behavior of an open pit mine was created, developing a system of the appropriate use of boundary and constraint conditions, calibrating the model and verifying different flow scenarios, as a result of the incorporation of different water control techniques assessed in transient regime, such as covering pumping wells, cut-off walls as well as wellpoints and horizontal drains. The different techniques modeled showed satisfactory results, with various arrangements of techniques configured in a localized form resulting in the most desirable and efficient treatments for particular problems.

La caractérisation des circulations thermo-convectives dans les milieux naturels est particulièrement étudiée pour ses applications industrielles, notamment en géothermie. Cette caractérisation correspond à deux enjeux liés à (i) la détection des remontées hydrothermales et (ii) la quantification de l'énergie évacuée par le système actif. La méthodologie proposée par cette thèse comporte ainsi deux volets. Le premier volet vise la localisation des systèmes actifs par caractérisation géophysique de sub-surface. Les techniques de prospection mises en œuvre sont la tomographie de résistivité électrique (TRE), la mesure in situ de température et la mesure de polarisation spontanée (PS). L'objet étudié dans cette thèse est la remontée hydrothermale située au niveau de la limite supérieure de l'effondrement de Rina Grande, au sommet du volcan Stromboli. L'approche géophysique de sub-surface comprend une cartographie spatiale (à l’échelle métrique) en TRE, PS et température et un suivi temporel des signaux PS et thermique. La cartographie spatiale nous renseigne sur l'extension spatiale du système hydrothermal (TRE) et le caractère actif des circulations (PS et température). Le modèle de résistivité électrique a été amélioré en tenant compte de la topographie, issue d'un Modèle Numérique de Terrain généré par photogrammétrie. Le traitement des données de surveillance montre qu'une relation linéaire lie le signal thermique et le signal PS, une relation qui ne peut être purement thermo-électrique. Le jeu de données temporel met l'accent sur la dynamique du système convectif et notamment la probable dépendance de la vigueur du système convectif avec les variations saisonnières de température atmosphérique. Le second volet vise à quantifier l'énergie évacuée par des systèmes thermo-convectifs à l'aide d'une approche numérique. L'approche géophysique met en évidence le fait que les zones endommagées telles que des limites structurales favorisent la circulation des fluides hydrothermaux. Ceci s'explique par le fait que fractures, failles ouvertes, zones d'altération etc. changent à petite échelle la perméabilité du milieu. L'approche numérique est donc vouée à la simulation 3D de l'écoulement et du transfert de chaleur dans des milieux poreux fracturés. Le travail s'est basé sur un code d'écoulement en milieux poreux fracturé pré-existant. Ce code a été adapté afin de résoudre le problème thermique. L'étude théorique vise à quantifier l'influence des paramètres du réseau de fractures sur l'énergie dissipée. L'influence de la densité de fractures, de la transmissivité de fractures et l'anisotropie du réseau de fractures sont évaluées. L'étude compare également les flux de chaleur dégagés par des modèles où les fractures sont insérées de manière discrète avec des modèles homogènes et de même propriétés macroscopiques (approche effective). Les résultats montrent que la validité de l'approche effective est fortement dépendante des paramètres du réseau de fracture. / The characterization of thermo-convective circulations in natural environments is particularly studied especially for geothermal applications. This characterization corresponds to two issues related to (i) the detection of the hydrothermal flows(ii) the quantification of the energy discharged by the active system. The methodology proposed by this thesis thus comprises two parts. The first component aims at locating active systems with geophysical methods. The prospecting techniques used are electrical resistivity tomography (ERT), in situ temperature measurement and self potential (SP) measurements. The object studied in this thesis is the hydrothermal system located at the upper limit of the Rina Grande sector collapse, at the top of the Stromboli volcano. The sub-surface geophysical approach includes spatial (metric) mapping in ERT, SP and temperature, and monitoring of SP and thermal signals. Spatial mapping informs us about the spatial extension of the hydrothermal system (ERT) and the active character of the circulations (SP and temperature). The model of electrical resistivity has been improved taking into account the topography, resulting from a Digital Elevation Model generated by photogrammetry. The treatment of the monitoring data shows that a linear relationship links the thermal and the PS signals, a relationship that can not be entirely due to thermoelectric effect. The temporal dataset focuses on the dynamics of the convective system and in particular the probable dependence of the vigor of the convective system on seasonal variations in atmospheric temperature.The second part aims at quantifying the energy released by thermo-convective systemsusing a numerical approach. The geophysical approach highlights the fact that damaged areas such as structural boundaries favor the circulation of hydrothermal fluids. This is due to the fact that fractures, open faults, alteration zones, etc. change the permeability of the medium on a small scale. The numerical approach is therefore dedicated to the 3D simulation of the flow and heat transfer in fractured porous media. The work is based on a pre-existing code in fracturing porous media, able to solve the flow problem. This code has been adapted to solve the thermal problem also. The theoretical study aims to quantify the influence of fracture network parameters on the released energy. The influence of fracture density, fracture transmissivity and fracture network anisotropy are evaluated. The study also compares the heat fluxes generated by models where the fractures are discretely inserted with homogeneous models with the same macroscopic properties (effective approach). The results show that the validity of the effective approach is highly dependent on the parameters of the fracture network.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering / Daniel V. Swenson / The objective of the thesis is to provide a fully coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) tool, T2STR, which enables quantitative understanding and prediction of thermal as well as mechanical effects on flow in the porous media under multiphase conditions. This is achieved by incorporating a finite element based hydro-thermo-mechanical stress capability into the well-established IFDM (Integrated Finite Difference Method) based flow simulation code TOUGH2. TOUGH2 is a program for calculation of multi-phase, multi-component, non-isothermal flow in porous media. It implements several equation of state modules to represent different fluid mixtures. The dual mesh technique is natural for combining both discretization methods and is used innovatively and effectively. A generalized approach is developed to accommodate the switching of variables implemented in TOUGH2 to adapt the phase changes. The forward coupling is achieved by using the thermal, hydrostatic, and poroelastic effects in the stress calculations. The backward coupling includes the effect of strain on the fluid flow. T2STR also allows the user to study the variation in porosity, permeability and capillary pressure as function of mean effective stress in the porous media. Multiple materials can be used to model the reservoir in T2STR, parallel to the implementation in TOUGH2. T2STR is implemented to carry out as a fully coupled, one way coupled (only deformation as function of hydro-thermal effects), or original TOUGH2 implementation. It provides the ability to switch on and off the thermal and/or poroelastic effects. T2STR is developed to model the fractured porous media using discrete fractures. The modeling of fractured porous media is limited to a staggered coupling approach. The fluid parameters like permeability, porosity are modified based on the stresses and/or aperture changes due to deformation. A set of verification problems, used to validate the code and display the capabilities of the code, are discussed. A graphical user interface is designed to pre-process the necessary data. Macros are developed for excel and Tecplot to post-process the results for easy visualization.

Cette thèse est consacrée au développement d'une méthode numérique visant à modéliser des écoulements dans des milieux poreux fissurés, ainsi qu'à déterminer leur perméabilité effective à partir des avancements théoriques récents. En parallèle, elle a été aussi l'occasion de continuer sur la voie théorique et d'obtenir de nouveaux résultats sur ce plan.Les équations générales gouvernant l'écoulement dans de tels matériaux sont rappelées, et plus particulièrement, la conservation de la masse à l'intersection entre fissures est établie explicitement [132, 139]. Des solutions générales du potentiel sont proposées sous la forme d'une équation intégrale singulière décrivant l'écoulement dans et autour des fissures entourées par une matrice infinie soumise à un champ lointain [136, 139]. Ces solutions représentent le champ de pression dans le milieu infini en fonction de l'infiltration dans les fissures qui prennent en compte complètement l'interaction et l'intersection entre fissures. En considérant le problème d'une fissure super-conductrice, des solutions analytiques de l'écoulement ont été développées et ces solutions sont utilisées comme cas de référence pour valider la solution numérique. De plus, la solution théorique de ce problème dans le cas 3D permet de comparer le modèle d'écoulement de Poiseuille dans une fissure elliptique d'épaisseur nulle et le modèle d'inclusion ellipsoïdale aplatie soumise à l'écoulement de Darcy [140]. Des outils numériques ont été développés en se basant sur la méthode des équations intégrales singulières afin de résoudre les équations générales du potentiel [132, 180]. Cela permet, d'une part, de modéliser l'écoulement stationnaire dans un domaine poreux contenant un grand nombre de fissures et, d'autre part, de proposer une solution semi-analytique de l'infiltration dans une fissure isolée dépendant de la perméabilité de la matrice, de la conductivité de la fissure et de la variable géométrique de la fissure. Cette dernière est l'élément essentiel pour déterminer de la perméabilité effective d'un milieu poreux fissuré en utilisant des schémas d'homogénéisation. Ce modèle auto-cohérent révèle un seuil de percolation qui est alors applicable pour l'estimation de la perméabilité effective d'un matériau contenant un grand nombre de fissures. L'approche par sous-structuration permet l'extension de la solution générale du potentiel, écrite pour un domaine infini, à celle d'un domaine fini [181]. Une solution analytique de l'écoulement dans et autour d'une fissure partiellement saturée est établie, fondée sur la solution analytique pour la fissure super-conductrice. Celle-ci est alors utilisée pour estimer la perméabilité effective d'un milieu poreux fissuré non-saturé [141]. Le modèle de la perméabilité effective est appliqué dans le contexte du stockage géologique du CO2 en vue d'étudier le comportement d'une zone de faille constituée par un noyau argileux et des zones fissurées. La pression d'injection provoque l'augmentation de la pression interstitielle dans le réservoir. Cette surpression engendrée dans le réservoir peut affecter la perméabilité de zones fissurées ce qui conduit à des phénomènes hydromécaniques couplés. Les résultats de simulations numériques permettent d'évaluer, d'une part, le risque de la remontée de la saumure à l'aquifère supérieur, et d'autre part, le risque de l'initiation d'une rupture sur le plan de la faille / This thesis aims to develop a method for numerical modelling of fluid flow through fractured porous media and for determination of their effective permeability by taking advantage of recent results based on formulation of the problem by Singular Integral Equations. In parallel, it was also an occasion to continue on the theoretical development and to obtain new results in this area. The governing equations for flow in such materials are reviewed first and mass conservation at the fracture intersections is expressed explicitly. Using the theory of potential, the general potential solutions are proposed in the form of a singular integral equation that describes the steady-state flow in and around several fractures embedded in an infinite porous matrix under a far-field pressure condition [136, 139]. These solutions represent the pressure field in the whole body as functions of the infiltration in the fractures, which fully take into account the fracture interaction and intersections. Closed-form solutions for the fundamental problem of fluid flow around a single fracture are derived, which are considered as the benchmark problems to validate the numerical solutions. In particular, the solution obtained for the case of an elliptical disc-shaped crack obeying to the Poiseuille's law has been compared to that obtained for ellipsoidal inclusions with Darcy's law [140].The numerical programs have been developed based on the singular integral equations method to resolve the general potential equations [132, 180]. These allow modeling the fluid flow through a porous medium containing a great number of fractures. Besides, this formulation of the problem also allows obtaining a semi-analytical infiltration solution over a single fracture depending on the matrice permeability, the fracture conductivity and the fracture geometry. This result is the important key to upscalling the effective permeability of a fractured porous medium by using different homogeneisation schemes. The results obtained by the self-consistent scheme have been in particular established. The multi-region approach can be used to extend the general potential solution written for the infinite domain to that for a finite domain [181]. A closed-form solution for flow in and around a single partially saturated fracture, surrounded by an infinite matrix subjected to a far-field condition, is also derived combining the solutions for a superconductive fracture and for an imprevious fracture. This solution is then employed to estimate the effective permeability of unsaturated fractured porous media [141].The effective permeability model is applied to study the hydromechanical behaviour of a fault zone constituted by a clay core surrounded by fractured zones in the context of CO2 geological storage. The pressure injection induces an overpressure in the reservoir that may affect the permeability of the fractured zones leading to complexe coupled hydromechanical phenomena. The simulation results allow evaluating the risk of leakage of the reservoir brine to higher aquifers as well as the risk of fault reactivation

A significant amount of Viscous Oil (e.g., heavy oil, extra heavy oil, and bitumen) is trapped in Naturally Fractured Carbonate Reservoirs also known as NFCRs. The word VO endowment in NFCRs is estimated at ~ 2 Trillion barrels mostly reported in Canada, the USA, Russia, and the Middle East. To date, contributions to the world daily oil production from this immense energy resource remains negligible mainly due to the lack of appropriate production technologies. Implementation of a VO production technology such as steam injection is expensive (high capital investment), time-consuming, and people-intensive. Hence, before selecting a production technology for detailed economic analysis, use of cursory or broad screening tools or guides is a convenient means of gaining a quick overview of the technical feasibility of the various possible production technologies applied to a particular reservoir. Technical screening tools are only available for the purpose of evaluation of the reservoir performance parameters in oil sands for various thermal VO exploitation technologies such as Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD), Cyclic Steam Stimulation (CSS), Horizontal well Cyclic steam Stimulation (HCS), and so on. Nevertheless, such tools are not applicable for VO NFCRs assessment without considerable modifications due to the different nature of these two reservoir types (e.g., presence and effects of fracture network on reservoir behavior, wettability, lithology, fabric, pore structure, and so on) and also different mechanisms of energy and mass transport. Considering the lack of robust and rapid technical reservoir screening tools for the purpose of quick assessment and performance prediction for VO NFCRs under thermal stimulation (e.g., steamflooding), developing such fast and precise tools seems inevitable and desirable. In this dissertation, an attempt was made to develop new screening tools for the purpose of reservoir performance prediction in VO NFCRs using all the field and laboratory available data on a particular thermal technology (vertical well steamflooding). Considering the complex and heterogeneous nature of the NFCRs, there is great uncertainty associated with the geological nature of the NFCRs such as fracture and porosity distribution in the reservoir which will affect any modeling tasks aiming at modeling of processes involved in thermal VO production from these types of technically difficult and economically unattractive reservoirs. Therefore, several modeling and analyses technqiues were used in order to understand the main parameters controlling the steamflooding process in NFCRs and also cope with the uncertainties associated with the nature of geologic, reservoir and fluid properties data. Thermal geomechanics effects are well-known in VO production from oil sands using thermal technologies such as SAGD and cyclic steam processes. Hence, possible impacts of thermal processes on VO NFCRs performance was studied despite the lack of adequate field data. This dissertation makes the following contributions to the literature and the oil industry: Two new statistical correlations were developed, introduced, and examined which can be utilized for the purpose of estimation of Cumulative Steam to Oil Ratio (CSOR) and Recovery Factor (RF) as measures of process performance and technical viability during vertical well steamflooding in VO Naturally Fractured Carbonate Reservoirs (NFCRs). The proposed correlations include vital parameters such as in situ fluid and reservoir properties. The data used are taken from experimental studies and also field trials of vertical well steamflooding pilots in viscous oil NFCRs reported in the literature. The error percentage for the proposed correlations is < 10% for the worst case and contains fewer empirical constants compared with existing correlations for oil sands. The interactions between the parameters were also considered. The initial oil saturation and oil viscosity are the most important predictive factors. The proposed correlations successfully predicted steam/oil ratios and recovery factors in two heavy oil NFCRs. These correlations are reported for the first time in the literature for this type of VO reservoirs. A 3-D mathematical model was developed, presented, and examined in this research work, investigating various parameters and mechanisms affecting VO recovery from NFCRs using vertical well steamflooding. The governing equations are written for the matrix and fractured medium, separately. Uncertainties associated with the shape factor for the communication between the matrix and fracture is eliminated through setting a continuity boundary condition at the interface. Using this boundary condition, the solution method employed differs from the most of the modeling simulations reported in the literature. A Newton-Raphson approach was also used for solving mass and energy balance equations. RF and CSOR were obtained as a function of steam injection rate and temperature and characteristics of the fractured media such as matrix size and permeability. The numerical solution clearly shows that fractures play an important role in better conduction of heat into the matrix part. It was also concluded that the matrix block size and total permeability are the most important parameters affecting the dependent variables involved in steamflooding. A hybrid Artificial Neural Network model optimized by co-implementation of a Particle Swarm Optimization method (ANN-PSO) was developed, presented, and tested in this research work for the purpose of estimation of the CSOR and RF during vertical well steamflooding in VO NFCRs. The developed PSO-ANN model, conventional ANN models, and statistical correlations were examined using field data. Comparison of the predictions and field data implies superiority of the proposed PSO-ANN model with an absolute average error percentage < 6.5% , a determination coefficient (R2) > 0.98, and Mean Squared Error (MSE) < 0.06, a substantial improvement in comparison with conventional ANN model and empirical correlations for prediction of RF and CSOR. This indicates excellent potential for application of hybrid PSO-ANN models to screen VO NFCRs for steamflooding. This is the first time that the ANN technique has been applied for the purpose of performance prediction of steamflooding in VO NFCRs and also reported in the literature. The predictive PSO-ANN model and statistical correlations have strong potentials to be merged with heavy oil recovery modeling softwares available for thermal methods. This combination is expected to speed up their performance, reduce their uncertainty, and enhance their prediction and modeling capabilities. An integrated geological-geophysical-geomechanical approach was designed, presented, and applied in the case of a NFCR for the purpose of fracture and in situ stresses characterization in NFCRs. The proposed methodology can be applied for fracture and in situ stresses characterization which is beneficial to various aspects of asset development such as well placement, drilling, production, thermal reservoir modeling incorporating geomechanics effects, technology assessment and so on. A conceptual study was also conducted on geomechanics effects in VO NFCRs during steamflooding which is not yet well understood and still requires further field, laboratory, and theoretical studies. This can be considered as a small step forward in this area identifying positive potential of such knowledge to the design of large scale thermal operations in VO NFCRs.

A significant amount of Viscous Oil (e.g., heavy oil, extra heavy oil, and bitumen) is trapped in Naturally Fractured Carbonate Reservoirs also known as NFCRs. The word VO endowment in NFCRs is estimated at ~ 2 Trillion barrels mostly reported in Canada, the USA, Russia, and the Middle East. To date, contributions to the world daily oil production from this immense energy resource remains negligible mainly due to the lack of appropriate production technologies. Implementation of a VO production technology such as steam injection is expensive (high capital investment), time-consuming, and people-intensive. Hence, before selecting a production technology for detailed economic analysis, use of cursory or broad screening tools or guides is a convenient means of gaining a quick overview of the technical feasibility of the various possible production technologies applied to a particular reservoir. Technical screening tools are only available for the purpose of evaluation of the reservoir performance parameters in oil sands for various thermal VO exploitation technologies such as Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD), Cyclic Steam Stimulation (CSS), Horizontal well Cyclic steam Stimulation (HCS), and so on. Nevertheless, such tools are not applicable for VO NFCRs assessment without considerable modifications due to the different nature of these two reservoir types (e.g., presence and effects of fracture network on reservoir behavior, wettability, lithology, fabric, pore structure, and so on) and also different mechanisms of energy and mass transport. Considering the lack of robust and rapid technical reservoir screening tools for the purpose of quick assessment and performance prediction for VO NFCRs under thermal stimulation (e.g., steamflooding), developing such fast and precise tools seems inevitable and desirable. In this dissertation, an attempt was made to develop new screening tools for the purpose of reservoir performance prediction in VO NFCRs using all the field and laboratory available data on a particular thermal technology (vertical well steamflooding). Considering the complex and heterogeneous nature of the NFCRs, there is great uncertainty associated with the geological nature of the NFCRs such as fracture and porosity distribution in the reservoir which will affect any modeling tasks aiming at modeling of processes involved in thermal VO production from these types of technically difficult and economically unattractive reservoirs. Therefore, several modeling and analyses technqiues were used in order to understand the main parameters controlling the steamflooding process in NFCRs and also cope with the uncertainties associated with the nature of geologic, reservoir and fluid properties data. Thermal geomechanics effects are well-known in VO production from oil sands using thermal technologies such as SAGD and cyclic steam processes. Hence, possible impacts of thermal processes on VO NFCRs performance was studied despite the lack of adequate field data. This dissertation makes the following contributions to the literature and the oil industry: Two new statistical correlations were developed, introduced, and examined which can be utilized for the purpose of estimation of Cumulative Steam to Oil Ratio (CSOR) and Recovery Factor (RF) as measures of process performance and technical viability during vertical well steamflooding in VO Naturally Fractured Carbonate Reservoirs (NFCRs). The proposed correlations include vital parameters such as in situ fluid and reservoir properties. The data used are taken from experimental studies and also field trials of vertical well steamflooding pilots in viscous oil NFCRs reported in the literature. The error percentage for the proposed correlations is < 10% for the worst case and contains fewer empirical constants compared with existing correlations for oil sands. The interactions between the parameters were also considered. The initial oil saturation and oil viscosity are the most important predictive factors. The proposed correlations successfully predicted steam/oil ratios and recovery factors in two heavy oil NFCRs. These correlations are reported for the first time in the literature for this type of VO reservoirs. A 3-D mathematical model was developed, presented, and examined in this research work, investigating various parameters and mechanisms affecting VO recovery from NFCRs using vertical well steamflooding. The governing equations are written for the matrix and fractured medium, separately. Uncertainties associated with the shape factor for the communication between the matrix and fracture is eliminated through setting a continuity boundary condition at the interface. Using this boundary condition, the solution method employed differs from the most of the modeling simulations reported in the literature. A Newton-Raphson approach was also used for solving mass and energy balance equations. RF and CSOR were obtained as a function of steam injection rate and temperature and characteristics of the fractured media such as matrix size and permeability. The numerical solution clearly shows that fractures play an important role in better conduction of heat into the matrix part. It was also concluded that the matrix block size and total permeability are the most important parameters affecting the dependent variables involved in steamflooding. A hybrid Artificial Neural Network model optimized by co-implementation of a Particle Swarm Optimization method (ANN-PSO) was developed, presented, and tested in this research work for the purpose of estimation of the CSOR and RF during vertical well steamflooding in VO NFCRs. The developed PSO-ANN model, conventional ANN models, and statistical correlations were examined using field data. Comparison of the predictions and field data implies superiority of the proposed PSO-ANN model with an absolute average error percentage < 6.5% , a determination coefficient (R2) > 0.98, and Mean Squared Error (MSE) < 0.06, a substantial improvement in comparison with conventional ANN model and empirical correlations for prediction of RF and CSOR. This indicates excellent potential for application of hybrid PSO-ANN models to screen VO NFCRs for steamflooding. This is the first time that the ANN technique has been applied for the purpose of performance prediction of steamflooding in VO NFCRs and also reported in the literature. The predictive PSO-ANN model and statistical correlations have strong potentials to be merged with heavy oil recovery modeling softwares available for thermal methods. This combination is expected to speed up their performance, reduce their uncertainty, and enhance their prediction and modeling capabilities. An integrated geological-geophysical-geomechanical approach was designed, presented, and applied in the case of a NFCR for the purpose of fracture and in situ stresses characterization in NFCRs. The proposed methodology can be applied for fracture and in situ stresses characterization which is beneficial to various aspects of asset development such as well placement, drilling, production, thermal reservoir modeling incorporating geomechanics effects, technology assessment and so on. A conceptual study was also conducted on geomechanics effects in VO NFCRs during steamflooding which is not yet well understood and still requires further field, laboratory, and theoretical studies. This can be considered as a small step forward in this area identifying positive potential of such knowledge to the design of large scale thermal operations in VO NFCRs.