Effect of non-Darcy ow on induced stresses around a wellbore in an anisotropic in-situ stress field

After drilling a well, the stresses will be altered and the induced stresses present the new state of stress. These induced stresses result in geomechanical problems. Studies have indicated that the ow of hydrocarbon into the wellbore in uences the induced stresses. Darcy equation has been used in the past; however, the laminar ow assumption embedded in this equation cannot correctly model the ow of fluid when a non-Darcy ow dominates near a wellbore. Examples of such situations include the gas wells. In this study, analytical equations were developed based on Forchheimer ow equation to incorporate the effect of non-Darcy ow on the induced stresses around a wellbore. Then, the simplified solutions were presented by considering the second term of Forchheimer ow equation. It was found that the difference between the results of Darcy and non-Darcy ow models was proportional to the drawdown pressure. Further studies included numerical simulation of non-Darcy fluid ow in a typical reservoir. Comparison of the results with the analytical models indicated that the magnitude of stresses in non-Darcy ow was larger than that in Darcy ow. Finally, sensitivity of the reservoir properties to the induced stresses in the non-Darcy ow regime was investigated.