Non-isothermal simulation of wormhole propagation in fractured carbonate rocks based on 3D-EDFM

The current models of fractured carbonate acidizing are limited to 2D simulation or are solely applicable to the acidizing process in porous media with few fractures, neglecting the acid flow between intersecting fractures. In response to these issues, a coupled 3D thermal-hydro-chemical 3D-EDFM method is developed to simulate the acidizing process in fractured carbonate rock. The fractured carbonate acidizing model is coupled by 3D-EDFM, the two-scale continuum model and the heat transfer model in this paper. Numerical simulations of acidizing under different temperatures are performed, and the simulation results are consistent with previous experimental findings, thus verifying the accuracy of the model. Through simulations, we found that as the flow rate increases, the fracture plane transitions from acting as a “dissolution object of acid” to serving as a “transport channel of acid”. The density and inclination angle of the fracture plane significantly affect the wormholes propagation. The presence of fracture planes accelerates the pressure drop during acidizing and complicates the distribution of the acid-rock reaction heat. Unlike in the 2D model, we observe that when cold acid is injected into high-temperature fractured carbonate rock, the acid cools the rock from the inside out. Although higher rock temperatures lead to an increase in PVBT, the difference in the optimum injection rate remains minimal. Compared to porous media without fracture planes, the fracture plane increases the optimum injection rate, and appropriately increasing the injection rate can more effectively utilize the transport characteristics of natural fractures. •The thermal-hydro-chemical coupled 3D-EDFM method is developed to establish the acidizing model.•Any number of fracture planes with arbitrary geometric properties can be embedded in the acidizing region.•The reactive flow of acid in the fractured carbonate under non-isothermal conditions is realized.