ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT: Identifying the hydraulic characteristics and transport properties of fractured reservoirs requires the development of models accounting: (1) for medium heterogeneity (i.e., the presence of major conductive fractures that delimit matrix blocks) and (2) for spatial organization of the major conductive fractures, which dominate flow at the pump test scale. These two main features are tackled by combining generalized radial flow (flow with fractal dimension) with the theories of double-porosity and leakance. This nD model, with n not necessarily integer, extends usefully the domain of application of the usual 1D/2D/3D double-porosity/leakance models for a large range of connectivity levels of the fracture networks. These models account for the impact of the network structure on the overall hydrodynamic behaviour, even though they do not handle the geometry and properties of the fractures individually or by directional families. The accuracy of the coupled transient behaviours analysis is augmented by modelling pumping well storage and skin effects. The combination of all these features allows matching a wide range of pumping test curves with a small number of independent parameters. Several examples of pumping test, covering a large range of hydrogeological situations in sedimentary and crystalline rocks, are analysed in order to demonstrate how the different models can be used to improve predictions.
