Geometrical, fractal and hydraulic properties of fractured reservoirs: A mini-review

Fractures and fracture networks play an important role in fluid flow and transport properties of oil and gas reservoirs. Accurate estimation of geometrical characteristics of fracture networks and their hydraulic properties are two key research directions in the fields of fluids flow in fractured porous media. Recent works focusing on the geometrical, fractal and hydraulic properties of fractured reservoirs are reviewed and summarized in this mini-review. The effects of several important parameters that significantly influences hydraulic properties are specifically discussed and analyzed, including fracture length distribution, aperture distribution, boundary stress and anisotropy. The methods for predicting fractal dimension of fractures and models for fracture networks and fractured porous media based on fractal-based approaches are addressed. Some comments and suggestions are also given on the future research directions and fractal fracture networks as well as fractured porous media. © The Author(s) 2017.