Effective properties for flow calculations

In this paper we discuss the background to the problems of finding effective flow properties when moving from a detailed representation of reservoir geology to a coarse gridded model required for reservoir performance simulation. In so doing we synthesize the pictures of permeability and transmissibility and show how they may be used to capture the effects of the boundary conditions on the upscaling. These same concepts are applied to the renormalization method of calculating permeability, to show its promise as an accurate, yet fast method.     

Analytical three-dimensional renormalization for calculating effective permeabilities

The ability to calculate an effective permeability of a heterogeneous reservoir based on knowledge of its small-scale permeability is fundamental to practical numerical reservoir characterization. One elegant technique that forms the basis of this process is renormalization (King, P.R.: Transport Porous Med. 4, 37–58 (1989)). In two dimensions, renormalization can be implemented using a simple analytical formula. In three dimensions, however, no such analytical result exists, and renormalization must be performed using a numerical implementation. In this article, we present a simple analytical approximation to the method of renormalization in three dimensions. A detailed comparison with numerical results demonstrates its accuracy and highlights the significant reduction in computational cost achieved.     

Renormalization calculations of immiscible flow

Oil reservoir properties can vary over a wide range of length scales. Reservoir simulation of the fluid flow uses numerical grid blocks have typical lengths of hundreds of metres. We need to specify meaningful values to put into reservoir engineering calculations given the large number of heterogeneities that they have to encompass. This process of rescaling data results in the calculation of effective or pseudo rock properties. That is a property for use on the large scale incorporating the many heterogeneities measured on smaller scales.For single phase flow, a variety of techniques have been tried in the past. These range from very simple statistical estimates to detailed numerical simulation. Unfortunately, the simple estimates tend to be inaccurate in real applications and the numerical simulation can be computationally expensive if not impossible for very fine grid representations of the reservoir. Likewise, pseudorelative permeabilities are time consuming to generate and often inaccurate.Real-space renormalization is an alternative technique which has been found to be computationally efficient and accurate when applied to single-phase flow. This approach solves the problem regionally rather than trying to solve the whole problem in one simulation. The effective properties of small regions are first calculated and then placed on a coarse grid. The grid is further coarsened and the process repeated until a single effective property has been calculated. This has enabled calculation of effective permeability of extremely large grids to be performed, up to 540 million grid blocks in one application.This paper extends the renormalization technique to two-phase fluid flow and shows that the method is at least 100 times faster than conventional pseudoization techniques. We compare the results with high resolution numerical simulation and conventional pseudoization methods for three different permeability models. We show that renormalization is as accurate as the conventional methods when used to predict oil recovery from heterogeneous systems.     

Preferential Flow-Paths Detection for Heterogeneous Reservoirs Using a New Renormalization Technique

We have devised a renormalization scheme which allows very fast determination of preferential flow-paths and of up-scaled permeabilities of 2D heterogeneous porous media. In the case of 2D log-normal and isotropically distributed permeability-fields, the resulting equivalent permeabilities are very close to the geometric mean, which is in good agreement with a rigorous result of Matheron. It is also found to work well for geostatistically anisotropic media when comparing the resulting equivalent permeabilities with a direct solution of the finite-difference equations. The method works exactly as King's does, although the renormalization scheme was modified to obtain tensorial equivalent permeabilities using periodic boundary conditions for the pressure gradient. To obtain an estimation of the local fluxes, the basic idea is that if at each renormalization iteration all the intermediate renormalized permeabilities are stored in memory, we are able to compute -- ad reversum -- an approximation of the small-scale flux map under a given macroscopic pressure gradient. The method is very rapid as it involves a number of calculations that vary linearly with the number of elementary grid blocks. In this sense, the renormalization algorithm can be viewed as a rapid approximate pressure solver. The exact reference flow-rate map (for the finite-difference algorithm) was computed using a classical linear system inversion. It can be shown that the preferential flow paths are well detected by the approximate method, although errors may occur in the local flow direction.     

Dynamic system for reference signal transmission and reconstruction in distributed MIMO radars

The renormalization method based on the Taylor expansion for asymptotic analysis of differential equations is generalized to difference equations. The proposed renormalization method is based on the Newton–Maclaurin expansion. Several basic theorems on the renormalization method are proven. Some interesting applications are given, including asymptotic solutions of quantum anharmonic oscillator and discrete boundary layer, the reductions and invariant manifolds of some discrete dynamics systems. Furthermore, the homotopy renormalization method based on the Newton–Maclaurin expansion is proposed and applied to those difference equations including no a small parameter. In addition, some subtle problems on the renormalization method are discussed.     

Accurate simple approximation for the solitary waveApproximation simple et précise de l'onde solitaire

This Note investigates the effect of a renormalization technique on high-order shallow water approximations of gravity waves. The method is illustrated for the solitary surface wave. Applied to the solution of a generalized KdV equation, it is shown that the renormalization significantly increases the accuracy. To cite this article: D. Clamond, D. Fructus, C. R. Mecanique 331 (2003).     

Cotransport of Graphene Oxide Nanoparticles and Kaolinite Colloids in Porous Media

Optimising production from heterogeneous and anisotropic reservoirs challenges the modern hydrocarbon industry because such reservoirs exhibit extreme inter-well variability making them very hard to model. Reasonable reservoir models can be obtained using modern geostatistical techniques, but all of them rely on significant variability in the reservoir only occurring at a scale at or larger than the inter-well spacing. In this paper we take a different, generic approach. We have developed a method for constructing realistic synthetic heterogeneous and anisotropic reservoirs which can be made to represent the reservoir under test. The main physical properties of these synthetic reservoirs are distributed fractally. The models are fully controlled and reproducible and can be extended to model multiple facies reservoir types. This paper shows how the models can be constructed and how they have been tested. Reservoir simulation results of a number of generated 3-D heterogeneous and anisotropic models show that heterogeneity, in terms of only the geometric distribution of reservoir properties, has a little effect on oil production from high and moderate quality reservoirs. However, if the effect of heterogeneity on capillary pressure is taken into account, the effect becomes striking, where varying the heterogeneity of reservoirs properties can lead to a 70 % change in the predicted oil production rate and a significant early shift of water breakthrough time. Hence, it is the heterogeneity consequences that are really substantial if not taken into account. These are very significant uncertainties for a hydrocarbon company if the heterogeneity of their reservoir is not well defined.     

New hybrid Cartesian cut cell/enriched multipoint flux approximation approach for modelling and quantification of structural uncertainties in petroleum reservoirs

Efficient and profitable oil production is subject to make reliable predictions about reservoir performance. However, restricted knowledge about reservoir rock and fluid properties and its geometrical structure calls for history matching in which the reservoir model is calibrated to emulate the field observed history. Such an inverse problem yields multiple history‐matched models, which might result in different predictions of reservoir performance. Uncertainty quantification narrows down the model uncertainties and boosts the model reliability for the forecasts of future reservoir behaviour. Conventional approaches of uncertainty quantification ignore large‐scale uncertainties related to reservoir structure, while structural uncertainties can influence the reservoir forecasts more significantly compared with petrophysical uncertainty. Quantification of structural uncertainty has been usually considered impracticable because of the need for global regridding at each step of history matching process. To resolve this obstacle, we develop an efficient methodology based on Cartesian cut cell method that decouples the model from its representation onto the grid and allows uncertain structures to be varied as a part of history matching process. Reduced numerical accuracy due to cell degeneracies in the vicinity of geological structures is adequately compensated with an enhanced scheme of a class of locally conservative flux continuous methods (extended enriched multipoint flux approximation method or extended EMPFA). The robustness and consistency of the proposed hybrid Cartesian cut cell/extended EMPFA approach are demonstrated in terms of true representation of geological structures influence on flow behaviour. Significant improvements in the quality of reservoir recovery forecasts and reservoir volume estimation are presented for synthetic model of uncertain structures. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Transient Pressure Behavior of Reservoirs with Discrete Conductive Faults and Fractures

Fractures and faults are common features of many well-known reservoirs. They create traps, serve as conduits to oil and gas migration, and can behave as barriers or baffles to fluid flow. Naturally fractured reservoirs consist of fractures in igneous, metamorphic, sedimentary rocks (matrix), and formations. In most sedimentary formations both fractures and matrix contribute to flow and storage, but in igneous and metamorphic rocks only fractures contribute to flow and storage, and the matrix has almost zero permeability and porosity. In this study, we present a mesh-free semianalytical solution for pressure transient behavior in a 2D infinite reservoir containing a network of discrete and/or connected finite- and infinite-conductivity fractures. The proposed solution methodology is based on an analytical-element method and thus can be easily extended to incorporate other reservoir features such as sealing or leaky faults, domains with altered petrophysical properties (for example, fluid permeability or reservoir porosity), and complicated reservoir boundaries. It is shown that the pressure behavior of discretely fractured reservoirs is considerably different from the well-known Warren and Root dual-porosity reservoir model behavior. The pressure behavior of discretely fractured reservoirs shows many different flow regimes depending on fracture distribution, its intensity and conductivity. In some cases, they also exhibit a dual-porosity reservoir model behavior.     

Interaction of evaporation fronts with a formation interface in a porous medium

The evolutionarity and structure of water-vapor phase discontinuities formed in a geothermal reservoir on the interface between permeable formations with different properties are considered. In the short-wave approximation a graphic method is proposed for solving the problem of breakdown of an arbitrary discontinuity in a geothermal reservoir consisting of two formations with different properties.     

Permeability up-scaling using Haar Wavelets

In the context of flow in porous media, up-scaling is the coarsening of a geological model and it is at the core of water resources research and reservoir simulation. An ideal up-scaling procedure preserves heterogeneities at different length-scales but reduces the computational costs required by dynamic simulations. A number of up-scaling procedures have been proposed. We present a block renormalization algorithm using Haar wavelets which provide a representation of data based on averages and fluctuations. In this work, absolute permeability will be discussed for single-phase incompressible creeping flow in the Darcy regime, leading to a finite difference diffusion type equation for pressure. By transforming the terms in the flow equation, given by Darcy’s law, and assuming that the change in scale does not imply a change in governing physical principles, a new equation is obtained, identical in form to the original. Haar wavelets allow us to relate the pressures to their averages and apply the transformation to the entire equation, exploiting their orthonormal property, thus providing values for the coarse permeabilities. Focusing on the mean-field approximation leads to an up-scaling where the solution to the coarse scale problem well approximates the averaged fine scale pressure profile.     

接触爆炸荷载作用下溢流坝的抗爆性能

以黄登重力坝的溢流坝为研究背景,考虑混凝土的高应变率效应,运用Lagrange-Euler耦合算法建立大坝-库水-空气-炸药全耦合数值模型,研究溢流坝在接触爆炸荷载作用下的抗爆性能。分析满库与空库时溢流坝在爆炸冲击波作用下的动力响应及损伤程度,并进一步研究满库时大坝在不同炸点的水下接触爆炸荷载作用下的动力响应及损伤分布。研究结果表明,满库时水下爆炸比空库时爆炸的动力响应及损伤程度大得多;溢流坝的抗爆薄弱部位主要集中在溢流道顶部及坝体上游折坡处。研究溢流坝的抗爆性能时应重点研究满库时水下爆炸对大坝的破坏特性。     

Integration of genetic algorithm and a coactive neuro-fuzzy inference system for permeability prediction from well logs data

Permeability is one of the reservoir fundamental properties, which relate to the amount of fluid contained in a reservoir and its ability to flow. These properties have a significant impact on petroleum fields operations and reservoir management. The most reliable data of local permeability are taken from laboratory analysis of cores. Extensive coring is very expensive and this expense becomes reasonable in very limited cases. Thus, the proper determination of the permeability is of paramount importance because it affects the economy of the whole venture of development and operation of a field. In this study, we introduce a new hybrid network based on Coactive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (CANFIS). CANFIS is a dependable and robust network that developed to identify a non-linear relationship and mapping between petrophysical data and core samples. Then to improve the system performance, genetic algorithm (GA) was integrated in order to search of optimal network parameters and decrease of noisy data in training samples. An Iranian offshore gas field is located in the Persian Gulf, has been selected as the study area in this paper. Well log data are available on substantial number of wells. Core samples are also available from a few wells. It was shown that the new proposed strategy is an effective method in predicting permeability from well logs.     

Methods of Quantum Field Theory in the Physics of Subsurface Solute Transport

The stochastic theory of subsurface solute transport has received stimulus recently from modeling techniques originating in quantum field theory (QFT), resulting in new calculations of the solute macrodispersion tensor that derive from the solving Dyson equation with a subsequent renormalization group analysis. In this paper, we offer a critical evaluation of these techniques as they relate specifically to the derivation of a field-scale advection–dispersion equation. An approximate Dyson equation satisfied by the ensemble-average solute concentration for tracer movement in a heterogeneous porous medium is derived and shown to be equivalent to a truncated cumulant expansion of the standard stochastic partial differential equation which describes the same phenomenon. The full Dyson equation formalism, although exact, is of no importance to the derivation of an improved field-scale advection–dispersion equation. Similarly, renormalization group analysis of the macrodispersion tensor has not yet provided results that go beyond what is available currently from the cumulant expansion approach.     

Computer algebra-perturbation solution to a nonlinear wave equation

In this paper, the higher-order asymptotic solution to the Cauchy problem of a nonlinear wave equation is found by using a computer algebra-perturbation method. The secular terms in the solution from straightforward expansions are eliminated with the straining of characteristic, coordinates and the use of the renormalization technique, and the four-term uniformly valid solution is obtained with the symbolic computation by using a computer algebra system. The comparison of the derived asymptotic solution and the numerical solution shows that they coincide with each other for smaller ε and agree quite well for larger ε (e. g., ε=0.25) Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and Shanghai Municiple Natural Science Foundation     

页岩气储层压裂数值模拟技术研究进展

页岩气储层水力压裂数值模拟既要考虑页岩储层岩石的特性,又要兼顾水平外分段压裂施工工艺,是一个非常棘手的力学难题.本文简述了页岩气储层岩石具有的地质力学特征和页岩气储层开发常用的水平井分段压裂技术;详述了扩展有限元、边界元、离散元在水力压裂裂缝模拟上的应用现状,指出了它们在处理裂缝问题的局限性和优越性,总结出边界元三维位移不连续法是模拟多裂缝扩展的有效方法.     

Effective mechanical properties of unidirectional composites in the presence of imperfect interface

In this paper, the equivalent inclusion method is implemented to estimate the effective mechanical properties of unidirectional composites in the presence of an imperfect interface. For this purpose, a representative volume element containing three constituents, a matrix, and interface layer, and a fiber component, is considered. A periodic eigenstrain defined in terms of Fourier series is then employed to homogenize non-dilute multi-phase composites. In order to take into account the interphase imperfection effects on mechanical properties of composites, a stiffness parameter in terms of a matrix and interphase elastic modulus is introduced. Consistency conditions are also modified accordingly in such a way that only the part of the fiber lateral stiffness is to be effective in estimating the equivalent composite mechanical properties. Employing the modified consistency equations together with the energy equivalence relation leads to a set of linear equations that are consequently used to estimate the average values of eigenstrain in non-homogeneous phases. It is shown that for composites with both soft and hard reinforcements, largest stiffness parameter that indicates complete fiber–matrix interfacial debonding causes the same equivalent lateral properties.     

A dual-porosity model for gas reservoir flow incorporating adsorption behaviour—Part II. Numerical algorithm and example applications

In the present study, an algorithm is presented for the dual-porosity model formulated in Part I of this series. The resultant flow equation with the dual-porosity formulation is of an integro-(partial) differential equation involving differential terms for the Darcy flow in large fractures and integrals in time for diffusion within matrix blocks. The algorithm developed here to solve this equation involves a step-by-step finite difference procedure combined with a quadrature scheme. The quadrature scheme, used for the integral terms, is based on the trapezoidal method which is of second-order precision. This order of accuracy is consistent with the first- and second-order finite difference approximations used here to solve the differential terms in the derived flow equation. In an approach consistent with many petroleum reservoir and groundwater numerical flow models, the example formulation presented uses a first-order implicit algorithm. A two-dimensional example is also demonstrated, with the proposed model and numerical scheme being directly incorporated into the commercial gas reservoir simulator SIMED II that is based on a fully implicit finite difference approach. The solution procedure is applied to several problems to demonstrate its performance. Results from the derived dual-porosity formulation are also compared to the classic Warren–Root model. Whilst some of this work confirmed previous findings regarding Warren–Root inaccuracies at early times, it was also found that inaccuracy can re-enter the Warren–Root results whenever there are changes in boundary conditions leading to transient variation within the domain.     

Role of local and nonlocal interactions in the formation of the developed turbulence regime

The successful use of the renormalization group method for calculating the universal constants of developed turbulence has provoked a discussion on the extent to which the results obtained correspond to the ideas of Kolmogorov's theory of localization of the intermodel couplings, since the computational procedure employed was based on consideration of the essentially nonlocal direct effect of the small-scale on the large-scale modes. Within the framework of a field-theory approach, it is shown that the use of the renormalization group method in conjunction with the -expansion in fact means taking into account the local and filtering out the nonlocal intermodel interactions.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 4, pp. 36–42, July–August, 1990.     

Dual Mesh Method for Upscaling in Waterflood Simulation

Detailed geological models typically contain many more cells than can be accommodated by reservoir simulation due to computer time and memory constraints. However, recovery predictions performed on a coarser upscaled mesh are inevitably less accurate than those performed on the initial fine mesh. Recent studies have shown how to use both coarse and fine mesh information during waterflooding simulations. In this paper, we present an extension of the dual mesh method (Verdière and Guérillot, 1996) which simulates water flooding injection using both the coarse and the original fine mesh information. The pressure field is first calculated on the coarse mesh. This information is used to estimate the pressure field within each coarse cell and then phase saturations are updated on the fine mesh. This method avoids the most time consuming step of reservoir simulation, namely solving for the pressure field on the fine grid. A conventional finite difference IMPES scheme is used considering a two phase fluid with gravity and vertical wells. Two upscaling methodologies are used and compared for averaging the coarse grid properties: geometric average and the pressure solve method. A series of test cases show that the method provides predictions similar to those of full fine grid simulations but using less computer time.