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.     

Determination of Hydrogen–Water Relative Permeability and Capillary Pressure in Sandstone: Application to Underground Hydrogen Injection in Sedimentary Formations

This paper presents fundamental analysis and micromechanical understanding of dense slurry behavior during settling in narrow smooth and rough slots. Particularly, this study seeks to contribute toward better understanding of dynamics of particle–particle and particle–wall interactions in viscous fluids using simple experiments. The findings of this study are applicable in a wide variety of problems, for example sediment transport, flow and transport of slurry in pipes, and industrial applications. However, the results interpretation focuses on better understanding of proppant flow and transport in narrow fractures. A sequence of experiments image frames captured by video camera is analyzed with particle image velocimetry (GeoPIV). The measurements include vertical velocities and displacement vectors of singular and agglomerated particles and larger area of formed slurry. Results present novel insights into the formation and effects of agglomerates on general slurry settling, and are supplemented with a comparison with previously published theoretical and empirical relationships. This work also emphasizes a role of particle–particle interactions in promoting agglomeration in viscous fluid. Particularly, a thin layer of viscous fluid between approaching particles dissipates particle kinetic energy due to lubrication effect. Lubrication effect is more pronounced when particles are constrained between two narrow walls and interact frequently with each other. Fluid tends to flow around agglomerated particles, and agglomerates remain stable for prolonged time periods gravitationally moving downward. The relative amount and size of agglomerated affects general settling of the slurry. It was found that fluid viscosity due to lubrication effect promotes agglomeration, and therefore, the overall slurry settling relatively increases at higher fluid viscosities. The results of the presented work have impact on various industrial and engineering processes, such as proppant flow and transport in hydraulic fractures, sand production in oil reservoirs, piping failure of dams and scour of foundation bridges.     

Modeling of CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> Leakage up Through an Abandoned Well from Deep Saline Aquifer to Shallow Fresh Groundwaters

This article presents a numerical modeling application using the code TOUGHREACT of a leakage scenario occurring during a CO₂ geological storage performed in the Jurassic Dogger formation in the Paris Basin. This geological formation has been intensively used for geothermal purposes and is now under consideration as a site for the French national program of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and CO₂ geological storage. Albian sandstone, situated above the Dogger limestone is a major strategic potable water aquifer; the impacts of leaking CO₂ due to potential integrity failure have, therefore, to be investigated. The present case–study illustrates both the capacity and the limitations of numerical tools to address such a critical issue. The physical and chemical processes simulated in this study have been restricted to: (i) supercritical CO₂ injection and storage within the Dogger reservoir aquifer, (ii) CO₂ upwards migration through the leakage zone represented as a 1D vertical porous medium to simulate the cement–rock formation interface in the abandoned well, and (iii) impacts on the Albian aquifer water quality in terms of chemical composition and the mineral phases representative of the porous rock by estimating fluid–rock interactions in both aquifers. Because of CPU time and memory constraints, approximation and simplification regarding the geometry of the geological structure, the mineralogical assemblages and the injection period (up to 5 years) have been applied to the system, resulting in limited analysis of the estimated impacts. The CO₂ migration rate and the quantity of CO₂ arriving as free gas and dissolving, firstly in the storage water and secondly in the water of the overlying aquifer, are calculated. CO₂ dissolution into the Dogger aquifer induces a pH drop from about 7.3 to 4.9 limited by calcite dissolution buffering. Glauconite present in the Albian aquifer also dissolves, causing an increase of the silicon and aluminum in solution and triggering the precipitation of kaolinite and quartz around the intrusion point. A sensitivity analysis of the leakage rate according to the location of the leaky well and the variability of the petro-physical properties of the reservoir, the leaky well zone and the Albian aquifers is also provided.