Modeling and Simulation for Multiphase Flow

in Petroleum Reservoirs

Zhangxing Chen
University of Calgary
Sponsors
Synergia
Polygen Ltd
 Outline

Part I: Modeling and Simulation

of Conventional Oil
Part II: Investigation of
Compositional Grading
Part III: Current Research in
Heavy Oil Modeling
 Outline, Part I

My Research Background
Models
Current Developments
Difficulties
Conclusions and References
 Reservoir Simulation
Basin Modeling
From Basin Modeling to
Reservoir Filling to
Reservoir Simulation
 Problem Description

Idealization

Conceptual Model

Development of a
numerical model Model validation Measurements
Mathematical Model and process
Model verification identification Lab experiments

Initial and
boundary Comparison
conditions
Application

Analytical solution Numerical model

Simulation
Verification Lab scale
Models: History of Numerical
Reservoir Simulation

- 1950 1970, Study of dynamics of fluid flow and transport

through porous media
- 1970 1980, Various reservoir simulators (black oil,
compositional, thermal, dual porosity) based on the finite
difference method
- 1980 1990, Commercial reservoir simulators
(fully implicit method, fast solvers, EOS, vector computers)
- 1990 2000, Workstation computer techniques, advanced
GUIs, integration with geo-modeling, geomechanics, parallel
computer techniques (PVM, MPI, clusters)
- After 2000, Commercial unstructured grids simulators, large
scale simulation on PC (64 bites), new history matching and
optimization techniques, new computer hardware (multiple
cores, GPUs, OpenMP, hybrid OpenMP-MPI, blue gene)
 Models (contd):
Oil production methods

Primary recovery: simple

natural decompression
Secondary recovery: water
injected
Enhanced recovery:
-Miscible displacement
-Chemical processes
-Thermal processes
 Models (contd): Types of fluid
flows in porous media

Primary recovery: single-phase

Secondary recovery: two-phase
(above a bubble pressure) or three-
phase black oil (water, liquid, and gas)
Enhanced recovery: multicomponent,
multiphase, isothermal or non-
isothermal
 Models (contd): Major laws

Conservation of mass
Conservation of momentum
Conservation of energy
 Models (contd):
Single phase flow
- Mass conservation equation:

- Darcys law:
 Models (contd):
Two-phase flow
- Mass conservation equation

- Darcys law

Pc=Po-Pw
 Models (contd):
Three-phase flow
Governing equations

Darcys Law
 Models (contd):
Three-phase flow

Constraint equation

Capillary pressures
 Models (contd):
Compositional flow
 Models (contd):
Thermal flow
Mass conservation
Darcys law
Phase package
Conservation of energy:
 Models (contd):
Mathematical Issues

Existence of a solution
Uniqueness of the solution
Solution regularity
 Current Developments

Geo- Software
models Research

Field Scale Validation &

Models Applications
Journeying to
the Reservoir

Solvers &
Gridding Parallelizatio
Numerical
Models n
 Current Developments
(contd): Upscaling

Mathematical techniques:
homogenization, volume
averaging, etc.
Numerical upscaling:
- purely numerical:
renormalization, power law
averaging, harmonic mean, etc.
- multiscale methods
 Current Developments
(contd): Dynamical Gridding

Irregular geometric
feature presentation
boundaries (and
BCs)
faults
fractures
pinch-outs
 Current Developments
(contd): Dynamical Gridding

Complex features
complicated well
architecture
local reaction
zones
different spatial
and temporal
scales
geomechanics
 Current Developments
(contd): Numerical Methods

Finite difference methods

Finite volume (control
volume) methods
Finite element methods
 Current Developments
(contd): Fast Linear Solvers
Large scale systems (million unknowns)
Coupling of different physical variables
Highly nonsymmetric and indefinite matrices
Ill conditioned systems
Matrix structure spoiled by well perforation and
unstructured grids
80-90% of the total simulation time spent on the
solution of large linear systems
Limitation of problem size and space resolution on
a single processor
 Current Developments
(contd): Fast Linear Solvers
Fast and robust solvers:
- ORTHOMIN (orthogonal minimum residual)
- GMRES (generalized minimum residual)
- BiCGSTAB (biconjugate gradient stabilized)
Efficient preconditioners:
- ILU(k)
- CPR (constrained pressure residual)
- AMG (algebraic multigrid)
Taking advantage of modern parallel architecture
 Difficulties

Large scale Surface

systems facilities
coupling High
Heterogeneity resolution

RESERVOIR
SIMULATION Instability
Irregular
and
geometric
fingering
features

Strong
Complex
coupling & Small
well
nonlinearity diffusion
architecture
 Difficulties (contd):
Upscaling

Integration
Disparate data with different scales
Coupling of different flow, transport and
chemical processes

Upscaling
Geological models with tens of millions
of cells to reservoir models with over
one million cells

Speed of computation
Fast enough for timely decisions
 Difficulties (contd):
Gridding

Grid adaptivity in space

and time
Wells with complex
features
Easy integration
 Difficulties (contd):
Numerical Methods

Multipoint upstream
winding
Multipoint flux
approximation
Instability and
fingering
Small diffusion/
dispersion
representation
Mass and energy
conservation
 Difficulties (contd): Solvers

Large scale systems (million unknowns

and long time integration )
Coupling of different physical variables
Highly nonsymmetric and indefinite
matrices
Matrix structure spoiled by well
perforation and unstructured grids
Ill conditioned systems
Limitation of problem size and space
resolution on a single processor
Current Research
 Current Research (contd)

Modelling Complex
Layers & Slanted
THAI Model Wells
Wells

Water
Complex Flow Due to Oil & Water
Mixture
Heterogeneous Geology Oil

Modelling of a Reservoir
Validation of Simulator:
n-Component (contd)
Rayleigh Number Validation
 Reservoir with Baffles for
n-Component Mixing (contd)
 Conclusions

Development of simulator integrating

geological and reservoir processes
Good features: flexibility, speed,
accuracy, interface, etc.
Incorporation of more physics: fluid
flow, heat transfer, chemistry, and
geomechanics
All these mean significant savings in
capital costs
Three Recent Books

Finite Element Methods

and Their Applications
Z. Chen
Year 2005
Over 1,000 copies sold
Three Recent Books (contd)

Computational Methods
for Multiphase Flows in
Porous Media
Year 2006
Z. Chen, G. Huan and Y.
Ma
1st Edition out
Three Recent Books (contd)

Reservoir Simulation:
Mathematical Techniques
in Oil Recovery
Year 2007
Z. Chen
NSF Summer School