Upscaling Properties from Nano/micro-scale with the application in

the simulation of tight formations

5 methods in Upscaling

by Alan Alexeyev
UND
Febr 26, 2016

Outline
Methods to be discussed today:
Renormalization
Pressure-Solver
Tensor
Power-Law averaging
Pseudofunctions

Paper progress

Pseudofunction technique
Kyte and Berry method:
Provided procedures to calculate relative
permeabilities that depend on areal block lengths
Pseudofunctions could be used to simulate 3D
reservoir behavior
Provided the formulas with which one can solve
pseado reservoir properties (S, , q, P)

Equations for calculating

pseudofunctions:
Pseudo water saturation

SpwII pseaudo water saturation for block II

Pseudo flow rates for water and oil

q horizontal flow rate between adjacent computing blocks

Dynamic pseudo pressures for water and oil

dy the distance upwards from the mid-point to the mid-point of any

block

k permeability, if they happen to be zero the program should input just

very small values

Dynamic pseudo-relative
permeability

- Horizontal distance between the midpoint of a computing block and

midpoint of adjacent downstream block

Dynamic pseudo-capillary pressure

To account for any phenomena that may cause flowing pressure gradient
to be different in one phase than in another

Power-Law Average

Arithmetic

Essentially it is the average value

n is the total number of grid blocks

Ki - permeability value of a grid block in original grid

average:

Harmonic

For example, for 3, 5, 7:

Geometric

Is the n-root of numbers product

Example:

Effective permeability can be best approximated by this

Pressure Solver

Pressure Solver

Set up a single phase flow calculation with specific boundary conditions

and then ask what value of effective permeability yields the same flow
rate as the fine scale.

Pi, Po pressures on inlets and outlets

Kve apparently homogeneous vertical permeability

nx,y,z number of gridblocks in x,y,z directions

x,y,z dimensions of gridblocks

Kijk- permeability of gridblock

Pijk - pressure in each gridblock

Pressure Solver

Solving
a Darcys law with conservation of mass for the pressure in each
fine-scale grid blocks

Total volumetric flowrate through the model:

Then replace with a single grid having just one Kve:

Equating these flows would give us the Kve for 3D showed in previous slide.

In 2D:

Tensor

Referred to mainly the permeability tensor

Crossflow importance

K is the permeability tensor

Tensor is usually less practical method

Renormalization

Taking a large problem by breaking down into smaller ones

Concept is that there are several degrees of upscaling

From very small scale to medium

Then from medium to larger scale

Some relevant papers by King were not available to download

Renormalization

Analogy between fluid flow and flow of current through a resistor

Cell permeabilities are modelled using equivalent circuit of resistors,

which is then reduced to a single equivalence resistance

Block of cells is replaced by equivalent resistor network

It is then reduced to a single resistor, that is getting an effective

permeability

Experiment was done on 2x2 block by King (1989)

Renormalization

Reducing the order of the grid one at a time

Could be used for nano-micro-macro upscaling

Paper progress
Abstract, literature review and introduction
completed
Next sections:
Methods used while building a model in Petrel
Results
Discussion

Next plans :
Start on PETREL as soon as the computer and
license are ready
Build a geologic model
Upscale it with different methods

4/15 Petrel results

4/25 presentation for the department about
ongoing research
6/27 paper submission deadline for ATCE

Citations:

Salazar, M. O., Piamo, V., & Reinaldo, J. (2007, January). Permeability upscaling techniques for
reservoir simulation. InLatin American & Caribbean Petroleum Engineering Conference. Society
of Petroleum Engineers

Vakili, A., & Jansen, J. D. (2008, January). Control-Relevant Upscaling. InEuropec/EAGE

Conference and Exhibition. Society of Petroleum Engineers.

Christie, M. A., & Blunt, M. J. (2001, January). Tenth SPE comparative solution project: A
comparison of upscaling techniques. In SPE Reservoir Simulation Symposium. Society of
Petroleum Engineers

Green, C., & Paterson, P. (2007). Analytical three-dimensional renormalization for calculating
effective permeabilities.Transport in Porous Media,68(2), 237-248.

Begg, S. H., & King, P. R. (1985, January). Modelling the effects of shales on reservoir
performance: calculation of effective vertical permeability. InSPE Reservoir Simulation
Symposium. Society of Petroleum Engineers.

Pickup, G. E., Ringrose, P. S., Jensen, J. L., & Sorbie, K. S. (1994). Permeability tensors for sedimentary
structures. Mathematical Geology,26(2), 227-250.