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Fundamentals Of Petroleum
Reservoir Simulation (PET 510)
By
Dr. Adel M. Salem
Associate Prof. of Petroleum Engineering
Future University in Egypt - FUE
Faculty of Engineering and Technology
Department of Petroleum Engineering
Spring 2022
Title and Credit Hours and Description
Title and Credit Hours:
PET 510 Fundamentals of Petroleum Reservoir Simulation
Credit Hours : 3
Description:
An introduction to petroleum reservoir simulation. Fundamentals of finite difference
approximation of the partial differential equations of flow through porous media.
Discussion of various simulation schemes, data handling, boundary conditions. Use
of a dry gas and black oil simulators.
Prerequisites : PE 303
Lecture Hours 3 Exercise/Lab 2
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Chapter 4: Finite Difference Equations for
Black Oil Reservoirs
Dr. Adel Salem
Spring 2022
Chapter 4: Outline
Finite Difference Equations for Black Oil Reservoirs
Implicit and Explicit Flow Terms
Transmissibility in Heterogeneous Reservoirs
Nomenclature
Derivation of 1D Flow Equation in Cartesian Coordinates
Approximation of Time Integrals
Flow Equations in Multidimensions Using Engineering Notation
Multidimensional Flow in Radial-Cylindrical Coordinates
Reservoir Discretization for Single-Well Simulation
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Introduction
Many of the differential and partial differential equations encountered in engineering
problems cannot readily be solved by analytical methods. In certain situations (e.g.
heterogeneity, complex reservoir geometry, and complex well configurations), the
equations describing fluid flow in the reservoir fall into this category. As a result,
these equations must be solved using numerical techniques (finite difference
methods).
To formulate the finite difference equations we use in reservoir simulation, certain
physical principles must be followed in order to satisfy the conditions of reservoir
fluid flow. These principles are similar to those used for developing the diffusivity
equation. These three fundamental relationships are:
1- Continuity equations (conservation of mass)
2-
3- Equations of state (PVT properties)
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The relationships used for these fundamental expressions will depend upon the
problem being solved.
For single phase flow of real gases, we use as an Equation of State (EOS). However,
o and Rs relationships of the PVT
properties. We should expect then that for Modified Black Oil (MBO), we will add Rv
relation to account for liquid produced from the gas phase.
The derivations for those fundamental equations can be applied for one-, two-, or
three-dimensional problems. It can also be applied for Cartesian as well as radial
coordinates systems.
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Law, and the equations of state to formulate a system of simultaneous algebraic
equations. Each equation will describe the mass balance (or material balance) of a
component (oil, water, or gas) for a grid block and its surrounding grid blocks.
After that, we can use a method to solve for those equations.
The most commonly used methods are
1. the IMPES (IMplicit Pressure Explicit Saturation) and
2. the Fully Implicit (FI) methods.
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Begin with a statement of the continuity, or material balance, equation:
Net Rate of Flow in (scf/D) = 5 3
Rate of Accumulation (scf/D) + Production 2
We will ignore the production terms for the moment.
Rather than working with mass, it is more common in the petroleum engineering to
work in terms of standard (stock tank) cubic feet, scf. This is equivalent to the case if
we define our system as having constant density at standard conditions. Then, a scf
of oil is equal to a fixed mass of oil.
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Consider the grid block (i) in the homogenous 1D model with uniform grid block sizes
shown below,
The pore volume of the grid block (i) under consideration is given by:
And the oil in place can be calculated as:
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The rate of accumulation of oil during the time step is:
The superscripts n and n+1 correspond to the beginning and end of the time
interval, t. Vp, So, and Bo are evaluated the time indicated by the superscripts,
before and after the time step.
The quantity in the square brackets is the accumulation of oil in the grid block
during the time step. Dividing by t puts the right-hand side on rate basis.
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The left-hand side of the continuity equation deals with flow rates. It can be stated
as:
Net rate of flow in the gird block = qleft -- qright
Where positive q is flow into the grid block, negative flow is out of the grid block.
Usually fluid is flowing through the grid block, so one term is positive and the other
is negative. Our material balance equation can now be given as:
centers of the grid blocks. For simplicity, we will only consider horizontal flow for
now. The flow distance, x is the distance between the centers of the grid blocks.
The grid block pressures are taken to be at the center of the grid blocks.
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Flow from the right (i.e. from grid block i+1 to grid block i), is:
Rearranging the above terms, and noticing that , h = z then:
The first factor is constant with time. It also applies to all three components (oil,
water, and gas). We will call this transmissibility and save this separately in our
computations.
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Transmissibility
transmissibility
of the reservoir. It is simply part of the flow equation. Now we define:
direction. Then, our transmissibility equation can be represented as follow:
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We will use this directional notation for 1D, 2D, and 3D problems. In case of 3D
situations, any grid block will be connected to 6 grid blocks as shown in the figure
below, and transmissibility will take the values: TE, TW, TN, TS, TT, and TB (denoting
east, west, north, south, top, and bottom directions).
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The next factor in the flow term involves the oil phase. Its value changes with time.
This factor is:
Where:
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used for Bo and o. For relative permeability, however, the upstream value is used.
That is, the relative permeability of the upstream grid block is used. For example, if
flow is from right to left, the i+1 grid block is upstream and (kro)i+1is used for( Kro)E .
This upstream relative permeability method has been found to be more accurate
than arithmetic average.
The material balance equation now has the following form:
follows:
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In 1D:
In 2D:
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In 3D:
Using the vector notation, we can simplify the equation further and obtain the
general material balance equation as:
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It is clear that implicit methods require an extra computation (solving the above
equation), and they can be much harder to implement.
Implicit methods are used because many problems arising in practice are stiff, for
which the use of an explicit method requires impractically small time steps t to
keep the error in the result bounded (see numerical stability).
For such problems, to achieve given accuracy, it takes much less computational time
to use an implicit method with larger time steps, even taking into account that one
needs to solve an equation of the form (1) at each time step.
That said, whether one should use an explicit or implicit
method depends upon the problem to be solved
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Implicit and Explicit Flow Terms
The right-hand side of the equation is fixed by the conservation of mass. The left-
hand side, however, has some choices. As long as the flow terms are symmetrical,
that they are taken at the n+1 time level. This is done for the stability of the solution
so that reasonable size time steps can be taken.
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For multi-phase flow, similar expressions can be written for other components (oil,
water, and gas).
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Transmissibility in Heterogeneous Reservoirs
The transmissibility term is given by the following equation for the homogenous reservoir
with uniform grid spacing:
For the general case, the values of k, h, and may vary from one grid block to the adjacent
grid block. For the Cartesian system that we usually consider, will be the same for both grid
blocks since the grid lines are parallel.
We need to develop a flow coefficient that applies to the heterogeneous, non-uniform case.
We find that only the Transmissibility factors of the flow coefficients need to be changed to
accomplish this. Consider the following pair of grid blocks which may have different values
for permeability, and grid block sizes (i.e. h and x).
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We wish to derive an expression for east transmissibility, TE, for the heterogeneous
case. Our assumptions here are as follows:
1. Each individual grid block is itself
homogeneous (i.e. has the same
permeability).
2. qin = qout through the grid block
interface, even though the thickness,
h, may vary.
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Therefore, for flow between grid block i and the interface, (i+1/2) we define:
Likewise, for the other face:
Since the flow rate across the interface must be equal, then we have:
Remember that:
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We can expand the above equation and use the rate equation as follows:
However,
Comparing the two expressions, we find that:
Thus for a heterogeneous system, we obtain:
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similar to serial flow.
Although we may devise other averaging methods, this is the most commonly used.
The effect of permeability variations is worth noting.
The tendency in harmonic average is to put more weight on the smaller permeability,
since the serial flow tends to put more emphasis on the restriction of flow.
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Nomenclature
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Derivation of 1D Flow Equation in Cartesian Coordinates
At any instant in time, fluid enters block i,
coming from block i -1 across its xi-1/2 face at a
mass rate of Wx xi-1/2 and leaves to block i + 1
across its Xi+1/2 face at a mass rate of Wx xi+1/2
The fluid also enters block i through a well at a
mass rate of qm.
The mass of fluid contained in a unit volume of
rock in block i is mvi .Therefore, the material
balance equation for block i written over a time
step t = tn+1- tn Call be rewritten as:
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Terms like Wx xi-1/2 , Wx xi+1/2 , and qmi are functions of time only because space is
not a variable for an already discretized reservoir. Further justification is presented
later in this section. Therefore,
Therefore:
The mass accumulation is defined as:
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Note that mass rate and mass flux are related through:
Mass flux ( ) can be expressed in terms of fluid density
and volumetric velocity,
mass of fluid per unit volume or rock (mv) can be expressed
in terms of fluid density and porosity,
and mass of injected or produced fluid (qm) can be
expressed in terms of well volumetric rate (q) and fluid
density,
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Substituting:
Then:
Substituting and dividing by c sc, and noting that q/B = qsc yields:
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Fluid volumetric velocity (flow rate per unit cross-sectional area) from block i-1 to
block i ( Ux xi-1/2) at any time instant t is given by the algebraic equation:
Likewise, fluid flow rate per unit cross-sectional area from block i to block i + 1 is
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Substitution and grouping terms results in:
OR:
Where:
It is rigorous and involves
no assumptions
is transmissibility in the x direction between block i and the neighboring block i 1.
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Again, the accumulation term in the previous Equation can be expressed in terms of
the change in the pressure of block i as:
or after substituting Eq. XXX for potential,
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Approximation of Time Integrals
If the argument of an integral is an explicit function of time, the integral can be evaluated
analytically. This is not the case for the integrals appearing on the Left-Hand Side (LHS) of
the previous equations, is written for every block i = 1, 2, 3...n x, then the solution can be
obtained by one of the Ordinary Difference Equations (ODE) methods (Euler's method, the
modified Euler method, the explicit Runge-Kutta method, or the implicit Runge-Kutta
method) reviewed by Aziz and Settafi (1979).
ODE methods, however, are not efficient for solving reservoir simulation problems.
Therefore, performing these integrations necessitates making certain assumptions.
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Consider the integral:
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This integral is equal to the area
under the curve F(t) in the interval tn
tm tn+1, and t, where t = (tn+1-
n
t ) as shown, Therefore:
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The value of this integral can be calculated using above equation provided that the
value of Fm or F(tm) is known. In reality, however, Fm is not known and, therefore, it
needs to be approximated. The area under the curve can be approximated by one of
the following four methods:
1.
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2.
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3.
4. or Numerical Integration.
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The argument F stands for:
Therefore, after this approximation becomes:
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Dividing the above equation by t gives:
Substituting, we obtain the flow equation for block i,
Fluid accumulation term
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Example
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Solution
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Flow Equations in Multidimensions Using Engineering Notation
A close inspection of the flow equation expressed as Eq. 2.33 reveals that this
equation involves three different groups: the interblock flow terms between block i
and its two neighboring blocks in the x direction:
Fluid accumulation term
the inter-block flow terms The source term due to injection
or production
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Any block in the reservoir has one source term and one accumulation term, BUT the
number of interblock flow terms equals the number of its neighboring blocks.
Specifically, any block has a maximum of two neighboring blocks in 1D flow, four
neighboring blocks in 2D flow, and six neighboring blocks in 3D flow.
Therefore, for 2D flow, the flow equation for block (i,j) in the x-y plane is:
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For 3D flow, the flow equation for block ( i , j , k ) in the x-y-z space is:
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Where:
Expressions for the geometric factors G for irregular grids in heterogeneous
reservoirs are presented in later.
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Example
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Solution
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Example
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Solution
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Multidimensional Flow in Radial-
Cylindrical Coordinates
Dr. Adel M. Salem
2020
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Reservoir Discretization for Single-Well
Simulation
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Textbooks
1) Jamal Hussein Abou-Kassem, Syed Mohammad
Farouq Ali, M. Rafiq Islam. 2006. Petroleum
Reservoir Simulation: A Basic Approach, Gulf
Publishing Company.
2) J.R. Fanchi, 2001. Principles of Applied Reservoir
Simulation 2nd Ed, Elsevier Publishing.
3) K. Aziz, and A. Settari, 1979. Petroleum Reservoir
Simulation. Elsevier Applied Science Publishers,
Barking, UK.
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Thank You For Your
Attention
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