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RESERVOIR SIMULATION

Hussein Y. Ali
Basrah University for Oil and Gas

Grid Types
LECTURE
FIVE
Dirichlet Problem

Neumann Problem

Initialization

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PART 1
REVIEW ON THE TYPES OF FINITE DIFFERENCE GRIDS

INTRODUCTION

• The purpose of the grid system is to partition the reservoir into blocks to which
representative rock properties can be assigned. Therefore, the grid cells should be
small enough to describe the heterogeneous nature of the reservoir and to allow the
averaged grid cell properties to represent the flow behavior in the reservoir adequately.

• This, however, may not always be achieved because the effort required for a simulation
study is directly related to the number of grid cells used in the study.

• Several grid systems are commonly used in reservoir simulation when the objectives of
the simulation study require the grid blocks to approximate closely, or match exactly,
the geometry of the problem to be modeled.

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INTRODUCTION

• The chosen grid system is used to approximate the spatial derivatives in the continuous
equations.
• These approximations are obtained by truncating the Taylor series expansion of the
unknown variables (usually pressure for single-phase-flow problems and pressure and
saturation for two-phase-flow problems) in the equations.

BLOCK-CENTERED GRID SYSTEMS

• For flow in the x direction, a block-centered grid system can be constructed as in Fig.
below, In this figure, a grid system consisting of nx grid blocks is placed over the
reservoir.
• These grid blocks have predetermined dimensions of Δxi; that are not necessarily equal.
• These gridblocks must satisfy the relationship:

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BLOCK-CENTERED GRID SYSTEMS

• Once the gridblocks are defined, the points where pressures are calculated are placed
in the interior of the blocks.
• For rectangular grid systems, the grid points are placed at the center of the blocks
(hence the name block centered), while the pressure points are slightly offset from the
center for cylindrical grid systems.
• The boundaries of the ith gridblock are designated and whereas the
block center is designated .
• These gridblock properties are related through the relationships:

POINT-DISTRIBUTED GRID SYSTEMS

• For flow in the x direction, a point-distributed grid system can be constructed as in Fig.
below.
• Grid points are placed on the boundary of the reservoir and within its interior. Note that,
by placing grid points on the boundaries of the reservoir, a point-distributed grid will, by
definition, span the entire length of the reservoir in the direction of interest.

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POINT-DISTRIBUTED GRID SYSTEMS

• The block dimensions can then be calculated from the block boundaries:

• In both block-centered and point-distributed grid systems, the block dimensions can
vary for each grid block.

POINT-DISTRIBUTED GRID SYSTEMS

• Although these advantages exist for point-distributed grid systems, historically the
block-centered grid system has been the most commonly used grid system in
petroleum reservoir simulation. This is because the block-centered grid system
adheres more closely to the material-balance concept used in reservoir engineering.
Also, for reservoirs bounded with no-flow boundaries, the block-centered grid offers
easy implementation of external boundary conditions.
• Rectangular grid can be used to answer questions regarding the of a reservoir, the
performance of individual well patterns, and the performance of inter-well cross
sections.

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CORNER-POINT GEOMETRY

• Corner-point geometry uses polygons for grid

cells, and grid blocks are defined by specifying the
corners of polygons.
• Grid block properties, such as grid centers,
thicknesses, and transmissibilities, are then
determined from the grid block corners.
• Corner-point geometry can be used for all full-
field applications, however, its principal use is for
highly faulted reservoirs.
• The description of the faults is generally better
with corner-point geometry than the description
obtained from rectangular grid systems.

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CYLINDRICAL GRID GEOMETRIES

• Cylindrical grid geometries are used for single-well

simulation studies.

• The objectives of single well simulation include:

1. predicting the performance of individual wells
2. determining the effects of completion/production
strategies on gas and water coning,
3. optimizing perforation intervals.

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LOCAL GRID REFINEMENT AND HYBRID GRIDS

• Locally refined grid systems use a secondary (or

fine) grid system embedded in the primary (or
coarse) grid system. the objective of using the fine
grid: to place a more refined grid in areas of interest
in the hydrocarbon reservoir while maintaining a
minimum number of active cells in the model.

• When the fine grid uses a different geometry than the

coarse grid, the resulting grid is hybrid. Hybrid grid
systems are generally used to provide better
definition of the near-wellbore areas in full-field
simulations.

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PART 2
INITIAL AND BOUNDARY CONDITIONS

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INTRODUCTION

• The additional information required to obtain a unique solution to a given differential

equation are the initial and/or boundary conditions of the problem.
• These conditions are so called because they can only be known either initially or on
the boundaries.
• For example, to determine the solution of the diffusivity equation:

• Uniquely, one initial condition and two boundary conditions are required.

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INTRODUCTION

• In well-test applications, the boundary conditions at the wellbore (either a constant-

pressure or -rate well) and at the external radius (infinite-acting reservoir or no flow
or constant-pressure outer boundary) are specified.

• For reservoir-simulation problems, the required initial conditions are initial reservoir
pressure and saturation distributions.

• In most simulation studies, the initial conditions are obtained by assuming initial
capillary/gravity equilibrium. In this mode of initialization, the pressure distribution is
obtained by specifying the pressure at a given datum depth and using the fluid
pressure gradients to determine pressures at all other depths.

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INTRODUCTION

• The boundary conditions used in reservoir simulators can be quite complex because
the differential equations solved by reservoir simulators require that all boundaries
be specified.

• This includes both exterior boundaries (reservoir limits) and interior boundaries
(production and injection wells).

• Well behavior can be specified in many ways. These include specifying the top hole
pressures, maximum well rates subject to various constraints, pump and surface
facility capacities, and so on.

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PRESSURE SPECIFIED ON THE BOUNDARY (DIRICHLET PROBLEM)

• At the internal boundaries, or wellbores, this

specification implies a well producing (or
injecting) at a constant sandface pressure.

• On the other hand, at the external boundaries,

such a specification implies that the pressure
on the boundary remains constant.

• This type occurs when the reservoir is

constantly charged by strong water influx.

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PRESSURE GRADIENT SPECIFIED ON THE BOUNDARY (NEUMANN

PROBLEM)

• Constant-flow-rate specification at the

wellbore is equivalent to specifying the
pressure gradient at the sandface.

• No flow across the boundary which means the

pressure gradient across the boundary is equal
to zero.
• A volumetric reservoir with completely sealed
outer boundaries is equivalent to a zero
pressure gradient across its outer boundaries.

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PRESSURE GRADIENT AND PRESSURE SPECIFICATIONS ON THE

BOUNDARY

• Sometimes both the potential and its first

derivative are prescribed on different
segments of the boundary.
• Such a condition is possible when we are
dealing with a porous medium that has a
semipervious (leaking) boundary.
• Under these conditions, the Dirichlet-type
boundary condition is prescribed over a part of
the boundary and the Neumann condition is
prescribed over the remainder of the boundary.
• An oil reservoir that is partially exposed to a
strong aquifer is a typical example of the
mixed-boundary-condition specification.

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INITIAL CONDITION

• To complete the mathematical description of the problem, we must specify the initial
condition for the time-dependent variables.
• This is accomplished by specifying the pressures at each point at the initial time.
• Generally, initial pressures are specified at a specific datum depth and the existing
hydrostatic gradients are used to initialize the problem at other depths.

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INITIALIZATION OF MULTIPHASE FLOW

• The solution of multiphase flow equations requires specification of initial and boundary
conditions.

• Initial conditions in black-oil reservoirs involve the definition of phase pressures and
phase saturations for every grid block in the reservoir model at the beginning of the
simulation.

• Differences in phase gravities and capillary forces cause fluids to segregate until the
reservoir reaches gravity/capillary equilibrium.

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INITIALIZATION OF MULTIPHASE FLOW (EQUILIBRATION METHOD)

• Up to five different zones may

exist vertically; starting from
the top of the reservoir and
moving downward, these are
the gas-cap zone(A), oil/gas
transition zone(B), oil zone
(C), oil/water transition
zone(D), and water zone(E).
• A brief description of these
zones will be written on the
board.

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THANK YOU

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