Volumetric grid generation in a domain with heterogeneous material properties
First Claim
1. A method for generating a model of a material property of a subsurface region for hydrocarbon prospecting or reservoir development, said method comprising:
- generating, using a computer, a mapping from a physical domain of the subsurface region, with faults, to a continuous design space in which all faults are removed;
describing the material property in the continuous design space as a piecewise smooth implicit or explicit function in three dimensions;
in the physical domain, constructing grid layering from the function describing the material property, the constructing comprising;
(i) generating a two-dimensional mesh in a two-dimensional plane of the physical domain;
(ii) extruding the two-dimensional mesh through the physical domain into the third dimension; and
(iii) building prismatic cell faces based on material property contrasts thereby subdividing the physical domain into prismatic grid cells, wherein the grid cells are truncated at faults, the grid cells are conformed to fault surfaces using a parameterization of a 3D model domain, or a combination of both;
sampling the material property from the continuous design space and populating the grid cells in the physical domain with material property values;
in the physical domain, identifying connectivity of the prismatic grid cells across each fault by approaching the fault from both sides, wherein the identifying connectivity comprises computing intersections of cell faces from both sides of the fault; and
using the model of the material property for hydrocarbon prospecting or reservoir development in the subsurface region.
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Abstract
Method for generating a 3D grid, and for defining a material property model on the grid, to use, for example, in a reservoir simulator. A mapping is defined (61,71) to a design space in which the material property is described as a piecewise smooth implicit or explicit function in three dimensions. Grid geometry is constructed only in the physical space of the model (62-65, 73-76), and no grid is required in the design space. The material property, for example permeability, is sampled in the design space (66,77) to populate the cells in the grid constructed in the physical domain. Prismatic grid cells may be truncated based on faults and horizons (65), or maybe conformed to fault surfaces using a 3D parameterization of the model (76). Only forward mapping, i.e. from the physical domain to the design space, is required.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method for generating a model of a material property of a subsurface region for hydrocarbon prospecting or reservoir development, said method comprising:
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generating, using a computer, a mapping from a physical domain of the subsurface region, with faults, to a continuous design space in which all faults are removed; describing the material property in the continuous design space as a piecewise smooth implicit or explicit function in three dimensions; in the physical domain, constructing grid layering from the function describing the material property, the constructing comprising; (i) generating a two-dimensional mesh in a two-dimensional plane of the physical domain; (ii) extruding the two-dimensional mesh through the physical domain into the third dimension; and (iii) building prismatic cell faces based on material property contrasts thereby subdividing the physical domain into prismatic grid cells, wherein the grid cells are truncated at faults, the grid cells are conformed to fault surfaces using a parameterization of a 3D model domain, or a combination of both; sampling the material property from the continuous design space and populating the grid cells in the physical domain with material property values; in the physical domain, identifying connectivity of the prismatic grid cells across each fault by approaching the fault from both sides, wherein the identifying connectivity comprises computing intersections of cell faces from both sides of the fault; and using the model of the material property for hydrocarbon prospecting or reservoir development in the subsurface region. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification