Method and system for reservoir modeling

• US 9,058,445 B2
• Filed: 05/23/2011
• Issued: 06/16/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 07/29/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Exxonmobil Upstream Research Company (Exxon Mobil Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Exxonmobil Upstream Research Company (Exxon Mobil Corporation)
• Inventors: Usadi, Adam, Li, Dachang, Parashkevov, Rossen, Wu, Xiaohui, Yang, Yahan
• Primary Examiner(s): Shah, Kamini S
• Assistant Examiner(s): PIERRE LOUIS, ANDRE
• Application Number:
  US13/805,651
• Publication Number:
  US 20130166264A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,485 Days
• Field of Search: 703/2, 703/9, 703/10, 166/266
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2111/10 Numerical modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/20 Design optimisation, verification or simulation optimisation, verification or simulation of circuit designs G06F30/30

Abstract

A method is presented for modeling reservoir properties. The method includes constructing a coarse computational mesh for the reservoir. The coarse computational mesh comprises a plurality of cells. The method further includes determining a plurality of flows for each of the plurality of cells based on Dirichlet boundary conditions. Additionally, the method includes determining a solution to a coarse pressure equation for the reservoir based on the plurality of flows.

Claims

1. A method for modeling properties of a reservoir, comprising:

constructing a coarse computational mesh for the reservoir in a computer system, wherein the coarse computational mesh comprises a plurality of cells;

determining a plurality of flows for each of the plurality of cells based on Dirichlet boundary conditions, wherein determining the plurality of flows for each of the plurality of cells comprises;

selecting a plurality of pressure points along a plurality of boundaries of the cell, wherein selecting the plurality of pressure points at the boundary comprises;

selecting a mid-point of a boundary of the cell if a scalar permeability or all entries of a permeability tensor at the boundary is less than a first pre-determined threshold;

selecting two points close to two ends of the boundary if a maximum permeability or a maximum entry of the permeability tensor at the boundary is greater than the first pre-determined threshold;

selecting a first pressure point if the maximum of the scalar permeability or entries of the permeability tensor is greater than the first pre-determined threshold;

selecting the first pressure point where the scalar permeability or an entry of the permeability tensor reaches the maximum; and

selecting additional pressure points away from the first pressure point, wherein a spacing, h, of the additional pressure points, comprises;

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the second Dirichlet boundary condition specifies that a pressure is equal to 0 at the boundary, and wherein the first Dirichlet boundary condition specifies that:

a pressure at one of the plurality of pressure points is equal to 1;

a pressure at a remaining portion of the plurality of pressure points is equal to 0; and

a pressure between the plurality of pressure points is linear.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein associating the plurality of pressure points with a corresponding plurality of segments comprises identifying the plurality of segments, wherein a segment comprises a starting point and an ending point, and wherein the starting point and the ending point comprise one of:

a mid-point between a corresponding pressure point and a neighboring pressure point; and

a vertex of the cell.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of pressure points represent:

a plurality of possible pressure profiles of the reservoir; and

a plurality of possible flow distributions of the reservoir.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting the plurality of pressure points at the boundary comprises selecting a pressure point where permeability is high.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of cells may have at least one of:

a straight cell boundary, wherein the plurality of cells are two-dimensional;

a curved cell boundary, wherein the plurality of cells are two-dimensional or three-dimensional; and

a flat cell boundary, wherein the plurality of cells are three-dimensional.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein determining a plurality of solutions to a steady-state pressure equation for the cell based on the plurality of pressure points at the boundary and a first Dirichlet boundary condition comprises using one of:

a finite difference/finite volume method; and

a finite element method.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein determining a solution to an inhomogenous pressure equation for the cell based on a second Dirichlet boundary condition comprises using one of:

a finite difference/finite volume method; and

a finite element method.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein solving a coarse pressure equation for the reservoir based on the plurality of flows comprises solving a single-phase steady state pressure equation using local mass conservation equation for each cell and flux continuity equation for each boundary segment between cells.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein solving a coarse pressure equation for the reservoir based on the plurality of flows comprises solving volume balance equation for each cell and flow continuity equation for each boundary segment between the plurality of cells for multiphase flow.

11. The method of claim 1, comprising reconstructing a fine-scale flow based on a multiscale approach, and the solution to the coarse pressure equation.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein reconstructing the fine-scale flow comprises:

determining a plurality of fine-scale flow fields using pressure basis functions for each side of a boundary of the plurality of cells; and

averaging a plurality of fine-scale flows for the plurality of fine-scale flow fields.

13. A system for modeling properties of a reservoir, comprising:

a plurality of processors;

a machine readable medium comprising code configured to direct at least one of the plurality of processors to;

construct a coarse computational mesh for the reservoir, wherein the coarse computational mesh comprises a plurality of cells;

determine a plurality of flows for each of the plurality of cells based on Dirichlet boundary conditions, wherein the code configured to direct at least one of the plurality of processors to determine the plurality of flows for each of the plurality of cells is further configured to;

select a plurality of pressure points along a plurality of boundaries of the cell, wherein the code configured to select the plurality of pressure points at the boundary is further configured to;

select a mid-point of a boundary of the cell if a scalar permeability or all entries of a permeability tensor at the boundary is less than a first pre-determined threshold;

select two points close to two ends of the boundary if a maximum permeability or a maximum entry of the permeability tensor at the boundary is greater than the first pre-determined threshold;

select a first pressure point if the maximum of the scalar permeability or entries of the permeability tensor is greater than the first pre-determined threshold;

select the first pressure point where the scalar permeability or an entry of the permeability tensor reaches the maximum; and

select additional pressure points away from the first pressure point, wherein a spacing, h, of the additional pressure points, comprises;

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the code configured to direct at least one of the plurality of processors to reconstruct the fine-scale flow comprises code configured to direct at least one of the plurality of processors to:

determine a plurality of fine-scale flow fields using pressure basis functions for each side of a boundary of the plurality of cells; and

average a plurality of fine-scale flows for the plurality of fine-scale flow fields.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the second Dirichlet boundary condition specifies that a pressure is equal to 0 at the boundary, and wherein the first Dirichlet boundary condition specifies that:

a pressure at one of the plurality of pressure points is equal to 1;

a pressure at a remaining portion of the plurality of pressure points is equal to 0; and

a pressure between the plurality of pressure points is linear.

16. A method for producing hydrocarbons from an oil and/or gas field using an upscaling method relating to a physical structure, the method for producing hydrocarbons comprising:

constructing a coarse computational mesh for the physical structure in a computer system, wherein the coarse computational mesh comprises a plurality of cells;

determining a plurality of flows for each of the plurality of cells based on Dirichlet boundary conditions, wherein determining the plurality of flows for each of the plurality of cells comprises;

selecting a plurality of pressure points along a plurality of boundaries of the cell, wherein selecting the plurality of pressure points at the boundary comprises;

selecting a mid-point of a boundary of the cell if a scalar permeability or all entries of a permeability tensor at the boundary is less than a first pre-determined threshold;

selecting two points close to two ends of the boundary if a maximum permeability or a maximum entry of the permeability tensor at the boundary is greater than the first pre-determined threshold;

selecting a first pressure point if the maximum of the scalar permeability or entries of the permeability tensor is greater than the first pre-determined threshold;

selecting the first pressure point where the scalar permeability or an entry of the permeability tensor reaches the maximum; and

selecting additional pressure points away from the first pressure point, wherein a spacing, h, of the additional pressure points, comprises;