Mathematical Considerations Introduction An enormous volume of literature exists on different methods of constructing a reservoir simulator. The vast majority of reservoirengineers, however, will use the pro- gram provided by their company. Typically, this is one of about a half dozen commercially available programs, which are marketed internationally In the past, many of, the major companies have had their research depart ments write proprietary programs. With the current down- sizing or rightsizing” trend in the industry, its likely few companies will continue to maintain their current pro- ‘grams or initiate new ones. Since readers are more likely to be using commercial ly avallabie products, an extended discussion on the mathematics of constructing a simulator is, in practical terms, of limited benefit. All that is required of users of this software is: sufficient background knowledge to understand the limitations of the simulator an understanding of the different simulation solution options knowing how to adjust matrix solvers to achieve adequate performance knowing that wells and the associated equations have certain limitations, which sometimes require changes in approach a minimum understanding of timestep control knowing how group and well cantrois affect simu- lator performance Tne following discussion outlines the basics and concentrates on points where user intervention may be required. This may be regarded as a mixed blessing. The material is presented in a descriptive form. Of course, this means some of the detailed mathematics underiying this material are not shown, although there is worth- while material in detailed discussions of the mathemat- ies and solutions,Practica! Reservoir Simulation The author participated in a course taught by Dr. A. Settar, which required a simulator be built as. class pro ect, This prablem set had a reputation for being long, involved, and difficult, f the reader has career plans for significant exposure (© simulation, going through this process is beneficial, t provides a better understanding bf how a simulator works but 3 requires a major time commitment, Reading pages of differential equations and matrices is nvt the same as actually programming a simulator. This level of detail would consume another ook and would leave much of the practical application unexplained, A number of good textbooks on these issues have been published ‘The cnaterial in this book has been prepared along a development outline to maintain a logical progression. The purpose of certain points may vary. In some cases it is designed to explain how things work. In other cases. a description is intended to indicate a limitation or an option or switch commonly available on commercial sim ulators. Since the purpose of each section is not always obvious, it is jaclicated! ia parentheses. The intent & to provide sufficient material to allow the reader an appre- Ciation of critical issues, leaving the detailed mathemati- cal explanation to others, Detailed derivations (formulation) The development of the partial differential equar tions is the same for a reservoir simulator as for pressure transient analysis. The equations are used in both Cartesian and radia) coosdinates for reservoir simula tion. This material is best covered in Aziz and Settar’s Petroleum Reservoir Simulation, published by the Academic Press.' Nevertheless, @ quick outline will be made in the following ‘The three main elements to the development of the partial differential equation, which govern reservoir sienataos, are conservation of mass a transport law an equation of state Conservation of mass (basic formulation) ‘The differential equation in Cartesian coordinates is developed by considering a smail block, depicted in Figure 2-1 atwelt aea=A AM eeu) ax Fig 2-1 Representative Element ‘The equation is then developed as follows: In AM, (la) Out=A(M, +AM,) (2b) Storage = 4 At(p,, - p,0,) 210) Source/Sink (id) Combining these yields: (4+ aM. Md 22) ae re (22) 4 BE (P.O, BO), Ae aw ar In the Limit as Ax — 0 and Ay -+ 0 one derives: 2a. Bel. g es ae Ey ‘This conservation of mass is then expanded in pwo ways. First, a description of the behavior of the fluids at different pressures is required—an equation of state; and, second, an interblock transport relation js required— Darcy's LawEquation of state or PVT behavior (formulation) The material balance in reservoir simulators is usualy done on the following basis For gas.the real gas law is used. The liquid phase has dissolved gas, which isa in ear function of pressure (black oil) Water is characterized 2s aliquid af tow com: pressibility, which isa linear function of pressure Transport equation—Darcy’s Law (basic formulation) The current understanding of fluid low through porous media is derived from work by a French civil eng reer named Henri Darcy. He was designing sand filters for a drinking water supply in Lyons. His experiment looked something like the apparatus shown in Figure 2-2. Apparatus to filter water with sand manometer ig 2-2 Darcy Apparatus Mathematical Consideration He found the pressure drop across the sand pack is a linear function of an intrinsic sand property, the applied pptessure drop, the length of the sand pack, ancl the cross: sectional area of flow It was inversely affected by viscos iy This empirical observation has become known as Darcy’ Law and is shown in Equation 2.4 ka 9 wax a) Examples of different materials that have been tested are shown in Figure 2-3, Note the law also applies to the flow of fluid in rocks. The intrinsic property of the rock is, termed permeability Note there is a breakdown at high Reynolds qurabers. This is related to turbulence and iner tial effects and occurs with high velocity flows Above R=10, Deviation com straight line | Friction Factor, = Unconsotdated Sand Reynolds Number, 7 Fig 2-3 Darey’s Lau—Various Porous Media Concept of a tensar (limitation) ‘The example shown in Figure 2-3 was for one dimen- sion. In fact, not all materials have perfectly homoge neous permeability, and not all potential gradients are applied along Cartesian axes. The flow in a medium can bbe calculated exactly under these conditions, since per tmeability is mathematically a tensor. The permeability in any given direction can be determined by an ellipse based on the minimum and maximum permeability directions. This directional change in permeability is not directly programmed into reservoir simulators, as described in the previous development, This error is 5