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King Abdulaziz University

Faculty of Earth Sciences


Department of Petroleum Geology Sedimentology
Building 4D Geological Models
(Dynamic Models)
of Petroleum Reservoirs
Supervised by!
Dr" #assan S" $a%i
Submitted by!
&hab '" (abbo
1430 - 1431
Simulation
To simulate fluid flow in a reservoir, we first need a geological model of the reservoir.
This model will have to be described in such a way that the data can be used for
numerical computations. This is done by gridding the reservoir, which divides the
reservoir into a finite set of homogeneous grid cells. !ach of these cells contains data for
each of the geological parameters in that cell.
"e#t we need a description of the fluids in the reservoir. This is done by describing the
so-called relative permeability functions and the $%T data. &elative permeability
functions are a description of how the fluids flow relative to each other. The $%T data
represent how pressure and volume of the fluids relate. 'e also have to describe where
the fluid phases are present in the reservoir ( this is done by describing where their
contacts are sitting.
'e need to apply a force to the fluids and this is done by setting locations of wells and
their production)in*ection rates. +astly, we must specify the time period for the simulation
and how many time steps we would li,e to use.
The flow of fluids is governed by three basic physical principles-
.ass is neither created nor destroyed, that is /onservation of .ass.
The rate of change of momentum of a portion of the fluid e0uals the force applied to it,
or /onservation of .omentum.
!nergy is neither created nor destroyed, that is /onservation of !nergy.
)onservation of *ass
The first principle is modeled by a so called partial differential e0uation that says that if
there is a difference between flow into and out of a tiny volume of space, this will either
cause a build-up or a draw down of mass in this tiny volume.
)onservation of *omentum
The second principle is appro#imated by an e#perimental law, called 1arcy2s law, that
relate the pressure difference 3force4 across a porous roc, containing a fluid and the
resulting velocity 3momentum4 of this fluid. This e#perimental law is also represented by
a partial differential e0uation that is combined with the e0uation based on the first
principle to form a set of partial differential e0uations that is the mathematical description
of the flow of fluids through a porous media.
)onservation of Energy
The third principle is appro#imated by a relationship between $ressure, %olume and
Temperature 3$%T4 for the roc, and the fluids. The $%T data is represented by a set of
tables for each reservoir.
General information on streamline simulation
5ront6im is a streamline simulator. This numerical method first solves the pressure, then
computes the streamlines and thereafter computes the changes in saturation along the
streamlines. The e0uations for saturations are solved as several one dimensional problems
along streamlines, as opposed to solving one large three dimensional problem.
/onse0uently, 5ront6im can be very fast and hence capable of handling grids with
millions of grid cells.
5or reservoirs where the movement of the fluids is mostly driven by the potential field
induced by producing wells, 5ront6im is particularly efficient. !#amples include-
'ater flooding.
7ighly heterogeneous reservoirs.
6ince 5ront6im can be run on large models is also a good tool for-
6creening of large geological models.
%alidation of up-scaled models.
Streamline )alculation
8iven the fluid pressure in each of the cells, we can find the streamlines by selecting a
number of so called starting points in the reservoir. 9eginning at these starting points, we
find the lowest pressure 3or alternatively the highest4 in close vicinity of the starting
point, such as the steepest downhill we can find, and follow this downhill to the ne#t
point, etc. This process will eventually lead us to a producing well. 'hen we have gone
through this process for all the starting points, the reservoir should be covered by
streamlines.
Streamline representation
6ince the streamlines describe the direction of flow at the moment in time that they are
computed, they can be used as a computational tool to move the fluids along. The
streamlines can be seen as a set of tubes representing the total reservoir volume and
through which the fluids are moving. The tubes have e#actly the same geological
properties as the underlying geological model has. This approach divides the fluid flow
into a set of 1-dimensional models and therefore reduces the problem to a computational
simplicity that can have significant advantages. 6ince each streamline carries about the
same volume, the density of the streamlines is an indication of the velocity of the fluid.
Streamline simulation advantages
The se0uential process described above 3solve pressure ( move fluids along streamlines4
constitutes one time step. :n advantage with this approach is that the time steps can be
very long and therefore the computational effort needed can be reduced.
The obvious advantage of a streamline method is the possibility it offers to do relatively
0uic, simulations on large geologically and architecturally comple# models. This is the
main reason that the streamline method is a popular tool for validating up-scaling
methods, measuring uncertainty, screening and ran,ing different model scenarios.
:nother advantage of the streamline method is the visual information it gives about the
fluid flow pattern and connectivity in the reservoir. This can be used to study the effects
of different well patterns on the flow, and to monitor which volumes, wells and
boundaries that support a specific well at any given time.
Streamline +ime dependency
!ven though a streamline simulation can be significantly faster than standard simulations,
it can still be a time consuming affair if we want to model in detail all physical properties
available in 5ront6im. 6ome of the most important time dependencies are discussed
below.
$umber of )ells
The si;e of the model represented by the number of cells, will impact the time it will ta,e
to compute the pressure and move the fluids along. 5or e#ample, for a model with 1
million grid cells it might ta,e up to several minutes to compute the pressure and move
the fluids one time step, depending somewhat on the comple#ity of the fluid description
and the computational speed of the processor of your $/. :lso, the memory re0uirement
might be in the order of 1 gigabyte 38b4.
Fluid description
The fluid description will impact the /$< time. The fastest model will be a low
compressible =-phase model 3oil)water4. The low compressibility will cause the pressure
solution to be easier to solve and the re0uirement for time steps for accuracy is low. >n
addition, if the mobility and densities of the fluids are close, one time step might still
result in a reasonably accurate 3also from engineering perspective, that is, standard
simulation4 simulation result. 5or a one million-grid cell model, one time step might
re0uire 3 minutes of computer time with a state-of-the-art $/.
+ime steps
The number of time steps and the length of each time step will influence both the result
and the time it will ta,e to achieve a result. :s we introduce more detail in the fluid
description, we also potentially introduce a need to use more and shorter time steps. 6uch
a factor is gravity segregation. To be accurate, more time steps are re0uired even though
5ront6im will include the effect in a one time step solution.
)ompressibility
:nother factor is the compressibility introduced when using a 3-phase oil)water)gas
model. To achieve close to engineering accuracy, we will have to enable the gravity
segregation and use many time steps. >n addition, the non-linearity of the model will
cause more computational effort per time step. "ote that 5ront6im2s streamline concept
will allow the user to use only one long time step 3possibly years4, even for this type of
model, but the engineering accuracy defined by standard simulation will be degraded.
The resulting set of partial differential e0uations cannot be solved by any analytical
means due to its typical comple#ity in geometry, roc, property and fluid description.
>nstead, a so called numerical appro#imation is used. .any types of numerical methods
are available to solve these e0uations. .ost use some form of a finite difference)volume
method that divides the geometry into many small subsections called cells containing
roc, and fluid properties. These cells cover the whole domain and the fluid flow is
represented as relationships between these cells. These relationships result in an e0uation
system with a number of un,nowns on the order of number of cells or higher. This
e0uation system will have to be solved for every time step during the simulation. These
methods might re0uire very many small time steps, and because of this, a reservoir
simulation process can be a very time consuming affair depending on the geological
detail represented and fluid property modeled.
&mport E),&PSE - FrontSim data and results
!#isting !/+>$6! and 5ront6im data and results files created outside of $etrel can be
imported into $etrel. $etrel will read directly from the simulator output files, and results
will be accessed directly via the inde# created by the simulator.
$etrel will on import of the simulator files generate $etrel ob*ects for controlling and edit
the simulator input and output files from within $etrel.
#o. to import simulation data
1. &ight clic, in the )ases pane and select &mport /on tree0 from the conte#t menu.
=. 6elect files of type 3!/+>$6! ) 5ront6im data and results, $etrel 6ummary 1ata, %>$
summary :6/>>4 and the file3s4 to import.
3. /lic, 1K. >n the case of importing !/+>$6! and 5ront6im data and results, $etrel
will automatically select the various input and results files if they are located in the same
directory. >n the &mport E),&PSE - FrontSim run dialog you can also select to browse
for this input if they are located elsewhere.
4. >n the top of the dialog select which simulator the simulation files are defined for. This
will aid $etrel in the import and conversion of the simulation files into $etrel ob*ects.
?. /lic, 1K to continue with the import.
>n the bottom of the &mport E),&PSE - FrontSim run dialog you can specify some
import settings. The option Automate handling of import settings will let $etrel
automatically choose the suitable import settings for the selected import files. The
coordinate system settings are based on the presence of the .:@$:8!6 ,eyword and
the grid geometry is automatically converted to the pro*ect unit system. 5urthermore,
un,nown ,eywords are logged in the log window and faults are auto detected. To
manually control the import settings, turn off the chec,bo# in front of the option and
clic, on the Advanced2 button.
3uality )ontrol of &mported Data
:fter importing data into $etrel to build 31 models, it is very important that all the input
data is 0uality controlled before the data is used to create new data.
4isualizing
The best way to 0uality chec, the input data is to visuali;e different data together in the
31 1isplay window to loo, for data inconsistencies. This is a uni0ue way of comparing
data from different sources e.g. interpreted seismic lines can be compared 3in 314 to
seismic data, well logs and well tops. :nother great feature in $etrel is the possibility to
;oom in between different surfaces and inspect how the layers between surfaces loo,.
%isuali;ation of the data is a very important feature in $etrel and is described in more
detail in %isuali;ation.
Statistics
:nother important data tool that can be performed in $etrel is to inspect the statistics for
ob*ects both imported and created in $etrel. !ach data ob*ect in $etrel has a Settings
window, which consists of different tabs with different options. The settings windows for
every ob*ect in $etrel are described in detail in 6ettings for ob*ects in the >nput tab. The
Statistics window is a tab that is available in every settings window. The settings window
can be opened by double clic,ing on an ob*ect in the $etrel panes or by clic,ing on the
ob*ect with the right mouse button and select Settings from the conte#t menu.
To chec, the statistics of an ob*ect in $etrel, open the settings window and select the
6tatistics tab. >n the statistics tab the ma# and min coordinates of the @-, A- and B- a#is
are listed, together with different information about the ob*ect, e.g. number of closed and
open polygons in a polygon data-set or number of well logs with min and ma# values for
a well.
The important part to chec, in the statistics is that the values are within the area that you
e#pect them to be. /hec, that the log curves loo, reasonable and that the min and ma#
values for a log curve are within the e#pected values.

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