A triangle based mixed finite element-finite volume technique for modeling two phase flow through porous media

Journal Article · Thu Apr 01 00:00:00 EST 1993 · Journal of Computational Physics; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1006/jcph.1993.1072· OSTI ID:5668941

Durlofsky, L J ^[1]

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1. Chevron Oil Field Research Company, La Habra, CA (United States)

Triangle based discretization techniques offer great advantages relative to standard finite difference methods for the modeling of flow through geometrically complex geological features. The purpose of this paper is to develop and apply a triangle based method for the modeling of two phase flow through porous formations. The formulation includes the effects of gravity, compressibility, and capillary pressure. The technique entails a triangle based mixed finite element method for solution of the variable coefficient, parabolic pressure equation, and a second-order TVD-type (total variation diminishing) finite volume scheme for solution of the essentially hyperbolic saturation equation. The method is applied to a variety of example problems and is shown to perform very well on problems involving geometric complexity coupled with heterogeneous, generally anisotropic permeability descriptions. 20 refs., 20 figs.

• OSTI ID: 5668941
• Journal Information: Journal of Computational Physics; (United States), Vol. 105:2; ISSN 0021-9991
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
42 ENGINEERING
FRACTURED RESERVOIRS
FLUID FLOW
POROUS MATERIALS
TWO-PHASE FLOW
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
DARCY LAW
FINITE ELEMENT METHOD
NUMERICAL SOLUTION
CALCULATION METHODS
MATERIALS
SIMULATION
020200* - Petroleum- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration
420400 - Engineering- Heat Transfer & Fluid Flow