Finite element modeling of flow of immiscible fluids in heterogeneous, irregular shaped reservoirs using a self-adapting mesh

Thesis/Dissertation · Fri Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1988

OSTI ID:5568813

Rajapaksa, Y

A finite element model is developed to simulate multi-phase immiscible fluid flow in two- and three-dimensional heterogeneous oil reservoirs with irregular boundaries. The effect of gravity, rock compressibility and fluid compressibility is incorporated. Finite element method is used to discretize the spatial domain. Galerkin's method is used to minimize the residual in an element for the finite element formulation. The formulation of three-noded triangular, four-noded isoparametric quadrilateral and eight-noded isoparametric brick element is presented. A computer program is developed for finite element model used to analyze the flow characteristics of complex oil reservoirs. The program has the capability to selectively refine the finite element mesh in appropriate sub-regions of the domain (i.e, the surrounding area along the moving interface between the fluids, which is called a fluid interface) and to remove the mesh refinement in regions where it is not necessary (i.e., regions which are fully saturated). The validity of the program is verified by comparing the results predicted with results available for similar problems in the literature. The results obtained using the algorithm developed in this study are also compared with those obtained by adopting finite difference method for both spatial and time discretization. It is found that the algorithm developed in this study is more efficient. Other numerical examples are also p resented to demonstrate the capabilities of the algorithm and the associated program code for reservoir waterflooding simulation problems.

• Research Organization: Oklahoma Univ., Norman, OK (USA)
• OSTI ID: 5568813
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020300* -- Petroleum-- Drilling & Production
ALGORITHMS
BOUNDARY CONDITIONS
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
COMPRESSIBILITY
COMPUTER CODES
ENGINEERING
FINITE ELEMENT METHOD
FLOW MODELS
FLUID FLOW
FLUID INJECTION
FLUIDS
GRAVITATION
INTERFACES
MATHEMATICAL LOGIC
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
MULTIPHASE FLOW
NUMERICAL SOLUTION
OIL WELLS
RESERVOIR ENGINEERING
RESERVOIR FLUIDS
RESERVOIR ROCK
SATURATION
THREE-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS
TWO-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS
WATERFLOODING
WELLS