Basic knowledge of

Simulation
Kuala Lumpur, Nov 5, 2015
@28th floor, Tower-1
Pekanbaru, Mar 13, 2017
@D308, UIR
RESERVOIR

2
Reservoir Management

3
Reservoir Modeling

4
Reservoir Simulation

5
Uses of Reservoir Simulator

6
Reservoir Simulation User

7
MODELING CONCEPT
A well-stirred tank analog of a simulator
grid system

9
 Simulating flow

flow from one grid block to the next

flow a grid block to the well completion
flow within the wells ( and surface
network)

FLOW = TRANSMISSIBILITY * MOBILITY * POTENTIAL DIFFERENCE

Geometry & Fluid Well

Properties Properties Production

10
grid model in simulation

11
 Types grid model

DX COORD
DY ZCORN
DZ
TOPS

DR
Dθ
DZ

12
 Types grid model
DX
DY
DZ COORD
TOPS ZCORN

13
 Types grid model

COORD
DX ZCORN
DY
DZ
TOPS

14
Comparison grid model

15
Cartesian grid model

16
Structured grid model

17
Cell properties

18
 Discretization effect

1. No well representation in grid block

2. Mobility weighting
3. Numerical dispersion
4. Grid orientation

19
 1. Representation of wells

Grid block saturation and pressure will not be

representative of saturations and pressures at the
sand face of the flowing well, data from an external
source are necessary (well data)

20
2. Mobility Weighting methodology

 Upstream weighting
 Downstream weighting
 Mixed weighting
 Extrapolation or interpolation method

21
 3. Numerical Dispersion
An artifact of current numerical analysis
techniques that can cause severe distortions in
simulations of processes in which relatively rapid
saturation changes occur
100
100
SW (%PV)

SW (%PV)
75 75

50 50

25 25

0 0
0 1 2 3 4 0 1 2 3 4

Time Timestep

22
4. Grid Orientation Effect

1
2 3 4 5
A P
8
6 7

4 5
1
2 3
B

23
 Calculation Procedure

Explicit : use values of saturation known at the

beginning of a timestep. These saturation are
known from previous timestep calculation
Implicit : use mobility and capillary pressure
calculated as functions of saturation at the end
of the timestep
Semi-implicit : use estimates of mobility and
capillary pressure developed by assuming that
the functions will be straight-line functions of
saturation during a timestep
24
 Explicit and Implicit functions

 Actual Sw compare to calculated Sw build up

over time in region of hypothetical reservoir

100 100

Water Saturation (%PV)

Water Saturation (%PV)

75 75

50 50

25 25

0 0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
TIME TIMESTEP

25
 Treatment of vertical Saturation
and Pressure distribution
Water Saturation (%PV) Water Saturation (%PV)

Depth
Depth

Single value of water

saturation equal to
volumetric average

26
 Treatment of vertical Saturation
and Pressure distribution
The zone should be modeled accurately with 3D
model having enough thin gridblocks to define
the vertical saturation distribution.
Many reservoir models define the thick block
behave as if it were constructed by many thin
layers by using a revised set of saturation
functions (relative permeability and capillary
pressure)

27
 Pseudofunctions

The set of values of repeating calculation for the

full range of saturation distribution expected in a
specific part of reservoir.
Two set of conditions to consider
1. General case, conditions are dynamic, viscous,
gravity, and capillary forces all influence the vertical
saturation distribution
2. Satisfactory pseudo functions can be developed by
assuming equilibrium conditions, in which gravity
and capillarity control the vertical saturation
distribution.
28
 Pseudofunctions

If the reservoir behaves as though capillary and

gravity forces are in equilibrium, then vertical
equilibrium pseudofunctions can be calculated
analytically by vertical integration of the relative
permeability and capillary pressure curves for
different positions of the transition zone as it
moves through the gridblock

29
 Well functions
 To solve the lack of vertical definition within a single
gridblock makes it impossible to simulate directly the
performance of a well in a 2D areal model in which the
well is represented by one gridblock
 Well functions relate fluid mobilities near the wellbore to
gridblock saturations
 Completion interval, near-wellbore reservoir properties,
an the mechanics of multiphase flow into the well,
wether by cusping, coning, or stratified flow

30
 Gas Re-solution

The solution GOR is normally expressed as a

function of pressure
On a reservoir time scale the establishment of
an equilibrium saturation distribution during gas
evolution is effectively instantaneous

31
 History matching

The validity of the reservoir description data

used in a model can be evaluated by comparing
calculated versus actual performances
Data matched :
 Pressure
 WOR, GOR. Gas/water ratio
 Fluid contact movement
 Water and gas arrival times
 Fluid saturation measured in cores

32
 Well management

A well-management routine assigns specified

rates and pressure to individual producing and
injection blocks in the simulator at specified
times.

33
 Solution method

Direct: normally use to solve small sets of

simultaneous equations. Fit for small to
intermediate model. Answer accurate and no
user intervention is required
Iterative: development of an “approximate”
solution to the system of equations. The
approximation is replaced systematically until
the answers “converge” to within a specified
tolerance of the “correct” answer

34