Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 78 (2011) 208–219

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Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering

j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w. e l s ev i e r. c o m / l o c a t e / p e t r o l

Neuro-simulation modeling of chemical flooding

M.S. Karambeigi a,⁎, R. Zabihi b, Z. Hekmat c
a
IOR Research Institute, National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), Research & Technology Directorate, Tehran, Iran
b
Oil & Gas Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Shahid Bahonar University, Kerman, Iran
c
Chemical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Shahid Bahonar University, Kerman, Iran

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Chemical flooding has proved to enhance oil recovery of reservoirs considerably. Development strategies of
Received 1 February 2011 this method are more efficient when they consider both aspects of operation (recovery factor, RF) and
Accepted 26 July 2011 economics (net present value, NPV). In this study, a multi-layer perceptron (MLP) neural network is
Available online 6 August 2011
developed for modeling of chemical flooding using surfactant and polymer via prediction of both RF and NPV
in a unique model. The modeling algorithm is divided into three processes: training, generalization, and
Keywords:
chemical flooding
operation. In training process, the initial structure of the network is trained, and then the architecture of the
neural network trained network is optimized for reduction of prediction errors in generalization process. Furthermore, the
neuro-simulation optimum structure is compared with other methods like Radial Basis Function (RBF) neural network,
recovery factor quadratic and multi-objective regressions. The optimum architecture of the network contains one hidden
net present value layer with 8 neurons and training function of Bayesian regularization. In operation process, sensitivity analysis
is studied for evaluating of effective parameters (inputs) on the performance of chemical flooding. The error is
always less than 5% during the implementation of all processes. The results demonstrate that neuro-
simulation of chemical flooding is reliable, inexpensive, fast in computational effort, and capable in accurate
prediction of both RF and NPV in one model.
© 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction chemical flooding modeling (UTCHEM User's Guide, 2000; CMG

The demand for world's oil has been increased by various industries.
However, large amount of oil remains in the oil reservoirs after primary
and secondary recovery methods. The maximum recovery reaches up to
about 30% OOIP (original oil in place) for such methods, so tertiary oil
recovery is suggested for more oil production (Zerpa et al., 2005).
Methods of tertiary oil recovery are categorized into 3 main processes:
thermal oil recovery, miscible flooding, and chemical flooding.
Chemical flooding has high potential for enhanced oil recovery
(EOR). Different methods for this process have been developed, such
as: polymer, surfactant/polymer (SP), and alkaline/surfactant/polymer
(ASP) flooding. The process of chemical flooding is highly efficient for
recovering a very large quantity of the remaining oil in the reservoir.
Nevertheless, there is a critical issue in terms of its high uncertainty, cost
of chemicals, and complexity. (Gupta et al., 1988; Wu et al., 1996;
Flaaten et al., 2009). Hence, this process needs to be designed so robust
that would minimize aforementioned challenges.
Decision variables (output) for design or optimization of chemical
flooding are recovery factor (RF) and/or net present value (NPV). For
designing or simulation purpose, the typical evaluation method of RF is
performed using conventional simulators which are capable of
⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: + 98 021 88874500; fax: + 98 021 88661307.
E-mail addresses: Karambeigi@nioc.rtd.ir (M.S. Karambeigi), r.zabihi65@gmail.com
(R. Zabihi), zahra_hekmat82@yahoo.com (Z. Hekmat).
STARS User's Guide, 2004; Schlumberger, 2004). However, economic
evaluation software such as Excel spreadsheet (Microsoft Corporation,
2003) or value and risk management (Schlumberger, 2009) is used for
calculation of NPV. Such software requires complex integration of
various data in the fields of geology, drilling, reservoir, and production.
These simulators become very expensive and time-consuming when
uncertainty of different parameters in aforementioned fields should be
analyzed (Yang et al., 2004; Silva et al., 2007a; Ghorbani, 2008).
Furthermore, calculation of each variable (RF or NPV) has separate
procedure and such commercial software calculates either RF or NPV
and it hasn't been developed unique software which predicts both
variables. These decision variables affect each other and therefore
prediction models are more convenient and valuable when they can
evaluate both variables. For optimization purpose in the terms of
maximizing RF or NPV, researchers require definition of objective
function. One of the best techniques for finding this equation is
regression, e.g. D-optimal experimental design (Ghorbani, 2008;
Sangvaree, 2008; Prasanphanich, 2009). RF or NPV have been fitted
with input data separately and any multi-variable correlation hasn't
been developed to fit both variables in one equation. As a conclusion,
development of an oilfield using chemical flooding requires consid-
eration of both decision variables and planning of development
strategies based on each decision variable regardless of another
variable is not reasonable. So models that can predict both variables
are recommended.

0920-4105/$ – see front matter © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.petrol.2011.07.012
 M.S. Karambeigi et al. / Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 78 (2011) 208–219
Artificial neural network (ANN) offers an alternative solution. ANN
significantly reduces the number of computationally demanding numer-
ical simulation exercises (Doraisamy et al., 2000). In recent years, the
neuro-simulation of EOR processes has been of an increasing interest. In
neuro-simulation technique, hard-computing approaches (e.g., simula-
tors) and soft-computing protocols (e.g., ANN) are combined for the
development of powerful expert systems. Simulators equip a precise
expertise that can be applied for training of ANN. When ANN is trained, it
can exploit and apply the learned expertise through much less
computational effort (Ayala and Ertekinn, 2007).
Previous works have studied different EOR methods using ANN:
Polymer flooding prediction (Jiang et al., 2007), immiscible flooding
performance in heterogeneous reservoirs (Elkamel, 1998), steam
distillation process (Vafaei et al., 2009), analysis of Water flooding
(Nikravesh et al., 1996; Nakutnyy et al., 2008), CO2 injection into coal
bed methane reservoirs (Jalali and Mohaghegh, 2009), and gas
condensate reservoirs (Ayala and Ertekinn, 2005, 2007; Ayala et al.,
2007). In addition, no research has been found that survived
application of neuro-simulation for evaluation of polymer/surfactant
flooding. The objective of this study is the application of ANN in order
to design the chemical flooding (polymer/surfactant design) for both
outputs in a unified model. It is expected that ANN can model both
decision variables in a unique network.
The neuro-simulation model can be used for various purposes such
as designing of the process and/or maximizing of decision variables.
Previous studies (Todd et al., 1978) emphasized that there is a
dilemma for selection of appropriate design of chemical flooding. The
first design indicates a small slug, high concentration called “soluble
oil” system, and another design is a large slug, dilute concentration,
called “optimal salinity” design. There is no special priority for any of
them and the reservoir characteristics and operation conditions
determine which one is better. Sensitivity analysis can answer this
question very well. Simple sensitivity analysis was done for better
understanding of the effects of chemical parameters (slug size and
concentration) on the improvement of chemical flooding efficiency.
Application of sensitivity analysis for evaluation of chemical concen-
tration and slug size was done using UTCHEM simulator in previous
studies (Qu et al., 1998; Carrero et al., 2007). Moreover, the results of
sensitivity analysis can be applied for finding optimum performance
of chemical flooding in the terms of maximizing NPV and RF.
2. Background
2.1. Modeling of chemical flooding
Pope and Nelson (1978) developed a one-dimensional, composi-
tional, chemical-flood simulator to calculate oil recovery as a function
of several major process variables. Fleming et al. (1981) introduced a
general formulation of multiphase, multicomponent chemical flood.
Hirasaki (1981) developed a theory that provided an understanding of
the displacement mechanisms for the three-component, two phase
surfactant flooding as a function of phase behavior and injection
composition. A two-dimensional, multicomponent, multiphase, com-
positional reservoir simulator was developed, tested, and applied to
micellar/polymer flooding by Pope et al. (1981). They simulated
various field scale conditions of chemical flooding. Lake et al. (1981)
presented a performance prediction technique that involved the
sequential use of a detailed finite difference simulator and streamline
program for the response of a large-scale chemical flood. Ben et al.
(1981) developed a streamline micellar/polymer simulator for large-
scale applications. They used a streamline generator to set up the flow
field over the reservoir and then the concentration balance is solved
along each fixed streamline. Paul et al. (1982) presented a simple
model for prediction of micellar/polymer flooding. An oil recovery
algorithm was developed from the theory and the results of numerical
simulation. The model contained correlations which related factors
209
affecting oil recovery to reservoir and several process data like:
capillary number, heterogeneity, crossflow, surfactant adsorption and
wettability (Ghorbani, 2008). Hirasaki et al. (1983) used a one-
dimensional, six-component, finite-difference simulator for compar-
ing a salinity gradient design with a constant salinity design of
surfactants. Cohen (1983) developed a one-dimensional chemical
flooding simulator based on Petrov–Galerkin finite element method.
Brown and Smith (1984) reported Monte Carlo simulations for
evaluating the uncertainties in the surfactant design. Gittler and
Krumrine (1985) developed a chemical EOR economics simulator for
studying of different parameters of chemicals. They used Monte Carlo
technique to economically quantify the risk associated with various
chemical flooding designs. Barua et al. (1986) introduced a simplified
mathematical model which called chemical flooding predictive model
(CFPM). They claimed that it was much faster than finite difference
method but the results were not as accurate as finite difference.
Camilleri et al. (1987) developed a three-dimensional simulator and
compared it with linear core flood data and related physical
properties. Bhuyan et al. (1990) presented a generalized model
associated with high-pH chemical floods based on the local equilib-
rium assumption that took into account the reaction chemistry. The
model was coupled with UTCHEM simulator. Ghori et al. (1992) used
a geostatistical method for compositional simulation of polymer
flooding. They compared the prediction of the simulator with the field
result. Delshad et al. (1996) described a three dimensional, multi-
component, multiphase compositional finite-difference simulator for
modeling of contaminant transport and surfactant enhanced aquifer
remediation (SEAR) of nonaqueous phase liquid (NAPL) pollutions.
Their phase behavior model was a highly successful approach for
surfactant EOR methods and therefore they adopted it to SEAR
modeling. Vaskas (1996) developed an economic model for evalua-
tion of chemical flooding (Sangvaree, 2008). Delshad et al. (2002)
developed a dual porosity model for chemical flooding of fractured
reservoirs on the UTCHEM. Shapiro et al. (2004) introduced a new
analytical method for modeling of chemical flooding in which
compositional model was split into a thermodynamics auxiliary
equations and one transport equation. Zhang et al. (2005) developed
the integrated reservoir simulation platform and used it for
determination of optimum design using simulation and economic
calculations. Han et al. (2007) developed a fully implicit, parallel,
compositional chemical flooding simulator which performed success-
fully the simulation of field-scale surfactant-polymer flood with over
1000000 gridblocks. Fathi Najafabadi et al. (2008) modeled wettabil-
ity alteration of chemical stimulation using surfactants or electrolyte
for fractured carbonate reservoirs. Costa et al. (2008) obtained
representative models from the risk analysis and integrated it with
economic uncertainties to improve the production forecast in a
Brazilian onshore field. Fathi Najafabadi et al. (2009a,b) integrated
surfactant phase behavior model into a fully implicit, parallel,
equation of state compositional simulator for simulating of chemical
oil recovery processes. John et al. (2005) had been developed a similar
model but model of Fathi Najafabadi et al. (2009a,b) could take into
account salinity gradient of surfactants.
2.2. Artificial neural network
Artificial neural network is an information processing system
which mimics biological neural networks using numbers of inter-
connected elements, so-called neurons. It is characterized as parallel,
adaptive, nonlinear, and distributive model (Ramgulam et al., 2007;
Badel et al., 2011). These features make ANN possible to solve high
complex non-linear problems in various disciplines of petroleum
engineering (Silpngarmlers and Ertekin, 2002; Al-Bulushi et al., 2009).
As a model-free function predictor, ANN can discover relationship
between input and output, no matter how complex is the relationship,
210 M.S. Karambeigi et al. / Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 78 (2011) 208–219

or without any detailed knowledge of underlying process (Vafaei et
al., 2009; Irani and Nasimi, 2011).
There are several paradigms that can be utilized for construction of
the network. Multi-layer perceptron (MLP) networks, with a back
propagation algorithm, as illustrated in Fig. 1, is widely used and
known as the most popular of all neural network paradigms
(Nikravesh et al., 1996; Silva et al., 2007b). This structure consists of
input, hidden, and output layers where on each layer a number of
neurons are placed. Each neuron is connected to the neurons in the
proceeding layer by direct links which have their own special weights.
Based on the training algorithm, these weights are modified until an
error criterion of the problem is satisfied (Kadkhodaie-Ilkhchi et al.,
2009). This process is defined as the training of a neural network and
is started by the input layer where data are presented to the network.
The signals of this layer flow through the hidden layers to the output
layer via direct links (Taheri and Mohebbi, 2008). The output layer
creates the response of the network to the input/output mapping. The
output signal of each neuron is calculated using the following
equation:
! several locations on the error surface that temporary convergence
n
j j
Si = F ∑ Wi × S + bi
j=1
Another paradigm of ANN is RBF network. This network has only
one hidden layer in which each neuron is a vector. In RBF, the input of
hidden layer is the matrix of the distances between the input layer
and the vectors of the hidden layer. The activation function of the
hidden layer in RBF is a radial basis function which has a unique
maximum at its center and generally decreases to zero further away
from the center. Furthermore, the activation function of output layer
is linear (Engelbrecht, 2007; Kaviani et al., 2008).
The optimum architecture of the network improves its efficiency.
Furthermore, there are different challenges during the design of ANN:
number of neurons in hidden layer, type of transfer function, training
algorithm, and duration of training process. Utilization of an
optimized structure can prevent the training problems, namely
over-fitting (over-training) and local minima problems. Over-fitting
of a training dataset means that ANN memorizes the training patterns,
and consequently loses the ability to predict accurate output when it
is exposed to a new dataset for evaluation (Engelbrecht, 2007). It
occurs when too many neurons are selected. On the other hand, few
neurons results in poor training of ANN. Hence, precise determination
of neurons is essential for an efficient ANN. Furthermore, there are
(local minimum) will be reached before global convergence. Design-
ð1Þ
ing of ANN is important in a way to avoid or control local minima and
achieve the global minimum (Mohaghegh et al., 1995).

where Si is output signal of ith neuron of current layer, S j is jth synapse

connection (input signal) to ith neuron from previous layer, Wij is
weight of ith neuron of current layer corresponding to jth link, bi is
bias of ith neuron, n is total number of synapse links to Si, and F is
activation or transfer function which calculates the output signal of
the neuron. There are different types of activation functions:
logarithmic sigmoid, hyperbolic tangent sigmoid and linear functions.
3. Methodology
A neural network was designed and developed in MATLAB
environment, version 2009a (Math Works, 2009) for simulating and
economically evaluating of chemical flooding. The algorithm was
divided into 3 processes: training, generalization and operation. In

Fig. 1. Schematic architecture of MLP network.

 M.S. Karambeigi et al. / Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 78 (2011) 208–219 211

addition, available data was divided into 3 datasets: training,
evaluation and testing. The training dataset was utilized for training
process of the network while the trained network was generalized
and optimized with evaluation dataset and finally several cases were
analyzed using optimum model in the operation process.
In the training operation, a multilayer back propagation network
was selected as ANN paradigm. The network consisted of 3 layers:
input, output, and one hidden layer. Tangent sigmoid and purelin were
assigned as transfer functions of hidden and output layers, respectively.
However, weight/bias learning function was always constant (gradient
descent with momentum). During the training process, learning rate
and momentum of the network were adjusted in a way to minimize the
training error. The criterion for stopping the training process was
determined if either performance goal of 0.001 or 10000 epochs of
training loop. The performance goal is mean square error (MSE):
1 2
MSE = ∑ðXP −XS Þ
n
where XP is predicted output by ANN, XS is simulated output by
simulator or economic software, and n is total number of data. X can
be substituted by either RF or NPV.
As mentioned previously, some parameters influence the efficiency
of ANN model. Optimum structure of the network was achieved in the
generalization process. For this purpose, the number of neurons was
changed from 1 to 15 in the hidden layer and subsequently, 10 training
algorithms were investigated. The optimum structure was compared
with the predictions of other models: quadratic and multi-objective
regressions and also RBF neural network (the number of its neurons
and training function is similar to the optimum MLP neural network).
The equations of regressions are provided in the Appendix A.
In the operation process, for better confirmation of ANN per-
formance as neuro-simulation model, testing dataset was used to
compare ANN with the simulation results. Furthermore, the simple
sensitivity analysis was studied in this process. The most important
parameters which effect decision variables were selected. A base case
was determined and then one parameter was changed in every run
while others had constant value of base case.
The data presented in this study have been gathered from
Prasanphanich's M.Sc. thesis (2009) (Tables 7–11 and 4–11 in this
reference) in which chemical flooding had been simulated in Benoist
sand reservoir (Marion County, Illinois), using UTCHEM simulator.
Moreover, economic factors had been studied using Excel spread-
sheet. That reservoir has been produced under primary and secondary
processes over fifty years. It should be mentioned that methodology
and objective of Prasanphanich's work (2009) is completely different
from this study. That work aimed to optimize chemical flooding in the
term of NPV. For that purpose, objective function of optimization was
calculated using D-optimal experimental design in which two
correlations were generated (quadratic and cubic models) just for
regression of NPV. However, objective of our research is modeling of
chemical flooding in the terms of both RF and NPV in one ANN model.
The Original dataset contained 206 data. 4 faulty data (which one
of inputs or outputs had not been reported) was removed and then
the remaining dataset was divided randomly into 3 separate datasets:
training dataset (60% of the data), evaluation dataset (the left 20%)
and testing dataset (20% of the data). Division of 60:20:20 is a role of
thumb that has been used very much. Furthermore, there is an
important priority in the selection of this division over other divisions
(70:15:15 or 80:10:10). The size of evaluation and testing dataset is
bigger in the order of 60:20:20. It means that we can appraise and
confirm performance and generalization of ANN better and pre-
dictions have higher degree of confidence.
Each data had 7 inputs: Surfactant slug size (A), surfactant concen-
tration in surfactant slug (B), polymer concentration in surfactant
slug (C), polymer drive size (D), polymer concentration in polymer
drive (E), Kv/Kh ratio (F), and salinity of polymer drive (G). In addition,
the outputs were RF and NPV. The design range of each input and output
is listed in Table 1. Statistical analysis (Using Minitab 15 software) of
ð2Þ half-normal plot was done to determine the importance factor of each
input (as independent variable) on outputs (as dependant variables).
During the implementation of the back-propagation technique,
normalization of data improves the training performance of ANN
(Saeedi et al., 2007). All inputs and outputs are normalized using
mean and standard deviation of variables (Eq. (3)). In this approach,
input and output parameters are normalized in a way that normal
variable has the mean of 0 and the standard deviation of 1.
X−μ
X0 = ð3Þ
σ
where X is the initial value, X′ is its normalized value, µ and σ are mean
and standard deviation, respectively.
For comparison of the results, different statistical parameters such
as correlation coefficient (R), RMSE (root mean square error) and
AARE (average absolute relative error) were calculated using Eqs. (4)
through (6):
∑ ðXP −μ P ÞðXS −μ S Þ
R= ð4Þ
ðn−1ÞσP σS
rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
1
RMSE = ∑ ðXP −XS Þ2 ð5Þ
n
  
1 XP− XS 
AARE =  ∑  ð6Þ
n XS
where n is the total number of data in each set, subscripts of P and S
refer to prediction methods (MLP, RBF, and regressions) and
simulation data, respectively.
4. Results and discussion
Figs. 2 and 3 show the importance factor of inputs. For RF variable,
the most important factors were surfactant slug size, surfactant and

Table 1
Ranges of variables in dataset.

Parameter Unit Type Min Max Average Standard deviation

Surfactant slug size PV Input 0.097 0.259 0.177 0.072

Surfactant concentration Vol. fraction Input 0.005 0.03 0.017 0.011
Polymer concentration in surfactant slug wt.% Input 0.1 0.25 0.177 0.067
Polymer drive size PV Input 0.324 0.648 0.482 0.144
Polymer concentration in polymer drive wt.% Input 0.1 0.2 0.148 0.044
Kv/Kh ratio – Input 0.01 0.25 0.129 0.107
Salinity of polymer drive Meq/ml Input 0.3 0.4 0.349 0.045
Recovery factor (RF) % Output 14.82 56.99 39.67 9.24
Net present value (NPV) $ MM Output 1.781 7.229 4.45 1.53
212 M.S. Karambeigi et al. / Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 78 (2011) 208–219

Fig. 2. The importance factor of inputs for recovery factor.

Fig. 3. The importance factor of inputs for NPV.

then polymer concentrations in surfactant slug, and polymer

concentration in polymer drive. For NPV variable, the most important
factor was the interaction between surfactant slug size and surfactant
concentration. After that, polymer and then surfactant concentrations
in surfactant slug, and polymer concentration in polymer drive had
higher ranks. Salinity of polymer drive had the least factor of importance
for both variables. The most important factors were selected for
sensitivity analysis.
The modeling process started with training. In Figs. 4 and 5, the
correlation between the simulation result and ANN prediction for
training dataset is illustrated with the best linear fit and the
correlation coefficient. The R 2 value of 0.998 for both outputs indicates
a very good correlation between predicted and simulated data. Figs. 6
and 7 illustrate the RF and NPV of simulation and ANN models for
training data.
The trained network was investigated for finding optimum
number of neurons and training function using evaluation dataset in Fig. 4. The correlation of RF between the simulation data and ANN prediction for the
the generalization process. The error of different number of neurons is training dataset.
 M.S. Karambeigi et al. / Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 78 (2011) 208–219 213

Fig. 8. Variations of MSE error as a function of number of neurons in the hidden layer for
Fig. 5. The correlation of NPV between the calculation data and ANN prediction for the
RF.
training dataset.

Fig. 9. Variations of MSE error as a function of number of neurons in the hidden layer for
NPV.
Fig. 6. Comparison between simulated and predicted RF in the training dataset
(training process).
the best training algorithm between 10 functions. Fig. 10 presents the
performance of these algorithms which indicates that training
function of Bayesian regularization has the best performance. In
shown in Figs. 8 and 9. The optimum number of neurons was selected
equal to 8. Using this structure, different training functions were
evaluated. Bayesian regularization back-propagation was assigned as

Fig. 7. Comparison between simulated and predicted NPV in the training dataset
(training process). Fig. 10. Performance of different training algorithms of the MLP network.
214 M.S. Karambeigi et al. / Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 78 (2011) 208–219

Fig. 11. Comparison between simulated and predicted RF in the evaluation dataset
(generalization process).

Fig. 13. Hinton graph of weight matrix and bias vector of the hidden layer.

Fig. 12. Comparison between simulated and predicted NPV in the evaluation dataset
(generalization process).

general, Bayesian regularization provides better generalization per-

formance than early stopping for regression problems and it is used to
prevent over-fitting (Kadkhodaie-Ilkhchi et al., 2009; Dutta and Fig. 14. Hinton graph of weight matrix and bias vector of the output layer.
Gupta, 2010). The R 2 value of output predictions were 0.981 and 0.978
in the generalization process. Figs. 11 and 12 illustrate the RF and NPV
of simulation and ANN models for evaluation data.
Hence, the optimum architecture of the network was character- predictions when it is used in single models (separate regression
ized as MLP that contained one hidden layer with 8 neurons, training models for each output) but the accuracy of regression decrease very
function of Bayesian regularization, and activation functions of much in the case of multi-objective regression (one regression model
tangent sigmoid and purelin for hidden and output layers, respec- for both outputs). This reveals the value of neural network model
tively. Hinton graph of weight matrix and bias vector of hidden and better because estimation of both outputs in one model of ANN was
output layers are reported in Figs. 13 and 14. The area of each quarter
represents magnitude of the corresponding weight. The red color
assigns for negative weights while green for positive. Furthermore,
input 0 returns to bias vector. The value of weight matrix and bias
Table 2
vector are presented in the Appendix B. Rows of weight matrix Comparison of ANN model with other methods.
represent neurons in the current layer and columns stand for neurons
Output Method RMSE AARE
in previous layer. Therefore weight matrix of the hidden layer is 8 × 7.
As bias is a modifier, the dimension of bias vector is 8 × 1 for hidden RF MLP model 1.155 2.122
RBF model 1.550 3.068
layer.
Quadratic regression 1.510 3.105
Table 2 compares optimum model of ANN with other methods. The Multi-objective regression 3.531 7.925
results indicate that MLP neural network had the best predictions. The NPV MLP model 0.227 4.617
order of error for MLP, RBF and quadratic regression is similar RBF model 0.256 5.352
although the error order of multi-objective regression (especially for Quadratic regression 0.311 5.918
Multi-objective regression 1.182 27.212
NPV) is different very much. It means regression has acceptable
 M.S. Karambeigi et al. / Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 78 (2011) 208–219 215

Fig. 15. The correlation of RF between the simulation data and ANN prediction for the
testing dataset.

more precise than every quadratic regressions which modeled either
RF or NPV separately.
According to these results, the optimum MLP follows the
simulated data with very high accuracy. This structure was applied
for prediction of RF and NPV in the testing dataset. The R 2 value of RF
and NPV were 0.988 and 0.973 in operation process. The network
estimation versus simulated results for testing dataset is presented in
Figs. 15 and 16. Furthermore, Figs. 17 and 18 illustrate the RF and NPV
of simulation and MLP models for the testing data.
Fig. 16. The correlation of NPV between the calculation result and ANN prediction for
the testing dataset.
Fig. 18. Comparison between simulated and calculated NPV in the testing dataset
(operation process).
RMSE and AARE errors of different processes are reported in
Table 3. Although the MLP model had never seen the evaluation and
testing dataset, it could precisely predict the outputs in these datasets.
It means that the data of these datasets had not been fed in training
process and they were fresh for ANN model. The errors of
generalization and operation processes were always less than 5%.
Such range of error is acceptable to confirm the capability of neuro-
simulation for modeling of chemical flooding.
The final model can be applied for sensitivity analysis of chemical
flooding. The analysis was done on the most important factors
(inputs) which were extracted from Figs. 1 and 2. They were A to E
factors in addition of AB (interaction between A and B) and BC.
Table 4 shows the different arrangements (cases) of these factors
and also base case. Fig. 19 reports the result. Fig. 19-a, -c, -d, and -e
state they had important contributions to the variability of both
responses (RF and NPV). The responses changed directly with their
variations. Higher values of these factors resulted in the increment
of both RF and NPV. They were surfactant slug size (A), polymer
concentration in surfactant slug (C), polymer drive size (D),
polymer concentration in polymer drive (E). However, Fig. 19-b
shows there were opposite trends for RF and NPV with the
variations of factor B, surfactant concentration in surfactant slug.
Higher concentrations of surfactant resulted in higher oil production
although it decreased the economic benefits. The result clarify that
both decision variables must be considered in development
strategies and decision making based on just one of them will not
be a successful design either technically or financially. RF and NPV
had not determined trends with the interaction of AB (Fig. 19-f) but
NPV was maximum when factor A was high and factor B was low.
This corresponds to the trends of Fig. 19-a and -b too. In Fig. 19-g,
NPV decreased step by step with the increment of factor B
versus any variations of factor C. It shows that factor B had higher

Table 3
Performance of ANN for modeling of RF and NPV in different processes.

Output Process R R2 RMSE AARE

RF Training 0.999 0.998 0.445 0.977

Generalization 0.991 0.981 1.155 2.122
Operation 0.994 0.988 1.071 2.475
NPV Training 0.999 0.998 0.075 1.596
Generalization 0.989 0.978 0.227 4.617
Fig. 17. Comparison between simulated and predicted RF in the testing dataset
Operation 0.986 0.973 0.246 4.598
(operation process).
216 M.S. Karambeigi et al. / Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 78 (2011) 208–219

Table 4
Different arrangement of important factors for sensitivity analysis.

Case Effective Inputs Output 1 Output 2

factor(s)
Surf. slug size Surf. conc. Poly. conc. in Poly. drive Poly. conc. in Kv/Kh Salinity of RF (ANN) NPV (ANN)
surf. slug size polymer drive poly. drive

Base case – 0.253 0.005 0.156 0.421 0.2 0.18 0.319 41.82 6.38
1 A 0.097 0.0175 0.1 0.421 0.15 0.18 0.35 33.58 4.36
2 A 0.259 0.0175 0.1 0.421 0.15 0.18 0.35 45.27 4.42
3 B 0.178 0.03 0.1 0.421 0.15 0.18 0.35 41.27 3.24
4 B 0.178 0.005 0.1 0.421 0.15 0.18 0.35 26.14 3.73
5 C 0.178 0.005 0.156 0.421 0.15 0.18 0.35 31.79 4.84
6 C 0.178 0.005 0.25 0.421 0.15 0.18 0.35 37.89 6.085
7 D 0.178 0.005 0.1 0.324 0.15 0.18 0.35 25.88 3.71
8 D 0.178 0.005 0.1 0.648 0.15 0.18 0.35 27.73 3.95
9 E 0.178 0.005 0.1 0.421 0.1 0.18 0.35 23.77 3.33
10 E 0.178 0.005 0.1 0.421 0.15 0.18 0.35 26.14 3.73
11 AB 0.097 0.005 0.1 0.421 0.15 0.18 0.35 18.30 2.29
12 AB 0.097 0.03 0.1 0.421 0.15 0.18 0.35 36.50 4.08
13 AB 0.259 0.005 0.1 0.421 0.15 0.18 0.35 33.55 4.70
14 AB 0.259 0.03 0.1 0.421 0.15 0.18 0.35 44.29 1.68
15 BC 0.178 0.005 0.156 0.421 0.15 0.18 0.35 31.76 4.84
16 BC 0.178 0.005 0.25 0.421 0.15 0.18 0.35 37.89 6.09
17 BC 0.178 0.03 0.156 0.421 0.15 0.18 0.35 42.44 3.42
18 BC 0.178 0.03 0.25 0.421 0.15 0.18 0.35 44.94 3.84

contribution than factor C to the variability of NPV. The maximum
value of NPV reached when factor B was low and factor C was high.
The trend of BC interaction matches exactly with the trends of
Fig. 19-b and -C.
As a conclusion, the design is more efficient when arranged in this
order: large slug of surfactant containing low concentration of
surfactant and high concentration of polymer followed by large
polymer drive size containing high polymer concentration. Table 5
shows several cases in the testing dataset that were selected for better
evaluation of these achievements. Among different cases in Table 5,
cases 3 and 5 satisfied the aforementioned order very much whereas
parameters of case 7 were contrary to cases 3 and 5. Hence, it is
reasonable to expect that cases 3 and 5 provide outputs next to
maximum values of NPV and RF while case 7 provides outputs next to
minimum values based on sensitivity analysis results. According to
Table 5, ANN estimated NPV and RF of different cases correctly.
Outputs of cases 3 and 5 are maximum and case 7 is minimum among
different cases.
Simulation study of Wu et al. (1996) confirms the results of
sensitivity analysis in which they optimized a design of chemical
flooding for a sandstone reservoir. They concluded that dilute slug
containing low concentration of surfactants shows a larger NPV than
smaller, more concentrated surfactant slug. Furthermore, they stated
that higher polymer concentrations significantly improve the eco-
nomics. Their achievements have a good agreement with our model
and therefore the neuro-simulation model has similar trends with the
study of Wu et al. (1996).
The results of this study show that ANN can be applied as an
appropriate alternative for simulation and design of chemical
flooding. Accurate reservoir simulations require fine grid blocks
that increase the time and cost of simulation. This becomes an
apparent inconvenience when a decision must be made right away in
the critical operational situations. Faster but accurate approaches can
help field engineers better in such positions (Elkamel, 1998). Such
ANN modeling can be applied in different studies like history
matching and sensitivity analysis. Furthermore, modeling of both
RF and NPV in a unique model develops efficiency of ANN for
optimizations of multi-objective purpose. Multi-objective optimiza-
tion of chemical flooding presents deeper evaluation of the process
than maximizing either RF or NPV. Correlations which fit either RF or
NPV for objective function of optimization cannot be used in the case
of multi-objective optimization while this ANN modeling supplies its
possibility.
5. Conclusion
Neuro-simulation provides a powerful tool for better evaluation
of the chemical flooding. A MLP neural network has been developed
to analyze the chemical flooding in which the input data were
surfactant slug size, surfactant concentration and polymer concen-
tration in surfactant slug, polymer drive size, polymer concentration
in polymer drive, Kv/Kh ratio, and salinity of polymer drive, and the
output data were RF and NPV. The algorithm was divided into three
processes: training, generalization and operation. The network was
trained using training dataset while the evaluation data optimized,
generalized and validated the trained MLP network. All datasets
were normalized. Before ANN modeling, importance factor of each
parameter was determined. The 7 most important parameters were
surfactant slug size (A), surfactant concentration in surfactant slug
(B), polymer concentration in surfactant slug (C), polymer drive size
(D), polymer concentration in polymer drive (E), interaction of
factors A and B, and interaction of factors B and C. The correlation
between the simulation and ANN prediction data for training dataset
was 0.998 for both outputs. Also, the AARE error of training process
was reported as 0.977% for RF and 1.596% for NPV. In the
generalization process, the trained network was utilized to find the
optimum network which consisted of 1 hidden layer containing
8 neurons. Furthermore, the activation functions of hidden and
output layers were tangent sigmoid and purelin, respectively.
Bayesian regularization back-propagation was determined as the
best training algorithm. The error of evaluation process was reported
as 2.122% for RF and 4.617% for NPV. Furthermore, the performance
of optimum network was compared with RBF model, quadratic and
multi-objective regressions. MLP model had the best performance
among these methods. The results of training and generalization
process show that the network can follow the simulated data
accurately. In the operation process, the final prediction errors of RF
and NPV for testing dataset were 2.475% and 4.598%, respectively.
Finally, sensitivity analysis was done for better understanding of the
effects of most important parameters. Results show that this
arrangement of these parameters has the best efficiency for higher
oil production and more economic benefits: large slug of surfactant
 M.S. Karambeigi et al. / Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 78 (2011) 208–219 217

Fig. 19. Sensitivity analysis results, (a) the effect of factor A, (b) the effect of factor B, (c) the effect of factor C, (d) the effect of factor D, (e) the effect of factor E, (f) the effect of factor
AB, (g) the effect of factor BC.

containing low concentration of surfactant and high concentration of of the MLP neural network for prediction of RF and NPV in chemical
polymer followed by large polymer drive size containing high flooding process. Furthermore, neuro-simulation can be presented
polymer concentration. The result of this study clarifies the capability for designing of this process.
 218 M.S. Karambeigi et al. / Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 78 (2011) 208–219

Table 5
Several cases in the testing dataset for designing of chemical flooding.

Case Inputs Output 1 Output 2

Surf. slug size Surf. conc. Poly. conc. in surf. slug Poly. drive size Poly. conc. in polymer drive Kv/Kh Salinity of poly. drive RF (ANN) NPV (ANN)

1 0.259 0.005 0.123 0.324 0.16 0.1 0.4 37.99 5.61

2 0.206 0.03 0.1 0.324 0.2 0.01 0.3 45.08 3.25
3 0.187 0.005 0.25 0.523 0.198 0.01 0.4 44.14 7.20
4 0.097 0.005 0.25 0.648 0.1 0.01 0.3 28.09 4.04
5 0.105 0.019 0.25 0.648 0.2 0.14 0.4 50.61 7.52
6 0.097 0.022 0.1 0.324 0.1 0.25 0.371 28.56 3.49
7 0.097 0.005 0.137 0.324 0.1 0.01 0.3 18.11 2.27

Acknowledgment Weight matrix of output layer:

The authors are grateful to the Research and Technology Directorate Neuron number in the hidden layer
of National Iranian Oil Company, Tehran, Iran for financial support.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Appendix A. Equations of regressions Neuron 1 1.2170 0.723 0.897 − 0.616 − 0.377 − 0.450 0.267 − 0.425
number in 2 1.395 − 2.282 1.274 − 0.682 − 0.862 − 0.356 0.337 − 0.993
the output
Quadratic regression of RF: layer

RF = −54:4865 + 248:174⁎A + 1920:02⁎B + 151:394⁎C−9:09396

⁎D + 90:6568⁎E−16:2137⁎F + 115:691∗G−277:2⁎A2 −22412:8
⁎B2 −108:617⁎C2 −13:5922⁎D2 −230:827⁎E2 + 32:0861 Bias vector of hidden layer:
⁎F2 −114:201⁎G2 −2280:06⁎A⁎B + 37:6345⁎A⁎C + 11:4163
⁎A⁎D−66:8156⁎A⁎E−0:0772945⁎A⁎F−106:65⁎A⁎G−1722:5
Neuron number in the hidden layer 1 2.368
⁎B⁎C + 442:119⁎B∗D−6:42526⁎B⁎E−168:861⁎B⁎F−388:177 2 − 0.685
⁎B⁎G + 34:3926⁎C⁎D−73:6416⁎C⁎E−9:6705⁎C⁎F−135:179 3 0.316
⁎C⁎G + 78:3407⁎D⁎E + 9:07052⁎D⁎F + 23:8886⁎D⁎G + 12:647 4 − 0.824
⁎E⁎F + 59:5407⁎E⁎G−4:61591⁎F⁎G 5 1.142
6 − 1.169
Quadratic regression of NPV: 7 0.980
8 0.445

NPV = −12:3538 + 52:7409⁎A + 405:879⁎B + 33:8048⁎C−1:50288

⁎D + 22:5625⁎E−3:26305⁎F + 21:4432⁎G−58:3741
⁎A2 −4764:97⁎B2 −25:3181⁎C2 −2:75247⁎D2 −58:1034 Bias vector of output layer:
⁎E2 + 5:75084⁎F2 −20:4508⁎G2 −1293:77⁎A⁎B + 2:07451
⁎A⁎C + 1:36033⁎A⁎D−14:9438⁎A⁎E + 0:232993⁎A⁎F−21:9136
Neuron number in the output layer 1 − 0.898
⁎A⁎G−366:793⁎B⁎C + 88:9223⁎B⁎D−0:187818⁎B⁎E−37:5896 2 − 2.140
⁎B⁎F−77:5263⁎B⁎G + 6:23157⁎C⁎D−20:2133⁎C⁎E−1:60401
⁎C⁎F−27:6509⁎C⁎G + 11:3837⁎D⁎E + 2:05238⁎D⁎F + 4:85909
⁎D⁎G + 2:94821⁎E⁎F + 14:0504⁎E⁎G−1:18701⁎F⁎G

Multi-objective regression: Appendix C. Supplementary data

RF = −6:098 + 73:966⁎A + 466:362⁎B + 48:361⁎C + 16:426 Supplementary data to this article can be found online at doi:10.
⁎D + 59:058⁎E−8:335⁎F + 0:299⁎G 1016/j.petrol.2011.07.012.
NPV = 1:0825 + 0:0414⁎A−47:8989⁎B + 9:3375⁎C + 3:4035
⁎D + 9:7302⁎E−1:5368⁎F−0:9944⁎G
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