Grid calculation for fluid flow modeling

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9416630-B2
Application number	US-201313920728-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 18, 2013
Priority date	Jun 18, 2013
Publication date	Aug 16, 2016
Grant date	Aug 16, 2016

Abstract

A method of estimating flow properties of an earth formation includes: selecting a grid block representing a region of the earth formation, the region including at least one of an area and a volume of the earth formation, the grid block including a plurality of grid cells and having an orientation defined by grid axes; and calculating a fluid flow model of the region. Calculating the model includes: estimating a principal flow direction for each grid cell; adjusting the orientation of the grid block based on the principal flow direction; and calculating fluid flow parameters in each grid cell to generate the fluid flow model.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method of orienting a flow model of a formation, the method comprising:
selecting a plurality of cells representing a region of the formation, the plurality of cells having an orientation;
estimating, by a processor, a first principal flow direction and a second principal flow direction for each of the plurality of cells, the first principal flow direction associated with a first magnitude and the second principal flow direction associated with a second magnitude;
estimating a combined principal flow direction of each of the plurality of cells based on the first principal flow direction and the second principal flow direction, wherein estimating the combined principal flow direction includes calculating a ratio between the first magnitude and the second magnitude for at least one cell of the plurality of cells, and assigning a weight to the at least one cell based on the ratio; and
adjusting, by a processor, the orientation of the plurality of cells based on the combined principal flow direction.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the flow model is a dual continuum model and/or a dual porosity, dual permeability (DPDP) model.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein estimating the first principal flow direction and the second principal flow direction includes calculating equivalent information from a fracture model to each of the plurality of cells.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the fracture model is a discrete fracture model (DFN).

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein estimating the first principal flow direction and the second principal flow direction includes calculating an equivalent permeability tensor for each of the plurality of cells.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the equivalent permeability tensor includes a first principal direction associated with a first permeability magnitude and a second principal direction associated with a second permeability magnitude.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the orientation is defined by a first axis and a second axis, and adjusting the orientation includes orienting the plurality of cells so that at least one of: the first axis aligns with the first principal direction, and the second axis aligns with the second principal direction.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the first magnitude is a first permeability magnitude calculated from an equivalent permeability tensor associated with the at least one cell, and the second magnitude is a second permeability magnitude calculated from the equivalent permeability tensor.

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein adjusting the orientation includes rotating the plurality of cells so that the combined first principal direction is parallel to the first axis and the combined second principal direction is parallel to the second axis.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein estimating the combined principal flow direction includes:
calculating an equivalent permeability tensor for each of the plurality of cells, the equivalent permeability tensor including a first principal direction associated with a first permeability magnitude and a second principal direction associated with a second permeability magnitude, the first magnitude corresponding to the first permeability magnitude and the second magnitude corresponding to the second permeability magnitude.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising generating the flow model of the formation by applying flow parameters to the oriented plurality of cells.

12. An apparatus for orienting a flow model of a formation, the apparatus comprising:
a data acquisition tool configured to collect data about one or more parameters of the formation; and
a processor configured to construct the flow model, the processor configured to perform:
selecting a plurality of cells representing a region of the formation, the plurality of cells having an orientation;
estimating a first principal flow direction and a second principal flow direction for each of the plurality of cells, the first principal flow direction associated with a first magnitude and the second principal flow direction associated with a second magnitude;
estimating a combined principal flow direction of each of the plurality of cells based on the first principal flow direction and the second principal flow direction, wherein estimating the combined principal flow direction includes calculating a ratio between the first magnitude and the second magnitude for at least one cell of the plurality of cells, and assigning a weight to the at least one cell based on the ratio; and
adjusting the orientation of the plurality of cells based on the combined principal flow direction.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the flow model is a dual continuum model and/or a dual porosity, dual permeability (DPDP) model.

14. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein estimating the first principal flow direction and the second principal flow direction includes calculating equivalent information from a fracture model to each of the plurality of cells.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein estimating the first principal flow direction and the second principal flow direction includes calculating an equivalent permeability tensor for each of the plurality of cells.

16. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the equivalent permeability tensor includes a first principal direction associated with a first permeability magnitude and a second principal direction associated with a second permeability magnitude.

17. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the orientation is defined by a first axis and a second axis, and adjusting the orientation includes orienting the plurality of cells so that at least one of: the first axis aligns with the first principal direction, and the second axis aligns with the second principal direction.

18. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the first magnitude is a first permeability magnitude calculated from an equivalent permeability tensor associated with the at least one cell, and the second magnitude is a second permeability magnitude calculated from the equivalent permeability tensor.

19. The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein adjusting the orientation includes rotating the plurality of cells so that the combined first principal direction is parallel to the first axis and the combined second principal direction is parallel to the second axis.

20. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein estimating the combined principal flow direction includes:
calculating an equivalent permeability tensor for each of the plurality of cells, the equivalent permeability tensor including a first principal direction associated with a first permeability magnitude and a second principal direction associated with a second permeability magnitude, the first magnitude corresponding to the first permeability magnitude and the second magnitude corresponding to the second permeability magnitude.

Assignees

• Van Der Zee Wouter E
• Holland Marc
• Baker Hughes Inc

Inventors

• Van Der Zee Wouter E
• Holland Marc

Classifications

• G06F2111/10

  Numerical modelling · CPC title

• G06F30/20

  Design optimisation, verification or simulation (optimisation, verification or simulation of circuit designs G06F30/30) · CPC title

• G06F30/23

  using finite element methods [FEM] or finite difference methods [FDM] · CPC title

• E21B43/00 Primary

  Methods or apparatus for obtaining oil, gas, water, soluble or meltable materials or a slurry of minerals from wells (applicable only to water E03B) · CPC title

• G06F17/5009

  Physics · mapped topic