| Project Objective: | The project is a VISTA project in the improved oil recovery research area. Its main focus is discretisation techniques in near well regions. Reservoar simulators used in the oil industry is based on corner point geomery in a logically Cartesian grid. Recent developments also includes more flexible grids, like hexagonal Voronoj grids and radial grids, in near well regions. Radial like grids obtained via conformal mapping is also suggested. Structures with complex geometry, like fractures, require in general geometrically flexible grids.
The development of a new generation of reservoar simulators will require an improvement towards a mathematically more general structure which allows for a more extensive use of unstructured grids. Existing techniques for grid generation in near well regions are based on gridding in a horizontal isotropic plane near vertical wells. However, horizontal and skew wells have a larger drainage area than vertical wells and hence greater profitability. Most offshore wells drilled today are thus non vertical. This require greater considerations regarding anisotropy and permeability constrasts when gridding. Hence, it is necessary to test different local grid refinement techniques for near well regions, and different numerical schemes for such grids, subsequently. The project objective is then to get a clearer view on under which conditions certain grid types and discretisations are preferable. The project starts with considering the pressure equation on radial and radial-like grids in near well regions. Their validity in anisotropic media will be examined. Further, heterogeneities in the near wellbore medium will be included. Moreover, an extension to three space dimensions and possibly multi phase flow is a part of the project incentive. |
| Project leader: | Ivar Aavatsmark,VISTA professor at the Centre for Integrated Petroleums Research, University of Bergen. |
| Scholar: | Sissel Slettemark Mundal |
| Work Place: | Centre for Integrated Petroleums Research (CIPR), Matematisk institutt |
| Office: | Realfagbygget, room 4012B |
| Visiting adress: | Allégaten 41, NO-5007 Bergen, Norway |
| Postal adress: | Pb 7800, NO-5020 Bergen, Norway |
| Phone: | (+47) 5558 4879 |
| Faks: | (+47) 5558 8265 |
| E-mail: | Sissel.Mundal@cipr.uib.no |
Last update: January 2007
