The Formulation of a Thermal Simulation Model in a Vectorized, General Purpose Reservoir Simulator

Abstract

The Formulation of a Thermal Simulation Model in a Vectorized, General Purpose Reservoir Simulator M.C.H. Chien; M.C.H. Chien Chevron Oil Field Research Co. Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar H.E. Yardumian; H.E. Yardumian Chevron Oil Field Research Co. Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar E.Y. Chung; E.Y. Chung Chevron Oil Field Research Co. Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar W.W. Todd W.W. Todd Chevron Oil Field Research Co. Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Paper presented at the SPE Symposium on Reservoir Simulation, Houston, Texas, February 1989. Paper Number: SPE-18418-MS https://doi.org/10.2118/18418-MS Published: February 06 1989 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Twitter LinkedIn Get Permissions Search Site Citation Chien, M.C.H., Yardumian, H.E., Chung, E.Y., and W.W. Todd. "The Formulation of a Thermal Simulation Model in a Vectorized, General Purpose Reservoir Simulator." Paper presented at the SPE Symposium on Reservoir Simulation, Houston, Texas, February 1989. doi: https://doi.org/10.2118/18418-MS Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex Search Dropdown Menu nav search search input Search input auto suggest search filter All ContentAll ProceedingsSociety of Petroleum Engineers (SPE)SPE Reservoir Simulation Conference Search Advanced Search AbstractThis paper describes the formulation of a thermal simulation model in a vectorized, general purpose reservoir simulator. The thermal simulation model, an option in this general purpose simulator, is equivalent to a three-phase, three-dimensional, thermal compositional simulator. It has a variety of options for modeling fluid properties and phase behavior. These include the EOS method (the three parameter Peng-Robinson equation of state) and the non-EOS parameter Peng-Robinson equation of state) and the non-EOS methods (table look-ups and correlations). The model also considers the solubility of water in the oil phase. Furthermore, all calculations are extensively vectorized.Test problems including problem No. 3 of the Fourth SPE Comparative Solution Project are used to evaluate the effectiveness of vectorization. Results show that the vectorized calculations outperform the nonvectorized ones by about an order of magnitude in computational speed on the Cray X-MP/48. Overall, this thermal model runs about 5 times faster than a previously reported conventional, partially vectorized thermal simulator. partially vectorized thermal simulator. Finally, the use of this thermal simulation option to study the sensitivity of simulation results to various fluid property and phase behavior calculation methods is illustrated with a hypothetical problem. Results show that simulation results can be used to determine the importance of different Kvalue and volume calculation methods, and the inclusion of water-in-oil solubility.IntroductionIn recent years there has been an increasing interest in the development of general purpose reservoir simulators. A general purpose simulator offers easier maintainability by eliminating the need to duplicate routines which are common to many simulators. It also improves the consistency in the simulation results of various recovery processes for the same reservoir. In addition, vectorization can be used to improve the computational speed of such a general purpose simulator so that it becomes feasible to do large scale purpose simulator so that it becomes feasible to do large scale simulations.In a previous paper we have described the formulation of a black oil and a compositional option in a vectorized, general purpose reservoir simulator. It was shown that for some purpose reservoir simulator. It was shown that for some models, such a simulator could be an order of magnitude faster than a nonvectorized one.In this work, we extend the simulator to thermal applications with the objectives of higher computational speed and more accurate modeling of the thermal processes. The high computational speed in the thermal option is obtained by vectorization. The thermal process is modeled more accurately by adding two new features that are not generally found in conventional thermal simulators. First, we have an equation of state option for modeling fluid properties and phase behavior of hydrocarbon phases. An properties and phase behavior of hydrocarbon phases. An equation of state accounts for the compositional effects on K-value, therefore, it is a more rigorous approach for light oil steam floods. Secondly, we have included an option for water solubility in oil, which can be significant at high temperatures for some light oils.This paper is divided into several sections.P. 123 Keywords: calculation, vectorization, upstream oil & gas, viscosity, oil phase, simulator, water component, modeling & simulation, point range, property calculation method Subjects: Fluid Characterization, Improved and Enhanced Recovery, Reservoir Simulation, Phase behavior and PVT measurements This content is only available via PDF. 1989. Society of Petroleum Engineers You can access this article if you purchase or spend a download.