Principles of Applied Reservoir Simulation

353 Pages·2018·18.88 MB·English

by  John R. Fanchi

PRINCIPLES OF
APPLIED RESERVOIR
SIMULATION
Fourth Edition
JOHN R. FANCHI
Department of Engineering and Energy Institute
Texas Christian University
Fort Worth, Texas, USA
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ISBN: 978-0-12-815563-9
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In memory of my parents,
John A. Fanchi and Shirley M. Fanchi
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
John R. Fanchi is a professor in the Department of Engineering and Energy
Institute at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas. He holds the
Ross B. Matthews Chair of Petroleum Engineering and teaches courses in
energy and engineering. Before this appointment, he taught petroleum and
energy engineering courses at the Colorado School of Mines, and worked
in the technology centers of four energy companies (Chevron, Marathon,
Cities Service, and Getty). He is a distinguished member of the Society
of Petroleum Engineers and coedited the General Engineering volume of
the Petroleum Engineering Handbook published by the Society of Petroleum
Engineers. He is the author of numerous books, including Introduction to
Petroleum Engineering (with R.L. Christiansen, 2017), Energy in the 21st
Century, 4th edition (with C.J. Fanchi, World Scientific, 2017), Integrated
Reservoir Asset Management (Elsevier, 2010), Math Refresher for Scientists and
Engineers, 3rd edition (Wiley, 2006), Energy: Technology and Directions for the
Future (Elsevier–Academic Press, 2004), Shared Earth Modeling (Elsevier,
2002), Integrated Flow Modeling (Elsevier, 2000), and Parametrized Relativistic
Quantum Theory (Kluwer, 1993).
xi
PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION
Principles of Applied Reservoir Simulation, Fourth Edition is a significant revi-
sion and update of previous editions. Modern reservoir simulation has gone
through a major evolution during the past decade. As with previous edi-
tions, the book is a “hands-on” introduction to reservoir simulation. The
first nine chapters are a set of lessons to introduce key principles and show
how to use the executable version of the integrated flow (IFLO) simula-
tor included with the book. The last five chapters show how to conduct
modern reservoir studies using green field and brown field workflows. The
IFLO user’s manual is presented in the appendix. Many references are pro-
vided for readers who wish to study topics in greater depth.
The text and exercises include applications to traditional oil and gas
reservoir problems, as well as more special purpose applications to time-lapse
seismology, geomechanics, shale modeling, and coal gas modeling. A visual-
ization program (3DVIEW) supplements several exercises and lets the reader
obtain a 3-D perspective of the reservoir using IFLO output. Both IFLO and
3DVIEW are designed for use in a Windows operating environment.
Material in the book is suitable for readers that are familiar with reservoir
engineering concepts and would like to learn about applied reservoir simulation.
I have used the material in classes with engineering and earth science students.
A WORD ABOUT STANDARDIZED NOTATION AND UNITS
Reservoir simulation is a multidisciplinary activity. Rather than using a
notation that is standardized to a single discipline, I have chosen to use
notation that is representative of the relevant literature. In all cases, I define
the notation so that the reader will know the meaning of all symbols used in
the text. This will help the reader become more conversant with the range
of notations that is present in the literature.
As a rule, most of the units used in the text are oilfield units. Over the
course of a career, a member of a reservoir management team can expect
to work in both oilfield units and metric units. I have used oilfield units in
North American studies, and metric units in North Sea and Russian stud-
ies. Appendix C contains unit conversion factors to help the reader move
between oilfield units and metric units with relative ease. Some exercises
require the use of both sets of units to help the reader become familiar with
each system of units in the context of reservoir simulation.
xiii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to thank my colleagues and students for useful feedback. I
would also like to thank Kathy Fanchi and the Elsevier staff for helping
prepare this edition. I am, of course, responsible for any errors which may
be found in the text. Any written comments or suggestions for improving
the material are welcome.
John R. Fanchi
Texas Christian University
May 2018
xv
WEBSITE – SOFTWARE
The files needed to perform the exercises in the book can be downloaded
from [Fanchi.com website; select Resources]
xvii
CHAPTER 1
Introduction to Reservoir
Simulation
Chapter Outline
1.1 “Hands-on” Simulation 3
1.2 Introduction to IFLO 4
1.3 Input Data File 4
1.4 Output Data Files 5
1.4.1 Time Step Summary File: ITEMP.TSS 6
1.4.2 Run Output File: ITEMP.ROF 6
1.4.3 Well Output File: ITEMP.WEL 6
1.4.4 Array File: ITEMP.ARR 7
1.4.5 Material Balance Error File: ITEMP.MBE 7
1.5 Activities 7
1.5.1 Recommended Reading 7
1.5.2 Exercises 7
A reservoir simulator is a computer program that is designed to model fluid
flow in rock. Applied reservoir simulation is the use of these programs to
solve reservoir flow problems and influence reservoir management deci-
sions (Carlson, 2003; Gilman and Ozgen, 2013).
Reservoir simulation is an aspect of reservoir management. Modern res-
ervoir management can be broadly defined as a continuous process that
optimizes the interaction between data and decision-making during the
life cycle of a field. This definition covers the management of a variety of
reservoir systems, including hydrocarbon reservoirs, geothermal reservoirs,
and reservoirs used for geological sequestration.
Hydrocarbon reservoir management includes recovery of oil and gas
resources using a variety of processes ranging from primary recovery to
waterflooding, immiscible gas injection, and enhanced oil recovery (EOR).
Conventional hydrocarbon resources can be economically produced with-
out stimulation treatments such as hydraulic fracturing, or special recovery
processes and technologies. Other hydrocarbon resources are considered
unconventional resources and include coal gas, tight gas, shale gas, gas
hydrates, shale oil, and tar sands.
Principles of Applied Reservoir Simulation Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-815563-9.00001-X All rights reserved. 1
2 Principles of Applied Reservoir Simulation
Reservoir management concepts, tools, and principles are applicable
to subsurface resources other than oil and gas. For example, geothermal
reservoirs and geological sequestration are reservoir management applica-
tions that can be analyzed using reservoir simulation. Geological seques-
tration is the capture, separation, and long-term storage of greenhouse
gases or other gas pollutants in a subsurface environment. Carbon dioxide
injection in a coal seam can be an enhanced gas recovery process and a
geological sequestration process. If you would like to learn more about
the role of energy in today’s society, see Energy in the 21st Century (Fanchi
and Fanchi, 2017).
Many disciplines contribute to the reservoir management process
(Fanchi, 2016; Fanchi and Christiansen, 2017). In the case of a hydrocar-
bon reservoir, successful reservoir management requires understanding the
structure of the reservoir, the distribution of fluids within the reservoir,
drilling, and maintaining wells which can produce fluids from the reservoir,
transport, and processing of produced fluids, refining and marketing the
fluids, safely abandoning the reservoir when it can no longer produce, and
mitigating the environmental impact of operations throughout the life cycle
of the reservoir. Properly constituted asset management teams include per-
sonnel—often specialists—with the expertise needed to accomplish all of
these tasks. They must be able to communicate with one another and work
together toward a common objective. Reservoir simulation helps integrate
information from all of the disciplines and provides quantitative reservoir
performance forecasts.
Reservoir simulation studies are important when significant choices
must be made. The choices can range from “business as usual” to major
changes in investment strategy. By studying a range of scenarios, model-
ers can provide information to decision makers that can help them decide
how to commit limited resources to activities that can achieve management
objectives. These objectives may refer to the planning of a single well, or
the development of a world-class size reservoir.
Reservoir flow modeling is the most sophisticated methodology avail-
able for generating production profiles. A production profile presents fluid
production as a function of time. By combining production profiles with
hydrocarbon price forecasts, it is possible to create cash flow projections.
The combination of production profile from flow modeling and price fore-
cast from economic modeling yields economic forecasts that can be used
by decision makers to compare the economic value of competing reservoir
management concepts.