Journal "Software Engineering"
a journal on theoretical and applied science and technology
ISSN 2220-3397

Issue N9 2021 year

DOI: 10.17587/prin.12.450-458
Flow Balancing in Modeling of Multi-Phase Flow using Non-Conformal Finite Element Meshes
M. G. Persova, persova@ami.nstu.ru, Yu. G. Soloveichik, soloveychik@ami.nstu.ru, A. M. Grif, grif.2013@stud.nstu.ru, Novosibirsk State Technical University, Novosibirsk, 630073, Russian Federation
Corresponding author: Grif Alexander M., Junior Researcher, Novosibirsk State Technical University, Novosibirsk, 630073, Russian Federation, E-mail: alexgrif@inbox.ru
Received on September 14, 2021
Accepted on October 13, 2021

The method of balancing numerical finite element flows in modeling a process of multiphase flow using non-conformal hexagonal meshes is considered. Studies have been carried out for a simple reservoir configuration and on a more complex model of a real field of high-viscosity oil in the Tatarstan. The research results showed that the balancing method allows one to obtain a conservative solution when using non-conformal finite element meshes with sufficiently large cells. At the same time, this method is completely free of problems associated with grid orientation, even for complex models containing zones with highly variable permeability. The proposed algorithm for the adaptive choice of parameters allows to do the factorization of the SLAE matrix at sufficiently small number of time steps; therefore, the computational costs of the flow balancing procedure are an order of magnitude less than the costs associated with calculating the pressure field and phase transfer. The used non-conformal finite element meshes with an arbitrary number of docked hexagons can significantly reduce the number of degrees of freedom when modeling multiphase flows in reservoirs with much small local heterogeneity and in the presence of several perforated zones. As a result, computational costs are reduced by almost an order of magnitude, and, at the same time, the required approximation accuracy is maintained. With an increase in the scale of the model and the number of operating wells, this advantage increases even more.

Keywords: modeling of oil and gas reservoirs; multiphase flow in porous media; finite element method; continuous Galerkin method; balancing flows; non-conformal meshes
pp. 450–458
For citation:
Persova M. G., Soloveichik Yu. G., Grif A. M. Flow Balancing in Modeling of Multi-Phase Flow using Non-Conformal Finite Element Meshes, Рrogrammnaya Ingeneria, 2021, vol. 12, no. 9, pp. 450—458.
This work was financially supported by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation (Research Laboratory "Modeling and data processing of high technologies", the project code is FSUN-2020-0012)