Geological Simulation Grid Design for Accurate Hydrocarbon Flow
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for designing geological simulation grids for hydrocarbon flow simulation are time-consuming and often inaccurate due to the complexity of representing geological structures, particularly when adding information about geological surfaces to an already-designed geometrical grid, and they do not adequately address the combinatorial complexity of intersecting mesh elements with geological faults or fractures.
Innovation Solution
A method for designing a geological simulation grid that accurately represents geological surfaces by determining pairs of cells on the same side of contact surfaces, allowing for the late-addition of geological information to an existing geometrical grid, thereby improving accuracy and reducing artefacts in hydrocarbon flow simulations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If a geometrical grid is designed to represent geological structures, then the simulation can capture geological features, but the design process becomes time-consuming and complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-defining geological surfaces and their contact relationships before finalizing the geometrical grid design. The method identifies pairs of cells representing geological surfaces and determines their contact status in advance, allowing the grid to be designed with accurate geological representation without excessive time consumption during the finalization stage.
2Adaptability or versatility
If geological surfaces are added to an already-designed geometrical grid, then late-addition of information is enabled, but the grid structure may become inconsistent
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by making targeted local modifications to the geometrical grid when adding geological surfaces late in the design process. Instead of redesigning the entire grid, the method identifies specific pairs of cells that represent the new geological surface and adjusts only those local elements, thereby maintaining the overall consistency of the grid structure while enabling late-addition of geological information.
3Measurement precision
If mesh elements are intersected with geological faults to improve accuracy, then simulation precision increases, but the combinatorial complexity becomes unmanageable
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the taking out principle by extracting the essential information about geological surfaces and their contacts from the complex mesh intersection problem. Instead of performing exhaustive mesh-element-by-mesh-element intersection analysis, the method identifies and extracts only the critical pairs of cells that represent geological surfaces and their contact relationships, thereby achieving accurate fault representation without unmanageable combinatorial complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
The invention notably relates to computer-implemented designing of a geological simulation grid configured for hydrocarbon flow simulation in a geological environment. The designing of the geological simulation grid comprises providing (S10) a geometrical grid having cells and representing the geological environment; providing (S20) a structural model that represents geological surfaces of the geological environment, the geological surfaces comprising one or more geological surfaces each in contact with at least one other geological surface; and determining (S30), for each geological surface of the structural model, pairs of cells that represent the geological surface, the pairs of cells determined for at least one respective geological surface in contact with at least one respective other geological surface each including a first cell and a second cell located both on a same side of the at least one respective other geological surface. This improves the field of geological simulation.