Subsoil Composition Determination Using Parametric Surface Meshing
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for determining subsoil composition in the hydrocarbon industry require pre-meshing, which introduces biases and fails to accurately account for sedimentary bodies, making it difficult to satisfy well constraints and associate cells with facies or geophysical properties.
Innovation Solution
A method that involves receiving an unmeshed model, determining a fluvial trajectory, and using parametric surfaces described by NURBS or B-splines to mesh the fluvial formation, allowing for accurate meshing and subsequent determination of subsoil composition, while also enabling the satisfaction of geological constraints through distortion of parametric surfaces.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If pre-meshing is performed before modeling, then the modeling process can be initiated, but the mesh size, orientation, and number introduce bias and reduce accuracy in subsoil composition determination
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by performing meshing after sedimentary bodies are identified during the modeling phase, rather than before. This allows the mesh to be adapted to the actual geological structures, eliminating the bias introduced by pre-meshing while still enabling the modeling process to proceed efficiently.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent inverts the conventional sequence by identifying sedimentary bodies first through modeling, then performing meshing on the identified structures. This reversal eliminates the fundamental problem of pre-meshing where the mesh geometry constrains rather than reflects the actual subsoil composition.
2Productivity
If pre-meshed models are used, then modeling can proceed, but it becomes difficult to accurately satisfy well constraints as log data must be transformed through blocking methods
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs meshing after sedimentary bodies are identified, allowing well constraints to be incorporated into the meshing process itself. This eliminates the need for blocking methods that transform and degrade log data, preserving the precision of well constraints while still enabling modeling execution.
3Productivity
If pre-meshed models are used, then modeling can be performed, but accurate association of cells with facies or geophysical properties becomes difficult due to cell dimension limitations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent identifies sedimentary bodies and determines their geometry before meshing, allowing the mesh to be specifically adapted to each geological structure. This ensures that cell dimensions and orientations are optimized for accurate facies and property association, rather than being constrained by a uniform pre-meshed grid.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2a
Figure 2b
AI summary
The present invention relates to a method for determination of real subsoil composition or structure characterized in that the method comprises: - receiving a model representing the real subsoil, said model comprising at least one parametric volume describing a geological formation in said model, said volume having a plurality of cells; - for each cell in the plurality of cells, determining a quality index (QI cell ) function of a respective position of the cell in the geological formation; - receiving a set of facies, each facies in said set being associated with a proportion and a quality index ordering in said formation; - associating a facies to each cell, said association comprising: /a/ selecting a cell with a lowest quality index within cells in the plurality of cells having no facies associated to; /b/ associating, to said cell, a facies with a lowest Quality index ordering within facies of the set of facies for which the respective proportion is not reached in the formation; /c/ reiterating steps /a/ to /c/ until all cells in the plurality of cells are associated with a facies.