Unfaulting Point Clouds for Geological Property Modeling
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Solution Overview
Problem
The presence of geological faults complicates property modeling of formations by offsetting and cutting through geological formations, making it difficult to accurately estimate geological and geophysical properties.
Innovation Solution
The method involves generating a point cloud of a geological formation, performing an unfaulting process to align fault blocks, and creating an unfaulted point cloud, which allows for property modeling to estimate properties like lithology, porosity, and water saturation, and then assigning these values back to the original faulted formation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If property modeling is performed directly on faulted geological formations, then the modeling process can be completed, but the accuracy of geological and geophysical property estimation deteriorates due to fault offsets and fractures
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by performing the unfaulting operation before property modeling. The method transforms the faulted point cloud into an unfaulted point cloud by removing fault effects, then performs property modeling on the transformed data. This preliminary transformation eliminates the adverse effects of faults on modeling accuracy while maintaining a systematic workflow.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary representation - the unfaulted point cloud - that serves as a mediator between the faulted geological formation and the property modeling process. This intermediate transformed space allows accurate property estimation by eliminating fault discontinuities, while the transformation and back-transformation processes maintain the connection to the original faulted formation.
2Manufacturing precision
If the unfaulting process is applied to minimize fault throws, then property modeling accuracy improves, but the processing complexity and computational requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by dividing the point cloud processing into distinct operational phases: generating the faulted point cloud, performing the unfaulting transformation, conducting property modeling on the unfaulted data, and back-transforming results to the faulted formation. This segmented approach manages complexity by breaking down the overall complex process into manageable, sequential steps with clear interfaces between them.
Data Source
AI summary
A method includes generating a faulted point cloud representing a faulted geological formation including a first fault block having a first surface, a second fault block having a second surface, and a fault formed therebetween and having a fault surface, generating a first fault trace from an intersection of the first surface and the fault surface and a second fault trace from an intersection of the second surface and the fault surface, generating a first fault polygon using the first and second fault traces, generating a center polyline, generating third and fourth fault traces separated from the first and second fault traces, respectively, generating a second fault polygon using the third and fourth fault traces, expanding a first area including the first and third fault traces, expanding a second area including the second and fourth fault traces, and generating an unfaulted point cloud representing an unfaulted geological formation.