An improved procedure for generating pseudorelative permeabilities for water flooding in stratified reservoirs

Abstract This paper presents an improved procedure for generating pseudorelative permeability curves for stratified water flooding using either constant pressures or constant flux at the reservoir/grid block boundaries. The concept of pseudorelative permeability reflects the generation of a relative...

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Main Authors: Mohammad Shadadeh, Lesley A. James, Thormod. E. Johansen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SpringerOpen 2018-06-01
Series:Journal of Petroleum Exploration and Production Technology
Subjects:
Online Access:http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13202-018-0482-z
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author Mohammad Shadadeh
Lesley A. James
Thormod. E. Johansen
author_facet Mohammad Shadadeh
Lesley A. James
Thormod. E. Johansen
author_sort Mohammad Shadadeh
collection DOAJ
description Abstract This paper presents an improved procedure for generating pseudorelative permeability curves for stratified water flooding using either constant pressures or constant flux at the reservoir/grid block boundaries. The concept of pseudorelative permeability reflects the generation of a relative permeability curve that can be used to represent the entire reservoir thickness, rather than a specific layer during reservoir simulation, thus saving computational time. In this paper, fractional flow theory is applied to the generation of pseudorelative permeability curves for (1) constant flow rate and (2) constant pressure boundary conditions. Previously, pseudorelative permeability curves were generated for constant flow rate only, since the  analytical solutions for constant pressure boundaries were non-existant. In this paper, this restriction has been removed based on novel analytical solutions for constant pressure boundaries. The method within this paper also differs from previous methodologies and studies, which are all based on an approximation using piston-like displacement for water flooding. Instead, this new model uses fractional flow theory to its fullest extent to generate pseudorelative permeability curves that are physically more realistic. The solution is extended to generate pseudorelative permeability curves for waterflooding of a reservoir under the assumption of constant pressure boundaries which is an equally realistic assumption in comparison to constant flow rate. The generated pseudorelative permeability curves are used in a 2D areal reservoir model in a standard reservoir simulator to predict the behavior of the fully layered 3D reservoir model. It is found that there is considerably better agreement between the results obtained with this new method and the fully layered reservoir model compared to previous methods.
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spelling doaj.art-d64352f71597450183e2788491763ea52022-12-22T03:52:04ZengSpringerOpenJournal of Petroleum Exploration and Production Technology2190-05582190-05662018-06-019144945910.1007/s13202-018-0482-zAn improved procedure for generating pseudorelative permeabilities for water flooding in stratified reservoirsMohammad Shadadeh0Lesley A. James1Thormod. E. Johansen2Memorial University of NewfoundlandFaculty of Engineering and Applied Science, Memorial University of NewfoundlandFaculty of Engineering and Applied Science, Memorial University of NewfoundlandAbstract This paper presents an improved procedure for generating pseudorelative permeability curves for stratified water flooding using either constant pressures or constant flux at the reservoir/grid block boundaries. The concept of pseudorelative permeability reflects the generation of a relative permeability curve that can be used to represent the entire reservoir thickness, rather than a specific layer during reservoir simulation, thus saving computational time. In this paper, fractional flow theory is applied to the generation of pseudorelative permeability curves for (1) constant flow rate and (2) constant pressure boundary conditions. Previously, pseudorelative permeability curves were generated for constant flow rate only, since the  analytical solutions for constant pressure boundaries were non-existant. In this paper, this restriction has been removed based on novel analytical solutions for constant pressure boundaries. The method within this paper also differs from previous methodologies and studies, which are all based on an approximation using piston-like displacement for water flooding. Instead, this new model uses fractional flow theory to its fullest extent to generate pseudorelative permeability curves that are physically more realistic. The solution is extended to generate pseudorelative permeability curves for waterflooding of a reservoir under the assumption of constant pressure boundaries which is an equally realistic assumption in comparison to constant flow rate. The generated pseudorelative permeability curves are used in a 2D areal reservoir model in a standard reservoir simulator to predict the behavior of the fully layered 3D reservoir model. It is found that there is considerably better agreement between the results obtained with this new method and the fully layered reservoir model compared to previous methods.http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13202-018-0482-zUp-scaling relative permeabilitiesWater floodingPseudorelative permeabilityStratified reservoir modelFractional flow theoryConstant pressure boundary
spellingShingle Mohammad Shadadeh
Lesley A. James
Thormod. E. Johansen
An improved procedure for generating pseudorelative permeabilities for water flooding in stratified reservoirs
Journal of Petroleum Exploration and Production Technology
Up-scaling relative permeabilities
Water flooding
Pseudorelative permeability
Stratified reservoir model
Fractional flow theory
Constant pressure boundary
title An improved procedure for generating pseudorelative permeabilities for water flooding in stratified reservoirs
title_full An improved procedure for generating pseudorelative permeabilities for water flooding in stratified reservoirs
title_fullStr An improved procedure for generating pseudorelative permeabilities for water flooding in stratified reservoirs
title_full_unstemmed An improved procedure for generating pseudorelative permeabilities for water flooding in stratified reservoirs
title_short An improved procedure for generating pseudorelative permeabilities for water flooding in stratified reservoirs
title_sort improved procedure for generating pseudorelative permeabilities for water flooding in stratified reservoirs
topic Up-scaling relative permeabilities
Water flooding
Pseudorelative permeability
Stratified reservoir model
Fractional flow theory
Constant pressure boundary
url http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13202-018-0482-z
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AT thormodejohansen animprovedprocedureforgeneratingpseudorelativepermeabilitiesforwaterfloodinginstratifiedreservoirs
AT mohammadshadadeh improvedprocedureforgeneratingpseudorelativepermeabilitiesforwaterfloodinginstratifiedreservoirs
AT lesleyajames improvedprocedureforgeneratingpseudorelativepermeabilitiesforwaterfloodinginstratifiedreservoirs
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