Texas A&M University at Qatar

is pleased to announce
the third lecture of its

Distinguished Lecture Series

Impact of Academic
Research on Industry of
Reservoir Simulation
Research
presented by
Dr. Khalid Aziz
Professor Emeritus and
Former Chairman of the Energy Resources
Engineering Department
Stanford University

Monday, 8 February 2010
7:00 8:00 P.M.
reception to follow lecture

Lecture Hall 238
Texas A&M Engineering Building

RSVP to Rola Abou Ghaida
rola.aboughaida@qatar.tamu.edu
+974.423.0212
2/9/2010
1
Impact on Industry of Academic
Research on Reservoir Simulation
Khalid Aziz
Stanford University
Texas A&M University Qatar, Doha
February 8, 2010
Introductory Comments about
Simulation and Simulators
3
Simulation Use Cycle: Data to Decision
Geomodels
Analysis,
Optimization and
Control (Decisions)
Data Collection,
Interpretation
and Integration
History Matching
and
Predictions
Simmodels
Geology Engineering
Geophysics
4
What is Modern Reservoir
Simulation?
Inflow - Outflow = Accumulation
Flow Rate=Transmissibility (Driving Force)
Pore Volume = Fluid Volume
Reservoir Divided into Blocks
Gringarten, 2002
Integration of data
from all sources
(wells, cores,
seismic, outcrops,
well tests, etc.)
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2
5
Encapsulated in Simulator Design
Define Physics
Flow Equations
Discretize
Over Grid
Solve over
Timestep
Analyze Results
Reservoir
Facilities
Rock
Visualize
Nonlinear
Linear
Equations
Regular
Irregular
Hybrid
Input
Output
6
Fundamental Balance Equations
( )
,
,
1
, , ,
Flow Rate out of
Block through
Wel
Flow Rate into Accumulation Rate in Block
Block from
Connected Block l s n i
1
i l i
n n
c p c p c p
i
l p p
w
c p
w p
i
w i
i
i
l
m M M
t
m
+
=
A


c: component
i: reservoir block, and
the well segment in that
block
l: reservoir block,
connected with block i
p: phase
w: well
i l=3
l=4
l=1
l=2
Well
Wells pose special problems
Quest for Reservoir Modeling
Technology is Old
7
Peaceman and Rachford (1961)
Wilde and Colleagues (1933)
8
How we got started?
Rice University Computer
1959-1971
Source: Wikipedia
2/9/2010
3
9
Input/Output Devices
Source: Wikipedia
Unit Cost (GFLOPS) Cost of
Computing
1960: $1 trillion
Today: <20 cents
10
11
Birth of PC
16 kilobytes of
memory
$16,000 in 1982
Now 200 million sold
per year
$1000 now buys a
powerful PC
Economist
2006
12
Imagining the Future can Drive
Developments
Moors Law
imagined by
Intel co-
founder
Gordon Moore
The number of
transistors on
a chip doubles
every 18
months
Actual: double
every 24
months
Wikipedia
One Billion
2/9/2010
4
13
Kurzweil Expansion of Moore's Law
New
technologies
may extend the
law
Moore's Law is
a violation of
Murphys Law
Everything gets
better and
better
Wikipedia
Returning to the Main Topic:
Impact of Academic Research
15
We have played an important role in
educating young men and women who
have assumed leadership positions in
industry
Our graduates are playing leading roles in
industrial research and development
related to reservoir simulation
But how about academic research itself?
Is it producing useful results?
Is there any relevance of current research
to industry needs?
Are we making progress at a sufficient
rate?
Obvious Impact Academic Research
}
16
My involvement in Simulation Research
University of Calgary 1965 to
1982
Established CMG in 1977
Book in 1979
Stanford University 1982 to
present
Started the Reservoir Simulation
Consortium (SUPRI-B) in 1982
Along with other colleagues
started the Stanford Center for
Reservoir Forecasting (SCRF) in
1987
Along with other colleagues
started the Advanced Wells
Consortium (SUPRI-HW) in 1991
Along with other colleagues
started the Smart Fields
Consortium (SFC) in 2004
Typically we have around 30
people working on reservoir
simulation related projects
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5
17
Flow in Pipes
Have been
working in this
area for 50 years
Most recent work
relates to the drift-
flux model
(collaboration with
SLB)
Experiments
CFD
Modeling
Original 1977, Updated 2008
18
Multiphase flow
in wells and
gathering system
Equations for
reservoir and
facilities have
different
characteristics
Efficient solution
techniques
Reservoir/Facilities Coupling
Picture provided by Watts
19
Topics for Detailed Discussion
GPRS
Automatic differentiation to build the
Jacobian
Nonlinear solvers
Linear solvers
Phase behavior
Modeling of chemical reactions
Well Modeling
Semi-analytical well modeling
Near-well modeling and upscaling
Advanced wells in simulators (black oil,
compositional, thermal)
Semianalytical models
20
General Purpose Research Simulator
A laboratory for academic reservoir
simulation research based on
object oriented design
Allows students to quickly get to
their specific research topic
Not intended for commercial
applications, but of value to
commercial organizations in their
own research
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6
21
GPRS Features
Evolving (First release 2002, Current
release number 2.2+)
Connection based (works with any grid)
Object oriented design (plug-and-play)
Flexibility in selecting primary equations
and variables
Variable implicitness (fixed or adaptive)
Facilitates adding new processes
Advanced wells
22
GPRS Research
Define Physics
Flow Equations
Discretize
Over Grid
Solve over
Timestep
Analyze Results
Reservoir
Facilities
Rock
Visualize
Nonlinear
Linear
Equations
Regular
Irregular
Hybrid
Input
Output
23
Some of the Challenges
Simulation development and maintenance
is very expensive
Adding new features and physics is
difficult
Nonlinear equations may not converge
Linear equations for large models may
take lot of time to converge
Handling complex phase behavior is
difficult and expensive
Well models complicate simulations and
may not provide the desired accuracy
24
Main GPRS Research Projects
Automatic Differentiation (AD) based
framework
Reduced variable method
Thermal & compositional multi-segment well
modeling
Chemical reaction modeling
Thermal Adaptive Implicit Method
Multi-phase thermal & compositional modeling
2/9/2010
7
25
Main GPRS Research Projects
Thermal and compositional flash
Multi-point flux approximation
Fast linear solvers
Nonlinear solvers
Upscaling i l=3
l=4
l=1
l=2
26
Examples of Recent Work
Upscaling
Nonlinear solvers
Automatic differentiation
Analytical well models
Application of optimization
27
Modeling Completion Details
Screen Gravel
Casing
Perforation Gravel Screen
Perforation Fracture Screen Gravel
Casing
Casing
Open hole Perforated
casing
Frac pack
Karimi Fard
28
Perforated casing with two tubings
Detailed Modeling and Upscaling
Karimi Fard
2/9/2010
8
Nonlinear Solvers That Converge All The Time
Work of Rami Younis
n
S
1 n
S
+
R
1 n
S
v
+
(

30
Implicit models and nonlinearity
( )
1
; , 0
n n
R S S t
+
A =
Challenges in reservoir simulation
Newtons method may not converge
Convergence rate may be too slow
Time-step selection for convergence is hard
Try-Adapt-Try-Again strategy
Stiff Nonlinear
Residual
( )
1
1 1 1 1
0
1
; ,
n n n n
n n
S S J R S S t
S S
v v v
v
+
+ + +
=
+

( ( ( = A

( =

Use Newtons
Method
31
Generalized view of Newtons iteration
( )
1
1 1
1
0
; ,
n
n n
n n
d S
J R S S t
d
S S
v
v
+
+
+
=
(

( = A

( )
1
1 1 1 1
0
1
; ,
n n n n
n n
S S J R S S t
S S
v v v
v
v
+
+ + +
=
+

( ( ( = A A

( =

Explicit Euler discretization
yields Newtons Iteration
Newton uses a step-size =1
32
Another Example
2 phase incompressible flow in 2 cells
1 t A =
2
S
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
1
S
( )
1
2
; ,
n n
R S S t
+
A
Residual norm
contours
4th order
integration of
Newton Flow
Ordinary
Newton steps
inj
S
1
S
2
S
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33
Another Problem: 2-phase, compressible, immiscible






0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
Time-step (days)
N
u
m
b
e
r

o
f

I
t
e
r
a
t
i o
n
s
No longer
converges
No longer
converges MAC Heuristic
(0.6)
MAC Heuristic
(0.25)
CN total
iterates
CN Newton
corrections
34
Comments on Nonlinear Solvers
Always converge
Robust
Efficient
Sound theoretical foundation
Automatic Differentiation for
Next Generation of Simulators
Work of Yifan Zhou and Rami Younis
36
AD Goals
Traditional Paradigm
Select Unknowns on paper
Code residual computations
Derive analytical derivatives
Code derivatives: Jacobian
AD
Select unknowns
State choice of unknowns in
a parameter file
Write residual code
For each time-step
For each Newton iteration
RESIDUAL CODE
JACOBIAN CODE
( )
1
1 1 1 1
0
1
; ,
n n n n
n n
S S J R S S t
S S
v v v
v
+
+ + +
=
+

( ( ( = A

( =

2/9/2010
10
37
AD vs. Numerical Differentiation
Automatic Differentiation (AD) is different from
Numerical Differentiation
Analytical derivatives instead of truncated Taylor
series No truncation error
e.g.
Fundamental components of AD
Elementary function derivatives
(a+b) = a + b [sin(f)] = cos(f) f
Chain rule to compute complicated derivatives
[sin(a+b)] = cos(a+b) (a + b)
| | c c / ) ( ) ( ) ( ' x f x f x f + ~
38
Numerical Examples
Three simulators compared:
Latest GPRS (No AD, Version 2.2.3, Built Jan.
2009)
ADETL[p]: with common freelist, point sparse
options
ADETL[b]: with non-recyclable, block sparse
options
39
Cas1 1: SPE10 Top Layer, 5-Spot Pattern (2D, 4 comp.)
60x220x1 heterogeneous, 1% CO
2
, 20% C
1
, 29% C
4
, 50% C
10
@ 76 bar, 372 K
One injector at (30,110,1): 90% CO
2
, 10% C
1
, BHP Ctrl @ 126 bar
Four producers at (1,1,1), (60,1,1), (1,220,1) and (60,220,1): BHP @ 30 bar
Run for 3000 days with maximum time step of 20 days
saturation
pressure
+44.90% more time than hand coded Jacobian
40
Case 2 4 Wells in High Perm Channels (3D, 4 Comp.)
50x50x5 with high permeability channels (100x anisotropy) and gravity, 1%
CO
2
, 20% C
1
, 29% C
4
, 50% C
10
@ 76 bar, 372 K
Two injectors at (1,1,1) and (50, 1, 1): 90% CO
2
, 10% C
1
, BHP Ctrl @ 126 bar
Two producers at (1,50,5) and (50,50,5): BHP Ctrl @ 50 bar
Run for 30 days with maximum time step of 2 days
High perm channel
3.64% less time than hand coded Jacobian
2/9/2010
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41
ADTL Summary
AD is a viable approach to quickly build
reservoir simulators to model complex
processes
Enables computation of Jacobian behind the
scenes
Enables rapid modification of choice of
variables
Compared to the standard approach, the
overhead of ADETL simulator ranges from
-4% to 45%
Further improvements are possible
42
42
Segment
Wolfsteiner, 2002
( )
t
k c
t
|
cu
V- Vu =
c
i
w w
i i
w
i
q p p
T

( =

Analytical Well
Modeling
43
Streamline Simulation
Curtsey of Streamsim
Technologies
44
Future: Closing the Loop
Production
System
Data
Update
Detailed
Model
Update
Reduced
Model
Optimization
Controls
Field
Development
Optimization
Optimization
and
Uncertainty
Propagation
Update
Reduced Models
Update
Detailed Models
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45
Optimization of a Gulf of Mexico Field
Starting with a good
engineering design
Optimize injection
and production with
typical engineering
constraints
NPV increased by
17% over eight years
of production mainly
by reducing water
production
Sarma et al. 2004
Challenges:
Gradients of the objective function
with respect to all controls
Nonlinear constraints
Finding global optimum
Handling of geological uncertainty
46
Optimum Field Development
Use Stochastic
techniques to
find
Best well design
Well location
Drilling schedule
60.0
80.0
100.0
120.0
140.0
160.0
180.0
200.0
0 10 20 30 40
Generation #
F
i
t
n
e
s
s

-

N
P
V
,

M
M
$
Best Average
Challenges
Finding global
optimum
Many simulations
Handling Geological
Uncertainty
Yeten 2002
47
Concluding Remarks
Reservoir
simulation
technology is
changing and
academic
groups are
making
important
contributions
New
applications
emerging
Time
Development Phase Deployment Phase
C
o
s
t
48
Publications of our group at RSS 09
1. SPE 118958 Numerical Simulation of the In-situ Upgrading of Oil Shale Y. Fan, SPE, L.
J. Durlofsky, SPE, and H. Tchelepi, SPE, Stanford University
2. SPE 118994 Adaptive Local-Global VCMP Methods for Coarse-Scale Reservoir Modeling
T. Chen, SPE, M. G. Gerritsen, SPE, L. J. Durlofsky, SPE, and J. V. Lambers, SPE,
Stanford University
3. SPE 118996 General Nonlinear Solution Strategies for Multi-phase Multi-Component
EoS Based Simulation, D.V. Voskov, R.M. Younis, H.A. Tchelepi, SPE, Stanford
University
4. SPE 118999 Detailed Near-well Darcy-Forchheimer Flow Modeling and Upscaling on
Unstructured 3D Grids, M. Karimi-Fard and L.J. Durlofsky, Stanford University
5. SPE 119057 Use of Reduced-Order Modeling Procedures for Production Optimization
M.A. Cardoso, SPE, and L.J. Durlofsky, SPE, Stanford University
6. SPE 119060 A New Method for Thermodynamic Equilibrium Computation of Systems
with an Arbitrary Number of Phases, Cdric Fraces Gasmi, SPE, Denis V. Voskov, SPE,
Hamdi A. Tchelepi, SPE, Stanford University
7. SPE 119084 Stability, Accuracy and Effi ciency of Sequential Methods for Coupled Flow
and Geomechanics, J. Kim, SPE, and H.A. Tchelepi, SPE, Stanford U., and R. Juanes,
SPE, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
8. SPE 119138 Dynamic Data Integration and Quantifi cation of Prediction Uncertainty
Using Statistical Moment Equations, P. Likanapaisal, Stanford, L. Li, Chevron Energy
Technology Co., and H.A. Tchelepi, Stanford
9. SPE 119147 Adaptively-Localized-Continuation-Newton: Reservoir Simulation Nonlinear
Solvers That Converge All the Time R.M. Younis, H.A. Tchelepi, and K. Aziz, SPE,
Stanford University
10. SPE 119171 Dynamic Upscaling of Multiphase Flow in Porous Media via Adaptive
Reconstruction of Fine Scale Variables, S. H. Lee, SPE, Chevron Energy Technology
Company, X. Wang, SPE, H. Zhou, SPE, and H. A. Tchelepi, SPE, Stanford University
11. SPE 119175 Scalable Multi-stage Linear Solver for Coupled Systems of Multi-segment
Wells and Complex Reservoir Models Y. Jiang, SPE, BP America Inc., and H. A. Tchelepi,
SPE, Stanford University
12. SPE 119183 Multiscale Finite Volume Formulation for the Saturation Equations H. Zhou,
SPE, Stanford University, S.H. Lee, SPE, Chevron Energy Technology Company, and
H.A. Tchelepi, SPE, Stanford University
13. SPE 119203 Convergence of MPFA on Hexahedra S.F. Matringe, SPE, Stanford U.; R.
Juanes, SPE, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and H.A. Tchelepi, SPE, Stanford
U.
2/9/2010
13
49
Acknowledgments
Contributions of many students and
colleagues
Strong support by industry
Research friendly academic
environment
Dissemination of results through
professional meetings like the RSS
of SPE
Thank You!
Question?
50