DEVELOPMENT OF A TWO-PHASE FLOW COUPLED

CAPACITANCE RESISTANCE MODEL

Fei Cao, Ph.D.
The University of Texas at Austin, 2014

Supervisor: Larry W. Lake

The Capacitance Resistance Model (CRM) is a reservoir model based on a datadriven approach. It stems from the continuity equation and takes advantage of the usually
abundant rate data to achieve a synergy of analytical model and data-driven approach.
Minimal information (rates and bottom-hole pressure) is required to inexpensively
characterize the reservoir. Important information, such as inter-well connectivity,
reservoir compressibility effects, etc., can be easily and readily evaluated. The model also
suggests optimal injection schemes in an effort to maximize ultimate oil recovery, and
hence can assist real time reservoir analysis to make more informed management
decisions.
Nevertheless, an important limitation in the current CRM model is that it only
treats the reservoir flow as single-phase flow, which does not favor capturing physics
when the saturation change is large, such as for an immature water flood. To overcome
this limitation, we develop a two-phase flow coupled CRM model that couples the
pressure equation (fluid continuity equation) and the saturation equation (oil mass
balance). Through this coupling, the model parameters such as the connectivity, the time
constant, temporal oil saturation, etc., are estimated using nonlinear multivariate
regression to history match historical production data. Incorporating the physics of two-

phase displacement brings several advantages and benefits to the CRM model, such as
the estimation of total mobility change, more accurate prediction of oil production,
broader model application range, and better adaptability to complicated field scenarios.
Also, the estimated saturation within the drainage volume of each producer can provide
insights with respect to the field remaining oil saturation distribution.
Synthetic field case studies are carried out to demonstrate the different capabilities
of the coupled CRM model in homogeneous and heterogeneous reservoirs with different
geological features. The physical meanings of model parameters are well explained and
validated through case studies. The results validate the coupled CRM model and show
improved accuracy in model parameters obtained through the history match. The
prediction of oil production is also significantly improved compared to the current CRM
model. A more reliable oil rate prediction enables further optimization to adjust injection
strategies. The coupled CRM model has been shown to be fast and stable. Moreover,
sensitivity analyses are conducted to study and understand the impact of the input
information (e.g., relative permeability, viscosity, etc.) upon the output model parameters
(connectivity, time constants, etc.). This analysis also proves that the model parameters
from the two-phase coupled model can combine both reservoir compressibility and
mobility effects.