Fully implicit mixed-hybrid finite-element discretization for general purpose subsurface reservoir simulation

We present a new fully-implicit, mixed-hybrid, finite-element (MHFE) discretization scheme for general-purpose compositional reservoir simulation. The locally conservative scheme solves the coupled momentum and mass balance equations simultaneously, and the fluid system is modeled using a cubic equa...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of computational physics 2017-10, Vol.346, p.514-538
Main Authors: Abushaikha, Ahmad S., Voskov, Denis V., Tchelepi, Hamdi A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Compositional modeling
Computational physics
Computer simulation
Discretization
Finite element analysis
Finite element method
Finite volume
Full tensor
Fully implicit
Mixed-hybrid finite element
Momentum and mass coupling
Nonlinear equations
Reservoir simulation
Reservoirs
Robustness (mathematics)
Simulation
Studies
Unstructured grids
Unstructured grids (mathematics)
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Summary:We present a new fully-implicit, mixed-hybrid, finite-element (MHFE) discretization scheme for general-purpose compositional reservoir simulation. The locally conservative scheme solves the coupled momentum and mass balance equations simultaneously, and the fluid system is modeled using a cubic equation-of-state. We introduce a new conservative flux approach for the mass balance equations for this fully-implicit approach. We discuss the nonlinear solution procedure for the proposed approach, and we present extensive numerical tests to demonstrate the convergence and accuracy of the MHFE method using tetrahedral elements. We also compare the method to other advanced discretization schemes for unstructured meshes and tensor permeability. Finally, we illustrate the applicability and robustness of the method for highly heterogeneous reservoirs with unstructured grids.
ISSN:0021-9991
1090-2716
DOI:10.1016/j.jcp.2017.06.034