Effect of Upscaling Method on Recovery Performance Prediction of Two-Phase Flow through Porous Media

A geostatistical representative model of a reservoir may contain 10 8 -10 9 fine grid cells, while conventional reservoir simulators can only handle up to about 10 6 blocks due to computer hardware limitations. Upscaling has been introduced as an effective way to overcome this problem. It is a mathematical process which aims to replace a detailed description of a reservoir with a coarser one with equivalent properties. A number of analytical and numerical techniques have been proposed in the literature to obtain the upscaled permeability. In the present work, three criteria including permeability histogram, information loss index and global equivalent permeability are used to predict the accuracy of the methods. The effect of upscaling method on recovery performance of two-phase flow is studied through simulating unit mobility displacement process. Two permeability fields including highly heterogeneous and randomly distributed are investigated through this study. The validity of the predictions is also evaluated through simulating unit mobility displacement process.

Keywords:

Upscaling , Reservoir Simulation , Recovery Performance