297
Formation
Tester Immiscible Flow Response in Horizontally Layered Media--StrataMagnetic
Software, LLC, 3000 North Sam Houston Parkway, Suite J2N41, Houston, TX
77032; 281-871-7264, www.stratamagnetic.com
Dr. Wilson C. Chin,
Principal Investigator, wilsonchin@aol.com
Dr. Wilson C. Chin, Business
Official, wilsonchin@aol.com
DOE Grant No.
DE-FG02-04ER84083
Amount:
$100,000
Significant amounts of
hydrocarbon are available in oil sands and oil shale within the United States; however, its recovery has been hampered by the
difficulty in accurately imaging the rock formations and fluid flow.
Although formation testers are now being used to sense the fine details
associated with multiphase fluid distributions in thinly-bedded sandstone-shale
sequences, software models are not yet available to interpret the data.
This project will develop a computational model that can address the
complicated physical problem in which azimuthal symmetries are generally absent.
Phase I will formulate and numerically solve a general three-dimensional
immiscible flow model for horizontally layered formations penetrated by
horizontal wells. The model will be
designed with special boundary conditions characteristic of formation-tester
operation, and it will be integrated with a computationally fast and stable
algorithm that allows for convenient field use.
Commercial
Applications and Other Benefits as
described by the awardee: The model
should permit more accurate identification of hydrocarbon and water saturations
in thinly-bedded sandstone-shale media. It
should allow petroleum engineers to test numerous “what if” scenarios
quickly and rule out situations that are not consistent with formation tester
(and other logging) measurements.