Compositional simulation is a complex task that involves solving several equations simultaneously for all grid blocks representing a petroleum reservoir. Usually, these equations are separated into two groups: primary and secondary equations. Similarly, the unknowns of the system are also separated into primary and secondary variables. Considering the large number of unknowns, there are many ways to separate such variables in order to deal with the primary variables. This work aims at comparing a number of formulations for compositional reservoir simulation. It also aims at enhancing the formulations with new features not provided in the original publications. To accomplish these objectives, various formulations prevailing in the literature are implemented in The University of Texas at Austin in-house fully implicit simulator named GPAS (General Purpose Adaptive Simulator) and their performances were compared. Subsequently, some of the formulations were enhanced and tested for various applications. The comparison of the formulations studied indicated differences in efficiency for each approach. These differences come from the fact that when one is solving for a different set of primary variables, the manipulation of the equations is analogous to the use of a preconditioner applied to a linear system of equations. Furthermore, unlike a preconditioner, changing the primary variables affects the non-linear solver. Therefore, differences in terms of the number of Newton-Raphson iterations, used for solution of nonlinear equations resulting from discretization of nonlinear partial differential equations representing fluid flow in the reservoir, are expected. In addition to these differences in the non-linear solver, many formulations explore the fact that a reduced number of equations need to be solved implicitly, thus considerably reducing the CPU time dedicated to the linear solver. Finally, new features not provided in the original published formulations such as three-phase flash calculation, physical dispersion, and unstructured grid were implemented and verified. Additionally, it was demonstrated that, in certain situations, these enhancements are essential to properly model the physical phenomena occurring in oil and gas reservoirs. / text

Miscible gas flooding is a common method for enhanced oil recovery. Reliable design of miscible gas flooding requires compositional reservoir simulation that can accurately predict the fluid properties resulting from mass transfer between reservoir oil and injection gas. Drawbacks of compositional simulation are the efficiency and robustness of phase equilibrium calculations consisting of flash calculations and phase stability analysis. Simulation of multicontact miscible gas flooding involves a large number of phase equilibrium calculations in a near-critical region, where the calculations are time-consuming and difficult. Also, mixtures of reservoir oil and solvent such as CO₂ and rich gas can exhibit complex phase behavior at temperatures typically below 120°F, where three hydrocarbon-phases can coexist. However, most compositional simulators do not attempt to solve for three hydrocarbon-phases because three-phase equilibrium calculations are more complicated, difficult, and time-consuming than traditional two-phase equilibrium calculations. Due to the lack of robust algorithms for three-phase equilibrium calculations, the effect of a third hydrocarbon-phase on low-temperature oil displacement is little known. We develop robust and efficient algorithms for phase equilibrium calculations for two and three phases. The algorithms are implemented in a compositional reservoir simulator. Simulation case studies show that our algorithms can significantly decrease the computational time without loss of accuracy. Speed-up of 40% is achieved for a reservoir simulation using 20 components, compared to standard algorithms. Speed-up occurs not only because of improved computational efficiency but also because of increased robustness resulting in longer time-step sizes. We demonstrate the importance of three-phase equilibrium calculations, where simulations with two-phase equilibrium approximations proposed in the literature can result in complete failure or erroneous simulation results. Using the robust phase equilibrium algorithms developed, the mechanism is investigated for high efficiency of low-temperature oil displacements by CO₂ involving three hydrocarbon-phases. Results show that high displacement efficiency can be achieved when the composition path goes near the critical endpoint where the gaseous and CO₂-rich liquid phases merge in the presence of the oleic phase. Complete miscibility may not be developed for three-phase flow without considering the existence of a tricritical point. / text

[pt] A produtividade de poços produtores de gás, que operam com pressões de fundo inferiores à pressão de orvalho, é afetada pelo aparecimento da saturação de líquido em seus entornos. Para entender esse fenômeno, conhecido como bloqueio por condensado, os simuladores em escala de poros são ferramentas úteis na investigação dos parâmetros que influenciam na quantidade e na distribuição da saturação de condensado, assim como seus efeitos na redução do fluxo de gás. Esse trabalho apresenta um modelo de rede de capilares composicional e isotérmico para o estudo do escoamento de gás retrógrado em meios porosos. Forças capilares e gravitacionais não foram consideradas. O escoamento monofásico é comutado para bifásico de padrão anular quando a pressão e a composição do fluido atingem um critério de estabilidade. O método de Newton é aplicado para resolver as equações de fluxo e consistência dos volumes e calcular o transporte de cada um dos componentes ao longo da rede. As propriedades do fluido e o comportamento do escoamento foram testadas contra os resultados de um simulador termodinâmico comercial e soluções analíticas, respectivamente. Após validação, o simulador foi utilizado para obter curvas de permeabilidade relativa gás-líquido através da despressurização de uma rede 2D e alguns resultados são discutidos. / [en] Gas well deliverability in retrograde gas reservoirs is affected by the appearance of liquid saturation around the wellbore when the bottom-hole pressure is below the dew point. Pore-scale simulators are used to model this phenomenon, known as condensate blockage, and to investigate parameters that ifluence the amount and the distribution of condensate saturation, as well as how it chokes the gas flow. Here, a fully-implicit isothermal compositional pore-scale network model is presented for retrograde gas flow in porous media. Capillary and gravitational forces are neglected. The model shifts from single-phase flow to annular flow regime when the pressure and the fluid composition reach a stability criteria. Newton s method is applied on flow and volume consistency equations to calculate the transport of each component through the network. Fluid properties and flow behavior were tested against a commercial thermodynamic simulator and analytical solutions respectively. After validation, the simulator was used to predict gas-liquid relative permeability from a depletion process in a 2D network and some results are discussed.