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Journal articleLei Q, Jackson MD, Muggeridge AH, et al., 2020,
Modelling the reservoir-to-tubing pressure drop imposed by multiple autonomous inflow control devices installed in a single completion joint in a horizontal well
, Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, Vol: 189, Pages: 1-16, ISSN: 0920-4105Autonomous inflow control devices (AICDs) are used to introduce an additional pressure drop between the reservoir and the tubing of a production well that depends on the fluid phase flowing into the device: a larger pressure drop is introduced when unwanted phases such as water or gas enter the AICD. The additional pressure drop is typically represented in reservoir simulation models using empirical relationships fitted to experimental data for a single AICD. This approach may not be correct if each completion joint is equipped with multiple AICDs as the flow at different AICDs may be different. We use high-resolution numerical modelling to determine the total additional pressure drop introduced by two AICDs installed in a single completion joint in a horizontal well. The model captures the multiphase flow of oil and water through the inner annulus into each AICD. We explore a number of relevant oil-water inflow scenarios with different flow rates and water cuts. Our results show that if only one AICD is installed, the additional pressure drop is consistent with the experimentalzly-derived empirical formulation. However, if two AICDs are present, there is a significant discrepancy between the additional pressure drop predicted by the simulator and the empirical relationship. This discrepancy occurs because each AICD has a different total and individual phase flow rate, and the final steady-state flow results from a self-organising mechanism emerging from the system. We report the discrepancy as a water cut-dependent correction to the empirical equation, which can be used in reservoir simulation models to better capture the pressure drop across a single completion containing two AICDs. Our findings highlight the importance of understanding how AICDs modify flow into production wells, and have important consequences for improving the representation of advanced wells in reservoir simulation models.
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Journal articleKampitsis AE, Adam A, Salinas P, et al., 2020,
Dynamic adaptive mesh optimisation for immiscible viscous fingering
, COMPUTATIONAL GEOSCIENCES, Vol: 24, Pages: 1221-1237, ISSN: 1420-0597- Author Web Link
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Journal articleZhang Z, Geiger S, Rood M, et al., 2020,
Fast flow computation methods on unstructured tetrahedral meshes for rapid reservoir modelling
, Computational Geosciences, Vol: 24, Pages: 641-661, ISSN: 1420-0597Subsurface reservoir models have a high degree of uncertainty regarding reservoir geometry and structure. A range of conceptual models should therefore be generated to explore how fluids-in-place, reservoir dynamics, and development decisions are affected by such uncertainty. The rapid reservoir modelling (RRM) workflow has been developed to prototype reservoir models across scales and test their dynamic behaviour. RRM complements existing workflows in that conceptual models can be prototyped, explored, compared, and ranked rapidly prior to detailed reservoir modelling. Reservoir geology is sketched in 2D with geological operators and translated in real-time into geologically correct 3D models. Flow diagnostics provide quantitative information for these reservoir model prototypes about their static and dynamic behaviours. A tracing algorithm is reviewed and implemented to compute time-of-flight and tracer concentrations efficiently on unstructured grids. Numerical well testing (NWT) is adopted in RRM to further interrogate the reservoir model. A new edge-based fast marching method is developed and implemented to solve the diffusive time-of-flight for approximating pressure transients efficiently on unstructured tetrahedral meshes. We demonstrate that an implementation of the workflow consisting of integrated sketch-based interface modelling, unstructured mesh generation, flow diagnostics, and numerical well testing is possible.
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Journal articleCollini H, Li S, Jackson MD, et al., 2020,
Zeta potential in intact carbonates at reservoir conditions and its impact on oil recovery during controlled salinity waterflooding
, Fuel, Vol: 266, Pages: 1-16, ISSN: 0016-2361It is well known that oil recovery from carbonate reservoirs can be increased by modifying the injected brine composition in a process ‘controlled salinity water-flooding’ (CSW). However, the mineral- to pore- scale processes responsible for improved oil recovery (IOR) during CSW remain ambiguous and there is no method to predict the optimum CSW composition for a given crude-oil-brine rock system. Here we report the first integrated experimental measurements of zeta potential and IOR during CSW obtained at reservoir conditions. The zeta potential is a measure of the electrical potential at mineral-brine and oil-brine interfaces and controls the electrostatic forces acting between these interfaces.We find that the measured zeta potential in clean samples saturated with formation brine is typically positive and becomes more negative with brine dilution irrespective of temperature. After aging and wettability alteration, the zeta potential changes and we suggest a more positive zeta potential indicates a positive zeta potential at the oil-brine interface and vice-versa. Injecting low salinity brine yields IOR when the oil-brine zeta potential is identified to be negative, but no response when it is identified to be positive, consistent with the hypothesis that IOR during CSW is caused by an increase in the repulsive electrostatic force acting between mineral-brine and oil-brine interfaces. We suggest that the optimum brine composition for IOR during CSW should be chosen to yield the largest change in zeta potential at the mineral-brine interface with opposing polarity to the oil-brine interface and can be determined using the experimental method reported here.
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Journal articleSalinas P, Pain C, Osman H, et al., 2020,
Vanishing artifficial diffusion as a mechanism to accelerate convergence for multiphase porous media flow
, Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering, Vol: 359, Pages: 1-15, ISSN: 0045-7825Numerical solution of the equations governing multiphase porous media flow is challenging. A common approach to improve the performance of iterative non-linear solvers for these problems is to introduce artificial diffusion. Here, we present a mass conservative artificial diffusion that accelerates the non-linear solver but vanishes when the solution is converged. The vanishing artificial diffusion term is saturation dependent and is larger in regions of the solution domain where there are steep saturation gradients. The non-linear solver converges more slowly in these regions because of the highly non-linear nature of the solution. The new method provides accurate results while significantly reducing the number of iterations required by the non-linear solver. It is particularly valuable in reducing the computational cost of highly challenging numerical simulations, such as those where physical capillary pressure effects are dominant. Moreover, the method allows converged solutions to be obtained for Courant numbers that are at least two orders of magnitude larger than would otherwise be possible.
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Journal articleOnyenanu G, Hampson G, Fitch P, et al., 2019,
Characterisation of effective permeability in heterolithic, distal lower shoreface sandstone reservoirs: Rannoch Formation, Brent Group, UK North Sea
, Petroleum Geoscience, Vol: 25, Pages: 519-531, ISSN: 1354-0793The reservoir properties of distal lower-shoreface and distal wave-dominated delta-front deposits, which consist of sandstone beds with locally scoured bases and mudstone interbeds, are poorly understood. The lower Rannoch Formation (Middle Jurassic Brent Group) forms an interval of such heterolithic sandstones in many North Sea reservoirs, and is used to illustrate a workflow for rapid estimation of reservoir properties and their sensitivity to key parameters. Mudstone-interbed thickness distributions in cored reservoir successions are compared to the thickness distribution of sandstone scour-fills in an outcrop analogue(s) in order to identify mudstones with the potential to form laterally extensive barriers to vertical flow. Effective kv/kh at the scale of several typical reservoir-model grid cells (200 × 100 × 20 m) is estimated in intervals bounded by these mudstone barriers via a simple analytical technique that is calibrated to previously documented reservoir-modelling experiments, using values of sandstone proportion measured in cored reservoir successions. Using data from the G2 parasequence (Grassy Member, Blackhawk Formation, east-central Utah, USA) outcrop analogue, mudstones bounding 3–8 m-thick, upwards-coarsening successions in the lower Rannoch Formation may define separate stratigraphic compartments in which grid-cell-scale effective kv/kh is estimated to be 0.0001–0.001 using a streamline-based analytical method.
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Journal articleMacAllister DJ, Graham MT, Vinogradov J, et al., 2019,
Characterising the self-potential response to concentration gradients in heterogeneous sub-surface environments
, Journal of Geophysical Research. Solid Earth, Vol: 124, Pages: 7918-7933, ISSN: 2169-9356Self‐potential (SP) measurements can be used to characterise and monitor, in real‐time, fluid movement and behaviour in the sub‐surface. The electrochemical exclusion‐diffusion (EED) potential, one component of SP, arises when concentration gradients exist in porous media. Such concentration gradients are of concern in coastal and contaminated aquifers, and oil and gas reservoirs. It is essential that estimates of EED potential are made prior to conducting SP investigations in complex environments with heterogeneous geology and salinity contrasts, such as the UK Chalk coastal aquifer. Here, we report repeatable laboratory estimates of the EED potential of chalk and marls using natural groundwater (GW), seawater (SW), deionised (DI) water and 5 M NaCl. In all cases the EED potential of chalk was positive (using a GW/SW concentration gradient the EED potential was c.14 to 22 mV), with an increased deviation from the diffusion limit at the higher salinity contrast. Despite the relatively small pore size of chalk (c.1 μm), it is dominated by the diffusion potential and has a low exclusion‐efficiency, even at large salinity contrasts. Marl samples have a higher exclusion‐efficiency which is of sufficient magnitude to reverse the polarity of the EED potential (using a GW/SW concentration gradient the EED potential was c.‐7 to ‐12 mV) with respect to the chalk samples. Despite the complexity of the natural samples used, the method produced repeatable results. We also show that first order estimates of the exclusion‐efficiency can be made using SP logs, supporting the parameterisation of the model reported in Graham et al. (2018), and that derived values for marls are consistent with the laboratory experiments, while values derived for hardgrounds based on field data indicate a similarly high exclusion‐efficiency. While this method shows promise in the absence of laboratory measurements, more rigorous estimates should be made where possible and can be conducted following
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Journal articleOnyenanu G, Hampson GJ, Fitch P, et al., 2019,
Effects of erosional scours on reservoir properties of heterolithic, distal lower shoreface sandstones
, Petroleum Geoscience, Vol: 25, Pages: 235-248, ISSN: 1354-0793Distal intervals of interbedded sandstones and mudstones in shallow-marine, wave-dominated shoreface and deltaic reservoirs may contain significant hydrocarbon resources, but their reservoir properties are difficult to predict. Relatively small-scale (200 × 100 × 20 m) three-dimensional object-based reservoir models, conditioned to outcrop analogue data, have been used to investigate the controls on the proportion of sandstone, the proportion of sandstone beds that are connected by sandstone-filled erosional scours and the effective vertical-to-horizontal permeability ratio (kv/kh) of such intervals. The proportion of sandstone is controlled by sandstone-bed and mudstone-interbed thickness, and by parameters that describe the geometry, dimensions and lateral-stacking density of sandstone-filled scours. Sandstone-bed connectivity is controlled by the interplay between the thickness of mudstone interbeds and sandstone-filled erosional scours. Effective kv/kh is controlled by the proportion of sandstone, which represents the effects of variable distributions and dimensions of mudstones produced by scour erosion, provided that scour thickness is greater than mudstone-interbed thickness. These modelling results provide a means of estimating the effective kv/kh at the scale of typical reservoir-model grid cells using values of mudstone-interbed thickness and the proportion of sandstone that can potentially be provided by core data.
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Journal articleEdmonds M, Cashman KV, Holness M, et al., 2019,
Architecture and dynamics of magma reservoirs
, PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY A-MATHEMATICAL PHYSICAL AND ENGINEERING SCIENCES, Vol: 377, ISSN: 1364-503X -
Journal articleSparks RSJ, Annen C, Blundy JD, et al., 2019,
Formation and dynamics of magma reservoirs
, PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY A-MATHEMATICAL PHYSICAL AND ENGINEERING SCIENCES, Vol: 377, ISSN: 1364-503X -
Journal articleJacquemyn C, Jackson MD, Hampson GJ, 2019,
Surface-based geological reservoir modelling using grid-free NURBS curves and surfaces
, Mathematical Geosciences, Vol: 51, Pages: 1-28, ISSN: 1874-8953Building geometrically realistic representations of geological heterogeneity in reservoir models is a challenging task that is limited by the inflexibility of pre-defined pillar or cornerpoint grids. Surface-based modelling workflow uses grid-free surfaces that allows efficient creation of geological models without the limitations of pre-defined grids. Surface-based reservoir modelling uses a boundary representation approach in which all heterogeneity of interest (structural, stratigraphic, sedimentological, diagenetic) is modelled by its bounding surfaces, independent of any grid. Volumes bounded by these surfaces are internally homogeneous and thus no additional facies or petrophysical modelling is performed within these geological domains and no grid or mesh discretization is needed during modelling. Any heterogeneity to be modelled within such volumes is incorporated by adding surfaces. Surfaces and curves are modelled using a parametric NURBS (non-uniform rational B-splines) description. These surfaces are efficient to generate and manipulate, and allow fast creation of multiple realizations of geometrically realistic reservoir models. Multiple levels of surface hierarchy are introduced to allow modelling of all features of interest at the required level of detail; surfaces at one hierarchical level are constructed so as to truncate or conform to surfaces of a higher hierarchical level. This procedure requires joining, terminating and stacking of surfaces to ensure that models contain “watertight” surface-bounded volumes. NURBS curves are used to represent well trajectories accurately, including multi-laterals or side-tracks. Once all surfaces and wells have been generated, they are combined into a reservoir model that takes into account geological relationships between surfaces and preserves realistic geometries.
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Journal articleAbdul Hamid SA, Adam A, Jackson MD, et al., 2019,
Impact of truncation error and numerical scheme on the simulation of the early time growth of viscous fingering
, International Journal for Numerical Methods in Fluids, Vol: 89, Pages: 1-15, ISSN: 0271-2091The truncation error associated with different numerical schemes (first order finite volume, second order finite difference, control volume finite element) and meshes (fixed Cartesian, fixed structured triangular, fixed unstructured triangular and dynamically adapting unstructured triangular) is quantified in terms of apparent longitudinal and transverse diffusivity in tracer displacements and in terms of the early time growth rate of immiscible viscous fingers. The change in apparent numerical longitudinal diffusivity with element size agrees well with the predictions of Taylor series analysis of truncation error but the apparent, numerical transverse diffusivity is much lower than the longitudinal diffusivity in all cases. Truncation error reduces the growth rate of immiscible viscous fingers for wavenumbers greater than 1 in all cases but does not affect the growth rate of higher wavenumber fingers as much as would be seen if capillary pressure were present. The dynamically adapting mesh in the control volume finite element model gave similar levels of truncation error to much more computationally intensive fine resolution fixed meshes, confirming that these approaches have the potential to significantly reduce the computational effort required to model viscous fingering.
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Journal articleJackson MD, Blundy J, Sparks RSJ, 2018,
Chemical differentiation, cold storage and remobilization of magma in the Earth's crust
, Nature, Vol: 564, Pages: 405-409+, ISSN: 0028-0836The formation, storage and chemical differentiation of magma in the Earth’s crust is of fundamental importance in igneous geology and volcanology. Recent data are challenging the high-melt-fraction ‘magma chamber’ paradigm that has underpinned models of crustal magmatism for over a century, suggesting instead that magma is normally stored in low-melt-fraction ‘mush reservoirs’1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9. A mush reservoir comprises a porous and permeable framework of closely packed crystals with melt present in the pore space1,10. However, many common features of crustal magmatism have not yet been explained by either the ‘chamber’ or ‘mush reservoir’ concepts1,11. Here we show that reactive melt flow is a critical, but hitherto neglected, process in crustal mush reservoirs, caused by buoyant melt percolating upwards through, and reacting with, the crystals10. Reactive melt flow in mush reservoirs produces the low-crystallinity, chemically differentiated (silicic) magmas that ascend to form shallower intrusions or erupt to the surface11,12,13. These magmas can host much older crystals, stored at low and even sub-solidus temperatures, consistent with crystal chemistry data6,7,8,9. Changes in local bulk composition caused by reactive melt flow, rather than large increases in temperature, produce the rapid increase in melt fraction that remobilizes these cool- or cold-stored crystals. Reactive flow can also produce bimodality in magma compositions sourced from mid- to lower-crustal reservoirs14,15. Trace-element profiles generated by reactive flow are similar to those observed in a well studied reservoir now exposed at the surface16. We propose that magma storage and differentiation primarily occurs by reactive melt flow in long-lived mush reservoirs, rather than by the commonly invoked process of fractional crystallization in magma chambers[14].
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Journal articleLi S, Collini H, Jackson MD, 2018,
Anomalous Zeta Potential Trends in Natural Sandstones
, GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, Vol: 45, Pages: 11068-11073, ISSN: 0094-8276 -
Journal articleLei Q, Xie Z, Pavlidis D, et al., 2018,
The shape and motion of gas bubbles in a liquid flowing through a thin annulus
, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Vol: 285, Pages: 1017-1039, ISSN: 0022-1120We study the shape and motion of gas bubbles in a liquid flowing through a horizontal or slightly inclined thin annulus. Experimental data show that in the horizontal annulus, bubbles develop a unique ‘tadpole-like’ shape with a semi-circular cap and a highly stretched tail. As the annulus is inclined, the bubble tail tends to vanish, resulting in a significant decrease of bubble length. To model the bubble evolution, the thin annulus is conceptualised as a ‘Hele-Shaw’ cell in a curvilinear space. The three-dimensional flow within the cell is represented by a gap-averaged, two-dimensional model, which achieved a close match to the experimental data. The numerical model is further used to investigate the effects of gap thickness and pipe diameter on the bubble behaviour. The mechanism for the semi-circular cap formation is interpreted based on an analogous irrotational flow field around a circular cylinder, based on which a theoretical solution to the bubble velocity is derived. The bubble motion and cap geometry is mainly controlled by the gravitational component perpendicular to the flow direction. The bubble elongation in the horizontal annulus is caused by the buoyancy that moves the bubble to the top of the annulus. However, as the annulus is inclined, the gravitational component parallel to the flow direction becomes important, causing bubble separation at the tail and reduction in bubble length.
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Journal articleSalinas P, Pavlidis D, Xie Z, et al., 2018,
A robust mesh optimisation method for multiphase porous media flows
, Computational Geosciences, Vol: 22, Pages: 1389-1401, ISSN: 1420-0597Flows of multiple fluid phases are common in many subsurface reservoirs. Numerical simulation of these flows can bechallenging and computationally expensive. Dynamic adaptive mesh optimisation and related approaches, such as adaptivegrid refinement can increase solution accuracy at reduced computational cost. However, in models or parts of the modeldomain, where the local Courant number is large, the solution may propagate beyond the region in which the mesh isrefined, resulting in reduced solution accuracy, which can never be recovered. A methodology is presented here to modifythe mesh within the non-linear solver. The method allows efficient application of dynamic mesh adaptivity techniques evenwith high Courant numbers. These high Courant numbers may not be desired but a consequence of the heterogeneity of thedomain. Therefore, the method presented can be considered as a more robust and accurate version of the standard dynamicmesh adaptivity techniques.
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Journal articleVinogradov J, Jackson MD, Chamerois M, 2018,
Zeta potential in sandpacks: Effect of temperature, electrolyte pH, ionic strength and divalent cations
, Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects, Vol: 553, Pages: 259-271, ISSN: 0927-7757Rocks in many subsurface settings are at elevated temperature and are saturated with brines of high ionic strength (high salinity) containing divalent ions. Yet most laboratory measurements of zeta potential in earth materials are obtained at room temperature using simple monovalent electrolytes at low ionic strength. Consequently, the zeta potential at conditions relevant to many subsurface settings is not known. We report experimental measurements of the temperature dependence of the zeta potential in well characterised, natural quartz sandpacks over the temperature range 23–120 °C saturated with electrolytes containing divalent ions at a range of concentrations relevant to natural systems. We find that the key control on zeta potential in these unbuffered experiments is pH, which varies in response to temperature and electrolyte composition. The zeta potential is negative irrespective of sample or electrolyte, but its magnitude is strongly correlated to pH, which varies both with temperature and the concentration of divalent ions. The pH decreases with increasing temperature at low ionic strength, but is independent of temperature at high ionic strength. The pH is also typically lower in the presence of divalent ions, irrespective of the total ionic strength. The zeta potential increases in magnitude with increasing pH. Different relationships between zeta potential, temperature and concentration of divalent ions could be obtained in buffered experiments where the pH is fixed at a given value.
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Journal articleMalcolm G, Jackson M, MacAllister DJ, et al., 2018,
Self-potential as a predictor of seawater intrusion in coastal groundwater boreholes
, Water Resources Research, Vol: 54, Pages: 6055-6071, ISSN: 0043-1397Monitoring of self‐potentials (SP) in the Chalk of England has shown that a consistent electrical potential gradient exists within a coastal groundwater borehole previously affected by seawater intrusion (SI) and that this gradient is absent in boreholes further inland. Furthermore, a small but characteristic reduction in this gradient was observed several days prior to SI occurring. We present results from a combined hydrodynamic and electrodynamic model, which matches the observed phenomena for the first time and sheds light on the source mechanisms for the spatial and temporal distribution of SP. The model predictions are highly sensitive to the relative contribution of electrochemical exclusion and diffusion potentials, the ‘exclusion efficiency’, in different rock strata. Geoelectric heterogeneity, largely due to marls and hardgrounds with a relatively high exclusion efficiency, was the key factor in controlling the magnitude of the modelled SP gradient ahead of the saline front and its evolution prior to breakthrough. The model results suggest that, where sufficient geoelectric heterogeneity exists, borehole SP may be used as an early warning mechanism for SI.
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Journal articleOnyenanu GI, Jacquemyn CEMM, Graham GH, et al., 2018,
Geometry, distribution and fill of erosional scours in a heterolithic, distal lower shoreface sandstone reservoir analogue: Grassy Member, Blackhawk Formation, Book Cliffs, Utah, USA
, Sedimentology, Vol: 65, Pages: 1731-1760, ISSN: 0037-0746Many shoreface sandstone reservoirs host significant hydrocarbon volumes within distal intervals of interbedded sandstones and mudstones. Hydrocarbon production from these reservoir intervals depends on the abundance and proportion of sandstone beds that are connected by erosional scours, and on the lateral extent and continuity of interbedded mudstones. Cliff‐face exposures of the Campanian ‘G2’ parasequence, Grassy Member, Blackhawk Formation in the Book Cliffs of east‐central Utah, USA, allow detailed characterization of 128 erosional scours within such interbedded sandstones and mudstones in a volume of 148 m length, 94 m width and 15 m height. The erosional scours have depths of up to 1·1 m, apparent widths of up to 15·1 m and steep sides (up to 35°) that strike approximately perpendicular (N099 ± 36°) to the local north–south palaeoshoreline trend. The scours have limited lateral continuity along strike and down dip, and a relatively narrow range of apparent aspect ratio (apparent width/depth), implying that their three‐dimensional geometry is similar to non‐channelized pot casts. There is no systematic variation in scour dimensions, but ‘scour density’ is greater in amalgamated (conjoined) sandstone beds over 0·5 m thick, and increases upward within vertical successions of upward‐thickening conjoined sandstone beds. There is no apparent organization of the overall lateral distribution of scours, although localized clustering implies that some scours were re‐occupied during multiple erosional events. Scour occurrence is also associated with locally increased amplitude and laminaset thickness of hummocky cross‐stratification in sandstone beds. The geometry, distribution and infill character of the scours imply that they were formed by storm‐generated currents coincident with riverine sediment influx (‘storm floods’). The erosional scours increase the vertical and lateral connectivity
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Journal articleDeveugle PEK, Jackson MD, Hampson GJ, 2018,
A comparative study of reservoir modeling techniques and their impact on predicted performance of fluvial-dominated deltaic reservoirs: reply
, AAPG Bulletin, Vol: 102, Pages: 1664-1667, ISSN: 0149-1423
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