Imperial College London
Portrait Picture

ProfessorChristopherPain

Faculty of Engineering, Department of Earth Science & Engineering

Professorial Research Fellow
 
 
 
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Contact

 

+44 (0)20 7594 9322c.pain

 
 
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Location

 

4.96Royal School of MinesSouth Kensington Campus

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Summary

 

Publications

Citation

BibTex format

@article{Lyu:2021:10.1016/j.jngse.2021.103853,
author = {Lyu, Z and Lei, Q and Yang, L and Heaney, C and Song, X and Salinas, P and Jackson, M and Li, G and Pain, C},
doi = {10.1016/j.jngse.2021.103853},
journal = {Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering},
pages = {1--12},
title = {A novel approach to optimising well trajectory in heterogeneous reservoirs based on the fast-marching method},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jngse.2021.103853},
volume = {88},
year = {2021}
}
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RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - JOUR
AB  - To achieve efficient recovery of subsurface energy resources, a suitable trajectory needs to be identified for the production well. In this study, a new approach is presented for automated identification of optimum well trajectories in heterogeneous oil/gas reservoirs. The optimisation procedures are as follows. First, a productivity potential map is generated based on the site characterisation data of a reservoir (when available). Second, based on the fast-marching method, well paths are generated from a number of entrance positions to a number of exit points at opposite sides of the reservoir. The well trajectory is also locally constrained by a prescribed maximum curvature to ensure that the well trajectory is drillable. Finally, the optimum well trajectory is selected from all the candidate paths based on the calculation of a benefit-to-cost ratio. If required, a straight directional well path, may also be derived through a linear approximation to the optimised non-linear trajectory by least squares analysis. Model performance has been demonstrated in both 2D and 3D. In the 2D example, the benefit-to-cost ratio of the optimised well is much higher than that of a straight well; in the 3D example, laterals of various curvatures are generated. The applicability of the method is tested by exploring different reservoir heterogeneities and curvature constraints. This approach can be applied to determine the entrance/exit positions and the well path for subsurface energy system development, which is useful for field applications.
AU  - Lyu,Z
AU  - Lei,Q
AU  - Yang,L
AU  - Heaney,C
AU  - Song,X
AU  - Salinas,P
AU  - Jackson,M
AU  - Li,G
AU  - Pain,C
DO  - 10.1016/j.jngse.2021.103853
EP  - 12
PY  - 2021///
SN  - 1875-5100
SP  - 1
TI  - A novel approach to optimising well trajectory in heterogeneous reservoirs based on the fast-marching method
T2  - Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jngse.2021.103853
UR  - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1875510021000603?via%3Dihub
UR  - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/87373
VL  - 88
ER  -
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