A numerical algorithm for group control of conventional/unconventional production wells in hydrocarbon reservoirs

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present detailed algorithms for simulation of individual and group control of production wells in hydrocarbon reservoirs which are implemented in a finite volume-based reservoir simulator. Design/methodology/approach The algorithm for individual control is described for the multi-lateral multi-connection ones based on the multi-segment model considering cross-flow. Moreover, a general group control algorithm is proposed which can be coupled with any well model that can handle a constraint and returns the flow rates. The performance of oil production process based on the group control criteria is investigated and compared for various cases. Findings The proposed algorithm for group control of production wells is a non-optimization iterative scheme converging within a few number of iterations. The numerical results of many computer runs indicate that the nominal power of the production wells, in general, is the best group control criterion for the proposed algorithm. The production well group control with a proper criterion can generally improve the oil recovery process at negligible computational costs when compared with individual control of production wells. Research/limitations/implications Although the group control algorithm is implemented for both production and injection wells in the developed simulator, the numerical algorithm is here described only for production wells to provide more details. Practical/implications The proposed algorithm can be coupled with any well model providing the fluid flow rates and can be efficiently used for group control of production wells. In addition, the calculated flow rates of the production wells based on the group control algorithm can be used as candidate solutions for the optimizer in the simulation-optimization models. It may reduce the total number of iterations and consequently the computational cost of the simulation-optimization models for the well control problem. Originality/value A complete and detailed description of ingredients of an efficient well group control algorithm for the hydrocarbon reservoir is presented. Five group control criteria are extracted from the physical, geometrical and operating conditions of the wells/reservoir. These are the target rate, weighted potential, ultimate rate and introduced nominal power of the production wells. The performance of the group control of production wells with different group control criteria is compared in three different oil production scenarios from a black-oil and highly heterogeneous reservoir.