Method to Improve Well Model Efficiency in Reservoir Simulation

Abstract

Abstract Modeling of complicated reservoir processes requires sophisticated field management algorithms that request many well model solves in each simulation timestep. Most field management strategies require the wells to be solved in three different modes: "operating" constraints (all well constraints and those imposed from group/field management strategies), "deliverable" constraints (well rate and pressure limits only), and "potential" constraints (well pressure limits only). Because these three modes often have very different solutions, the well model often starts from a solution that is far from the actual one; this results in an unnecessarily high number of well Newton iterations. In this study, a well model that has three solve-spaces corresponding to the three modes results in a significant reduction in the total number of well Newton iterations and a corresponding reduction in overall simulation run times as demonstrated in a suite of real field cases.