~.

w
9

Se@Myof
Petreleunr
Eflglneers
.

SPE 25233
Reservoir Simulation Grids: clppmtunitiw;

and Problems

Khalid Aziz, Stanford U,

SPf.EMember

Copyright 1903, Soci6ty of Polroloum Engirmor$ Inc.

This Popor was prepared for prooonlatlon e.t the 12th SPE Symposium on Roservolr Simulallon held [n Now Orlemm, 1A, U. S.A., Fobruw2&Mmch

3, 1993.

This paper was solectod for prosontcd!on by on SPE Pro~am Commliteo following rovlew of btformidlon contained br an abstract 8ubn?lHod by tho ou!hor(s), Comonto of lho paper,
as presemod, have not berm reviewed by the Society of Polrolm!m Englnoors and are subject to correction by tho author(s), The material, ae PIQ80nled, doos not nocessmlly reflect
any position of Iho Socloty 01 Poboleum Enghwors, its ofllcow, or members. PaPQrOFr090nted et SpE m~etln9s are sublect to Publlcatlon ro~iow by ~ditorl~l Committees of the SOclOtY
of Petroleum Engineers. Porm&Aon to copy Is rs$irlctsd to an abstract of not mom thsn 300 words. Illustra![on$ may not be copied, The abstract should contah! conspicuous rmknowl~dg,
monf of where and by whom the psper [s presented, Write Publlcritions Manogor, SPE, P.O. Box 833330, Rlchardsorr, TX 750?3-3830, U.S.A. Telex, 1S3245 SPEUT.

are Ming developed,they are expected to make the

ABSTRACT

taskof grid gencradoneasierthan what it is now.

Grid selection is one the most difficult and time

consuming tasks in the simulation of geologically
complexreservoirs.

I!NTRC)DUCTION
A reservoirsimulator predicts reservoir performance
by solving flow equations on a discrete grid that is
chosen by the simulation engineer to represent the
reservoir.The grid is normally selected with one or
moreof the followingconsiderationsin mind:

This paper is intended to be a personalperspectiveon

griddhg KMmiqucs for xcswvoir simulation, It is
naturally inthtenced by the work of my students and
colleagues, While I wili discuss several gridding
teclmiques that are or appear to be of practical
importance, it is not my intention to attempt a
completeand uubitasedreviewof the vast field of grid
generation.1 cxpe~tthat many importantpublications
on the subjectwill not be mentionedeither due to my
own ignoranceor bccanseof spacelimitations,

1, Geologyand sizeof the reservoir,andthe available

dataused for reservoirdescription,
2, Typeof fluid displaccmen$or depletionprocessto
be modekxl.
z Past and anticipated field dcvclopmcnt(location
andtypeof WCHS),
4.
., Numcricrdaccuracydesired,
5, Availablesoftw,arcoptions,
6. Objectivesof the simulationstudy,
7. Competenceof the simulationcnflinccror team,
8, Availddc computerrcsourccs,time constraintsor
projectbudgct,-

Since the purposeof imposinga grid on the rmcrvoir

is to allow us to solve the nonlinear flow equations
that predict the respcaseof the reservoirto chau.gcsat
WCHS
or other boundaries,I will first discuss the role
of ,gridgcon1c!9in Uwcvahrationof each term in the
flow equations.This will be followedby a discussion
of several conventional and some ncw gridding
techniquc$and their adwmtagcsand (lisiidv[ttltii~~s,
Next some rccomnumlationsarc made bmwdon my
own cxpericnccand discussionswith colhxrgucs.It is
my a..scssmcntthi]t grids should h fis C1OSC to being
orthogonid as possihlc. Also, local grid rcfincmcnt
should be used with care, its inapfmpriatc usc can be
countcrpmduclivc. (Msidcrablc progress has Mm
nmdomccnt!yon the use of ficxihlcgrids, hut cfficicat
use of unstructured locally orthogonal grids rcquircw
fnrthw rcscarcho1cchniqiucs
that automaticdy align
the grid with nmjor reservoir features such as fauns
7

In the early days of reservoir simulation it was ottcn

dw lif.st of the abovo considerationsthat dckmnincd
the number of .gridbbcks, and then the available
softwarelimited the choice of grid types to usually
block.ccntcrcdCartcsinnor cylindricalgrid. Rewarch
in reservoir simulation i]nd hardwarcdwclopmcnts,
especiallyoverthe past tcn yCillX, hilS greatlycxtcndcd
tho .griddingoptions avi~ilabic10 the user, Modern
commercialsimulatorstypicidlyoffer oac or mow of
the followingtcchniqucs:
6

I .OCitl ({ridRCfillCIUCIlt

Iiybiid

(;rifJ

RIMIRVOIRSWULATKONGRIDS: OPPORTUNITIES
ANDPROBLEMS

* Curvilinear(Stream.Tube)Gtid
@ Voronoi or PEBI Grid (GeneraHzationof PointDistributedGrid)
e CornerPointGeomehy
o DynamictMd
e AutomaticGrid Generation
CNher techniques available in
simulatorsanx
.

For each block,one equationof this type is writtenfor

each component or pseudo componeu~ c, in the
system. The required geometric properties of the
gridblockam: blwk volume Vb, the area A of each
block face and dMnee d between i and j for each
connection.This method of writing flow equations is
known as the Control Volume llnite Diffcrenco
(CVFD)method and it reducesto tho standard finitcdifferencemethod for Cartesian grids. An important
clmacteristic of this method is that in 13q.1 the flow
acrossthe gridblockfacebetweeni and j dependsonly
on the component of the potential gradient in the
direction i-j. For non-orthogonalcoordinate systems,
the flowcalculationacross a block face wouMdepend
on all componentsof the gradient of the potential ou
the surface.Hcnccan error in fiowcalculationsresults,
if, in a non-orthogonalgrid, only the componentof the
gradientin the i-j directionis considered.

some research

ElasticGrid AdjustmentMethods
ControlVohmmFinite ElementMethods
Free LagrangianMethods

WE 25233

While this abundanceof options providesflexibility,it

can also mrdw the choice of the appropriate grid
bewilderingfor the personusing the s;-.mrlator.A short
description of some of the more common gridding
techniques availab~e in commercial ,and research
simulators is presented in this paper, Where possible
actual expakmce with vtiriousgridding techniquesis
also discwcd. It is useful to consider the fluid flow
equationsbeforediscussing gridding techniques.This
will help in the understanding of advantages and
disadvantagesof various griddhlg tmhniques used for
reservoirsimulation,

The threeterms in Eq, 1 representnet flow into block

i, i@unwlationof mass in block i, and flow fromwells
withintheblock,respectively.The indexj is for blocks
that arc connectedto block i, the block for which the
mass balanceis written, Note that the connectionsof
block i need not be the neighbors of this block. The
shape of tbe gridblock and location of the gridpoint
within the blockwill influencethe evaluationof each
of these terms, The flow betweenblocks is calculated
by multiplyingthe iutcrblocktransmissibility with the
differencein potentialbetweentheblocks (Fig, 1),

FLOW ECNJATK)P4S
The conservationof mass for componentc (for BlackOil models c = oil, gas and water at standard
condhions) combined with Darcys law yields the
followingset of flowcqmtions:

,,,.

(1)

where I11Otransmissibility between nmtcs t and j is

by:

Ckthl!d

,*
1
t,

P{J

[1

M%%,,.!
::: ..-.
dpp
..-..-..

..s----

.....

This now K!nndcpMd!+011bOth ilk!grid geometryiUid

(IIC location of the gridpoint in II)(: block, The
gridpoint should bc sclcckxl so that the finitcdiffcrcnceilpproximntionof tho gradient of pressureis
iiS WXXIHUC ilS possibk h) otlw words tlm ditlimmx

. i,]
,,.,

(2)
8

SPE 25233

KHALIDAZIZ

in potential betweenthe two nodes on either side of a

boundary divided by the distanco betweenthe nodes
should be a good approxirnatiotrat the boundaryfor
the averagefitentia~ ~radient normal to the boundary,
lIM accu~uiation te& uses the gridblockvolumetand
the pressure at the node to calculatethe mass in the
block at differenttimes, For this purposethe gridpoint
should be as close to the mass center of the block as
possible,Finally,for the calculationof well flowa #eU
model is required to relate the wcllblockpressure to
the well pressure.The well model dependson the grid
type and for certainkinds of grid the wellmodelhas to
be adjustedas the flow field in the reservoirchanges
(Ptda~iand Azkz[1]). We will considerthese factors
as we discuss different types of grids in the next
section+

SWwAmor+1
GRIDS
Giobdy Orthogonal Grids: Most commonly used
grids are constructedby aligning the gridblock along
orthogonal coordinate directions, and then distorting
the grid, where nemmary, to fit major rescrvcrir
features (e.g. fllp). Examples of these Idnds of grids
are the sttildard Cartesian block-centeredand pointdktributed grids shown in l%g.2.

Y4
?-

. . . . .

I
,<,J:-

-T
...L..

I
-

.....
TR:
--.-...:TJ

---

.--.:

--

-fi.l-

--

-Q

.c.

a)

A-.
11.IJ
I

~~J-.

Rlock.wmmxlSrirl

!$:: :;J;:

..-.$....a

..

--

-L--

, I+lJ

.- -.:

.&

-j4_-

,+*J

-l----

..-

IJ+l
. -f--

.-_-,_

-.

--

b) l)obit4iNrilMllcd

grid

L...+

The block-centered grid is advantageous for the

calculation of accumulation terms, while the pointdistributcdgrid ISmore accuratefor the calculationof
flowbetweenblocks.Whenthe grid is almost uniform,
the differencesbetween these two types of grids am
insignitic~n~ but for highly irregular grids the results
obtainedare stronglyinfluencedby the grid type,Even
though the superior accuracyof the point-distributed
grid wasdemonstratedby Settariand Aziz [2]in 1972,
its use in commercialmodels has been rather limbed.
Main reasons for this are probably tradition and the
fact that most engineers find it easier to think of
dividingthe reservoirinto blcx%srather than choosiag
gridpoint that automatically generate blocks
accordingto some rules-as is the case with pointdistributed grids, Nacul and Aziz [3]
have
investigatedthe use of these two grids and four other
related grids that try to take advantage of the lx%t
featuresof these two grids, They have also provideda
practical approach to constructing point-distributed
grids, i%eidea is to divide the reservoir first into
blocks and thcm adjust the grid to meet the
requirementsof the point-tiistributedgrid. Nacul and
Aziz [3] have shown that for some problems,
increasing the number of gridblock by subdividing
blocks in some regions for block-centeredgrids can
actuiillyyield worse results than those from the base
coursegrid. It is interestingthat, in the examplest.rkxt
by these authors, point-distributed grid always
producedimprovedresultswith grid refinement,
For large reservoir
lmml Grid Rcfbwmcnt.
simulationproblems,tine grid is only needed in parts
of the reservoir where saturations or pressure are
changing rapiclly,Using the standard irregular grid
leads to rmwantedsmail blocks in some pnrts of the
reservoir. While Cartesian refinement within a
Cartesiangrid appearsto be attractive(Quandalleand
Bcsset [4] and Y-leincmann
ct al. [5-7]), it does not
alwaysimprovethe solution [3]. IIcre the problem is
the accuratecidcukttionof flow betweenblocksat the
intersectionof coarse and fine grids, The problem is
less severe when hybrid grids (cylindrical or otkr
curvilincmgrids)are used in Umregionof onc or more
CartesianblocksM propxxxlby Pcdtvsa and Azk [8]
to get greateraccuracyaround wells, Even for hybrid
grids certaini.tssrmptionsIlavcto t.wmade to evaluate
transn~issibiliticsfor flow from wid to the imcgular
blocksbetweenthe two lypesof grids (V@3). Hikrann
[9] lMSdevelopedsimilar grids th;it providea smooth
transition from almost a cylindrical grid to the
surroundingCartesiangrid, Ih~bridgrids arc however
u.scfulforaccuratecalculationuf WOR iUld (IOR.

RJLWRVOIR
SM.JLATIONGIWS: OIWMWUNITIESANDPROBLEMS

SPE

25233

Voronoi grid provides a natural way to construct

hybrid grids, grids aligned with wells and major
g&logi&l feat~es,and ~ocallyrefinedgrids, It can-be
emily used by constructingand combiningmodulesas
shownin Fig. 5.

(1)hexagonal
Fig.3:

HybNK.I
Grid (Pedrosaand Aziz[8])

1908,is an extremelyflexibleand badly orthogonal.

It has been used extensively in many branclws of
scienceand engineering (see Palagi [10]), A Voronoi
bkxk is de13nedas the region of space that is closer to
its gridpoint than to any other gridpoint, A
consequenceof this is that a linejoining gridpoint of
any two connected gridblock is perpendicularto the
gridblockboundarybetweenthese two gridpoint, and
it is bkeaed in two equal parts by that boundary.
Voronoigrid can k viewedas a generalt~ationof the
point-distributedgrid, It is referredto as Pi3131
grid by
Heinemannand his colieagu~s[5-7],whopioneeredits
use for p@rolwn reservoir simulation. Some of the
problemswith respct to the practicatuse of this grid
in heterogeneous reservoirs have been resolved by
Patagi [10] and Palagi and Aziz [11-13],Examplesof
Voronoigrid am shownin Fig. 4.

(a)Cwcdan

(f)

,,,.,,...

..

,...
....

l:,

,,

(4) cylindrical

(d)IlcK#gwl*l

liyww.iwbn

(g)

.....

...

,...,
,/

....

..<
(5) eraser

F!g. S: Modules for constructing Voronoi GM

(PalagiandAziz[11])
These modules can be moved, scaled, roklted and
placed anywhere in the domain of interest.
Fuflhwmore,the geometricfactorin transmissibilities,
which depends on rock permeability and grid
geomctiy,can be calculatedautomaticallyfor any grid
[9, 10].Sincetlw flowacrossa Lxmndaryis assumedto
be prOpOrtiOUd tO the pressuredifferenceIXXWWI1 t.h
gridpoitm$on either side of the boundary, flow
calculation is most accurate when tho line joining
these gridpoint is bisczted at its micipoint by the
boundaly, as is the case for Voronoi grid, Only a
limitedamountof work has been done on establishing
practicat guidc]incsfor the use of various grids that
arc special cases of Voronoi grid. Mc flexibility
providedby Voroaoigrid is particularlyuseful for W
modeling of coning phcnomcoon in vcrticid and
horizotmllwells.Om preliminaryresults show thnt for
homogeneousreservoirsit is the number of blocks in
wfincd regionsand not Ihc block shape that have the
must inf!ucnco on results (Clmsonniet id, [14]). AISO
a~ldshitpeof the W(3Rcurve
tOobtitinbo!hmi~gt~itud~
correct, wfincmcnt in Ihc Wriid plane has to be
cmfully halanccd with VIXli~illrcfincmcnt in lhc
regionOf thC fWXIUCC~, (MK3? ildVWWl~l?S iW Illiit thCS(!
grids provide the possibility of very iKXll@C
computatim for the simulation of WC1ltests in
Compltix reservoirs, and they nxhwc the flrid
oriontalioneffect[11J. f-he driiwhii~k of such grids is

(l)) Iomlly :t!ilwd CAfuda.11

:.
....-.
..
----.
........,
.
----I-In
.. ---

(c)CyliMd

(3) irregular

(2) Cartesian

Loea!ly Orthogonal Grids. Voronoigrid, definedin

(c) (Xlnuhwar

liybdd.hexa#3nd

Njg+4: Exampk??of Vorold(WI

(Pakigiandlwit[11])
10

SPE 25233

AZIZ
KI~ALI~

flexibilitycan k achievedwith Voronoi grid, which

alwayssatisfiesthe conditionof beat orthogooality.

that they result in much more comploxJacobiansthan

those from standard grids. Efficient sohrtion
techniques for sparse linear systems generated by
unstructuredgrids are needed.The great ilcxibilityof
this grid is demonstratedio 13g.6.

Orthogonid and Almost Orthogonal Curvilinear

Grids, Curvilinear grids have been used for the

simulationof flowin elementsof symmetryof pattern

floods(Hirasakiand ODell [18]; Wadsley [19]; Aziz
and Settari [20]; Fleming [.21]). The grid is
constructedby solving the potential flow equation for
streamlines and equipotcntia! lines, which are
mutually orthogonal. All geometric factors in J3q. 1
can be calculatedby transformingthe flow equations
to the curvilinearcoordinates,As long as the condition
of orthogonatityis satisfied,no additional connections
over those for Cartesian grids are introduced. Since
the potentialsolutionis only usedto constructthe grid,
flow acrossstream lines is allowed,This is tbe main
difference between using curvilinrmr grids in
simulatorsand using stream-tubemodels that do not
allow flow along cquipotential lines, Sluarp and
Anderson [22, 23] have developed an intriguing
methodof generatingcurvilineargrids that conformto
arbitrtuyinternat and externalboundaries.Thesegrids
are generatedby solvinga set of quasi-linearparabotic
partialdifferentialequations(as opposedto the elliptic
potcntiti equationfor standwd curvilineargrid), Ihis
method generates nearly mthogomd grids for even
complicatedreservoirproblems,But in tryingto satisfy
the ort.hogoualitycondition, dense grids may be
generatedin regions wherethey are not needed.Orrcc
this tdnd of grid is generated and appropriate
geometricfactorsare calculated,a standard simulator
can be used, A grid generatedby this techniquefor i]
field scaleproblemis shownin Fig. 7.

Fig. 6. Flexibility of Voronoi Grid

(PaJagiandAziz[11])
Even greateraccuracywith the samekind of flexibility
is possible with finite element and Control Volume
Finite J31ement(CVFE) methods(ForsytJl[15]; Fung
et id. [16]; Kocberber and Collins [17]), but the
computational cost resulting from the additional
complexity of the flow equations is probably not
justified for generalfiehJscaleapplications,
Corner Point Geometry, h is possibleto accuratdy
complex rcsmvoir gconmtriesby specifying
the corners of each grir.ibbek this is known w
Comer Point Ckometry (Eclipse 100 91A Maawd).
While !Jle calculations arc more involved than in
standard Cartcsinn grids, till of the geometric
qwmtiticsin Eq. 1can be cahxdatcd.Ilc rwdproblem
wi!h this type of grid is that now flow across a block
flwcdependson more than two pressureon d.hcr side
of that face. This complicatesthe flow term iil J%. 1.
Ihc reason for this is that when the grid is skewed,
connectionsbelwecnblocks are no longer orthogonal
to the block faCcSt[Jllkxs fill COJIlpOllCIltS Of the
potonthd gradientat tlw bhck farxare consideredthis
kind of non-orthogonalgrid can lead to seriouserrors
in the calculationof interbloekflow,Almostthe swne

rcprcscnt

rig. 7: Newly orthogmd grid for a field

(Sharpaud Anderson[22])

11

RWEMKMIZSIMULATIONGIUOS: OPPORTUNITIJZS
ANDPROIILtiMS

Since this algorithm may produce a skewed (nonorthogomd) grid when the orthogonality condition
cannotbe satisfied,it has someof the sameproblem,as
the comer poirrt geometry with respect to the
depenrlcnceof flowon all cotnponcntsof the gradient
of the Potential. The main advantage of Sharp and
Andersonsmethod is that it tries to make the grid as
orthogonalas possibIe.

Dynamic Grid. In principle all of the static grid

generation techniques discussed atxwc can k
combined with dynamic hddition and removal of
blocks,Both questionsof accuracyand computational
efficiencymust be resolvedfor grids that change with
time. DynamicCartesiangrids have been dkcussed by
several authors (Heincmann et al, [5]; Mulder and
Meyling [26]; Ilitcrge and Ertekin [27]), The most
practicalapproachseemsto be to use a base grid that
is fixed and allow dynamic refinementor coarsening
of some of the blocks witbin the base grid,
Hydrodynamic models for three-dimensional
atmosphericflowshavebeen deveIopedusing dymimic
Voronoigrid by the Los Akunos Nationnl Laboratory
and others ([28-29]), Conscrvatiou equations are
solved explicitly by moving p,artich%of fried maw.
This is referredto as the Free-LagrimgianMctbod.
Some of the gridding techniquesdcveIopedfor other
fluidflowproblemsmayproveto be usefulin reservoir
simulation.

Grids
with
Grmeration
Homogeneous Mocks. M the transmissibility
(Eq,

2) an cffcctivc

value

25233

Farmeret al, [25]usc another approachto achievethe

same objcctivc.Methods of this type have yet to kc
applied to field scale reservoir problems. Such grid
adjustmentmethodscouldpossiblybe used as the first
step in the generationof locaily orthogonal Voronoi
grid,

Autematic
calculation

SW

of permeability

betweengridpoint i and j is needed.This calculation

is simplified if the blocks are homogemxrus.
Techniquesare availablefor automaticallygcrmrating
grids that arc as homogeneousas possible,Garcia et
al. [24] have developeda grid adjustmentmethodthat
associates an elastic band with each blockedge of al!
blocks.The potentialenergyof ,anedge is ,assumcdto
be proportionalto the squareof the length of tlw edge
aud a coefficient of elasticity, This coefficicut of
chasticityis made a function of hcterogcneit.yof the
grid blocks adjacent to the edge, Starting with ii~
initial regular grid, a grid that is as homogeneous,as
possible is generated by minimizing the potential
energyof the overallgrid systcm The resultinggrid is
not constrained to nay orthogouiditycond~tion,An
cx,amp!cof this methodis shownin Fig, 8,

PRACTICAL LEE
Il]eneed to satisfyia field scale applicationsa waricty
---2.=-T-T7----1of coustr,aintsthat arc often conflicting nuakes the
process of grid generation both difficult and time
consuming, fhis is particuhirly true of geologically
complex field like the C.Mlfaksin the Norwegian
sector of the North Sea (Pcttcrson [30]), In ordc!rt.o
rcprcscnt tho complex systcm of faults in this ticld
severalmonthsarc requiredto dwclop an appropriiltc
grid, For such reservoirs corner point ,gcomctryand
Voroi~oigrids providethe requiredflexibility,but the
simulationengineerwill llOrMillly select the onc that is
[30], tOOh$
easier to USC, As pointed out by Pcttcrson
that

can

help

the

reservoir

cnginccr

in

quickly

grid that accuratelycomputesflow in the

reservoiris much mrm important than small savings
in computer time during simulol,ion runs. lhrcc
dilnCl)SiOlliti visualization
tools iUld diltfi inwgration
tools arc indispensablefor both grid gcll~~iitk)n ii[)d
amdysis of results, Such 1(MS iUV just st{arting k)
:ippc:w of] IIIC ~ni~kot, IhJcutu;dlY it ShOUhJ bC possible
to developexpert systemsto help tho cngincw in the
iutcgration of reservoir description, grid g.cnrxation
I iUld history MiMhillJJ hl th MCiUl time sclcclion Of
building

12

.,.

SPE 25233

~WLIDAZIZ

type of grid and the number of blocksremains an art.

IJnderstanding flow equations (E?,. 1) will help
minimize errors cmrscdby the use of inappropriate
grids. In order to selectthe bestgrid for modelinga
heterogeneous reservoir one must dczidc on what
scales of hctcrogenetics should be represented
implicitly throtigh effectiveparameters[31] and how
shotdd the connectiontransmissibilitiesbe calculated

NOMENCLAT!.NiE
A
d
At
o
fc
i

[32].

CO?KXJJCNIW3REMARKS
lle simulation engineer has the opportunity to use
many khlds of flexible grids, However, from a
practical standpoint the most important problem is:
Whatgrid shouldone selectfor a specificprubhmi?As
mentionedearlier in this paper,increasein the number
of grkiblocks does not automatically translate into
increased accuracy, Here are some comments and
guidelirres:
i, Local grid refinement (Cartesian or hybrid)
improvesthe predictionof WOR and GOR when
sharp saturation gradients exist,ne,arWCIIS as
ia coning problms. The refined region shouldbe
large enoughto include the extentof the reservoir
with sharp gradientsin saturation,
2, Unless there are compeilirrgreasons,grid should
h orthogonal at least locally - and as
uniform as possible, Large blocks next to small
blocks should Lwavoided,Irregular Voronoi grid
(generalkzatioi~
of point-distributedgrid)is usually
more reliablethan block-ccntcredgrid.
3. So f,ardynamicgrids have provca to be of limited
value in tkld applications, The ability to
efficientlyadd or removeblockswith the opening
or shuttingof wellsis howevera usefulfeature,
4, [JnsuwcturcdVoronoigrids requirespecialmatrix
solution techniques. Domain dr~ompmitionis a
useful technique for taking advantage of tbc
structure of the grid, A krrgc problem caa be
rcduwxlinm several smailcr proihns. This :ilsu
provides a natural appmacli to doing pilri!ll~i
compatalionsand localtirncstepping,
5, Iixpcrt systems arc needed for interactivc grid
gcncrittiotito takeadwuitagcof availnblcflriddilig
possibilities ilnd to rcduco the time involved in
buildingf.yidsfor geologicallycomplexrcwrvoirs.
6. Anidysis of results requires powerful dUW(Iimensional I%W ViSUilliZi{tiOll 0[1 Con)f)lCX flrids,
SoflWiU(>
for thC Visualizidiollt)t !IOWSOVCl
irfcgnlargrids is accdcdo

13

k
kr
Mc
N,l
Np
P
~c

r
~b
(ac

block fii~ wcii

distancebetweenmidooints
timcste~
ootential
transmissitillitvcorrectionfactor
blockfor whichthe cauationif written
blockconnectedto i
absoluteoermcabilitv
re!ativcoermeabilitv
massof c in block
numberof connectedblocks
numberof r)hascs
OIMSC
index
ftowrateof fromwell
transmissibility
blockvolume
concentrationof c

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Reservoirsirmilationresearchat StanfordUniversityis
su@porled by N1 international consortium of
organizations, dwougb the Stiinford University
Rrxetvoir Simulation Industrial Affiliates Program
(SUpR1-B).
FWEWNENCES
1. Paiirgi,C. L. and Aziz,K, I1andlin.gof Wells in
Simulators,Fourth InternationalForm on
ReservoirSim{ilaticrn,
Salzburg,Austria,August
31- September4, 1992,
2. Scttari,A, and Aziz, K, USCof Irrcgu]arGrid iii
ReservoirSimulation,[SPIiJ,Vol, 12,No, 2, 103114(1972).
3, Nw.11, 11. C. iin(l Azix,K, 1JWof I[~~~uli~h
ReservoirSinnilalion,S1}l;22886,Wh Al(:&l;,
l)i{llM,1X,(_)CtOl)CF 6-9, 199 I ,
4, QuirINldlc,P, itildIWsct, P. lllc IJSCof lWxiblc
firiddingfor hilprovcctMxcrvoirPcrformancc,
S1ll;12239,7th ReservoirSimulationSymposium,
$i]~)lkaacisco,CA, November15-18,1983,
.,$ 1kincniann, Z 11,, Gcrkcn,(i, iit]dIhltlcIN~oo,
(;.,[ JsingJAA grid Rcfiacmontin MultiplcApplicationReservoirSinluli\to14,
SPi112255,7i11
ReservoirSilllUlilli(}ll
Symposiuin,Siln1liUICiSCO,
(:A, November15-18,1983.
6, IItiilll!ll)ill) ll,Z, 1{. ad illalld, (~, W, (lridding
1cchni(iucs
in ReservoirSiln\lliltiOll,i>rocccdints

RXXU?RVOIR
!MMULATKON
Gwos: 43PPOMTJNITIKS
ANDPROBLEMS

21, Fleming,G. C. ModeLingthe Performanceof

FracturedWellsin PatternFtoods Using
Orthogonal,CurvilinearGrids,SPE 16973,62nd
ATC&E,Dallas,TX, September27-30, 1987,
22. Sharpe,H. N. and Anderson,D, A, ANew
Adaptiveorthogonal Grid GenerationProcedure
forReservoirSimulation,SP!320744, 65th
ATC&E,NewOrleans,LA, September23-26,
1990.
23. Sharpe,H. N. and Anderson,D, A. Orthogonal
CurvilinearGrid GenerationWith PresetInternal
BoundariesforReservoirSimulation,SPE
21235, 1lth ReservoirSimulationsymposium,
Anaheim,CA, Febnrary17-20, 1991.
24, Garcia,M. H., Journel,A, G. and k~iz, K.
AutomaticGridGenerationfor Modeling
Reservoirheterogenctie.s,
SPERE,278-284,May
1992,
25, Fa~ler, C, L., Heath,D. E. and Moody,R, 0. A
GlobalOptimizationApproncbto Grid
Gencratiou,SPJ321236, 1lth Reservoir
Simulationsymposium,Anaheim,CA, I%bruary
17-20,1991,
26. Mulder,W. A. and Mcyling,R. H, J, G,
NumericalSimulationof Two-llhtiseFlow Using
LocallyRefinedGridsin fhrec-Space
Dimensions,SPE 21230, 11thReservoir
SimulationSymposiutn,Awrhcirn,CA, Fcbmry
17-20,1991,
27. Bitcrgc,M. 1%and Ertekin,T. T)cvclopmentand
Testingof Static/DynamicLocal Grid-rcfincmcnt
Technique,JPT,487-495,April 1992.
28, SalIota,M, ~llrcc-l)illlcnsioll:ll
FrccLnjjraogiml
lly(lrtiyl)al~~ics,
Los Akmos Nationaf
hboratory, 1,A-UR-89-11-79,April 1989,
29, Ikiwct H, E., ]%ith,M. J. nnd CrowIcy,W. P.
(Editors)Advancesin rhe l%ce4agrange Method,
Spriagcr-Vcrkrg,1991.
30, Pctkwscn,0, TheGuilfaksField --A Modellini
Challenge,I:ourthIntcmntionnlUorllin on
rwwvoir Simulation,Sahhurg, Aus!rio,August
31-September4, 1992.
31, Wattcnbargcr,C,, F, M. (hi and Axiz,K,
optimalScalesfor Rcprcscnting Rcsrmwir
IIctcrogoncity,3rd ItllcrnationaiRcscrwir
(hrfictwizatioli Technical(htkrcncw, Tulsa,
OK, November3-5, 1991.
C,, Aziz,K, MCModelingof 11Iow
in
32( l[llil~;i,
1IclcrogcncousRcsc~voirsWilh VoronoiGrid,
S1)l;25259, WI! Symposiumon rwwrvoir
Simuliltion)NCW[)rkitt]s, 1%1),28- MIuwI]3,
loo~.

of the Fiit imdSecondInternationalForumon

rmervoirSimulation,Alpbach,Austria,
September12-16,1988and September4-8, 1989.
7, Heirremann,Z. E,, Brand,C, W., Munka,M. and
Chen, Y. M. ModelingReservoirGeometrywith
IrregularGrid,SPIRE, 225-232,May 1991.
8. Pedrosa,Jr,, 0. A. and Aziz,K, Useof Hybrid
Grid in ReservoirSimulation,SPERM611-621,
November 1986,

9. 13iamr, S. A CoordinateSystem for Local Chid

RefinementClose to Wells,IN WIT-l 16(1),7587, 1992.
10.Palagi,C, L, Generation and Application of
Vororwi Grid to Model How in Heterogeneom
Reservoirs, J?hDThesis,StanfordUniversity,

May 1992.
11. Palagi,C. L. and Aziz,K, Useof VoronoiGrid
in ReservoirSimulation,SPB22889,66th
ATC&E,Dallas,TX, October6-9, 1991.
12, Palagi,C. L, and Aziz, K. TheModelingof
Horizontaland VerticalWells withVoronoi
Grid, SPE 24072,WesternRegionalMeeting,
Bakersfield,CA, March30-April 1, 1992,
13. Palagi,C, L. and Aziz,K. ADualllrnestcpping
Techniquefor ModelingTracerF1ow,Submitted
to SPE for publication,1991.
14. Consonui,P., Pa]agi,C. L,, Thiclc,M., DallOlio,
D., (hdi, A., and Pilotli, M. FlexibleGridding
Techniquesfor ConingStudiesin Horizontaland
VerticalWells, SUPRI-BReporton Joint
Stanford-AgipProjec4June 1992.
Forsyth,P.A. .4ControlVolumeFinite Element
MethodforLocal MeshRefinement,SPII 18415,
10thRcsrxvoir$imulationSymposium,Ikmston,
TX, Fobrunry6-8, 1989.
Fung, L, S,, IIicbert,A, D, and N.ghicm,1.,X,
ReservoirSimulationWitha Control-Vcdunw,
Finite-lllcmentMethod,SIW21224, 1Ith
ReservoirSimulationSymposium,An:dmim, CA,
February

SPE 25233

17-20, 1991.

Kocberkr, S. and Collins,R, E, GnsWcl!l%st

Analysisin ComplexIIetcrogcncousRcswvoirs,
S1]ll21S12,GMTechnologySymposium,
?Iouston,TX, Jnnuary2325,1991.
18, Iliri]dd, (1, J, i]nd ODM, P,M. Rcprcsmatioa
of ReservoirGconwtryfor Nun~~ri~i~l
$imdiitk)i],
$fIl~J, .393.404,l)~clll~r ~970,
10, Wadsluy,W, A. MtxiclingRmmwir Gcomrxry
With Non-llcctanguhuCoordinateGrids,SPI{
936!455th A1(XkI
!, Drdhrs,TX, Sqmmhcr.
2124, 1980.
m! Axiz,K. itnd Sc([ari, A, Mrdewn
Retwrvoir
Sirtmlatkw, AppliedSciencc Puhlishcrs,1979.
17.

14
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