A multi-continuum multi-phase parallel simulator for large-scale conventional and unconventional reservoirs

Abstract

Reservoir simulation is considered as the core of data analysis during the development of an oilfield. With higher requirements from reservoir engineers, high-resolution geological model problems are commonly used in reservoir simulation. To simulate this kind of large-scale reservoir problems, based on black-oil models and compositional model, a parallel simulator is developed in this paper. Cartesian and corner point grids are supported by our simulator to describe complex geology, including faults and pinch-outs. The multi-continuum models (including a dual-porosity model, a dual-porosity dual-permeability model, and a multiple interacting continua model) are used to simulate fractured reservoirs. Geomechanics effects are successfully involved through a flexible and convenient interface provided by our simulator. Krylov subspace linear solvers, restricted additive Schwarz method, incomplete LU factorization (ILU) preconditioner, and a family of CPR (constrained pressure residual)-type preconditioners are implemented to provide flexibility of the linear system solution processes. Moreover, a new adaptive preconditioning strategy, which can automatically select and change preconditioner between a CPR-type preconditioner and an ILU preconditioner, is designed to accelerate the solution processes and is considered as the most efficient preconditioning technique to our knowledge. MPI-based parallel implementation is employed for each module of the simulator. With the simulator we developed, various conventional and unconventional reservoir simulation problems with large-scale geological models can be achieved on parallel computers within practical computational time. The computational efficiency and parallel scalability are achieved by our high-quality parallel implementation and efficient nonlinear and linear solution techniques.