A Novel Connection Element Method for Multiscale Numerical Simulation of Two-Phase Flow in Fractured Reservoirs

Abstract

This paper presents a novel approach to the numerical simulation of fractured reservoirs, called the connection element method (CEM), which differs from traditional grid-based methods. The reservoir computational domain is discretized into a series of nodes, and a system of connection elements is constructed based on the given connection lengths and angles. The pressure diffusion term is approximated using generalized finite difference theory. Meanwhile, the transmissibility and volume of the connection elements are determined, and pressure equations are solved discretely to obtain pressure at nodes to approximate the upstream flux along connection elements. Then, we solve the transport equation to obtain oil saturation profiles with low numerical diffusion, utilizing the discontinuous Galerkin (DG) method. Moreover, the flow path tracking algorithm is introduced to quantify the flow allocation factors between wells. In all, the pressure equation can be solved at a global coarse-scale point cloud and the saturation equation is calculated at a local fine-scale connection element. In other words, CEM is of multiscale characteristics relatively. Finally, several numerical examples are implemented to demonstrate that CEM can achieve a relatively better balance between computational accuracy and efficiency compared with embedded discrete fracture modeling (EDFM). Furthermore, CEM adopts flexible meshless nodes instead of grids with strong topology, making it more practical to handle complex reservoir geometry such as fractured reservoirs.