A multicore numerical framework for assessing the permeability of reservoir rocks

Tilke, Peter G., Leonardi, Christopher R., Holmes, David W., and Williams, John R. (2012) A multicore numerical framework for assessing the permeability of reservoir rocks. In: Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Porous Media and its Applications in Science, Engineering and Industry. From: Fourth International Conference on Porous Media and its Applications in Science, Engineering and Industry, 17-22 June 2012, Potsdam, Germany.

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Abstract

This paper presents a numerical framework that is capable of simulating multiphase flow in reservoir rocks at the pore scale. The framework combines a suite of numerical methods, including smooth particle hydrodynamics (SPH) and the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM), with shared-memory, multicore parallel processing to increase the flexibility and scalability of solutions. By incorporating a suite of methods in the numerical framework, each with their own relative strengths, the range of problems that can be solved is greatly increased. The utilized parallel programming model exploits the large memory as well as the low latency of processor caches available in contemporary multicore servers. Maximized cache performance is achieved by taking a fine-grained approach to domain decomposition and also taking advantage of the spatial locality of data in the solvers. This results in scalable speed-up efficiency, whilst the asynchronous distribution of fine-grained, parallel work tasks results in natural load balancing. Both the SPH and LBM solvers are applied to determine the permeability of reservoir rocks from x-ray microtomographic images of samples. Predictions of the absolute permeability of West Texas Dolomite and Berea Sandstone samples are presented, with both comparing well with experimental data.

Item ID: 32653
Item Type: Conference Item (Non-Refereed Research Paper)
Keywords: permeability, dolomite, Berea sandstone, lattice Boltzmann, smoothed particle hydrodynamics
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Funders: Schlumberger-Doll Research Center
Date Deposited: 17 Sep 2014 00:52
FoR Codes: 09 ENGINEERING > 0915 Interdisciplinary Engineering > 091501 Computational Fluid Dynamics @ 30%
08 INFORMATION AND COMPUTING SCIENCES > 0805 Distributed Computing > 080501 Distributed and Grid Systems @ 40%
04 EARTH SCIENCES > 0404 Geophysics > 040403 Geophysical Fluid Dynamics @ 30%
SEO Codes: 85 ENERGY > 8502 Mining and Extraction of Energy Resources > 850203 Oil and Gas Extraction @ 30%
97 EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE > 970108 Expanding Knowledge in the Information and Computing Sciences @ 40%
97 EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE > 970109 Expanding Knowledge in Engineering @ 30%
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