Application of Sequential Explicit Coupling of Reservoir, Well, and Surface Facilities for 3D Compositional Simulation Models

Abstract

The assessment of hydrocarbon production systems requires the utilization of a simulator with the capability of handling different scenarios, such as the simulation of fluid flow in porous media and also in pipelines, at steady-state and unsteady-state conditions. Recently, there have been efforts in the development of reliable simulators, which are capable of accurately modeling surface and subsurface environments simultaneously through the usage of flow tables. In this paper, first, we discuss the importance of nodal analysis and different wellbore boundary conditions. Based on the foregoing, we introduce a new approach for our in-house simulator UTCOMPRS. The new approach further extends the previously developed flow table algorithms for 3D reservoir models. We also compare the results of two case studies with a commercial compositional simulator. The operational parameters, such as bottom hole pressure, injection pressure, oil, gas, and water rates, among others, are in good agreement with both UTCOMPRS and the commercial simulator. Herein, we also show the importance of controlling well constraints. The results showed that the developed framework was successfully implemented and validated for 3D reservoirs. It enables the simulator to handle more realistic conditions, advancing its flexibility and providing an infrastructure for the coupling of the reservoir, well, and surface facilities.