An unstructured edge-based finite volume formulation for solving immiscible two-phase flows in porous media

✍ Scribed by de Carvalho, D. K. E. ;Lyra, P. R. M. ;Willmersdorf, R. B. ;Araújo, F. D. S.

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2005
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 182 KB
• Volume: 21
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1069-8299
• DOI: 10.1002/cnm.790

✦ Synopsis

Unstructured mesh based discretization techniques can o er certain advantages relative to standard ÿnite di erence approaches which are commonly used in reservoir simulation, due to their exibility to model complex geological features and to their ability to easily incorporate mesh adaptation. Within such class of methods the most frequently used are the ÿnite element method (FEM) and the ÿnite volume method (FVM). The latter is particularly attractive in reservoir problems due to its local and global conservation properties. The main goal of the present paper is to describe an unstructured edgebased FVM formulation which is used to solve the partial di erential equations resulting from the modelling of two-phase uid ow of oil and water in homogeneous porous media, when an IMPES (IMplicit Pressure Explicit Saturation) approach is used. This ÿnite volume formulation is similar to the edge-based FEM formulation when linear triangular or tetrahedral elements are employed. Some model examples are presented in order to validate the presented formulation.