The evolution of fluid flow processes, such as multiphase flow in fractured and multi-porosity hydrocarbon reservoirs, heat transport in geothermal reservoirs, or carbon storage in saline aquifers, is not arbitrary but a direct consequence of the interaction of physical and chemical processes with the respective distribution of material properties in the geologic medium. Numerical simulations are an excellent tool to study of such fluid flow processes to understand their emergent behaviour and response to man-made interactions. Realistic numerical simulations, however, are challenging because they must capture the complex geological structures, represent the wide range of material properties with their transient and nonlinear changes accurately, and resolve short-term events over long time-scales.
Our current research focuses primarily on flow and transport processes carbonate reservoirs, ranging from the pore- to the kilometre scale, and is generously supported by the CMG Reservoir Simulation Foundation (Foundation CMG). More than 60% (around 3 trillion barrels) of the world’s oil reserves are contained in carbonate reservoirs, which tend to have significantly lower oil recoveries than sandstone reservoirs. Although the multi-porosity and multi-scale nature of carbonates poses significant challenges on reservoir simulation technologies, improved flow prediction and recovery in carbonate reservoirs are likely to be among some of the most significant developments for the oil and gas industry in the next decade
We hence use a combination of state-of-the art numerical simulations, analytical solutions, statistical upscaling approaches, and laboratory experiments to answer the following questions:
- What are the fundamental physical and chemical processes that drive a specific fluid flow process in carbonate rocks?
- How can we simulate the interaction of physical and chemical processes across multiple scales accurately?
- What emergent behaviour arises at the reservoir scale due to the interaction of physical and chemical processes at the pore-scale?
More specifically, we are involved in research projects on:
- Accurate numerical solution of non-linear advection-diffusion-reaction equations
- Novel mathematical approaches for modelling multi-scale three-phase flow
- Heat and multi-phase mass transfer in fractured porous media
- Enhanced oil recovery due to controlled-salinity flooding in carbonate rocks
- Upscaling multi-phase flow in heterogeneous carbonate reservoirs with spatially varying wettability
- Hydromechanical effects in fractured porous media
- Transient evolution of tectonically active (geothermal) systems
We are based at the Institute of Petroleum Engineering at Heriot-Watt University and an integral part of the Edinburgh Collaborative of Subsurface Science and Engineering and International Centre for Carbonate Reservoirs with close links to the Maxwell Institute of Mathematical Sciences. Funding for our research comes from the Foundation CMG, the Edinburgh Research Partnership in Engineering and Mathematics, EPSRC, ExxonMobil, PDO, Total, OMV, ConocoPhillips, BG, Petrobras, the Scottish Centre for Carbon Storage, and the initiative “Bridging the Gaps between Engineering and Mathematics”.
