Transport in Porous Media, Vol.98, No.2, 465-484, 2013
An Upscaling-Static-Downscaling Scheme for Simulation of Enhanced Oil Recovery Processes
We investigate whether upscaling errors for EOR simulation can be reduced by an upscaling-static-downscaling method where the scales of simulation for the pressure and saturation/concentration switch between coarse simulation model and fine geological model. We apply a static downscaling that has been previously shown to be reliable for water flooding. We use the same algorithm of static downscaling for EOR processes that have been used for water flooding. Different EOR processes are considered: polymer, surfactant and thermal. This range of flooding processes ensures that we are examining more physically complicated systems than water flooding. For these processes, one major difference from water flooding is existence of a secondary front. The effective capturing of this front is a criterion of accuracy for upscaling because, for this front, the coupling of dispersion with the fractional flow creates excessive smearing. A scheme for numerical dispersion control is implemented to both upscaled and downscaled models to determine and reduce the sensitivity to dispersion errors.