A Model of Secondary Hydrocarbon Migration As a Buoyancy-Driven Separate Phase Flow

Lehner, Florian K.; Marsal, D.; Hermans, L.; Kuyk, A. Van

doi:10.2516/ogst:1988010

Cited by 12 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…If separate-phase oil migration is considered, then additional transport equations analogous to (1) must be developed for each fluid phase (oil, gas, water), and modified to account for the effects of capillary pressures, relative saturation, and effective permeability. Numerical approaches include traditional multiphase flow [Rostron and T6th, 1989;Ungerer et al, 1990], sharp-interface theory [Lehner et al, 1987;Rhea et al, 1994], particle tracking [Gatyen, 1989;Person et al, 1993], and oil potential maps [Hubbert, 1953;Bethke et al, 1991]. One underlying assumption in the latter two approaches is that secondary petroleum migration directions through a coarse-grained aquifer can be approximated using oil heads or potentials [Gatyen, 1989] Petroleum researchers have frequently adopted this linearized approach for representing long-range oil migration because of the inherent difficulties involved in solving a system of nonlinear, multiphase transport equations at the basin scale on a relatively coarse grid.…”

Section: Fluid Flowmentioning

confidence: 99%

Basin‐scale hydrogeologic modeling

Person¹,

Raffensperger²,

Ge³

et al. 1996

Reviews of Geophysics

145

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Mathematical modeling of coupled groundwater flow, heat transfer, and chemical mass transport at the sedimentary basin scale has been increasingly used by Earth scientists studying a wide range of geologic processes including the formation of excess pore pressures, infiltration‐driven metamorphism, heat flow anomalies, nuclear waste isolation, hydrothermal ore genesis, sediment diagenesis, basin tectonics, and petroleum generation and migration. These models have provided important insights into the rates and pathways of groundwater migration through basins, the relative importance of different driving mechanisms for fluid flow, and the nature of coupling between the hydraulic, thermal, chemical, and stress regimes. The mathematical descriptions of basin transport processes, the analytical and numerical solution methods employed, and the application of modeling to sedimentary basins around the world are the subject of this review paper. The special considerations made to represent coupled transport processes at the basin scale are emphasized. Future modeling efforts will probably utilize three‐dimensional descriptions of transport processes, incorporate greater information regarding natural geological heterogeneity, further explore coupled processes, and involve greater field applications.

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Section: Fluid Flowmentioning

confidence: 99%

Basin‐scale hydrogeologic modeling

Person¹,

Raffensperger²,

Ge³

et al. 1996

Reviews of Geophysics

145

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“…They may, as shown by Yortsos (1991), be derived from the same fundamental equations (see Appendix A ) . Lehner et al (1987) have used a similar approach as the one applied here, to model hydrocarbon migration as a buoyancy-driven separate phase. They reduced a 3-D problem to 3-D by solving for the hydrocarbon height below a sealing layer, and this concept was exploited to build a simulator for real cases.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…this concept is studied thoroughly for 2-D layers, by utilizing the techniques of reservoir engineering. In contrast to Lehner et al (1987) we studied dimensionless versions of the equation for the hydrocarbon height. paying especial attention to the dimensionless parameters that control the process.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Secondary migration of hydrocarbons in inclined layers

Wangen

1995

Geophysical Journal International

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S U M M A R YThe 1-D models of segregated two-phase flow in reservoir engineering are utilized to model lateral secondary migration of hydrocarbons in slightly inclined and permeable layers. It is assumed that the layers are sealed below and above by low-permeability strata. The flow is then characterized by a gravity number and a mobility ratio when capillary forces are neglected. For buoyancy-driven migration, gravity numbers (much) larger than 1, these models imply that the Darcy velocity of the flow is only given by the buoyancy force due to the density difference between water and oil. For gravity numbers larger than 1, the thickness of the hydrocarbon zone below the sealing top is proportional to the inverse gravity number. Furthermore, if the oil flow in the layer is only a small fraction of the total flow, the height of the hydrocarbon zone is also proportional to this fraction. It is therefore concluded that in buoyancy-driven migration with large gravity numbers, where the hydrocarbon part of the total flow is small, only a small fraction of the upper part of the layer is saturated with oil. Therefore, only a little oil may be lost due to irreducible saturation, and long-range migration is possible.

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“…Models that describe the compaction of sediments and the associated fluid flow have been published (Smith 1971;Welte & Yukler 1981 and others). Secondary hydrocarbon migration along permeable carrier beds was modelled by Lehner et al (1988).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Modelling of secondary migration and entrapment of a multicomponent hydrocarbon mixture using equation of state and ray-tracing modelling techniques

Sylta¹

1991

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Equation of state modelling of multicor~ponent hydrocarbon mixtures has been incorporated into a program which models the secondary migration of oil and gas. Migration is modelled by means of a ray-tracing technique which operates on backstripped depth maps of a carrier bed. Reservoir beds are represented as rectangular grids (arrays) in the computer, ensuring the high resolution required for proper secondary migration modelling. The resulting software, named SEMI, can be calibrated against the hydrocarbon composition in drilled traps and then used to compute the composition in undrilled prospects. This is especially useful in moderately I explored basins where some discoveries have already been made. A model for the loss of Hydrocarbons during secondary migration is ulilized and, by modelling secondary migration within a synthetic basin, it is shown that compositional differences in traps may result from differences in loss of the vapour and liquid phases. Using a simple model for primary migration, it is shown that the primary and secondary migration losses influence the hydrocarbon composition in traps differently. Thus it is hoped that the proposed methodology can be used to quantify some of the unknown effects of migration and that a decrease in the quantified uncertainty in exploration for oil and gas may result.

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A Model of Secondary Hydrocarbon Migration As a Buoyancy-Driven Separate Phase Flow

Cited by 12 publications

References 0 publications

Basin‐scale hydrogeologic modeling

Basin‐scale hydrogeologic modeling

Secondary migration of hydrocarbons in inclined layers

Modelling of secondary migration and entrapment of a multicomponent hydrocarbon mixture using equation of state and ray-tracing modelling techniques

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