Evaluation and optimization of multi-lateral wells using MODFLOW unstructured grids

Lux, Marcell; Szanyi, János; Tóth, Tivadar M.

doi:10.1515/geo-2016-0004

Cited by 7 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…and discipline-vise to hydrology, Lux et al were able to simplify the optimization of multi-lateral well patterns using unstructured grids, while keeping a similar effectiveness as the ones in literature [13].…”

Section: Papers Presentedmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The papers in this in this special issue of Open Geosciences were selected from within the framework of this conference with the hope of providing insights into-, and bridging the gap between mathematical and statistical practice among case studies from classical environmental applications of multivariate statistics [8,9] through the solution of reservoir geological problems [10][11][12][13][14], to the application of methods that are new to this field of science [15] along with many other aspects of geology and environmental sciences. The issue consists of two main parts, the first part deals with studies mainly concerning petrology, while the second is related to urban/classical environmental problems, handled using geostatistics.…”

Section: Papers Presentedmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

A Special Issue: Geomathematics in practice: Case studies from earth- and environmental sciences – Proceedings of the Croatian-Hungarian Geomathematical Congress, Hungary 2015

Hatvani

Horváth

2016

Open Geosciences

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Section: Papers Presentedmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Papers Presentedmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Special Issue: Geomathematics in practice: Case studies from earth- and environmental sciences – Proceedings of the Croatian-Hungarian Geomathematical Congress, Hungary 2015

Hatvani

Horváth

2016

Open Geosciences

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“…In present workbuilding on the advantages demonstrated previously (Lux et al, 2016) we applied unstructured grids (USG) to model multilateral wells using the MODFLOW-USG code that simulates groundwater flow using a generalized control volume finite-difference approach, which allows grids other than orthogonal structured grids (SG) (Panday et al, 2013).…”

Section: Unstructured Gridmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In a previous paper (Lux et al, 2016) it has been demonstrated that unstructured grids are more efficient in modelling multilateral wells than structured grids from a computational point of view while also providing better resolution. That paper also investigated optimal geometries for radially distributed and fishbone type multilateral wells in a homogenous, isotropic environment.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of vertical anisotropy on optimization of multilateral well geometry

Lux

Szanyi

2022

Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering

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Multilateral wells have been increasingly used in recent years by different industries such as the oil-and gas industry (incl. coal-bed methane (CBM)) and geothermal energy production. The common purpose of these wells in the oil industry and partially in the geothermal industry is to achieve a higher production rate per well without increasing the hydraulic gradient significantly. In geothermal systems the ultimate objective is to improve heat extraction performance by enhancing productivity but also by increasing the heat transfer area.Optimal design of multilateral wells has been the focus of numerous publications in CBM and unconventional oil-and gas production, but as a result of cross-fertilization and technology-transfer among different sectors in the energy industry in the last few years, the focus of research on multilateral wells has turned to enhanced geothermal systems (EGS).Recently, several papers have been published on the use of multilateral wells in deep geothermal reservoirs. Coaxial closed-loop geothermal systems with multilateral wells utilize only the increased heat transfer area due to the laterals while EGS's with multilateral injection and production wells also benefit from the hydrodynamic advantages of such well configurations. However, substantial emphasis isunderstandablyplaced on the effect of artificial and natural fracture networks of EGS reservoirs and less focus is devoted to the impact of vertical permeability anisotropy which can seriously influence the flow pattern of a given configuration. Similarly, in CBM-related studies, the effect of horizontal permeability anisotropy along the face cleats to the butt cleats on multilateral well-design was investigated and vertical permeability anisotropy was not considered.In the current work we present a generalized approach for evaluating the effects of vertical permeability anisotropy on multilateral well geometry by numerical hydrodynamic modelling in an idealized, homogeneous hydrogeological setting.Current paper proposes an alternative modelling approach for representing the non-horizontal branches of multilateral wells by introducing a thin layer for the laterals with the same inclination as the well branches. This approach is then is used to investigate the effect of anisotropy on the flow pattern and near-wellbore drawdown and hydraulic gradient in the case of different branch deviations. Results suggest that the benefits of highly deviated or horizontal laterals emerge when vertical anisotropy is high. Evaluation of branch deviation vs. anisotropy indicates that above approx. 60 • there is no significant benefit in increasing deviation which implies that very highly deviated or horizontal laterals might not necessarily pay off the associated technical challenges and extra costs.

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“…Sbai [28] evaluated the improvement of the performance of using USG to represent the aquifer heterogeneity and compared it with the homogeneous coarser grid model. Lux [29] analyzed the difference between using the structured grid and the unstructured grid to simulate the multi-lateral wells. The unstructured grid could provide higher resolution keeping cell numbers relatively low by only refining around the wells.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative Assessment of Methods for Coupling Regional and Local Groundwater Flow Models: A Case Study in the Beijing Plain, China

Liu

Zhou

Xie

et al. 2021

Water

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A coupled regional and local model is required when groundwater flow and solute transport are to be simulated in local areas of interest with a finer grid while regional aquifer boundary and major stresses should be retained with a coarser grid. The coupled model should also maintain interactions between the regional and local flow systems. In the Beijing Plain (China), assessment of managed aquifer recharge (MAR), groundwater pollution caused by rivers, capture zone of well fields, and land subsidence at the cone of depression requires a coupled regional and local model. This study evaluates three methods for coupling regional and local flow models for simulating MAR in the Chaobai River catchment in the Beijing Plain. These methods are the conventional grid refinement (CGR) method, the local grid refinement (LGR) method and the unstructured grid (USG) method. The assessment included the comparison of the complexity of the coupled model construction, the goodness of fit of the computed and observed groundwater heads, the consistency of regional and local groundwater budgets, and the capture zone of a well filed influenced by the MAR site. The results indicated that the CGR method based on MODFLOW-2005 is the easiest to implement the coupled model, capable of reproducing regional and local groundwater heads and budget, and already coupled with density and viscosity dependent model codes for transport simulation. However, the CGR method inherits shortcomings of finite difference grids to create multiple local models with inefficient computing efforts. The USG method based on MODFLOW-USG has the advantage of creating multi-scale models and is flexible to simulate rivers, wells, irregular boundaries, heterogeneities and the MAR site. However, it is more difficult to construct the coupled models with the unstructured grids, therefore, a good graphic user interface is necessary for efficient model construction. The LGR method based on MODFLOW-LGR can be used to create multiple local models in uniform aquifer systems. So far, little effort has been devoted to upgrade the LGR method for complex aquifer structures and develop the coupled transport models.

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Evaluation and optimization of multi-lateral wells using MODFLOW unstructured grids

Cited by 7 publications

References 8 publications

A Special Issue: Geomathematics in practice: Case studies from earth- and environmental sciences – Proceedings of the Croatian-Hungarian Geomathematical Congress, Hungary 2015

A Special Issue: Geomathematics in practice: Case studies from earth- and environmental sciences – Proceedings of the Croatian-Hungarian Geomathematical Congress, Hungary 2015

Effects of vertical anisotropy on optimization of multilateral well geometry

Comparative Assessment of Methods for Coupling Regional and Local Groundwater Flow Models: A Case Study in the Beijing Plain, China

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