Society of Petroleum Engineers and Department of Geoscience and Petroleum at NTNU are proud to present Dr. Russell T. Jones as this years first Distinguished Lecturer.
Russell T. Johns is the George E. Trimble Chair of Energy and Mineral Sciences at the Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering at The Pennsylvania State University. He also holds the Energi Simulation Chair in Fluid Behavior and Rock Interactions and is currently the Editor-In-Chief for SPE journals and director of the Enhanced Oil Recovery consortium in the EMS Energy Institute at Penn State University. Dr. Jones has over 250 publications in enhanced oil recovery, thermodynamics and phase behavior, unconventional gas engineering, multiphase flow in porous media, and well testing.
This presentation will show you why labeling is “old thinking” and how labeling generates discontinuities and simulation errors in compositional processes. Current compositional simulators include compositional equation-of-state fluid models, but do not account for compositional effects on relative permeability, capillary pressure, and grid-block flux calculations. Relative permeability, for example, is still based on “old thinking” related to labeling of phases as “oil, gas, and water.” Labeling causes significant discontinuities that can result in inaccuracies and instability in simulations of compositional processes, such as those for enhanced oil recovery (EOR). Several example cases, including water-alternating-gas and surfactant flooding, are given using a new type of compositional simulator with all labels removed. One component of the novel simulator is the development of an equation of state (EoS) for relative permeabilities that eliminates phase labeling. The relative permeability model is physically based and captures complex hysteresis effects through saturation and phase connectivity as well as changing wettability, interfacial tension, and pore morphology. Results show increased robustness, improved accuracy, faster computational times, and less instabilities when phase labeling is removed.
Pizza and non-alcoholic beverages will be served at the end of the event. The talk and questions session will take approximately an hour, and the participants are encouraged to socialize after the talk.