OPEN SOURCE SIMULATOR DUMUX AVAILABLE FOR SCAL DATA INTERPRETATION

摘要

An important problem in the interpretation of special core analysis(SCAL) laboratory data is that during relative permeability measurements a strong interference exists with the capillary forces.In the small core samples used in the lab,these forces play a role that is much different from what occurs on the scale of the field.As an example: the residual oil saturations may appear in the lab to be some 10 to 15 saturation units higher than they really are in the field.Vice versa,during capillary pressure measurements,the relative permeabilities interfere. To unravel this interference,simulations of the experiments are necessary.DuMu~x , dumux.org,is an open-source simulator for flow and transport processes in porous media, based on the Distributed and Unified Numerics Environment DUNE.Its development started in January 2007 at the University of Stuttgart and is still ongoing.DuMu~x is part of the OPM(Open Porous Media) initiative. The paper highlights how DuMu~x has been adapted to simulate SCAL experiments. These include flooding and centrifuge measurement techniques,as well as experiments using a porous plate.DuMu~x has been verified against analytical calculations and against MoReS,Shell's proprietary simulator.Subsequently,based on simulations,a detailed analysis is presented of experimental issues around two methods used in the industry to measure the resistivity index and capillary pressure: the Porous Plate method,and the Continuous Injection method.Simulations are compared to actual laboratory data. A web-based user interface to DuMu~x is made available that can be used free of charge, fully in line with the philosophy of free software licensing under GPL(2).