This book aims to develop the ideas from fundamentals of percolation theory to practical reservoir engineering applications. Through a focus on field scale applications of percolation concepts to reservoir engineering problems, it offers an approximation method to determine many important reservoir parameters, such as effective permeability and reservoir connectivity and the physical analysis of some reservoir engineering properties. Starring with the concept of percolation theory, it then develops into methods to simple geological systems like sand-bodies and fractures. The accuracy and efficiency of the percolation concept for these is explained and further extended to more complex realistic models.
Percolation Theory in Reservoir Engineering primarily focuses on larger reservoir scale flow and demonstrates methods that can be used to estimate large scale properties and their uncertainty, crucial for major development and investment decisions in hydrocarbon recovery.
Sample Chapter(s)
Preface
Chapter 1: Introduction
Contents:
- Introduction
- Percolation Theory — The Basics
- Continuum Percolation for Geological Models
- The Connectivity of Overlapping Sandbodies
- Percolation and Fracture Systems
- Backbone, Dangling Ends and Effective Permeability
- Beyond Simple Percolation
- Dynamic Reservoir Prediction Using Percolation
- Percolation and Pore-Scale Applications
Readership: Graduates and researchers interested or working in reservoir engineering.
"This is a highly valuable book for both researchers and practitioners of the field. It can also be used as the basis for a graduate course in petroleum engineering."
Professor Muhammad Sahimi
University of Southern California
"Percolation Theory in Reservoir Engineering is a useful text for scientists and engineers working in academia, the oil industry and related fields. It is particularly valuable as a resource for reservoir geoscientists, enabling, through simple analytical expressions, the link between a geological model and expected recovery to be made. It is also suitable as a text for industry short-courses or graduate classes in petroleum geoscience and engineering. The approach of the book is pedagogic, allowing complex concepts in statistical physics to be applied easy by practicing engineers and geoscientists. The work is amply illustrated by examples and applications and is an invaluable resource for anyone who wishes to understand oilfield recovery."
Martin Blunt
Imperial College, London, UK