Numerical Simulation of Waterflooding Using a Varied Transmissibility Tensor Approach

Abstract In the numerical simulation of enhanced oil recovery, it is key to precisely represent the reservoir's permeability and its directional dependence, as this is influential on the overall outcome of the prediction. Including a transmissibility tensor to the mix is essential for analyzing reservoirs, as it takes into account the directional flow properties while providing a better understanding of fluid flow within the reservoir and the identification of potential barriers to flow, preferential flow paths or directions. Traditional applications and representations of transmissibility tensors is flawed by the assumption that that the tensor is diagonal and this could lead to erroneous representations of flow behavior, particularly in reservoirs with complex anisotropy. This study applies finite difference in constructing a varied transmissibility tensor for waterflooding in an anisotropic reservoir model thereby, visualizing and demonstrating that the method can accurately capture complex flow patterns and enhance oil recovery predictions compared to traditional approaches that assume a diagonal tensor. The study highlights that the tensor is analogous to the >1 matrix, which is the matrix of coefficients in an implicit discretization scheme.