Inverse problem theory to chemo-poroelastic parameters estimation: an analytical/experimental investigation

Shale formation swelling is one of the main factors affecting wellbore instability and associated problems in drilling operation. In order to eliminate these problems, it is important to investigate formation characteristics and understand mechanisms of rock-fluid interaction, from chemical/mechanical point of view. Shale membrane efficiency is known as an important parameter affecting wellbore instability. In order to measure this parameter, many mathematical models and experimental efforts have been carried out which consider mechanical-chemical processes for rock-fluid interactions. In this study, the field equations governing the problem have been derived based on the linear chemo-poroelastic theory and solved using analytical/numerical methods. Afterward, a comprehensive workflow to characterize the chemo-poroelastic parameters of illite-rich shale is conducted in the laboratory. In fact, mineralogical and apparent properties of shale sample have been described and some setups were performed such as triaxial test and membrane efficiency. Then genetic algorithm has been applied to solve an inverse problem and get a match between experimental data and modeling results. Ultimately, the three important properties in shale-fluid interactions, i.e., shale membrane efficiency, hydraulic, and chemical diffusivity coefficient have been estimated. Comparing the simulation results with the experimental data indicates that the simulation model can appropriately simulate the pore pressure transmission test. With this approach, the required parameters can be estimated with good accuracy without using time-consuming and costly tests.     

Adaptive Conditioning of Multiple-Point Statistical Facies Simulation to Flow Data with Probability Maps

Multiple-point statistics (MPS) provides a flexible grid-based approach for simulating complex geologic patterns that contain high-order statistical information represented by a conceptual prior geologic model known as a training image (TI). While MPS is quite powerful for describing complex geologic facies connectivity, conditioning the simulation results on flow measurements that have a nonlinear and complex relation with the facies distribution is quite challenging. Here, an adaptive flow-conditioning method is proposed that uses a flow-data feedback mechanism to simulate facies models from a prior TI. The adaptive conditioning is implemented as a stochastic optimization algorithm that involves an initial exploration stage to find the promising regions of the search space, followed by a more focused search of the identified regions in the second stage. To guide the search strategy, a facies probability map that summarizes the common features of the accepted models in previous iterations is constructed to provide conditioning information about facies occurrence in each grid block. The constructed facies probability map is then incorporated as soft data into the single normal equation simulation (snesim) algorithm to generate a new candidate solution for the next iteration. As the optimization iterations progress, the initial facies probability map is gradually updated using the most recently accepted iterate. This conditioning process can be interpreted as a stochastic optimization algorithm with memory where the new models are proposed based on the history of the successful past iterations. The application of this adaptive conditioning approach is extended to the case where multiple training images are proposed as alternative geologic scenarios. The advantages and limitations of the proposed adaptive conditioning scheme are discussed and numerical experiments from fluvial channel formations are used to compare its performance with non-adaptive conditioning techniques.     

Numerical Modelling Investigation of Wave Interaction on Composite Berm Breakwater

China Ocean Engineering - The breakwaters have experienced many changes during their construction history. These changes have been considered to improve their performance, depending on their...