Mixed precision parallel preconditioner and linear solver for compositional reservoir simulation

Reservoir simulation role in value creation and strategic management decisions cannot be over emphasized. Simulation of complex challenging reservoirs with millions of grid blocks especially in compositional mode is very time-consuming even with fast modern computers. On the other hand, high price of cluster supercomputers prevents them for being commonly used for fast simulation of such reservoirs. In recent years, the development of many-core processors like cell processors, DSPs, and graphical processing units (GPUs) has provided a very cost-effective hardware platform for fast computational operations. However, programming for such processors is much more difficult than conventional CPUs, and new parallel algorithm design and special parallel implementation methods are needed. Using the computational power of CPUs, GPUs, and/or any other processing unit, Open Computing Language (OpenCL) provides a framework for programming for heterogeneous platforms. In this paper, OpenCL is used to employ the computational power of a GPU to build a preconditioner and solve the linear system arising from compositional formulation of multiphase flow in porous media. The proposed parallel preconditioner is proved to be quite effective, even in heterogeneous porous media. Using data-parallel modules on GPU, the preconditioner/solver runtime reduced at least 1 order of magnitude compared to their serial implementation on CPU.     

Simulation study of CO2 sequestration potential of the Mary Lee coal zone, Black Warrior basin

Significant potential exists for CO₂ sequestration in coalbed methane reservoirs of the Black Warrior basin. Reservoir simulation is an appropriate approach to estimate both the storage capacity and methane recovery enhancement. However, prior to a reliable reservoir modeling and simulation, conducting an accurate and comprehensive reservoir characterization study is necessary. The purpose of the present study is twofold: (a) to provide a rigorous reservoir characterization study required for modeling Mary Lee coal group in the Blue Creek field of the Black Warrior basin; (b) to run fluid flow simulations to predict the performance of ECBM process applied to an under pressured zone of the Mary Lee coal group. According to the current well configuration of Blue Creek field, three applicable well patterns, namely a direct line drive, an inverted 5-spot and a normal 5-spot were separately (i.e., in three distinct cases) used for simulating ECBM. Simulations were run on an approximately 32 ha (80-acre) drainage area, and included coal matrix shrinkage/swelling effects. The injected gas was assumed to be pure CO₂. Using an inverted 5-spot pattern, simulations predicted that after 7.5 years of CO₂ injection, approximately 32,000 tonnes of CO₂ would be sequestered per 32 ha of this zone and that methane recovery would be enhanced by 36 %. Using a normal 5-spot pattern, CO₂ breakthrough would occur 2.4 years earlier, and about 40,000 tonnes CO₂ would be sequestered. However, methane production would be enhanced by 33 %. Considering methane recovery enhancement, direct line drive pattern delivered poor results in comparison with two other patterns. As expected, the results also showed that CO₂ injection would increase water production.     

Calculation of astrophysical S-factor in reaction $^{13}\mathrm{C}(p,\gamma )^{14}\mathrm{N}$ for first resonance levels

The \(^{13}\mathrm{C}(p,\gamma )^{14}\mathrm{N}\) reaction is one of the important reactions in the CNO cycle, which is a key process in nucleosynthesis. We first calculated wave functions for the bound state of \(^{14}\mathrm{N}\) with Faddeev’s method. In this method, the considered reaction components are \(^{12}\mathrm{C}+n+p\). Then, by using direct capture cross section and Breit–Wigner formulae, the non-resonant and resonant cross sections were calculated, respectively. In the next step, we calculated the total S-factor and compared it with experimental data, which showed good agreement between them. Next, we extrapolated the S-factor for the transition to the ground state at zero energy and obtained \(S(0)=5.8 \pm 0.7~(\mbox{keV}\,\mbox{b})\) and then calculate reaction rate. These ones are in agreement with previous reported results.     

Two-helium radiative capture process and the 8Be nucleus at settler energies

Alpha radiative capture reactions offers the opportunity to study nuclear processes of astrophysical interest. Most of the existing data on these processes have been gained by means of gamma-ray spectroscopy, where the measurements are very difficult due to the low cross sections and the relatively high background in the detectors. We have calculated the two-alpha radiative capture process and excitations of ⁸Be nuclei interacting using current conservation realistic two- and three-nucleon potentials, at settler energies. We have presented the results of Faddeev-type calculations for current conservation of two- and three-body interactions to cluster nuclear reactions. Our results for cross sections are found to be 128 (140) nanobarn for the current conservation two-body (two-body and three-body) interactions, at the resonance energy with an 14 % (6 %) accuracy in comparison with the recent experimental data, respectively. The results for B (E2) value of ⁸Be is also found to be 21.7 (20.8) e ² fm ⁴, in comparison with the very recent experimental data with an error of 7 % (2 %). Our calculation show that the bulk energies are corrected by improved few-body potentials.     

Predicting Formation Pore-Pressure from Well-Log Data with Hybrid Machine-Learning Optimization Algorithms

Natural Resources Research - Accurate prediction of pore-pressures in the subsurface is paramount for successful planning and drilling of oil and gas wellbores. It saves cost and time and helps to...