Transmissibility adjustment to preserve fine scale geological connectivity after property upscaling.
Restore the connectivity that property upscaling destroyed.
Avoid optimistic behavior in the coarsened model and preserve the real communication between cells of the geological model.
Preserve geological connectivity: the coarsened model honors the barriers, flow paths, and discontinuities of the original fine model.
Avoid artificial simulation behaviors: eliminate the spurious communication between isolated regions (optimism) and the loss of vertical flow (pessimism) caused by conventional homogenization.
Direct compatibility with commercial simulators: outputs ready for Eclipse and Nexus, integrated into the Petrel export workflow.
CONNECT-TransMod is a native Petrel® plug-in that addresses one of the most critical issues in the reservoir upscaling process: the loss of geological connectivity that occurs when the fine scale model is homogenized down to the simulation scale.
In conventional property upscaling, reservoir and non reservoir cells from the fine scale model are combined to produce average porosity and permeability values at the coarse scale. This homogenization inevitably destroys the detailed connectivity structure of the geological model, potentially creating communication between regions that were originally isolated (optimistic behavior) or eliminating vertical flow paths that actually existed (pessimistic behavior, typical in environments where vertical flow is critical, such as production with horizontal wells in clastic environments).
CONNECT-TransMod corrects this issue by analyzing the detailed connectivity of the fine scale model and computing the appropriate transmissibility adjustments to be applied to the coarsened model, so that the original geological connectivity is honored as closely as possible by the flow simulator. Applied together with CONNECT-Upgrid, it enables significant reductions in the simulation model size while preserving its dynamic characteristics.
The plug-in is developed in partnership with Kelkar & Associates Inc., based in Tulsa, USA.
CONNECT-TransMod operates directly on a model that has already been coarsened in properties, acting as a correction stage that gives back to the simulator the connectivity information lost during homogenization. Core capabilities include:
Fine scale connectivity analysis: The algorithm examines the detailed transmissibility structure of the original geological model, identifying flow paths, barriers, and vertical discontinuities that must be preserved in the simulation model.
Transmissibility adjustment in three directions:: For each connection between coarse cells, the module computes the appropriate adjustments in the X, Y, and Z directions, producing:
RatioX and RatioY: transmissibility multipliers in the areal directions.
TransmissibilityZ: direct transmissibility in the vertical direction, designed to preserve vertical communication in scenarios where Z permeability would be zeroed out by conventional upscaling.
Support for multiple flow simulators: Generation of properties compatible with the main commercial simulators on the market, with output in ECLIPSE format and Nexus native arrays, including unit selection options for the exported values.
Reservoir and non reservoir rock handling: When the model clearly distinguishes reservoir from non reservoir rocks (via facies or permeability cut-off), the algorithm uses this information to refine the connectivity calculation, ensuring that flow barriers are correctly represented.
Pinch-out model compatibility: Support for geological models generated with follow-top or follow-bottom strategies (on-lap models), with the option to control vertical communication through pinched-out cells.
Petrel workflow integration: Capability of operating inside automated Petrel workflows, allowing the reuse of existing properties for output and the inclusion of TransMod as a step in broader modeling pipelines.
A consolidated tool in the E&P market, used by multiple operators worldwide in reservoir modeling projects and flow simulation studies.
Commercial licensing via SLB Ocean Store, with direct technical support from the engineering teams at DeepSoft and Kelkar & Associates.