USAGE OF X-RAY CT FOR EMPIRICAL TRANSFER FUNCTIONS IN DUAL POROSITY SIMULATION

This research utilizes imbibition experiments and X-Ray tomography results for modeling fluid flow in naturally fractured reservoirs. Conventional dual porosity simulation requires large number of runs to quantify transfer function parameters for history matching purposes. In this study empirical transfer functions (ETF) are derived from imbibition experiments and this allows reduction in the uncertainness in modeling of transfer of fluids from the matrix to the fracture. The application of ETF approach is applied in two phases. In the first phase, imbibition experiments are numerically solved using the diffusivity equation. Usually only the oil recovery in imbibition experiments is matched. But with the advent of X-ray CT the spatial variation of the saturation can also be computed. The matching of this variation can lead to accurate reservoir characterization. In the second phase, the imbibition derived empirical transfer functions are used in developing a dual porosity reservoir simulator. The results from this study are compared with published results. The study reveals the impact of uncertainty in the transfer function parameters on the