Hybrid finite element techniques for oil recovery simulation

Abstract This paper is devoted to a new numerical simulation of two-phases incompressible fluid flow (2D and 3D). Velocity and pressure equations are solved by an hybrid dual finite element method (FEM) with suppression of the grid effect. A Van Leer upwind scheme is used for the saturation equation, in order to reduce the front dispersion. For equal computational cost this method is more accurate than the classical finite difference method (FDM) used in reservoir simulation.