An Efficient Solution Procedure for Multiple Interacting Continua Flow

Abstract

Invocation of the Multiple Interacting Continua (MINC) concept in simulation of multi-phase fluid and heat flow in reservoirs entails solution of a very large set of sparse linear equations. The task is computationally burdensome and frequently impractical. We present here a and efficient procedure which results in a several-fold reduction in the computing time and the memory requirements. The procedure is based on decomposing the solution matrix into (a) a set of tridiagonal matrices arising from individual MINC blocks, and (b) a matrix arising from flow in the fractures. The procedure is ideally suitable for parallel processing computers such that the flow and accumulation coefficients, and solution for MINC blocks can be performed concurrently. Theoretical and actual computational performance parameters are presented.