A fully 3D adaptive finite element simulation and prototype for gas flow in a porous media

This paper presents a three-dimensional (3D) adaptive finite element soluti on for gas flow in a porous media. The solution obtained is truly 3D and em ploys a dynamic h-adaptive refinement technique for efficiency. The adaptiv e procedure uses a new node-based storage mechanism [Wang GH, Tyler JM, Wel tman JS, Callahan JD. Advances in Engineering Software including Computing Systems in Engineering 1999;30:31-41]. This node-based structure substantia lly reduces the memory necessary to store the finite element mesh. A protot ype simulator, written in C+ +, has been implemented for Eugene Island bloc k 305, a multi-well condensate reservoir off the coast of Louisiana to demo nstrate the use of this adaptive procedure. Results, presented in this pape r, show dramatic agreement with the actual production data. This prototype simulator uses Windows workstations to support a fully dynamic 3D mesh plus mesh generation. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.