206 Integrating Innovations of Rock Mechanics

R.J. Rocca et al. (Eds.)

IOS Press, 2015
© 2015 The authors and IOS Press. All rights reserved.
doi:10.3233/978-1-61499-605-7-206

Role of Reservoir Geomechanics in the

Integrity of Oil Wells – Part I
Carlos Emmanuel Ribeiro LAUTENSCHLÄGERa,1, Guilherme Lima RIGHETTO a,
Nelson INOUE a and Sergio Augusto Barreto da FONTOURA a
a
ATHENA – Computational Geomechanics Group, GTEP – Group of Technology in
Petroleum Engineering, PUC-Rio – Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro,
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Abstract. This paper is the first part of a work that deals with the role of reservoir
geomechanics in the assessment of the well's casing behavior. Evaluation of multi-
scale problems requires efforts of joining robust fluid-mechanical techniques with a
smart global-local modeling approach. This paper presents a fluid-mechanical
coupling methodology developed to evaluate the global model, in reservoir scale,
employing difference and finite element methods. In order to transfer the
geomechanical effects from reservoir to well scale, a multi-scale management
program was also developed, following a reasonable multi-scale workflow.
Theoretical aspects of these developments are presented in this paper, and
applications can be found in the part II of this work.

Keywords. Casing integrity, finite element submodeling, fluid-mechanical coupling,

geomechanical effects, reservoir geomechanics

1. Introduction

The depletion of hydrocarbon reservoirs causes significant effects on its surroundings;

the variation of pore-pressure, arising from production or injection activities, results in
stress changes in the rocks that compose the field. From the geomechanical point of view,
the problematic of wells and reservoirs is often distinctly addressed, mainly because the
scale difference. Although the system behaves in an integrated way, the association of
the phenomena involved in the analysis of wells and reservoirs is frequently neglected.
In the numerical approach of multi-scale problems, it is important to investigate the best
way to represent each phenomenon, and it is necessary to establish an information
transfer method among the problems.
In global scale, reservoir modeling can be assessed employing fluid-mechanical
coupling schemes, in order to include in the results spectrum some geomechanical
aspects. Reservoir geomechanics is a subject of recent interest, and several authors have
publishing different ways of perform fluid-mechanical coupling [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]. As
noted, great research effort has been devoted to the coherent consideration of
geomechanical effects in the flow simulator. Inoue & Fontoura [9, 10] presented a robust
and innovative approach to partial fluid-mechanical coupling, where the coupling terms

1
Corresponding author, Group of Technology and Petroleum Engineering (GTEP), Rua Marquês de São
Vicente, 225 – Ed. Pe. Leonel Franca – 6º andar, Gávea – CEP 22451-263, Rio de Janeiro – RJ – Brasil; E-
mail: carlos_emmanuel@puc-rio.br.
 C.E.R. Lautenschläger et al. / Role of Reservoir Geomechanics in the Integrity of Oil Wells – I 207

intend to honor the result of fully coupled simulations. This coupling methodology is
employed in the present work, to assess global models.
Regarding well scale problems, many authors conduct their analyses employing
numerical models built only in local scale, considering the medium influence as a pre-
defined value (hypothetical or from field observations) [11, 12, 13]. However, the wells
are linear constructions whose geomechanical behavior is closely related to the stress
state of the rock which is going through, so that the behavior of the medium cannot be
ignored. Some authors study ways to communicate finite element models in different
scales [14, 15], and the use of submodeling seems to be the best numerical approach in
multi-scale problems. This technique was adopted in this research, following a
systematic workflow presented by the authors in [16] and [17]. Nevertheless, a smart
way to integrate global and local models is necessary to make the multi-scale workflow
an applicable tool for reservoirs analysts.
Therefore, this work aims to present a theoretical framework of the multi-scale
approach developed to evaluate the casing well behavior together with results from
geomechanical analyses in global scale.

2. Global Modeling Approach

Researches performed by the Computational Geomechanics Group – ATHENA/ GTEP

– PUC-Rio, employing a robust and innovative partial coupling methodology, showed
substantial influence of geomechanical effects on the history of fluid pressures during
the development of a reservoir, and also on other aspects such as subsidence and
compaction [9, 10, 16, 17, 18, 19]. The methodology developed consists of a one and
two-way partial coupling scheme, where the flow variables (pore pressure and saturation
of the phases) and the stress variables (displacement field, stress and strain state) are
calculated separately and sequentially, by a conventional reservoir simulator and a stress
analysis program, respectively. The coupling parameters are exchanged at each time step
until reaching the convergence. The quality of the developed methodology was ensured
by the rigorous development of a coupling parameter which approximates the
geomechanical response to the fully coupled behavior.
The flow equation can be obtained by combining the mass conservation equation
and the Darcy’s law. The law of mass conservation is a material-balance equation written
for a component in a control volume. In hydrocarbon reservoirs, a porous medium can
contain one, two and three fluid phases. The governing flow equation for the
conventional reservoir simulation and the governing equation used in the fully coupled
scheme are given by Eqs. (1) and (2), respectively. In the conventional reservoir
simulation, the porosity is related to pore pressure through the rock compressibility using
a linear relation, and in the fully coupled scheme, the porosity equation is composed of
four components that contribute to the fluid accumulation term.

wp k 2
c I
f
0
 crI 0  ’ p 0
wt P
(1)

wp k 2 wH v
ªc f I 0  cS D  I 0 º D
¼ wt  P ’ p
(2)
¬ wt
208 C.E.R. Lautenschläger et al. / Role of Reservoir Geomechanics in the Integrity of Oil Wells – I

where Iis the porosity, p is the pore pressure, t is the time, k is the permeability, P is
the viscosity, cf is the fluid compressibility, cs is the solid matrix compressibility, cr is
the rock compressibility, D is a Biot’s coefficient and Hv is the bulk volumetric strain.
The formulation of the geomechanical problem takes into account the equilibrium
equations, stress-strain-displacement equations, rock-flow interaction and the boundary
conditions. The governing equation of the geomechanical problem may be written as
indicated in Eq. (3).

G
G’2 u  ’’ ˜ u D’p (3)
1  2Q

where G is the shear modulus, u is the nodal displacement and Q is the Poisson ratio.
The coupling is achieved through a convenient approximation between of the flow
equation of the conventional reservoir simulation and the flow equation of the fully
coupled scheme. In this methodology, the effect of solids compressibility is removed
from the fully coupled scheme and the effect of volumetric strain of the porous medium
is added to conventional reservoir simulation. The parameters responsible for the
coupling, which honor the fully coupling equation, are the porosity I and the pseudo-
compressibility cp, presented in Eq. (4) and (5) respectively. These parameters are
iteratively updated through the coupled analysis.

I I o  D H v  H vo   p  po 
1 (4)
Q
H vn1  H vn (5)
cp
I ( pin1  pin )
o

where Q is a Biot’s parameter.

Furthermore, the partial coupling between the stress analysis program and the
conventional reservoir simulator is reached using a staggered procedure, implemented in
a C++ code. The software adopted to couple were IMEX (reservoir simulator software)
and ABAQUS (finite elemento software). More details about the theoretical framework
and validations can be found in [9, 10, 19], as well as applications of the methodology
can be found in [16, 17, 18].

3. Local Modeling Approach

The analysis of geomechanical effects at the local level, resulting from reservoir
development, requires the use of specific numerical techniques, such as submodeling.
Applying this technique together with the partially coupled scheme presented in former
item, in turn, need to follow some recommendations in terms of the modeling process, so
that the results obtained are consistent with the expected physical phenomenon. To conduct
local analyses, it was adopted the submodeling technique implemented in the finite element
software ABAQUS, which is the stress simulator used in the partial coupling scheme
developed. The submodel is simulated in a separate analysis of the global model, and the
connection between the models is performed only through the variables of interest to the
local model.
 C.E.R. Lautenschläger et al. / Role of Reservoir Geomechanics in the Integrity of Oil Wells – I 209

It was developed a program to manage the local modeling, called APOLLO. This
module was developed in C ++, with the objective of organizing the information of interest
to local modeling (from the global model) as well as assist in the construction of the
submodel's input file. The program also allows the automatic execution of the model in
ABAQUS. The design of APOLLO module followed these steps, presented in Figure 1, in
order to incorporate all stages of the well's life in the submodel.
Figure 1(a) represents the local model in the initial state of stresses prior to drilling. At
this stage, the in situ stresses must be initialized in the same way that global model, based
on a rock gravity gradient, as a function of depth. In this initial stage the stresses are in
equilibrium, with the hypothesis that the vertical stress is equal to the greatest principal
stress and that the two horizontal stresses are of equal magnitude, representing the lowest
principal stress.
Figure 1(b) shows the process of excavation of the rock with the use of drilling fluid.
At this stage, the rock portion within the wellbore is removed with parallel application of
the fluid pressure, calculated based on the specific weight of the drilling mud. At this stage,
there is a generation of differential stress in the vicinity of the excavation wall, due to the
perturbation of the initial state of stresses caused by rock removal.
Figure 1(c) depicts the process of well casing placement inside the excavation, filled
with drilling fluid. After this placement, the inner and outer surfaces of the casing will be
subjected to fluid pressure.
Figure 1(d) shows the placement of the cement still in fluid state, into the annular space
between the casing and the excavation. This phase might be split into three subsequent
steps: fluid cement only inside the casing, fluid cement inside the casing and the annular
space, fluid cement only in the annular space. The separation of these stages should be
taken into consideration in analysis where the materials involved have time-dependent
behavior (e.g., creep of the rock when the well passes through salt zones). In the case
studied the materials that compose the model do not depend on time, so that the time
between these phases does not affect the geomechanical expected response. For this reason,
the liquid cement was directly attributed to the annular in the finite element models studied,
only by changing the pre-existing drilling fluid pressure to that pressure related to the liquid
cement density.
Figure 1(e) refers to the cement in the hardened state. In this work, as they are not
being simulated cases with the material time dependence, the cement hardening is being
considered immediate, and the generated stresses are considered of equal magnitude to the
pressure applied by the cement liquid.
Finally, Figure 1(f) represents the application of the production effects in the
completed well. At this stage, the drilling mud pressure is replaced by the oil pressure (in
producer wells) or water pressure (in injector wells). In finite element analysis, the reservoir
development effects are attributed to the local model through the transfer of displacements
from global model, employing the submodeling technique. The effect of the fluid inside
the casing remains being applied with a pressure, but now this pressure is collected from
reservoir simulation, at the interesting simulation time.
210 C.E.R. Lautenschläger et al. / Role of Reservoir Geomechanics in the Integrity of Oil Wells – I

(a) (b)

(c) (d)

(e) (f)

Figure 1. Local modeling sequence employed in APOLLO modulo implementation: from in situ stress state
to geomechanical effects

In a way that all stages of the process described in Figure 1 would successfully
addressed through the APOLLO program, functional and numerical aspects of the
programs used and developed in this work (ABAQUS, IMEX and partial coupling code)
were compatibilized. The APOLLO program is divided into four main cores, as shown
schematically in Figure 2.
 C.E.R. Lautenschläger et al. / Role of Reservoir Geomechanics in the Integrity of Oil Wells – I 211

Figure 2: Schematic representation of the components of the APOLLO program.

In the data set file, some information needs to be indicated, according to global and
local model definitions. Such information will be read in the first step of APOLLO module,
namely: global model name; submodel name; name of the global results file (flow and
stress); well name; coordinates translation to be applied on the built mesh; casing and
cement properties; rock properties; densities of drilling fluid and liquid cement; indication
of the submodel boundary.
After reading, the manager will assess that information and will perform some actions
automatically: well search in the flow simulation file and storage of the completed cells;
getting the peripheral coordinates of the cells containing the well; exact well coordinate
calculation to a given cell; collection of fluid pressures in each cell crossed by the well;
determination of pore pressure variation law, based on the collected data; mesh translation
to exact well position in global model. Calculated and stored data will be used in the
building of submodel input file, at the end of workflow.
After input data treatment and mesh translation, and before assembling the submodel
input file, APOLLO module performs automatically the stress initialization, simulating
pre-drilling conditions. This process is performed using the principle of virtual stresses,
which consists of numerically generating a model with a certain initial state of stresses with
no initial displacements. More details about this methodology can be found in [6]. In this
stage, the program prepares all initialization information to be read in the next step, during
the complete local model simulation.
The last function of the local modeling manager is the local execution, where all
information collected until this moment will be employed in the building of the local model
input file. This simulation follows the steps presented in Figure 1, starting from a virgin
state of stress and ending with reservoir development effects application, using the
submodeling technique. Thus, the included steps are: application of initial stress and
drilling; application of drilling fluid pressure; well casing placement; liquid cement
placement; solid cement placement; application of reservoir development effects obtained
from the partial coupling results of the global model.
At the end of APOLLO module execution, the reservoir analyst can access the
geomechanical effects over the well elements: cement and casing. The implementation
efforts as well as validations of this program are presented in [20]. The use of an automated
manager in this type of analysis is very important, once a large number of procedures
should be performed to connect the global and local models.
212 C.E.R. Lautenschläger et al. / Role of Reservoir Geomechanics in the Integrity of Oil Wells – I

4. Conclusion

Reported works has shown that submodeling technique and fluid-mechanical coupling
compose a very strong scheme to perform multi-scale analysis in reservoir geomechanics
scope. The multi-scale workflow employed in this work is feasible from technical point of
view, since it includes the most important steps in a well-reservoir multi-scale analysis.
The developed fluid-mechanical coupling scheme and the local modeling manager
program represent a robust methodology to apply in well integrity analysis. Applications
of the developed methodologies can be found in the second part of this work.

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