Events

Dr. Lee Chin will give a lecture entitled "Utilizing Flow-Coupled Geomechanics Modeling to Address Oil Field Production Problems – Application Examples" as part of the Claude R. Hocott Graduate Seminar Series.

Abstract: In the petroleum industry, flow-coupled geomechanics plays a critical role on many oil field production processes. Pressure depletion, waterflood, chemical flood, and steam injection are representative production processes that are prone to production problems caused by flow-coupled geomechanics, particularly reservoir rocks are weak. Depending upon the production process, rock characteristics, and the geological setting, a variety of production problems including caprock / overburden integrity, sand production, subsidence and reservoir compaction, permeability change, fault reactivation and leak, and early water breakthrough can occur. These production problems could result in significant safety, economical, and environmental impacts on field operations. Flow-coupled geomechanics modeling provides an effective tool to analyze, understand, and mitigate these production problems. In this presentation, a general approach for developing flow-coupled geomechanics models is given. Model formulations, the numerical discretization, and numerical solution strategy for solving the coupled equations in the multi-physics domains are described. Practical application examples are presented to illustrate how to use flow-coupled geomechanics modeling to address production problems caused by production operations.

Bio: Lee Chin is an Engineering Consultant. He was Reservoir Engineering Fellow retired from ConocoPhillips with 30+ years of industry experience in applying simulation technologies and engineering principles to evaluate, quantify, and resolve major oil / gas field problems associated with geomechanics issues that impact reservoir performance, and field operation and production. He had more than 40 technical paper publications and received several technical awards. He served as associate editor of SPE Journal, external member of university Ph.D. candidate committees, session chair at conferences, and invited speaker at universities, workshops and forums. He holds B.S. and M.S. degrees from National Taiwan University and a Ph.D. degree from the Pennsylvania State University, all in Chemical Engineering. He is a licensed Professional Engineer.