ProdSim: Protocol for Freshman PGE Lab and Design Experience
Timothy D. Taylor
Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering
The purpose of this project is to give undergraduates a better physical understanding of the nature of flow and transport in porous media using equipment, the ProdSim models, to be constructed by undergraduate students. The models will consist of several bench-scale (10 to 100 cm across, 1 to 10 cm high) sand-packed physical models instrumented with model wells for injection and withdrawal of fluids and electrical conductivity measurements.
There are two objectives of this project. First, to develop flow experiments that can be conducted on time scales appropriate to an undergraduate reservoir class. The experiments will demonstrate several basic principles of subsurface flow and transport, e.g. Darcy’s law, displacement efficiency, sweep efficiency, the inference of fluid phase saturations from electrical conductivity measurements. Second, to provide PGE students with a hands-on design experience, in which they will be given a sand-packed physical model and asked to maximize oil recovery for the least cost in the least amount of time.
The ProdSim Models can also be used across a wide spectrum of Petroleum &
Geosystems Engineering courses including, drilling, production, environmental
remediation and reservoir engineering.