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An Engineering Approach to the Treatment of Constant Pressure Boundary Condition

in Block-Centered Grid in Reservoir Simulation

Article  in  Petroleum Science and Technology · June 2008

DOI: 10.1080/10916460701833871

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An Engineering Approach to the Treatment of Constant
Pressure Boundary Condition in Block-Centered Grid in
Reservoir Simulation
J. H. Abou-Kassem a; M. E. Osman b
a
Chemical and Petroleum Engineering Department, UAE University, Al-Ain, United
Arab Emirates
b
Research and Technology Group, Kuwait Oil Company, Ahmadi, Kuwait

Online Publication Date: 01 July 2008

To cite this Article: Abou-Kassem, J. H. and Osman, M. E. (2008) 'An Engineering
Approach to the Treatment of Constant Pressure Boundary Condition in
Block-Centered Grid in Reservoir Simulation', Petroleum Science and Technology,
26:10, 1187 — 1204
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Petroleum Science and Technology, 26:1187–1204, 2008

Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
ISSN: 1091-6466 print/1532-2459 online
DOI: 10.1080/10916460701833871

An Engineering Approach to the Treatment of

Constant Pressure Boundary Condition in
Block-Centered Grid in Reservoir Simulation

J. H. Abou-Kassem1 and M. E. Osman2

1 Chemical and Petroleum Engineering Department, UAE University,
Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates
2 Research and Technology Group, Kuwait Oil Company, Ahmadi, Kuwait

Abstract: Block-centered grid and point-distributed grid are the most widely used
grids to describe a petroleum reservoir as units in reservoir simulation. In the point-
distributed grid, the boundary grid point falls on the boundary, whereas the point that
represents the boundary grid block is half a block away from the boundary. As a
result, the point-distributed grid gives accurate representation of constant pressure
boundary condition. In the block-centered grid, the approximation of a constant
pressure boundary is implemented by assuming the boundary pressure being displaced
half a block coincides with the point that represents the boundary grid block and by
assigning boundary pressure to boundary grid block pressure. This is a first-order
approximation. A second-order approximation was suggested, but it has not been
used because it requires the addition of an extra equation for each reservoir boundary
of a boundary grid block. Furthermore, the extra equations do not have the form of a
flow equation.
This article presents an engineering approach for the representation of a constant
pressure boundary condition in a block-centered grid. The new approach involves
adding a fictitious well term per boundary to the flow equation of a boundary grid
block. This treatment is valid in both rectangular and radial-cylindrical grids. The
flow toward a fictitious well is linear in rectangular coordinates and radial in radial-
cylindrical coordinates. The flow rate equations for fictitious wells were derived from
the inter-block flow rate term between a boundary grid block and the grid block that
falls immediately outside reservoir boundary. These flow rate equations are presented
and tested. With the new treatment, both block-centered grid and point-distributed
grid produce pressure profiles with comparable accuracy. In other words, the use
of the point-distributed grid does not offer any advantage over the block-centered
grid in rectangular and radial-cylindrical coordinates for the case of constant pressure
boundaries.

Keywords: finite difference, fluid flow in porous media, numerical accuracy

Address correspondence to Jamal Abou-Kassem, Chemical and Petroleum Engi-

neering Department, UAE University, P.O. Box 17555, Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates.
E-mail: j.aboukassem@uaeu.ac.ae

1187
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1188 J. H. Abou-Kassem and M. E. Osman

Figure 1. Discretization of 1D reservoir using block-centered grid.

INTRODUCTION

Reservoir discretization means that the reservoir is described by a set of

grid blocks whose properties, dimensions, boundaries, and locations in the
reservoir are well defined. For reservoir discretization in the x-direction,
for example, the block-centered (B-C) grid is constructed by choosing nx
grid blocks that span the entire reservoir length in the x-direction. The grid
blocks are assigned predetermined dimensions (xi , i D 1; 2; 3; : : : ; nx ) that
are not necessarily equal. Then the point that represents each grid block is
subsequently located at the center of that grid block, as shown in Figure 1.
The point-distributed (P-D) grid is constructed by choosing nx grid points
that span the entire reservoir length in the x-direction. In other words, the
first grid point is placed at one reservoir boundary, and the last grid point
is placed at the other reservoir boundary. The distances between grid points
are assigned predetermined values (xi C1=2, i D 1; 2; 3; : : : ; nx 1) that are
not necessarily equal. Each grid point represents a block whose boundaries
are placed halfway between the grid point and its neighboring grid points, as
shown in Figure 2.
To simulate a reservoir, boundary conditions must be specified. A reser-
voir boundary can be subject to one of four conditions: (1) no flow boundary,
(2) constant flow boundary, (3) constant pressure gradient boundary, and (4)
constant pressure boundary. In fact, the first three boundary conditions reduce
to a specified pressure gradient condition (Neumann boundary condition),
and the fourth boundary condition is the Dirichlet boundary condition. The
treatment of boundary conditions in the two grid systems are different because
of grid constructions that result in the location of the points that represent
reservoir units (blocks or points). It is well known that the use of B-C grid

Figure 2. Discretization of 1D reservoir using point-distributed grid.

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Pressure Boundary Condition in Block-Centered Grid 1189

is preferred in the case of pressure gradient boundary condition, and the use
of P-D grid is preferred in the case of specified pressure boundary condition.
This article presents a new second-order correct approach to the treatment of
specified pressure boundary condition in B-C grid.

CURRENT APPROACH

A constant pressure boundary condition is treated in the literature as follows.

For both the P-D grid and the B-C grid, the pressure of the boundary grid
point or grid block is assigned the specified boundary pressure. This treatment
involves no approximation for the P-D grid because the boundary grid point
(grid point 1 in Figure 2) falls on the boundary. For the B-C grid, however,
this treatment presents a first-order approximation because the boundary grid
block (grid block 1 in Figure 1) is displaced half a block from the boundary.
The consequence of this treatment is that the P-D grid produces more accurate
results than the B-C grid. In both grids, p1 D pb and the specified boundary
pressure are used in the flow equation for the grid point or grid block that
falls next to the boundary point or block (in this case, grid point 2 or grid
block 2).

TxnC1
1C1=2
Œ.pb p2nC1 / n
1C1=2 .Z1 Z2 /

C TxnC1
2C1=2
Œ.p3nC1 p2nC1 / nC1
2C1=2 .Z3 nC1
Z2 / C qsc2

" nC1  n #
Vb2  
D : (1)
˛c t B 2 B 2

Specified bottom-hole pressure condition in single-well simulation using

B-C grid receives similar treatment as above.
Aziz and Settari (1979) report a second-order correct approximation
for the treatment of specified pressure boundary in B-C grid in rectangular
coordinates. Their treatment involves using the following equation:
1
pb D .3p1 p2 /: (2)
2
This treatment involves the inclusion of the above equation with the set
of flow equations. The above equation, however, does not have the form
of a flow equation, and this may disturb the banded structure of the matrix
equation in multi-dimensional flow. Therefore, most simulators use first-order
correct approximation for B-C grid. As a result, the literature recommends
using the P-D grid for problems involving specified pressure boundaries and
the B-C grid for problems involving specified pressure gradient boundaries.
Note that Eq. (2) is used in rectangular coordinates only, and it may not be
used in single-well simulation. The next section presents a new treatment
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1190 J. H. Abou-Kassem and M. E. Osman

for the specified pressure boundary condition in B-C grid that has the same
accuracy as the P-D grid without the burden of including Eq. (2) in order to
obtain a solution.

ENGINEERING APPROACH

Flow Equation for Boundary Grid Block in Rectangular Coordinates

The flow equation for boundary grid block 1 in rectangular coordinates, using
B-C grid, as shown in Figure 3, is expressed as:

TxnC1
1=2
.ˆ0nC1 ˆ1nC1 / C TxnC1
1C1=2
.ˆ2nC1 ˆ1nC1 / C qsc
nC1
1

" nC1  n #
Vb1  
D : (3)
˛c t B 1 B 1

It is well known in reservoir simulation that a boundary condition can be

replaced with a no-flow boundary and a source term (Aziz and Settari, 1979;
Ertekin et al., 2001). In this article, we call this source term a fictitious well to
differentiate it from a physical (real) well. The flow rate of a fictitious well
nC1
(qscb;1
) reflects fluid transfer between reservoir boundary b and boundary
grid block 1 or between reservoir boundary b and the block next to the
boundary that falls outside the reservoir (grid block 0). Using this concept,
the flow equation for boundary grid block 1 that falls on reservoir boundary
and expressed by Eq. (3) becomes
"   n #
nC1 nC1 nC1 nC1 nC1 Vb1  nC1 
qscb;1 C Tx1C1=2 .ˆ2 ˆ1 / C qsc1 D (4)
˛c t B 1 B 1

where
nC1
qscb;1
D TxnC1
1=2
.ˆ0nC1 ˆ1nC1 /: (5)

One must differentiate between physical (real) wells and fictitious wells
because real wells always have radial flow, but fictitious wells have linear
flow in rectangular coordinates.

Figure 3. Boundary grid blocks at left and right boundaries of 1D reservoir.

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Pressure Boundary Condition in Block-Centered Grid 1191

Estimation of Flow Rate of Fictitious Wells in

Rectangular Coordinates

A constant pressure boundary condition arises when the reservoir is in com-

munication with strong water aquifer or due to the presence of wells on
the other side of the reservoir boundary that operate to maintain voidage
replacement, and as a result keep boundary pressure (pb ) constant.
The flow rate of a fictitious well that is expressed by Eq. (5) can be
rewritten as:
nC1
qscb;1
D TxnC1
1=2
.ˆ0nC1 ˆ1nC1 / D TxnC1
1=2
Œˆ0nC1 ˆb C ˆb ˆ1nC1 

D TxnC1
1=2
Œ.ˆ0nC1 ˆb / C .ˆb ˆ1nC1 /

D TxnC1
1=2
.ˆ0nC1 ˆb / C TxnC1
1=2
.ˆb ˆ1nC1 /: (6)

For areas outside the reservoir, including aquifers, there is no geologic

control, and, hence, it is not uncommon to assign reservoir rock properties
to those areas in the neighborhood of the reservoir under consideration.
Therefore, we use the reflection technique about the reservoir left boundary,
nC1 nC1
shown in Figure 3, with regards to transmissibility only (i.e., T0;b D Tb;1 )
nC1
and evaluate Tx1=2 in terms of the transmissibilities between grid block 0 and
reservoir boundary b and grid block 1 and reservoir boundary b. The result
is:

kx Ax nC1 kx Ax nC1
   
TxnC1 D ˇc D ˇc (7)
1=2
Bx 1=2 Bx1 1
 nC1
1 kx Ax 1 nC1 1 nC1
D ˇc D Tb;1 D T0;b
2 B.x1 =2/ 1 2 2

or
nC1 nC1
T0;b D Tb;1 D 2TxnC1
1=2
: (8)

In order to keep the pressure at the left boundary of grid block 1 constant,
the fluid leaving the reservoir boundary to one side (point 1) has to be equal
to the fluid entering the reservoir boundary from the other side (point 0) (see
Figure 3), i.e.,
nC1
T0;b .ˆ0nC1 nC1
ˆb / D Tb;1 .ˆb ˆ1nC1 /: (9)

Substitution of Eqs. (8) and (9) into Eq. (6) yields

nC1
nC1
qscb;1
D Tb;1 .ˆb ˆ1nC1 /: (10)
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1192 J. H. Abou-Kassem and M. E. Osman

Equation (10) can be rewritten in terms of pressure, using the definition of

potential, as:
nC1 nC1
qscb;1
D Tb;1 Œ.pb p1nC1 / n
b;1 .Zb Z1 / (11)

n nC1
where b;1 is nothing but fluid gravity in boundary grid block 1, Tb;1 D
transmissibility between reservoir boundary b and the point representing
boundary grid block 1 and is given by:
 nC1
nC1 kx Ax
Tb;1 D ˇc : (12)
B.x=2/ 1

Substituting Eq. (12) into Eq. (11) gives the sought equation
 nC1
kx Ax
nC1
qsc D ˇc Œ.pb p1nC1 / n
b;1 .Zb Z1 /: (13)
b;1
B.x=2/ 1

Having derived the equation for the flow rate of a fictitious well
(Eq. (13)), one may look at Eq. (4), which has two wells (one real and
one fictitious), as an engineering way of writing the flow equation for a
boundary grid block, because it does not require any further mathematics to
treat boundary conditions.

Flow Equation for Boundary Grid Block in

Radial-cylindrical Coordinates

In 1D radial flow in single-well simulation, the well is hosted by the inner

ring-like blocks, termed here as block 1 (i D 1). Traditionally, wells in radial
flow (single-well simulation) have been treated as boundary conditions (Aziz
and Settari, 1979; Ertekin et al., 2001). In the new approach, such wells can
be treated as either source terms (real wells) or fictitious wells (boundary
conditions) because in cylindrical coordinates both real wells and fictitious
wells have radial flow. Therefore, the flow equation for boundary grid block
1 is expressed by an equation similar to Eq. (4), with radial transmissibility
and pressure replacing linear transmissibility and potential, respectively. The
flow equation for boundary grid block 1 in single-well simulation is written
as either
"   n #
nC1 nC1 nC1 nC1 Vb1  nC1 
qscb;1 C TriC1=2 .p2 p1 / D (14)
˛c t B 1 B 1

where
nC1
qscb;1
D TrnC1
1=2
.p0nC1 p1nC1 / (15)
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Pressure Boundary Condition in Block-Centered Grid 1193

or
" nC1  n #
Vb1  
TrnC1
iC1=2
.p2nC1 p1nC1 / C nC1
qsc1
D (16)
˛c t B 1 B 1

where
2ˇc kH h
qsc1 D .pe pwf /: (17)
B loge .re =rw /

In this article, we present both methods of treatment and prove that both
produce the same well flow-rate equation. Equation (17) expresses Darcy’s
law for radial flow toward a physical (real) well. For B-C grid, consider the
flow of fluid in the radial segment that is enclosed between the external radius,
r1 (the point representing grid block 1) and the internal radius of grid block
1, rw (well radius). Therefore, re D r1 , pe D p1nC1 , and Eq. (17) becomes

nC1 2ˇc kH1 h1

qsc D .p1nC1 pwf /; (18)
1
.B/1nC1 loge .r1 =rw /

from which
2ˇc kH1 h1
Gw1 D : (19)
loge .r1 =rw /

Equation (10), which is valid for both rectangular and radial-cylindrical

nC1 nC1 nC1 Gr
coordinates, reduces to Eq. (18). Observe that qscb;1
D qsc1
, Tb;1 D .B/1=2
nC1 ,

and ˆb D pwf and ˆ1nC1 D p1nC1 in the radial direction, and Gr1=2 can be
obtained from the equations reported by Abou-Kassem et al. (2006) and
Abou-Kassem et al. (2007) for inter-block geometric factors in single-well
simulation,

G ri 1=2;j;k

ˇc j
D
loge .ri =riL 1=2/=.zi;j;k kri;j;k / C loge .riL 1=2 =ri 1 /=.zi 1;j;k kri 1;j;k /

(20)

or
ˇc j
G ri 1=2;j;k D (21)
floge Œ˛lg loge .˛lg /=.˛lg 1/=.zi;j;k kri;j;k /

C loge Œ.˛lg 1/= loge .˛lg /=.zi 1;j;k kri 1;j;k /g:

Consider the case for i D 1, j D 1, k D 1, j D 2 , z1 D h1 ,

discard the second term in the denominator that corresponds to non-existing
Downloaded By: [Abou-Kassem, J. H.] At: 07:40 25 June 2008

1194 J. H. Abou-Kassem and M. E. Osman

L
grid block 0, and observe that, for B-C grid, r1=2 D rw by definition, if
Eq. (20) is used (Aziz and Settari, 1979) or .r1 =rw / D Œ˛lg loge .˛lg /=.˛lg
1/ if Eq. (21) is used (Abou-Kassem et al., 2006). Substitution of these
values into Eqs. (20) and (21) produces Eq. (19), i.e., Gr1=2 D Gw1 , and in
turn Eq. (18) is derived from Eq. (10) or (15).
Here again, having derived the equation for the flow rate of a fictitious
well or a real well (Eq. (18)), one may look at Eq. (14) or (16), which
have one well (real or fictitious), as an engineering way of writing the flow
equation for an inner boundary grid block, because it does not require any
further mathematics to treat boundary conditions.

TEST DATA

Three test problems were designed to test for the applicability of the presented
approach. Test problem 1 involves linear flow of incompressible, slightly
compressible, and compressible fluids in a reservoir using regular grid-size
distribution. Test problem 2 involves linear flow of slightly compressible fluid
in a reservoir using irregular grid-size distribution. Test problem 3 involves
radial flow of slightly compressible fluid in single-well simulation.

Test Problem 1. A single-phase fluid reservoir is described by four equal grid

blocks (using B-C grid) or five equally spaced grid points (using P-D grid)
along the x-axis. Reservoir dimensions are Lx D 1,200 ft, y D 350 ft, and
h D 40 ft. The reservoir is horizontal and has homogeneous rock properties,
k D 270 md and  D 0:27. Reservoir rock is assumed incompressible.
The reservoir left boundary is kept at a constant pressure of 4,000 psia and
the reservoir right boundary loses fluid at a constant rate. Find the pressure
distribution in the reservoir for the following cases:

Case 1. Incompressible fluid: B D B ı D 1 RB/STB and  D 0:5 cp. The

reservoir right boundary loses fluid at a rate of 600 STB/D.
Case 2. Slightly compressible fluid: B D B ı D 1 RB/STB,  D 0:5 cp, and
c D 1:1  10 5 psi 1 . The reservoir right boundary loses fluid at a rate
of 600 STB/D. Report the pressure distribution in the reservoir after 1
day and 2 days.
Case 3. Compressible fluid (gas): the pressure dependence of FVF and vis-
cosity are reported in Table 1. The reservoir right boundary loses gas
at a rate of 10 MMscf/D. Use the implicit formulation and report the
pressure distribution in the reservoir after 1 day and 2 days for cases 2
and 3. Initial reservoir pressure is 4,000 psia. Take time steps of 1 day.

Test Problem 2. The data for this test problem are those of test problem 1
(case 2), except that an irregular grid is used to describe the reservoir. Grid
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Pressure Boundary Condition in Block-Centered Grid 1195

Table 1. Gas FVF and viscosity

Pressure, psia GFVF, RB/scf Gas viscosity, cp

215.00 0.016654 0.0126

415.00 0.008141 0.0129
615.00 0.005371 0.0132
815.00 0.003956 0.0135
1,015.00 0.003114 0.0138
1,215.00 0.002544 0.0143
1,415.00 0.002149 0.0147
1,615.00 0.001857 0.0152
1,815.00 0.001630 0.0156
2,015.00 0.001459 0.0161
2,215.00 0.001318 0.0167
2,415.00 0.001201 0.0173
2,615.00 0.001109 0.0180
2,815.00 0.001032 0.0186
3,015.00 0.000972 0.0192
3,215.00 0.000922 0.0198
3,415.00 0.000878 0.0204
3,615.00 0.000840 0.0211
3,815.00 0.000808 0.0217
4,015.00 0.000779 0.0223

block sizes for the B-C grid and spacing between grid points for the P-D grid
are 200 ft, 200 ft, 500 ft, and 300 ft.

Test Problem 3. A 0.5-ft diameter well is located in 20 acre spacing. The

reservoir thickness, horizontal permeability, and porosity are 30 ft, 150 md,
and 0.23, respectively. The flowing fluid is slightly compressible with FVF,
compressibility, and viscosity of 1 RB/B, 1  10 5 psi 1 , and 0.5 cp, respec-
tively. Reservoir rock is assumed incompressible. Reservoir external bound-
aries are no-flow boundaries. The well has open well completion and is placed
on production with constant sand face pressure of 1,000 psia. Initial reservoir
pressure is 4,000 psia. The reservoir can be simulated using five grid blocks
(using B-C grid) or six grid points (using P-D grid) in the radial direction.
Use single time steps to advance solution from zero time to 1 day and from
1 day to 3 days.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Several computer runs were made to test the validity of the engineering
approach; in fact, hand-held calculators can be used to solve all test problems.
In test problem 1, the effect of grid size and time step on the results were
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1196 J. H. Abou-Kassem and M. E. Osman

eliminated using regular grid and specific time steps. This test problem was
designed to test the validity of the engineering approach in 1D, linear flow in
rectangular coordinates. In all figures, the simulation results were presented
for the P-D grid, B-C grid with old (first-order approximation) treatment
of boundary condition, and B-C grid with the new (engineering approach)
treatment of boundary condition. Figure 4 presents the three solutions for
incompressible fluid (test problem 1, case 1). The figure clearly shows that the
B-C grid with the new treatment of boundary condition produces a pressure
profile that coincides with that produced by the P-D grid. In Figures 5 and
6, the pressure profiles were compared at 1 day and 2 days, respectively, for
the case of slightly compressible fluid (test problem 1, case 2), where the
pressure profiles are not straight lines. Here again, an excellent match was
observed between the results of the B-C grid using the new approach and
the P-D grid. A comparison of the predicted pressure profiles for 1D flow
of gas (test problem 1, case 3) is presented in Figure 7. In Figures 8 and
9, the pressure profiles were compared at 1 day and 2 days, respectively,
for the case of slightly compressible fluid using irregular grid distribution
(test problem 2). In this test, the grid size of grid block 1 and the spacing
between grid points 1 and 2 are equal in this case in order to warrant
h inC1 h inC1
that ˇc kx
x Ax
in the B-C grid equals ˇc kxx Ax
in the P-D grid. The
1 1;2
comparisons presented in Figures 4–9 indicate the validity of the engineering
approach in treating constant pressure boundary for B-C grids in rectangular
grids. Figures 10 and 11 present the predicted pressure profiles in single-
well simulation at 1 day and 3 days for slightly compressible fluid (test
problem 3). The figure shows that both the P-D grid and the B-C grid with the

Figure 4. 1D, linear flow, incompressible fluid.

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Pressure Boundary Condition in Block-Centered Grid 1197

Figure 5. 1D, linear flow, slightly compressible fluid at 1 day.

Figure 6. 1D, linear flow, slightly compressible fluid at 2 days.

Downloaded By: [Abou-Kassem, J. H.] At: 07:40 25 June 2008

1198 J. H. Abou-Kassem and M. E. Osman

Figure 7. 1D, linear flow, compressible fluid at 1 day.

Figure 8. 1D, irregular grid, linear flow, slightly compressible fluid at 1 day.
Downloaded By: [Abou-Kassem, J. H.] At: 07:40 25 June 2008

Pressure Boundary Condition in Block-Centered Grid 1199

Figure 9. 1D, irregular grid, linear flow, slightly compressible fluid at 2 days.

Figure 10. 1D, radial flow, slightly compressible fluid at 1 day.

Downloaded By: [Abou-Kassem, J. H.] At: 07:40 25 June 2008

1200 J. H. Abou-Kassem and M. E. Osman

Figure 11. 1D, radial flow, slightly compressible fluid at 3 days.

new treatment of constant pressure boundary condition (or constant flowing

bottom-hole pressure) produce comparable results. Therefore, the engineering
approach presented in this article gives accurate treatment of constant pressure
boundary for B-C grids in both rectangular and radial-cylindrical coordinates.
Next we turn to the second-order treatment of boundary condition re-
ported by Aziz and Settari (1979), which is presented here as Eq. (2), and
explore its relation to the method presented in this article. Equation (2) results
from the extrapolation of pressure at grid blocks 2 and 1, assuming constant
grid block size,
1
pb D .3p1 p2 /: (2)
2

This equation can be manipulated as follows:

1
pb D p1 C .p1 p2 /; (22)
2
1
pb p1 D .p1 p2 /; (23)
2
or

2.pb p1 / D .p1 p2 /: (24)

Multiplying both sides of Eq. (24) by the transmissibility of fluid within

boundary grid block 1 and assuming constant cross-sectional
  area, perme-
ˇc kx Ax
ability, formation volume factor, and viscosity, i.e., Bx D constant,
1
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Pressure Boundary Condition in Block-Centered Grid 1201

yields
   
ˇc kx Ax ˇc kx Ax
2 .pb p1 / D .p1 p2 /; (25)
Bx 1 Bx 1
   
ˇc kx Ax ˇc kx Ax
.pb p1 / D .p1 p2 /; (26)
B.x=2/ 1 Bx 1

or
   
ˇc kx Ax ˇc kx Ax
.pb p1 / C .p2 p1 / D 0: (27)
B.x=2/ 1 Bx 1

The first term on the LHS of Eq. (27) is nothing but the flow rate that
enters the reservoir into grid block 1 through reservoir boundary b for constant
pressure boundary, as expressed by Eq. (13) for horizontal flow. The second
term on the LHS of Eq. (27) is the inter-block flow rate between grid blocks
1 and 2. The RHS of Eq. (27) implies zero accumulation of fluid. In other
words, Eq. (27) is nothing but the flow equation of incompressible fluid for
grid block 1 that has no physical (real) wells. In addition, this equation is
valid only for a homogeneous reservoir using regular grid only, i.e., x
D constant and neglects the effect of gravity. Furthermore, this equation is
valid for rectangular grids and cannot be used in radial-cylindrical grids used
in single-well simulation. In comparison, using the engineering approach
presented in this paper, Eq. (4) with a fictitious well whose flow rate is
defined by Eq. (13) for rectangular grids, and Eq. (14) with Eq. (18) for
radial-cylindrical grids, removes all restrictions and assumptions associated
with the use of Eq. (2) as a second-order approximation of Aziz and Settari
(1979).

CONCLUSIONS

A new treatment of constant pressure boundary condition in B-C grid is

investigated. Based on the results and observations made in this study, several
conclusions are arrived at.

1. A new second-order correct method for incorporating constant pressure

boundary condition in B-C grid into the flow equation of a boundary
block is presented. The new method replaces the boundary condition with
a fictitious well. The flow toward a fictitious well is linear in rectangular
coordinates and radial in radial-cylindrical coordinates used in single-well
simulation.
2. Using the new method for the treatment of constant pressure boundary
condition, both B-C grid and P-D grid produce pressure profiles with
comparable accuracy, without the burden of including equations that do
not have the form of a flow equation. In other words, the use of the P-D
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1202 J. H. Abou-Kassem and M. E. Osman

grid does not offer any advantage over the B-C grid in rectangular and
radial-cylindrical coordinates for the case of constant pressure boundaries.
3. Constant pressure boundary condition in single-well simulation can be
treated as either a fictitious well or a physical (real) well. Both treatments
produce the same flow rate equation.

REFERENCES

Abou-Kassem, J. H., Farouq Ali, S. M., and Islam, M. R. (2006). Petroleum

Reservoir Simulation: A Basic Approach. Houston, TX: Gulf Publishing,
p. 91, 99, and 184.
Abou-Kassem, J. H., Osman, M. E., Mustafiz, S., and Islam, M. R. (2007).
New simple equations for interblock geometric factors and bulk volumes
in single-well simulation. J. Pet. Sci. Technol. 25:615–630.
Aziz, K., and Settari, A. (1979). Petroleum Reservoir Simulation. London:
Applied Science Publishers, p. 71.
Ertekin, T., Abou-Kassem, J. H., and King, G. R. (2001). Basic Applied
Reservoir Simulation, SPE Textbook Series. Richardson, TX: SPE, p. 87,
119, and 120.

NOMENCLATURE

Ax cross-sectional area normal to x-direction, ft2 , m2

b reservoir boundary
B fluid formation volume factor, RB/STB for liquid, RB/scf for
gas, m3 /std m3
Bı fluid formation volume factor at reference pressure p ı and
reservoir temperature, RB/STB, m3 /std m3
c fluid compressibility, psi 1 , kPa 1
Gw1 well geometric factor for grid block 1, RB-cp/D-psi,
m3 .mPa.s/(d.kPa)
Gx1;2 inter-block geometric factor between blocks 1 and 2 along the
x direction
Gri1=2;j;k inter-block geometric factor between block (i; j; k) and block
(i ˙ 1, j; k) along the r direction in radial-cylindrical
coordinates
Gxi1=2;j;k inter-block geometric factor between block (i; j; k) and block
(i ˙ 1, j , k) along the x direction in rectangular coordinates
h thickness, ft, m
h1 thickness of grid block 1, ft, m
kH horizontal permeability, md, m2
kH1 horizontal permeability of grid block 1, md, m2
kr permeability along the r direction in radial flow, md, m2
kx permeability along the x axis, md, m2
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Pressure Boundary Condition in Block-Centered Grid 1203

Lx reservoir length along the x axis, ft, m

nx number of grid blocks or grid points along the x-direction
p pressure, psia, kPa
pb pressure at reservoir boundary, psia, kPa
pi pressure of grid block (grid point) i , psia, kPa
pinC1 pressure of grid block (grid point) i at time t nC1 , psia, kPa
pinC1
1 pressure of grid block (grid point) i ˙ 1 at time t nC1 , psia, kPa
pwf flowing well bottom-hole pressure or sand face pressure, psia,
kPa
qsc well production rate at standard conditions, STB/D or scf/D,
std m3 /d
qsc1 production rate at standard conditions from grid block 1,
STB/D or scf/D, std m3 /d
nC1
qsc1
production rate at standard conditions from grid block 1 at
time level n C 1, STB/D or scf/D, std m3 /d
qscb;1 volumetric flow rate at standard conditions across reservoir
boundary to boundary grid block (grid point) 1, STB/D or
scf/D, std m3 /d
r distance in the r direction in the radial-cylindrical coordinate
system, ft, m
re external radius in Darcy’s law for radial flow, ft, m
riL1=2 radii for transmissibility calculations, ft, m
rw well radius, ft, m
t time, day
t time step, day
tn old time level, day
t nC1 new or current time level, day
nC1
Tb;1 transmissibility between reservoir boundary and boundary grid
block at time t nC1
TrnC1
1=2
transmissibility between gridlocks 0 and 1 along the r
direction, STB/D-psi or scf/D-psi, std m3 /(d.kPa)
TrnC1
1C1=2
transmissibility between grid blocks 1 and 2 along the r
direction, STB/D-psi or scf/D-psi, std m3 /(d.kPa)
TxnC1
1=2
transmissibility between grid blocks 0 and 1 along the x axis
at time t nC1 , STB/D-psi or scf/D-psi, std m3 /(d.kPa)
TxnC1
1C1=2
transmissibility between grid blocks 1 and 2 along the x axis
at time t nC1 , STB/D-psi or scf/D-psi, std m3 /(d.kPa)
Vb bulk volume, ft3 , m3
Vb1 bulk volume of grid block 1, ft3 , m3
x distance in the x direction in the Cartesian coordinate system,
ft, m
x size of block along the x axis, ft, m
xi x-direction coordinate of point i , ft, m
xi 1 x-direction coordinate of point i ˙ 1, ft, m
xi 1 size of block i ˙ 1 along the x axis, ft, m
xi 1=2 x-direction coordinate of block boundary xi 1=2, ft, m
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1204 J. H. Abou-Kassem and M. E. Osman

xi1=2 distance between point i and point i ˙ 1, along the x axis, ft,
m
z distance in the z direction in the Cartesian coordinate system,
ft, m
zk size of block k along the z axis, ft, m
Zb elevation of center of reservoir boundary below datum, ft, m
Zi elevation of grid block (grid point) i , ft, m
Zi 1 elevation of grid block (grid point) i ˙ 1, ft, m
˛c volume conversion factor
ˇc transmissibility conversion factor
fluid gravity, psi/ft, kPa/m
i 1=2 fluid gravity between point i and point i ˙ 1 along the x axis,
psi/ft, kPa/m
l;n fluid gravity between point n and neighboring point l , psi/ft,
kPa/m
j size of block (i; j; k) along the  direction, rad
 porosity, fraction
1 porosity of grid block (grid point) 1, fraction
ˆ potential, psia, kPa
ˆinC1 potential of grid block (grid point) i at time t nC1 , psia, kPa
ˆinC1
1 potential of grid block (grid point) i ˙ 1 at time t nC1 , psia, kPa
 fluid viscosity, cp, mPa.s

Subscripts
1,2 between grid blocks (or grid points) 1 and 2
b bulk or boundary
i index for grid block, grid point, or point along the x or r
direction
i 1 index for neighboring grid block, grid point, or point along the
x or r direction
i  1=2 between i and i ˙ 1
j index for grid block, grid point, or point along the y or 
direction
k index for grid block, grid point, or point along the z direction
r r -direction
sc standard conditions
x x-direction
xi 1=2 between i and i ˙ 1 along the x direction

Superscripts
n time level n (old time level)
nC1 time level n C 1 (new time level, current time level)
ı
reference pressure and reservoir temperature

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