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Integrated Two-Dimensional Modeling of Fluid Flow and Compaction in a Sedimentary Basin

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Abstract

In this paper we employ mixed finite elements and numerically study an integrated two-dimensional model of fluid flow and compaction in a sedimentary basin. This model describes a single phase incompressible flow in a two-dimensional section of a sedimentary basin with vertical compaction. At each time step, an iterative algorithm is used to solve this model. The determination of the grid movement is based on the mass conservation and movement of sediments in the basin, while the mixed method is utilized to solve the fluid flow over the moving grid. Numerical experiments are presented to verify this iterative algorithm and show representative solutions for the model under consideration.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mathematics, Southern Methodist University, Box 750156, Dallas, TX, 75275-0156, USA

    Zhangxin Chen

  2. Institute for Scientific Computation, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843-3404, USA

    Richard E. Ewing & Hao Lu

  3. ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company, P.O. Box 2189, Houston, TX, 77252-2189, USA

    Stephen L. Lyons, Serguei Maliassov & Michael B. Ray

  4. Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH, 43403, USA

    Tong Sun

Authors
  1. Zhangxin Chen
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  2. Richard E. Ewing
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  3. Hao Lu
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  4. Stephen L. Lyons
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  5. Serguei Maliassov
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  6. Michael B. Ray
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  7. Tong Sun
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Chen, Z., Ewing, R.E., Lu, H. et al. Integrated Two-Dimensional Modeling of Fluid Flow and Compaction in a Sedimentary Basin. Computational Geosciences 6, 545–564 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021211803088

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021211803088

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