Biography
Deirdre Walsh is a post doctorial researcher in the iCRAG energy security area. Deirdre graduated with a BA(mod) in Geology from Trinity College Dublin in 2011 and an MSc in Petroleum Geoscience from University College Dublin in 2015 before joining iCRAG under the supervision of Tom Manzocchi where she completed her PhD in 2019. The focus of her research is to generate realistic, hierarchical, reservoir models where sand connectivity is honoured. This project is centred on expanding the current facies templates supported by the compression-based modelling approach. General research interests include reservoir modelling and reservoir simulation.
Project title: Inclusion of multiple facies in hierarchical compression-based modelling
Deep marine lobe deposits are very important targets for exploration and production in the energy industry. The focus of my research is to try to build 3D models which best represent how these rocks connect to each other. Connectivity is an important property in many reservoirs as it can have a major control how fluids move in the subsurface.
Technical description
Although deep marine lobe systems often have high net sand fractions, laterally continuous impermeable shales may act as vertical flow barriers leading to complex reservoir compartmentalisation. The low connectivity of these permeable sandstones is often poorly reproduced in reservoir geomodels where at sand fraction greater than about 30% most objects are interconnected to all other objects in the model, which may lead to over predictions of reservoir performance. It is therefore important that the correct degree of sand connectivity is incorporated into reservoir geomodels to represent the heterogeneity present.
The compression-based modelling method (Manzocchi et al. 2007) was developed to allow for the generation of hierarchical models with both facies volume fractions and geobody connectivity defined as separate modelling inputs by using a geometrical grid transformation. This research project focuses on expanding the current templates supported by the compression method in order to expand the number of objects which can be defined at different hierarchical levels.
Role
- Postdoctoral Researcher
Institution
- UCD
Research Area
- Energy Security
Expertise
- Reservoir Modelling, 3D modelling, Hydrocarbons, Sedimentology
