Abstract

The transmissibility expression generally used for connections across faults in industrial flow-simulation models built using corner-point geometry is inaccurate, because of cell misalignments across the faults. A comprehensive suite of high-resolution flow-simulation models has been designed to assess the magnitude of the error, which is greatest for connections with smaller juxtaposition areas; between cells with higher k_V:k_H ratios; between cells with greater length: height aspect ratios; in more heterogeneous sequences; for connections containing more permissive fault rocks; and for connections between cells with lower angular misalignments. Transmissibility can be underestimated by a factor of 10 or more in the absence of fault rock; however, the inclusion of realistic fault transmissibility multipliers virtually eliminates the error. The expression for transmissibility for corner-point geometry models contained in commercial simulators is therefore within acceptable limits for most realistic faulted full-field models.