Constrained pressure residual multiscale (CPR-MS) method for fully implicit simulation of multiphase flow in porous media

We develop the first multiscale method for fully implicit(FIM) simulations of multiphase flow in porous media, namely CPR-MS method. Built on the FIM Jacobian matrix, the pressure system is obtained by employing a Constrained Pressure Residual (CPR) operator. Multiscale Finite Element (MSFE) and Finite Volume (MSFV) methods are then formulated algebraically to obtain efficient and accurate solutions of this pressure equation. The multiscale prediction stage (first-stage) is coupled with a corrector stage (second-stage) employed on the full system residual. The converged solution is enhanced through outer GMRES iterations preconditioned by these first and second stage operators. While the second-stage FIM stage is solved using a classical iterative solver, the multiscale stage is investigated in full detail. Several choices for fine-scale pre- and post-smoothing along with different choices of coarse-scale solvers are considered for a range of heterogeneous three-dimensional cases with capillarity and three-phase systems. The CPR-MS method is the first of its kind, and extends the applicability of the so-far developed multiscale methods (both MSFE and MSFV) to displacements with strong coupling terms. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.