Vorticity as a measure of heterogeneity for improving coarse grid generation

This paper presents a novel coarse grid generation technique based on using vorticity as a measure of the impact of heterogeneity on flow. Vorticity is a maximum when the total flow is high and perpendicular to a large permeability gradient. Maps of vorticity were generated from single-phase flow simulations and used to generate coarse simulation grids from finely gridded geological models. The resulting grid was more refined in areas of high vorticity and coarser in areas of low vorticity. The method is first demonstrated on a simple five-layered model before being applied to three, 2D models of geologically realistic heterogeneity. The homogenized model generated from vorticity maps shows an improved match to the finely gridded simulation in all cases compared to simulation results using a regularly gridded homogenization.