Course content

The course covers the theory and application of modelling and simulation of well construction and petroleum production systems for system-level or component analysis. It typically focuses on topics like the flow performance of hydrocarbon production systems, field stabilization and conditioning of reservoir fluids, well mechanics and architecture, design and strength calculations of well equipment, flow, temperature and material strength issues while drilling, completing or performing intervention on the wells. Commercial programs will be used or custom routines and programs will be developed to carry out the analyses. Experimental and field data could be used to quality control the numerical simulations when available. The course will focus on developing digital competences and will include some aspects on energy efficiency, and skill transfer for the energy transition.

Learning outcome

Ingress: The students should develop and/or improve capabilities to develop or utilize models and employ simulators to analyze well construction and production systems.

Knowledge: The students should understand the physical principles and the mathematical approach used in modeling and simulation of well construction and production systems. They should developed generic understanding of categories of models and simulators and, more specifically, models and simulators used in the analysis of well construction and hydrocarbon production systems. They should learn how to acquire, condition, quality control and prepare input data, and how to organize simulation results. They also should develop understanding on migration of data between simulators.

Skills: The students will develop skills to utilize commercial production simulators, acquire and prepare the input data, and organize the output data. The students will develop advanced skills in modeling relevant physical phenomena that occurs in wells and production systems. The students will develop advanced skills in the mathematical and numerical procedures employed in well and production simulators. The students will develop skills to create reduced parameters simulators or "proxy models" to be employed in production optimization and in design-optimization.

General competence: The students should acquire and develop knowledge and skills in advanced modeling in the area of well construction, well and production technologies. The student should have a good starting point to apply the knowledge obtained to other areas such as pipe transport and wells of CO2 and hydrogen, and geothermal wells.

Learning methods and activities

The course plan and scope will be concretized between the professor and the student(s) at the beginning of the semester. The course typically comprises lectures, discussions, programming, class exercises and projects. The course will be held in English. The course is given every second year.

Further on evaluation

Compulsory assignments are the basis for the grade in the course. The grade is assigned as pass/fail. For a re-take of an examination, all assessments during the course must be re-taken.

Specific conditions

Required previous knowledge

Requires admission to the PhD programme in Engineering, or approval by the lecturer.

Course materials

Given at the start of the semester.