Developing a New Algorithm for Calculating Fault Seals Within the Structural Model

Traditionally fault seal calculations take place directly within the simulation grid. This approach works
well for grids where all the faults are aligned along the grid pillars, but implementing an algorithm that
works with stair-stepped representation of the faults has proven to be very difficult. Especially the
calculation of the displacement field used both indirectly in the fault seal parameter calculation and
directly in the calculation of fault zone permeability is challenging. It is hard to find where the different
grid layers intersect the fault trace, and the layers are not always completely represented on both sides of
the fault.
We present a novel algorithm where the calculation of the fault zone permeability is carried out on a 2D
plane representing the fault surface. The input parameters needed for calculating the fault zone
permeability are resampled from the simulation grid onto the 2D plane, while the resulting fault zone
permeability is resampled back into the simulation grid, prior to calculation of the fault transmissibility.
The new approach is shown to generate good results both for pillar-faulted grids, and for grids with stairstepped
faults, and also works well near complex truncations.