WO2016151612A1

WO2016151612A1 - Tridimensional prototyping system and method of complex underground geological structures and/or underground reservoirs

Info

Publication number: WO2016151612A1
Application number: PCT/IT2016/000076
Authority: WO
Inventors: Francesco NAPOLI
Original assignee: Francesco Napoli Prototyping S.R.L.
Priority date: 2015-03-26
Filing date: 2016-03-25
Publication date: 2016-09-29

Abstract

The present invention relates to a tridimensional prototyping system (S) of complex underground geological structures and/or underground reservoirs, comprising at least an acquisition unit, for acquiring data relating to the physical structure of at least a hydrocarbon-mineralised underground geological structure or at least an underground reservoir from an outer scanning device; a processing or filtering unit, operatively connected to the acquisition unit, for removing superfluous data from said data in output from said acquisition unit; a conversion unit, operationally linked to said filtering unit, in order to convert said data in output from said filtering unit into a format compatible with an external tridimensional mechanical modelling module and for sending said data into said external tridimensional mechanical modelling module which sends final printable data in output; and a logic control unit linked to said acquisition unit, processing or filtering unit and conversion unit, which coordinates the data exchange among said acquisition unit, filtering unit, conversion unit and said external tridimensional mechanical modelling module in order to send said final printable data to an external tridimensional printer for printing the tridimensional prototype, wherein the tridimensional printer realises said tridimensional physical prototype using plastic powders and/or chalk powders and/or silicon polymers. The present invention also relates to a tridimensional prototyping method associated to the system.

Description

Tridimensional Prototyping System And Method Of Complex Underground

Geological Structures and/or Underground Reservoirs

*****

The present invention relates to a tridimensional prototyping system and method of complex underground geological structures and/or underground reservoirs.

The present invention also relates to a tridimensional prototyping method and method of complex underground geological structures and/or underground reservoirs.

In more detail, the invention relates to a system and a method of the above-mentioned type, researched and realised in particular for obtaining a tridimensional physical prototype of territorial sections directed in particular at representing complex underground geological structures also mineralised with hydrocarbons and/or underground hydrocarbon reservoirs, following an analysis of the territory using known seismic methods, but which can be used for any complex underground geological structure for which it is necessary to make a structural analysis and prototyping, such as for example aquifers, wells, faults and structures having structural sedimentological alternations.

In the following the description will concern the prototyping of a complex underground geological structure mineralised by hydrocarbons and/or a reservoir of hydrocarbons, but it is very clear that the invention cannot be considered limited to this specific use.

As is well known, at present oil companies, state, regional and provincial corporations require a structural underground evaluation for mineral and hydrogeological purposes, or for undertaking excavation activities aims at exploiting the underground resources or for subterranean protection.

Methods at present available enable analysis of the underground area using known seismic methods, which exploit principles of reflection and refraction, and display the results of the data processing on a screen or on a two-dimensional surface.

The programs at present available enable drawing and reproducing a virtual model of the reservoir in 3D, using physical properties obtained from core samples or logs from vertical wells, wells perforated in various places in the rock formation, and can include geological data.

Generally the geological characteristics obtained from the processing of the above-mentioned available data are entered in input into a geological modelling program which produces a virtual geological 3D model in scale, usable by simulation programs of the models of the reservoirs.

Prototyping methods are not known which enable faithfully reproducing a complex underground geological structure mineralised with hydrocarbons or an underground reservoir, comprising the strata relative to the aquifers, as the present data processing methods are not directed to the selecting and processing of the data that is strictly necessary for realising the tridimensional prototype.

Further, these known methods do not enable faithful reproduction of reservoirs of oil and gas or geothermal or geo-gas storage or structures exploiting the underground area in relation to other forms.

Further, at present the prototypes are made using subtractive techniques of materials using lathes, millers and numerically-controlled machines. These subtractive techniques require long working times for realising the prototype, with a consequent use of resources.

The main problem correlated to the exploitation of the liquid or gaseous fossil resources is centred on the figure of the stakeholders and the concept of social sustainability, defined as "public acceptance" and "public awareness of technology" .

The "public acceptance" derives from the "public awareness", i.e. public awareness of the technology has been a correct and full divulgation and an active interaction and collaboration between the scientific world, industrial reality and population.

In fact, the patchy understanding of the realities of the territory in the field of hydrocarbons, from the point of view of history and relatively its technological and scientific development, induces in the population a sense of suspicion in relation to the potentialities of the sector, as well as considerable hostility, principally linked to any geological, environmental and territorial problems that might arise.

Often the lack of knowledge and in the majority of cases disinformation, limits and even blocks any project for exploitation of hydrocarbon reservoirs, while an adequate and broad information and education directed towards the future generations, based on scientific divulgation, methods of exploitation, potentiality of development of use and local development of the territory, with full respect for environmental issues, would certainly open minds and consciences to consider more positively the world of research and exploitation of fossil resources so readily available.

The fiery and unconditioned hostility towards any project for the study, research, drilling, cultivation and exploitation of a hydrocarbon reservoir is at the basis of the total halt in all territorial exploration activity.

It is clear how the present procedures do not enable a realising of tridimensional prototypes able to faithfully reconstruct a complex underground geological structure mineralised with hydrocarbons, starting from any type of initial data collected using technical and analyses of the underground.

In the light of the above, it is therefore an aim of the present invention to realise a system and a relative method for realising a tridimensional prototype of a complex underground geological structure mineralised with hydrocarbons or an underground reservoir of hydrocarbons, starting from any type of initial data collected using technical and analyses of the underground area.

A further aim of the present invention is to adapt any type of tridimensional geological modelling data to a format compatible with any type of tridimensional printer.

A further aim of the present invention is to realise a system and a method for printing a single out-of-scale model of an underground reservoir, such as for example a reservoir of oil, gas, oil and sand, in a simple and representative way, for enabling physically accessing the reservoir. Therefore a specific object of the present invention is a tridimensional prototyping system of complex underground geological structures and/or underground reservoirs comprising: at least an acquisition unit, to acquire data relating to the physical structure of at least a hydrocarbon-mineralised underground geological structure or at least an underground reservoir from an outer scanning device; a processing or filtering unit, operatively connected to the acquisition unit, for removing superfluous data from said data in output from said acquisition unit; a conversion unit, operationally linked to said filtering unit, in order to convert said data in output from said filtering unit into a format compatible with an external tridimensional mechanical modelling module and for sending said data into said external tridimensional mechanical modelling module which outputs final printable data; and a logic control unit linked to said acquisition unit, processing or filtering unit and conversion unit, which coordinates the data exchange among said acquisition unit, filtering unit, conversion unit and said external tridimensional mechanical modelling module in order to send said final printable data to an external tridimensional printer for printing the tridimensional prototype, wherein said tridimensional printer realises the physical prototype in three dimensions using plastic powders and/or chalk powders and/or silicon polymers.

Further, according to the invention said data relative to the physical structure comprise geochemical data and/or geophysical data and/or petrophysical geological data and/or geomechanical data and/or stratigraphic data and/or mineralogical data of the complex underground geological structure and/or of an underground reservoir and caprock and/or aquifers present and/or wells, mainly porosity and/or permeability and/or heterogeneities and/or unconformities and/or wettability and/or sealed faults and/or fractures and terrain faults and/or saturation of hydrocarbons and/or saturation of liquids and/or depths and of geo- referenced points.

A further aim of the present invention is a tridimensional prototyping method of complex underground geological structures, comprising following steps: A. acquiring data relating to the physical structure of at least a complex underground geological structure or at least an underground reservoir, said data comprising the Cartesian coordinates, in a tridimensional Cartesian frame of reference of the cloud of points describing the shape and the dimension of said complex underground geological structure or underground reservoir;

B. filtering said data obtained in said step A, to remove the noise components;

C. converting said data obtained in said step B, into a compatible format with a tridimensional mechanical modelling module and sending said data to a tridimensional mechanical modelling module which sends in output a tridimensional module and thereafter makes a verification of the superposability of the polygonal mesh corresponding to the tridimensional model obtained; and

D. providing a tridimensional printer for printing said tridimensional model obtained in said step C.

The present invention will now be described by way of non-limiting illustration, according to preferred embodiments thereof, with particular reference to the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which:

figure 1 is a two-dimensional graphic representation of data relating to complex underground geological structures or underground reservoirs to be processed by means of the system and the method of prototyping that is the object of the invention;

figure 2 is a two-dimensional graphic representation of an intermediate of the data to be processed using the system and the method of prototyping that is the object of the invention;

figure 3 is a two-dimensional graphic representation also comprising the profile of the wells obtained by the system and method that is the object of the invention;

figure 4 illustrates a virtual tridimensional prototype also comprising the profile of the wells superposed on the stratification of the reservoir; figure 5 is a block diagram of the tridimensional prototyping method of complex underground geological structures or underground reservoirs; figure 6 shows a detail of the block diagram of figure 5;

figure 7 is a perspective view of a closed tridimensional prototype of complex underground geological structures or underground reservoirs, object of the invention;

figure 8 shows a perspective front view of the prototype of figure 7, open; and

figure 9 shows a further view of the prototype of figure 8.

In the various figures the similar parts will be indicated using the same reference numerals.

With reference to figures 1-3, the system S of the invention comprises a logic control unit, which manages the functioning of a plurality of data processing units, relative to the structure of complex underground geological structures mineralised with hydrocarbons or underground reservoirs with hydrocarbons, which will be defined as "structural data" in the following.

Said structural data relate to specifications of extension and shape of a complex underground geological structure mineralised with hydrocarbons or at least an underground reservoir with hydrocarbons.

Said plurality of processing units receives in input said plurality of structural data, obtained by means of known territory analysis devices, which are based on refraction and reflection mechanisms.

In particular, the data are geochemical, petrophysical, geomechanical, stratigraphic mineralogical data of a reservoir and caprock, mainly typical characteristics of a reservoir in terms of porosity, permeability, heterogeneities unconformities, wettability, sealed faults, reservoir geology in terms of fractures and terrain faults, saturation of hydrocarbons, saturation of liquids, depths and geo-referenced points in a stratified structure, made up of various strata such as a summit, a bottom, caprock and well profile.

In particular, said structural data in input to said system S has a predetermined format corresponding to the technique of three-dimensional geological simulation used by said known analysis devices of territory.

Generally said structural data contain the Cartesian coordinates, in a tridimensional Cartesian frame of reference of the cloud of points describing the shape and the dimension of said complex underground geological structure mineralised with hydrocarbons of said underground reservoir.

A first processing unit, known as the acquisition unit, acquires said structural data from said analysing devices.

A second processing unit, known as the processing or filtering unit, processes the data in output from said acquisition unit with the aim of removing the non-relevant structural data for the final prototyping step.

A third processing unit, known as a conversion unit, converts said data in output from said processing or filtering unit into a format compatible with an external tridimensional mechanical modelling module of known type and sends the data to said tridimensional mechanical modelling module.

Said tridimensional modelling module, before the printing of the prototype, carries out a verification of the superposability of the polygonal mesh with respect to the tridimensional model obtained.

Said tridimensional modelling module is interfaced with a tridimensional printer of known type, which proceeds to tridimensionally printing the tridimensional prototype corresponding to said structural data received from said tridimensional modelling module. Said tridimensional printer is provided with a known technology termed rapid prototyping, by means of which it is possible to produce a solid tridimensional model, i.e. a tridimensional prototype, made using plastic powders and/or chalk powders and/or silicon polymers such as for example renshape si 7810.

In particular, the materials use for the present invention are powder and a bonding agent, adaptable by infiltration with an elastomer for creating the parts having properties similar to rubber.

The material comprises a mixture of cellulose, special fibres and other additives which combine to provide parts able to absorb the elastomer, which gives the parts properties similar to rubber. The various strata or parts of an underground reservoir can be made using distinct colours. This rapid prototyping technique is an additive technique and enables realising prototypes of real objects by depositing one or more different solid materials, layer upon layer, up to obtaining the complete prototype.

Said tridimensional prototype of the complex underground geological structure mineralised with hydrocarbons or the underground reservoir is therefore composed by all the surfaces and layers of which the complex underground geological structure or the underground reservoir are naturally composed, also including the aquifer strata and the alternating geological structures present internally thereof.

Said tridimensional prototype is reproduced in small-scale with respect to the real dimensions of said complex underground geological structure analysed, or the underground reservoir scanned.

The functioning of the above-described system is as follows.

With reference to figures 5 and 6, in an acquisition step said logic control unit acquires said structural data, comprising the Cartesian coordinates, in a tridimensional Cartesian frame of reference of the cloud of points describing the shape and the dimension of said complex underground geological structure of said underground reservoir.

In a following step B of processing or filtering, said structural data obtained following said step A are processed with the aim of removing the non-relevant structural data for the final prototyping step.

In a following step C of conversion, said structural data obtained in said step B are converted into a compatible format with a known tridimensional mechanical modelling module and are sent therefrom in input to said tridimensional mechanical modelling module which carries out a verification of the superposability of the polygonal mesh with respect to the tridimensional model obtained.

Lastly, in a step D of printing, said structural data are sent and printed by means of said tridimensional printer of known type, which proceeds to tridimensionally printing the tridimensional prototype corresponding to said structural data received from said tridimensional modelling module. As an example of realisation, for a real reservoir having dimensions of 1000 m length, 500 m width and 200 m depth, which is the typical depth of deposits of bituminous sand, the dimensions of the prototype obtained with the method of the invention are 0.4 m x 0.2 m x 0.08 m with a scale of 1 :2500.

As a further example of realisation, for a real reservoir having dimensions of 14,000 m length, 7000 m width and 200 m height, wherein by height is meant the thickness of the mineralised layer which can vary between about 15-200 m, and a depth of about 2,000 - 2,500 m, the dimensions of the prototype obtained with the method of the invention are 0.60 m x 0.30 m x 0.01 m with a scale of 1 :25,000.

As is clear from the above description, the system and the method corresponding to the object of the invention enable knowing the real conditions of a complex underground geological structure mineralised with hydrocarbons or an underground reservoir, the presence of aquifer strata, the structural sequence of the underground geology, the knowledge of the real dimensions, proportions, depth, materials and thicknesses of a subterranean area of interest analysed.

Further, the system and the method of the invention enable three- dimensional printing, very rapidly and simply, of any virtual tridimensional model of underground geological structures, also including aquifer strata, as well as wells, faults and other structures present internally of geological formations.

The present invention has been described by way of non-limiting illustration according to its preferred embodiments, but it is understood that variations and/or modifications might be made by experts in the sector without forsaking the relative protective scope, as defined in the appended claims.

Claims

1. Tridimensional prototyping system (S) of complex underground geological structures and/or underground reservoirs, comprising:

at least an acquisition unit, for acquiring data relating to a physical structure of at least a hydrocarbon-mineralised complex underground geological structure or at least an underground reservoir by means of an outer scanning device;

a processing or filtering unit, operatively connected to the acquisition unit, for removing superfluous data from said data in output from said acquisition unit;

a conversion unit, operationally linked to said filtering unit, in order to convert said data in output from said filtering unit into a format compatible with an external tridimensional mechanical modelling module and for sending said data in input to said external tridimensional mechanical modelling module which sends final printable data in output; and

a logic control unit linked to said acquisition unit, processing or filtering unit and conversion unit, which coordinates data exchange among said acquisition unit, filtering unit, conversion unit and said tridimensional mechanical modelling module in order then to send said final printable data to an external tridimensional printer for printing the tridimensional prototype,

characterised in that said tridimensional printer realises the tridimensional physical prototype using plastic powders and/or chalk powders and/or silicon polymers.

2. The system (S) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that said data relative to the physical structure comprise geochemical data and/or geophysical data and/or petrophysical geological data and/or geomechanical data and/or stratigraphic data and/or mineralogical data of the complex underground geological structure and/or of an underground reservoir and caprock and/or aquifers present and/or wells, mainly porosity and/or permeability and/or heterogeneities and/or unconformities and/or wettability and/or sealed faults and/or terrain fractures and faults and/or saturation of hydrocarbons and/or saturation of liquids and/or depths and geo-referenced points.

3. A prototyping method of complex underground geological structures, comprising following steps:

A. acquiring data relating to the physical structure of at least a complex underground geological structure or at least an underground reservoir, said data comprising the Cartesian coordinates, in a tridimensional Cartesian frame of reference of the cloud of points describing the shape and the dimension of said complex underground geological structure or underground reservoir;

B. filtering said data obtained in said step A, to remove the noise components;