Patent ID: 7027964
Filing Date: 2006-04-11
Classification: G01V,G06F,G06T

Abstract:
1. A method for solving a finite element model corresponding to a system in which there is a multi-phase fluid flow comprising: generating a finite element matrix corresponding to the finite element model, wherein the finite element matrix contains a plurality of coefficients; adjusting the coefficients to obtain the finite element matrix in which on-diagonal matrix entries are non-negative and off-diagonal matrix entries are non-positive, wherein adjusting the coefficients comprises weighting nodes of each mesh element according to a direction of fluid flow across the mesh element, wherein weighting the nodes of each mesh element according to a direction of fluid flow across the mesh element comprises determining the direction of fluid flow across the mesh element and weighting each node more heavily if the node is upstream from the other nodes of the mesh element and less heavily if the node is downstream from the other nodes of the mesh element; and generating a solution for the finite element model using the finite element matrix using finite element techniques.