September 2023: Scales, Scaling and Scale-Up
Channel: Texas CSEE
Date: 13/09/2023

Abstract

Scaling, the transferring of results at one scale (size)—usually from a small scale to a larger scale—is a large part of engineering practice.   Often the practitioner is not aware of doing it, yet scaling up (or the lack thereof) accounts for many inaccurate predictions in flow through porous media processes.

This presentation is a discussion of scales encountered in reservoirs, how petrophysical properties change with scale, and the reasons for the change.   The main conclusion is that all laboratory-derived properties must be adjusted to be useful in giving results on the decision scale.

Bio

Larry W. Lake is a professor in the Hildebrand Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin where he holds the Shahid and Sharon Ullah Chair.  He holds BSE and PhD degrees in Chemical Engineering from Arizona State University and Rice University, respectively. He is the author or co-author of more than 150 technical papers, four textbooks and the editor of three bound volumes. Dr. Lake has served on the Board of Directors for the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), won the 1996 Anthony F. Lucas Gold Medal of the AIME, the Degoyer Distinguished Service Award in 2002, and has been a member of the US National Academy of Engineers since 1997.   He won the SPE/DOE IOR Pioneer Award in 2000. And was named a Distinguished Graduate of UT in 2022.   He has been at the University of Texas since 1978.