Patent ID: 8688424

Claim:
A method for optimizing development of a fluid reservoir traversed by a network of fractures, from modelling of the reservoir as a porous medium comprising a set of blocks of irregular shapes and sizes defined by fractures, wherein a simplified representation of the medium is determined as a set of equivalent blocks of regular shapes and sizes with the simplified representation substantially providing fluid recovery identical to the modelling of the reservoir with a set of blocks of irregular shapes and sizes during a capillary imbibition process of the porous medium, comprising: determining a first curve representing a derivative (Aâ€²(X)) of a function (A(X)) defining a progress of an imbibition front within the set of blocks of irregular shapes and sizes of the porous medium with respect to a distance of progress (X) of the front; determining a second curve representing a derivative (Aâ€²eq(X)), with respect to the distance of progress (X), of a function (Aeq(X)) defining progress of an imbibition front within the set of equivalent blocks of regular shapes and sizes of the simplified representation, the second curve including at least two line segments with slopes and depending on dimensions of the equivalent blocks, by determining slopes of the at least two line segments and an ordinate at an origin of one of the segments; obtaining dimensions of the equivalent blocks by adjusting the second curve (Aâ€²eq(X)) to the first curve (Aâ€²(X)); and optimizing the development of the reservoir by using a computer to simulate fluid flows in the reservoir with a double-medium reservoir simulator using the dimensions of the sets of equivalent blocks.