Patent ID: 8078437

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for scale-up of a physical property of a region of interest from a fine-scale grid where values of the property are known to multiple coarse grids, said property being associated with a diffusive process in the region of interest, said method comprising: (a) selecting a volume of the region of interest, said volume being at least a portion of the region of interest; (b) subdividing the volume into a plurality of fine grid cells to form a fine-scale grid for the volume, and obtaining a value of the physical property for each of the plurality of fine grid cells; (c) using a computer, solving a diffusion equation representing a diffusive process on the fine-scale grid over the selected volume, using the fine-scale values of the physical property, thus generating a global solution; (d) saving the global solution; (e) subdividing the selected volume into a first coarse grid having at least one coarse grid cell, wherein the plurality of fine grid cells is greater than the at least one coarse grid cells; (f) selecting a coarse-grid cell, and determining which of the plurality of fine grid cells are included, in whole or in part, in the selected coarse grid cell, using a pre-selected criterion for partial inclusion; (g) calculating a scaled-up value of the physical property for the selected coarse grid cell by retrieving and using the global solution for the fine grid cells included within the selected coarse-grid cell; (h) repeating steps (f)-(g) to calculate scaled-up values of the physical property for at least one other coarse grid cell selected from the at least one coarse grid cell in the selected volume of the region of interest; and (i) repeating steps (e)-(h) for at least one more coarser grid, using the global solution for each coarser grid.