OREANDA-NEWS. October 29, 2012. The EXPEC Advanced Research Center (EXPEC ARC) Computational Modeling Technology Team (CMT) spearheaded an initiative to bring together the international mathematical community and petroleum engineering computational scientists in Istanbul, Turkey, at a recent conference on large-scale reservoir simulation, reported the press-centre of Saudi Aramco.

For the first time, two influential professional organizations — the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) and Society for Industrial Applied Mathematics (SIAM) — met to discuss mathematical challenges facing reservoir fluid-flow dynamics in large-scale models. The Istanbul Technical University was also instrumental in providing support.

“As we strive for finer resolution representing more physics, increased speed and new features in computational modeling and simulation of Saudi Aramco’s giant reservoirs, particular challenges persist,” said Ali Dogru, CMT chief technologist. “Mathematical models in fluid dynamics and flow through porous media play a critical role in developing and managing these reservoirs.”

Dogru recognized the need to bring the two industries together to introduce computational modeling challenges to the international mathematical community to leverage new perspectives in joint research that will further advance the ability to accurately model and simulate fluid flow in the reservoirs.

“We have been collaborating with academia on specific mathematical aspects to enhance a variety of GigaPOWERS’ features. However, a formalized introduction has been necessary to attract a critical mass to address a broader range of issues and bring new minds to our industry’s endeavors,” said Dogru.

As the initiator of the conference theme, Dogru led the conference as chairman. Co-chairs included David Keyes of SIAM and dean of the Division of Computer, Electrical, and Mathematical Sciences and Engineering, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology; Mary Wheeler, director of the Center for Subsurface at the Modeling Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences at the University of Texas at Austin; and Sedar Celebi, head of the Computational Engineering Science Department at Istanbul Technical University.

A keynote speech was given by Samer AlAshgar, manager of EXPEC ARC, reflecting on the long-term vision of Saudi Aramco. “In alignment with EXPEC ARC’s pursuits to broaden our research to bridge into and benefit from other industries, we look forward to delving into fresh collaborative research with many of the conference’s mathematical experts,” said AlAshgar.