PRST - Python Reservoir Simulation Toolbox

2016

In this thesis I have developed a prototype for a software framework for the

simulation of flow in porous media,

based on the MATLAB Reservoir Simulation Toolkit (MRST).

The software -- Python Reservoir Simulation Toolkit -- is written in the Python

programming language.

First,

the equations for single-phase flow in porous media are developed and

discretized using the finite-volume method.

%TODO dsicertte?

The nonlinear systems of equations that arise are solved using Newton's method,

with Jacobian matrices found using automatic differentiation.

Automatic differentiation is a method for finding gradients and Jacobians of

programatically defined functions.

It is based on decomposing a function into elementary operations such as

addition and multiplication,

and then using the chain rule repeatedly.

Then, MATLAB and Python's capabilities are compared.

Software unit testing is introduced as a tool to ensure the correctness of PRST

functions compared to the equivalent MRST functions.

Unstructured grids are introduced

-- and several tools for visualizing unstructured grids are investigated.

After that, an example of how compilation and just-in-time compilation can be

used to improve Python performance is shown, using Cython and Numba.

Finally, a flow simulator example from MRST is converted to use PRST, and the

visualization capability and performance is compared.

NTNU