Abstract

Mathematics in the oil and gas industry is not just about seismic processing or reservoir simulation! In this talk I will present some examples of applying different mathematical modelling approaches to real world problems mostly drawn from the industry’s need to predict and measure multi-fluid flows in pipes and equipment during hydrocarbon production. Sometimes pencil and paper techniques suffice, because what is required is a quick insight into sensitives and governing processes. Sometimes, since production systems are long and thin, and predictions of moderate accuracy are sufficient, it is often reasonable to use cross-sectionally averaged descriptions leading to evolution equations in one spatial dimension and time. And sometimes the detailed responses are important and only a fully three dimensional “full physics” representation is sufficient.