Bruno Ramon Batista Fernandes

photo of Bruno Ramon Batista Fernandes

Research Associate

Office Address: CPE 4.148

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LinkedIn URL:https://www.linkedin.com/in/brunorbfernandes/

Research Highlight

Development of a robust adaptive implicit reservoir simulator for chemical flooding.

Currently, the only schemes available for the ASP flooding in industry are IMPES based. Recently, this project has produced an effective and robust adaptive implicit method for the SP flooding. We are currently extending this scheme for the ASP flooding.

The deliverable of this project is a reservoir simulator that can be used as a reliable tool for the history matching and evaluation of field development opportunities, which will impact the value of chemical flooding projects.

We investigate fluid flow properties and phase behavior models recently developed in the literature, and also propose new models for these that provide proper numerical properties for use in an implicit algorithm.

The new developments will provide state of art reservoir simulator, and the techniques developed can be included into current reservoir simulators in industry. Such can make the simulation of chemical flooding in field scale problems possible, which we hope will encourage the use of these techniques in the field.

Research Projects

Project A: Partitioned node model for the viscous fingering simulation

This project aims to develop an algorithm for upscaling the viscous fingering problem. The main goal is to be able to reproduce the oil recovery obtained in floods with adverse mobility ratio, in which the classic model would require extremely fine grids, with coarse grids. The method investigated considers a dual continuum approach to properly represent fingering in multi-contact miscible displacements. The extension of the method for considering also immiscible displacement is in progress. This project will provide simulation tools capable of reproducing coreflood experiments that can be extended to field scale simulation.

Project B: Development of a multipurpose robust reservoir simulator for conventional and unconventional reservoirs

This project aims to develop an adaptive implicit reservoir simulator with advanced gridding features. The fluids can be represented with either the compositional or Black-Oil model. The new simulator considers novel numerical adaptive implicit formulations and up to four phase flow is considered. The embedded discrete fracture method is used to describe the flow in fractures. All important features specific to the unconventional reservoirs are to be considered. The simulator is to be built in a general grid framework for handling different grid types (Cartesian, radial, CPG, and unstructured grids) and gridding features (LGR, DPDP, etc).

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Bruno Ramon Batista Fernandes
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Work Authorization Available

Education

PhD, Petroleum Engineering, August 2019
The University of Texas at Austin, USA

Master of Science, Chemical Engineering, June 2014
Federal University of Ceará, Brazil

Bachelor of Science, Chemical Engineering, December 2011
Federal University of Ceará, Brazil

Related Courses

Advanced Reservoir Engineering, Drilling Engineering, Enhanced Oil Recovery II, Engineering Analysis, Advanced Petrophysics, Advanced Production Engineering, Geology, Transport Phenomena, Computational Algebra and Simulation, Thermodynamics, Computational Fluid Dynamics.

PhD Dissertation

Development of Adaptive Implicit Chemical and Compositional Reservoir Simulators.

Master Thesis

Implicit and Semi-Implicit Techniques for the Compositional Reservoir Simulation based on Volume Balance.

Bachelor Thesis

Compositional Simulation of Petroleum Reservoirs Using the Element Based Finite Volume Method

Industry Experience

Summer Intern, Quantum Reservoir Impact 05/18 – 08/18

  • Developed a sensitivity analysis tool for reservoir simulation projects.
  • Developed an Eclipse based simulation deck generator for raw data formats.
  • Worked on field projects from clients applying QRI’s technology for sensitivity analysis, history matching, parametric modelling and reservoir management.

Academic Experience

Postdoctoral Fellow, Center for Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin 09/19 – Current

  • Provide support and help to graduate research students.
  • Collaborate in field scale modelling and simulation projects.
  • Collaborate in CO2 storage modelling and simulation projects.
  • Elaborate software documentation.
  • Develop methods for the viscous fingering of miscible flooding for compositional models.
  • Develop adaptive implicit methods for the alkaline-surfactant-polymer flooding.
  • Develop numerical formulations and gridding schemes for compositional and black-oil reservoir simulators for both conventional and shale reservoirs.

PhD student, The University of Texas at Austin 08/14 – 08/19

  • Developed a new automatic differentiation tool (UTAD), which computes exact Jacobian automatically, for general engineering applications using high-end techniques.
  • Developed adaptive and fully Implicit algorithms for the simulation of surfactant-polymer flooding on the Chemical Flooding Reservoir Simulator (UTCHEMRS). Currently extending and improving this. So far, it reduced the simulation times up to 20 times.
  • Developed a general grid framework for chemical flooding reservoir simulation.
  • Developed new fully implicit and adaptive implicit algorithms for compositional reservoir simulation. The new approaches were able to perform complex simulation runs up to 28 times faster.
  • Developed a non-mechanistic well production simulator for coupling well inflow performance and well deliverability for multiphase flow considering different flow patterns.
  • Developed a scales simulator for simulating the flow of scale inhibitor near wellbore.

Research Engineer, Federal University of Ceará 03/12 - 07/14

  • Supervised undergraduate research students.
  • Collaborated in research projects sponsored by PETROBRAS S/A.
  • Developed an IMPSAT and two Fully Implicit formulations for Cartesian and Unstructured grids for compositional reservoir simulation.
  • Developed a non-orthogonal Corner-Point grid approach that handles collapsed and pinched-out grid-blocks for the compositional reservoir simulation.
  • Developed a non-equilibrium mass transfer model using mass transfer coefficients and a dispersion based non-equilibrium mass transfer model for both Cartesian and Unstructured grids for compositional reservoir simulation.
  • Collaborated on the development of a semi-analytical well model for compositional reservoir simulation.
  • Developed a high-resolution (TVD) and skew schemes methods for 2D and 3D unstructured grids into UTCOMP compositional reservoir simulator that significantly improved simulation accuracy.
  • Collaborated on the development of 3D unstructured grids into UTCOMP simulator and on the development of a regression tool for tuning pseudo-critical properties out of PVT data such as the Minimum Miscibility Pressure (MMP).

Teaching Assistant, Federal University of Ceará 02/14-06/14

  • Served as Teaching Assistant for the Transport Phenomena course for the Metallurgical and Materials Engineering undergraduate course.

Graduate Visitor Researcher, The University of Texas at Austin 01/14-02/14

  • Collaborated on the implementation of a non-orthogonal Corner-Point grid approach that handles collapsed and pinched-out grid-blocks for chemical flooding simulation (UTCHEM and UTGEL simulators).

Undergraduate International Intern, The University of Texas at Austin 06/11-02/12

  • Developed an IMPSAT formulation into UTCOMP simulator for Cartesian grids.

Undergraduate Research Intern, Federal University of Ceará 12/10-05/11

  • Implemented a 2D unstructured grid method for an IMPES formulation into UTCOMP simulator.

Undergraduate Research Initiation, Federal University of Ceará 08/08-11/10

  • Implemented a fully implicit finite volume algorithm for the simulation of heat transfer and solidification in the welding process of steel.
  • Implemented a 2D unstructured grid framework into a three-phase Black-Oil reservoir simulator.
  • Implementation of a 2D unstructured grid framework into an aquifer simulator.

Undergraduate Research Volunteer, Federal University of Ceará 03/08-08/10

  • Developed and implemented of a genetic algorithm for the optimization of shell-and-tube heat exchanger's design.

Leadership and Organizations

Fundraising and Marketing Committee Member, SPE UT chapter 10/2015-08/2016

  • Helps the SPE chapter of the University of Texas at Austin to raise funds and advertise their activities.

Graduate & Industry Networking Committee Member, Graduate Eng. Council 10/2015-02/2016

  • Helped the Graduate Engineering Council (GEC) of the UT Austin to carry out their Graduate and Industry Networking 2016 event by prospecting industry recruiters to attend the event.

Skills

Extensive experience with modeling, simulation and optimization of several engineering problems.

Software: MS Office, Origin, Delphi, ESSS Kraken, GID, ANSYS ICEM, ANSYS CFX, HySYS, CMG GEM, CMG IMEX, CMG STARS, CMG WINPROP, S3Graf, R (Statistics), UTCOMP, UTCHEM, Coats Engineering SENSOR, LINDO (Linear Programing), MATLAB, Schlumberger Eclipse, Schlumberger Petrel, tNavigator.

Programming Languages: FORTRAN, Object FORTRAN (F2003), C/C++, Object Pascal (DELPHI), Python/Pandas, MATLAB.

Achievements

  • Reviewer, Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, Elsevier, 2017-Current.
  • Reviewer, Computer Physics Communications, Elsevier, 2018.
  • Recipient, Osmar Abib Memorial Endowed Presidential Scholarship in Petroleum Engineering, UT Austin, 2015-2019.
  • 2nd place, Ben Caudle Simple Energy Concepts Contest, UT Austin, 2017.
  • Reviewer, Brazilian Congress on Chemical Engineering, Modelling and Simulation Section, 2016.
  • Judger, Petroleum Engineering Student Paper Contest, Texas A&M University, 2015.
  • 2nd place, Ben Caudle Simple Energy Concepts Contest, UT Austin, 2014.
  • Recipient, CAPES Master’s Scholarship, 2013-2014.
  • Best work in the Simulation Technical Section, Brazilian Congress on Chemical Engineering – Scientific Initiation, 2010.
  • Recipient, CNPq Undergraduate Scholarship, 2008-2010.

Publications

Journal Papers

[1] J.A.N. Guzman, B.R.B. Fernandes, M. Delshad, K. Sepehrnoori, J.F. Zapata, Evaluation of Polymer Flooding in a Highly Stratified Heterogeneous Reservoir: A Field Case Study, WSEAS Transactions on Environment and Development. 16 (2020) 23–33. doi: 10.37394/232015.2020.16.3.

[2] Y. Xu, B.R.B. Fernandes, F. Marcondes, K. Sepehrnoori, Embedded discrete fracture modeling for compositional reservoir simulation using corner-point grids, Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering. 177 (2019) 41–52. doi:10.1016/j.petrol.2019.02.024.

[3] B.R. Batista Fernandes, F. Marcondes, K. Sepehrnoori, Development of a fully implicit approach with intensive variables for compositional reservoir simulation, Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering. 169 (2018) 317–336. doi:10.1016/j.petrol.2018.05.039.

[4] B.R.B. Fernandes, I. da C.M. Lima, E.P. Drumond Filho, J.C.B. de Oliveira, F. Marcondes, K. Sepehrnoori, A TVD scheme for 3d unstructured grids applied to compositional reservoir simulation, Brazilian Journal of Chemical Engineering. 34 (2017) 1161–1174. doi:10.1590/0104-6632.20170344s20160272.

[5] B.R.B. Fernandes, F. Marcondes, K. Sepehrnoori, Comparison of two volume balance fully implicit approaches in conjunction with unstructured grids for compositional reservoir simulation, Applied Mathematical Modelling. 40 (2016) 5153–5170. doi:10.1016/j.apm.2015.09.002.

[6] A.L.S. Araújo, B.R.B. Fernandes, E.P. Drumond Filho, R.M. Araujo, I.C.M. Lima, A.D.R. Gonçalves, F. Marcondes, K. Sepehrnoori, 3D COMPOSITIONAL RESERVOIR SIMULATION IN CONJUNCTION WITH UNSTRUCTURED GRIDS, Brazilian Journal of Chemical Engineering. 33 (2016) 347–360. doi:10.1590/0104-6632.20160332s20150011.

[7] B.R.B. Fernandes, A.D.R. Gonçalves, E.P. Drumond Filho, I. da Costa Menezes Lima, F. Marcondes, K. Sepehrnoori, A 3D Total Variation Diminishing Scheme for Compositional Reservoir Simulation Using the Element-Based Finite-Volume Method, Numerical Heat Transfer, Part A: Applications. 67 (2015) 839–856. doi:10.1080/10407782.2014.949196.

[8] B.R.B. Fernandes, A. Varavei, F. Marcondes, K. Sepehrnoori, Comparison of an impec and a semi-implicit formulation for compositional reservoir simulation, Brazilian Journal of Chemical Engineering. 31 (2014) 977–991. doi:10.1590/0104-6632.20140314s00003084.

[9] B.R.B. Fernandes, F. Marcondes, K. Sepehrnoori, Investigation of Several Interpolation Functions for Unstructured Meshes in Conjunction with Compositional Reservoir Simulation, Numerical Heat Transfer, Part A: Applications. 64 (2013) 974–993. doi:10.1080/10407782.2013.812006.

Conference Papers

[1] B.R.B. Fernandes, G.A. Pope, K. Sepehrnoori, H.R. Lashgari, Advances in Chemical EOR Technologies: New Development in Field-Scale Chemical Flooding Simulation, in: Offshore Technology Conference 2019, Houston, USA, 2019.

[2] B.R.B. Fernandes, K. Sepehrnoori, F. Marcondes, A Natural Variable Fully Implicit Compositional Reservoir Simulation, in: CILAMCE 2017, 2017. doi:10.20906/CPS/CILAMCE2017-0447.

[3] B.R.B. Fernandes, F. Marcondes, K. Sepehrnoori, A Pressure Traverse Algorithm for Multilateral Oil and Gas Wells, in: Florianopolis, Brazil, 2017. doi:10.20906/CPS/CILAMCE2017-0449.

[4] B.R.B. Fernandes, F. Marcondes, K. Sepehrnoori, Sequential Implicit Approach for Compositional Reservoir Simulation in Conjunction with Unstructured Grids, in: 23rd ABCM International Congress of Mechanical Engineering, ABCM, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 2015. doi:10.20906/CPS/COB-2015-2688.

[5] E.P. Drumond Filho, B.R.B. Fernandes, K. Sepehrnoori, SPECIFIED ADAPTIVE IMPLICIT METHOD FOR UNSTRUCTURED GRIDS IN COMPOSTIONAL RESERVOIR SIMULATION, in: 23rd ABCM International Congress of Mechanical Engineering, ABCM, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 2015. doi:10.20906/CPS/COB-2015-2231.

[6] B.R.B. Fernandes, A. Varavei, F. Marcondes, K. Sepehrnoori, COMPARISON OF TWO TIME-STEPPING METHODS FOR COMPOSITIONAL RESERVOIR SIMULATION, in: 2014: pp. 932–951. doi:10.5151/meceng-wccm2012-18202.

[7] B.R.B. Fernandes, E.P. Drumond Filho, A.D.R. Gonçalves, F. Marcondes, K. Sepehrnoori, INVESTIGATION OF CROSS DERIVATIVES IN CORNER POINT GRIDS FORMULATION IN CONJUNCTION WITH COMPOSITIONAL RESERVOIR SIMULATION, in: XXXV Iberian Latin-American Congress on Computational Methods in Engineering, ABMEC, Fortaleza, Brazil, 2014.

[8] P.V.C.L. Pimenta, B.R.B. Fernandes, I.C.M. Lima, P. Berke, F. Marcondes, UNILATERAL COUPLED THERMAL-MECHANICAL ANALYSIS OF CONTINUOUS CASTING PROCESSES WITH LINEAR ELASTICITY, in: XXXV Iberian Latin-American Congress on Computational Methods in Engineering, Fortaleza, Brazil, 2013.

[9] I.C.M. Lima, J.C.B. de Oliveira, E.P. Drumond Filho, B.R.B. Fernandes, F. Marcondes, K. Sepehrnoori, INVESTIGATION OF SEVERAL INTERPOLATION FUNCTIONS FOR MISCIBLE AND WAG PROCESS IN CONJUNCTION WITH UNSTRUCTURED GRIDS, in: XXXV Iberian Latin-American Congress on Computational Methods in Engineering, Fortaleza, Brazil, 2013.

[10] B.R.B. Fernandes, I.C.M. Lima, E.P. Drumond Filho, F. Marcondes, K. Sepehrnoori, EFFECT OF NON-EQUILIBRIUM MASS TRANSFER IN MISCIBLE GAS RECOVERY PROCESSES, in: 22nd International Congress of Mechanical Engineering, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil, 2013.

[11] B.R.B. Fernandes, E.P. Drumond Filho, A.D.R. Gonçalves, K. Sepehrnoori, F. Marcondes, WELL INDICES FOR COMPLEX WELL CONFIGURATIONS IN UNSTRUCTURED GRIDS, in: XXXV Iberian Latin-American Congress on Computational Methods in Engineering, Fortaleza, Brazil, 2013.

[12] B.R.B. Fernandes, A.L.S. Araújo, R.M. Araujo, I.C.M. Lima, E.P. Drumond Filho, F. Marcondes, K. Sepehrnoori, COMPOSITIONAL SIMULATION OF CO2 INJECTION PROCESS, in: 2nd Brazilian Congress on CO2 in the Oil, Gas and Biofuels Industries, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 2013.

[13] E.P. Drumond Filho, B.R.B. Fernandes, R.M. Araujo, F. Marcondes, K. Sepehrnoori, EOS PARAMETERS ADJUSTMENT FOR MINIMUM MISCIBILITY PRESSURE EXPERIMENTAL DATA, in: 22nd International Congress of Mechanical Engineering, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil, 2013.

[14] A.L.S. Araújo, B.R.B. Fernandes, R.M. Araujo, E.P. Drumond Filho, I.C.M. Lima, F. Marcondes, K. Sepehrnoori, 3D COMPOSITIONAL RESERVOIR SIMULATION USING UNSTRUCTURED GRIDS IN HOMOGENEOUS RESERVOIRS, in: 22nd International Congress of Mechanical Engineering, 2013.

[15] R.L. Nogueira, F. Marcondes, B.R.B. Fernandes, SIMULAÇÃO DE RESERVATÓRIO DE PETRÓLEO ANISOTRÓPICO UTILIZANDO O MODELO BLACK-OIL EM CONJUNTO COM MALHAS NÃO ESTRUTURADAS, in: XIX Brazilian Congress of Chemical Engineering, Búzios, Brazil, 2012.

[16] B.R.B. Fernandes, I.C.M. Lima, A.L.S. Araújo, F. Marcondes, K. Sepehrnoori, 2D COMPOSITIONAL RESERVOIR SIMULATION USING UNSTRUCTURED GRIDS IN HETEROGENEOUS RESERVOIRS, in: Blucher Mechanical Engineering Proceedings, Blucher, São Paulo, Brazil, 2012: pp. 1455–1474. doi:10.5151/meceng-wccm2012-18433.

[17] B.R.B. Fernandes, J.C.F. Otoni, I.C.M. Lima, J.I.R. Leitão, F.A.S. Mota, SIMULAÇÃO DO PROCESSO DE RECUPERAÇÃO DE PETRÓLEO USANDO INJEÇÃO ALTENADA ÁGUA-GÁS EM RESERVATÓRIOS DE PETRÓLEO BIDIMENSIONAIS DESCRITOS PELO MODELO BLACK-OIL, in: IX Congresso Brasileiro de Engenharia Química - Iniciação Científica, Maringá, Brazil, 2011.

[18] B.R.B. Fernandes, F. Marcondes, SIMULAÇÃO BIDIMENSIONAL DA FLUIDODINÂMICA DO PROCESSO DE RECUPERAÇÃO DE ÁGUA EM AQUÍFEROS ISOLADOS DISCRETIZADOS VIA MÉTODO DOS VOLUMES FINITOS BASEADO EM ELEMENTOS, in: IX Congresso Brasileiro de Engenharia Química - Iniciação Científica, Maringá, Brazil, 2011.

[19] R.L. Nogueira, B.R.B. Fernandes, A.L.S. Araújo, F. Marcondes, UNSTRUCTURED GRIDS AND AN ELEMENT BASED CONSERVATIVE APPROACH FOR A BLACK-OIL RESERVOIR SIMULATION, in: 13th Brazilian Congress of Thermal Sciences and Engineering, 2010.

[20] B.R.B. Fernandes, S.J.M. Cartaxo, F.A.N. Fernandes, SHELL-AND-TUBE HEAT EXCHANGER OPTIMIZATOR USING A GENETIC ALGORITHM, in: XVIII Brazilian Congress of Chemical Engineering, Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil, 2010.

[21] F.W.P. dos Anjos, B.R.B. Fernandes, J.R.C. Ferreira, H.C. de Miranda, F. Marcondes, NUMERICAL INVESTIGATION OF TRANSIENT TEMPERATURE DISTRIBUTION IN ARC WELDING PROCESS, in: 13th Brazilian Congress of Thermal Sciences and Engineering, 2010.