A Seven-Point Finite Difference Method for Improved Grid Orientation Performance in Pattern Steamfloods

This paper presents a novel seven-point finite difference approximation for simulations of adverse mobility ratio displacements. The method is based on partitioning of a two-dimensional flow domain into regular or nearly regular hexagons. The accuracy of the method for pattern steam-floods of heavy oil reservoirs is compared to five-and nine-point approximations. For five-spot floods, the accuracy of the seven-point method is good and comparable to that of the nine-point scheme. For seven-spot floods, the seven-point method provides good numerical accuracy at substantially less computational work than five-or nine-point methods. For nine-spot floods, only the nine-point method is found to give accurate results.