b) Parallel Processing: Part of the increase in computing power referred to

above is the growth of parallel processing in reservoir simulation. The

central idea here is to distribute the simulation calculation around a number
of processors ( or “nodes”) which perform different parts of the computational
problem simultaneously. A bank of such processors is shown in Figure 11
(from the work of Dogru, SPE57907, 2000). The general impact of parallel
simulation is shown according to Dogru (2000) in Figure 12. If the problem
gets linearly faster with the number of parallel processors, then it is said to
be “scalable” and the closeness to an ideal line is a measure of how well the
process “parallelises” (reaches the ideal scaling line); an example is shown in
Figure 13. Finally, the type of fine scale calculation that can now be performed
using megacell simulation is shown in Figure 14 where it is shown that there is
a lengthscale of remaining oil that is missed in the coarser (but still quite fine)
simulation. A table of what types of calculation can be performed and some
timings for these is also included (although these numbers will probably be out
of date very quickly!). For further details, see Megacell Reservoir Simulation
- A.H. Dogru - SPE Distinguished Author Series, SPE57907, 2000 and the
references therein.

Discussion of Changes in Reservoir Simulation; 1970s - 2000

From the above field examples (Cases 1 -3), there is clearly a progression in the
engineering approach, the degree of reservoir description and the computational
capabilities as we go from reservoir simulation in the late 1970s to the present
time.
Petroleum Engineering Reservoir Simulation
Institute of Petroleum Engineering, Heriot-Watt University 37
The main changes are as follows:
Computer power: There has been a vast increase in computer processing power
over this period because of :
(a) CPU: The growth of powerful CPU (central processing units - i.e. chips)
especially as implemented in Unix machines (workstations) and RISC
technology and more recently by the development of modern PCs. The
corresponding cost of computing has fallen dramatically. A graph of processing
power (Mflops/s) vs. time and a corresponding graph of maximum practical
model size vs. time is shown in Figure 10: