NRE II - Additional Material

Text books

This is a list with an overview of books related to numerical reservoir engineering. The list is
by far not comprehensive, but should give you a good start if you want to (a) want to review
material and check some derivations or equations that we have done in the lecture, or (b)
would like to investigate a specific topic in some more detail.
If you come across a book you think is interesting and which is not part of this list, please
email it to me!
Some of the books are available at the RWTH library, but often only one copy is available. I
have several of the books in my office and you are free to come and have a look, if you like.
Well, and in some cases the sentence is true: “Google, and you shall find!”.

Numerical methods in reservoir engineering

Bear, Jacob, Cheng, Alexander H.-D: Modeling Groundwater Flow and

Contaminant Transport (2010)

An absolute classic on groundwater modeling. The

book contains a detailed introduction to the underly-
ing physics, a thorough description of porous media
flow, Darcy’s law, many mathematical models for dif-
ferent groundwater modeling problems, and a basic
introduction to numerical methods, as well! A very
good book to have with a reasonable price (≈ 65 e)

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Kolditz, Olaf: Computational Methods in Environmental Fluid Mechanics
(2002)

This book contains a good introduction to the topic.

The theory part is quite comprehensive but not very
detailed. The applied part of the book is mainly fo-
cussed on a Finite Element modelling package written
by the author.

Jochen Bundschuh, Mario César Suárez A.: Introduction to the Nu-

merical Modeling of Groundwater and Geothermal Systems: Fundamentals of
Mass, Energy and Solute Transport in Poroelastic Rocks (2010)

A great book with a comprehensive mathematical

treatment of mathematical models and physical con-
siderations in the modelling of groundwater and
geothermal systems. It also contains a valuable chap-
ter on poroelasticity (coupling between mechanics and
flow). The part on numerical methods is not very ex-
tensive, but a good introduction. Unfortunately, a
very expensive book (≈ 200 e) but otherwise a good
basic and advanced resource on the topic.

Randall LeVeque: Finite Difference Methods for Ordinary and Partial Dif-
ferential Equations (2007)

Most likely one of the best and most comprehensive

reference books on this topic! Also, really well written
and comprehensible.

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Basics concepts, continuum mechanics, and fluid dynamics

Owen M. Phillips: Geological Fluid Dynamics Sub-surface Flow and Reac-

tions (2009)

A book with a very interesting focus on fluid flow in

a geological context, instead of the typically consid-
ered reservoir engineering applications. For example,
it covers the formation of hydrothermal ore deposits,
as well as magmatic-hydrothermal systems and fluid
flow in metamorphic processes. A great book for ev-
eryone interested in geological aspects of fluid flow

Chapra, Canale: Numerical Methods for Engineers, Sixth Edition (2009)

Very good introductory text book on numerical meth-

ods with many examples and thorough, detailed expla-
nations. It covers Finite Difference methods in good
detail and provides a very readable introduction to Fi-
nite Element methods. Unfortunately, quite expensive
- but google is your friend.

Hans Petter Langtangen: Python Scripting for Computational Science

(2008)

A great resource for scientific computing with Python.

It covers the basics (but not in great detail), and
many advanced topics, including the standard Python
numerical and scientific libraries, interfacing C/C++
and Fortran and even GUI programming (for those
who are interested in it).

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 Oscar Gonzalez, Andrew M. Stuart: A First Course in Continuum Me-
chanics (2008)

A very thorough treatment of the fundamentals of con-

tinuum mechanics, starting from a good introduction
to the basics, to quite advanced topics. The book is
quite mathematical (and does not contain any reser-
voir engineering context), but still very readable for
this level of mathematical detail. Suggested for every-
one with more interest in continuum mechanics.

Advanced topics

Albtert Tarantola: Inverse Problem Theory and Methods for Model Pa-
rameter Estimation (2005)

Great book, one of the godfathers of the application of

inverse theory to geophysical problems. The book it-
self is focussing on Bayesian methods and transformed
the way that inverse problems are treated in the geo-
scientific community.

Oliver, Reynolds, Liu: Inverse Theory for Petroleum Reservoir Character-

ization and History Matching (2008)

A very well-written book on inverse methods for reser-

voir engineering problems. The authors are among the
main experts in this field at the moment, so definitely
a good reference.

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Randall LeVeque: Finite Volume Methods for Hyperbolic Problems (2002)

From the same author as the Finite Difference book

described above, this is probably the most comprehen-
sive book on Finite Volume Methods and equally well
written.

Donald A. Nield, Adrian Bejan: Convection in Porous Media (2013)

Book on hydrothermal coupling in porous media with

a special treatment of free and forced convection. The
absolut standard text book on any research in this
direction.

H. S. Carslaw, J. C. Jaeger: Conduction of Heat in Solids (1986, 2nd ed.)

Classic text book on heat conduction problems with

detailed mathematical models for a wide range of heat
transport problems.

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Helmig, Rainer: Multiphase Flow and Transport Processes in the Subsur-
face: A Contribution to the Modeling of Hydrosystems (1997)

This book covers multiphase flow simulations and nu-

merical schemes for these types of problems in great
detail. It also has a good introductory part, but is def-
initely more tailored towards an advanced audience.

Mao Bai, Derek Elsworth: Coupled Processes in Subsurface Deformation,

Flow, and Transport (2000)

A good entry point to the advanced topic of coupled

processes, especially treating the coupling of mechani-
cal deformation in the context of reservoir engineering.