Sensitivity study on hydraulic well testing inversion using simulated annealing

Cluster variable aperture (CVA) simulated annealing has been used as an inversion technique to construct fluid flow models of fractured formations based on transient pressure data from hydraulic tests. A two-dimensional fracture network system is represented as a filled regular lattice of fracture elements. The algorithm iteratively changes element apertures for a cluster of fracture elements in order to improve the match to observed pressure transients. Aperture size is chosen randomly from a list of discrete apertures. The cluster size is held constant throughout the iterations. Since hydraulic inversion is inherently nonunique, it is important to use additional information. We investigated the relationship between the scale of heterogeneity and the optimal cluster size and shape to enhance convergence of the inversion and improve the results. In a spatially correlated transmissivity field, a cluster size corresponding to about 20 % to 40 % of the practical range of the spatial correlation is optimal. Inversion results of the Raymond test site data are also presented and based on an optimal cluster size; the practical range of the spatial correlation is estimated to be 5 to 10 m.