Patents by Inventor Isabelle Faille

Isabelle Faille has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 8150669
    Abstract: A method for mapping a complex sedimentary basin is disclosed. A grid representative of the current architecture of the basin is constructed. A mechanical structural restoration is applied in three dimensions so as to reconstruct the past architectures of the basin from the current time up to a geological time t. A simulation of the geological and geochemical processes that govern the formation of a petroleum reservoir is then carried out, directly in the grids obtained from the restoration, from the geological time t to the current one. This simulation is thereafter used for mapping the sedimentary basin so as to identify zones of the basin where hydrocarbons may have accumulated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 17, 2009
    Date of Patent: April 3, 2012
    Assignee: IFP
    Inventors: Marie-Christine Cacas, Jean-Luc Rudkiewicz, Isabelle Faille, Jean-Marc Daniel, Pascal Have
  • Patent number: 7617083
    Abstract: A method for simulating flows in reservoirs, such as hydrocarbons, by means of chimera type grid which fluid generates a chimera grid made up of a set of elementary grids for accounting for characteristics of the flows and of the geometry (e.g., radial grid in the well zone and CPG grid for the reservoir) so that their union covers the entire simulation domain and that there is a minimum overlap between two neighboring elementary grids. Interpolation parameters allowing connection of the flows calculated on the grid to the flows calculated on the neighboring grids are then determined on the border of each elementary grid. Finally, flows are simulated within the reservoir and the well, and the variables describing the flow on the border of the overlap zones are interpolated using the interpolation parameters.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 1, 2006
    Date of Patent: November 10, 2009
    Assignee: Institut Francais du Petrole
    Inventors: Chakib Bennis, Isabelle Faille, Lionel Ladouari, Roland Masson, Bertrand Moraisin
  • Publication number: 20090265152
    Abstract: A method for mapping a complex sedimentary basin is disclosed. A grid representative of the current architecture of the basin is constructed. A mechanical structural restoration is applied in three dimensions so as to reconstruct the past architectures of the basin from the current time up to a geological time t. A simulation of the geological and geochemical processes that govern the formation of a petroleum reservoir is then carried out, directly in the grids obtained from the restoration, from the geological time t to the current one. This simulation is thereafter used for mapping the sedimentary basin so as to identify zones of the basin where hydrocarbons may have accumulated.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 17, 2009
    Publication date: October 22, 2009
    Inventors: Marie-Christine CACAS, Jean-Luc Rudkiewicz, Isabelle Faille, Jean-Marc Daniel, Pascal Have
  • Publication number: 20060277013
    Abstract: Method for simulating flows in reservoirs by means of chimera type grids. The method first consists in generating a chimera grid made up of a set of elementary grids capable of taking account of the various characteristics of the flows and of the geometry (radial grid in the well zone and CPG grid for the reservoir for example) in such a way that their union covers the entire simulation domain and that there is a minimum overlap between two neighbouring elementary grids. Interpolation parameters allowing to connect the flows calculated on this grid to the flows calculated on the neighbouring grids are then determined on the border of each elementary grid. Finally, flows are simulated within the reservoir and the well, and the variables describing the flow on the border of the overlap zones are interpolated using the interpolation parameters. Application: simulators for hydrocarbon reservoirs for example.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 1, 2006
    Publication date: December 7, 2006
    Inventors: Chakib Bennis, Isabelle Faille, Lionel Ladouari, Roland Masson, Bertrand Moraisin
  • Patent number: 6952663
    Abstract: An automatic pipe gridding method allowing implementation of codes for modelling fluids carried by pipes is disclosed which has for example an application for oil pipes. The method comprises, considering a minimum and a maximum grid cell size, subdividing the pipe into sections including bends, positioning cells of minimum size on either side of each bend, positioning large cells whose size is at most equal to the maximum size in the central portion of each section, and distributing cells of increasing or decreasing size on the intermediate portions of each section between each minimum-size cell and the central portion. The method preferably comprises a prior stage of simplification of the pipe topography by means of weight or frequency spectrum analysis, so as to reduce the total number of cells without affecting the representativeness of the flow model obtained with the grid pattern.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 19, 2001
    Date of Patent: October 4, 2005
    Assignee: Institut Francais Du Petrole
    Inventors: Emmanuel Duret, Isabelle Faille, Eric Heintze
  • Publication number: 20020046013
    Abstract: Automatic pipe gridding method allowing implementation of codes for modelling fluids carried by these pipes.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 19, 2001
    Publication date: April 18, 2002
    Inventors: Emmanuel Duret, Isabelle Faille, Eric Heintze
  • Patent number: 6028992
    Abstract: The invention provides a model representative of steady and transient flows, in a pipe, of a mixture of multiphase fluids, which takes account a set of variables defining the properties of the fluids and of the flow modes having separate phases which are dispersed and intermittent, and the dimensions and slope of the pipes. The modeled quantities characterizing the flow are determined by solving a set of transport equations, an equation of mass conservation per constituent and an equation of momentum of the mixture, and by using a hydrodynamic model and a hydrodynamic model of the fluids. The models are formed by considering the mixture to be substantially at equilibrium at all times and that the constituents of the multiphase mixture are variable all along the pipe. The method can be applied to hydrocarbon transportation network study and to determination of characteristics of flow of the multiphase mixture in the pipe.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 14, 1997
    Date of Patent: February 22, 2000
    Assignee: Institut Francais Du Petrole
    Inventors: Veronique Henriot, Pierre Duchet-Suchaux, Claude Leibovici, Isabelle Faille, Eric Heintze
  • Patent number: 5960187
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method for forming a simulation model of two-phase flow in pipelines and notably in pipelines carrying hydrocarbons. The method comprises solving mass conservation equations for each of the phases and an equation of momentum conservation of the flow, while complying with closing relations. An explicit solution is used on slow waves (corresponding to the propagation of a gas phase) and fast waves (corresponding to the propagation of the pressure waves), which has the advantage of allowing time interval control by the slow waves while keeping the accuracy on these waves inherent in an explicit scheme. The method thus combines model execution speed and accuracy of results. The method can be applied to the design of a hydrocarbon transportation network.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 14, 1997
    Date of Patent: September 28, 1999
    Assignee: Institut Francais du Petrole
    Inventors: Isabelle Faille, Eric Heintze