Meyer 2003 is a major upgrade of the Meyer 2001 software and includes numerous enhancements, corrections, and bug fixes, including a fully native 32-bit implementation.

Meyer 2003 Changes (Build 5.00.1361)

Build 5.00.1361 was the first English release of Meyer 2003.

All Apps

Added New Image File Formats

All applications now support the industry-standard JPEG, BMP, PNG, and EMF (Windows Enhanced Metafiles) image file formats.

Added Resizeable Screens

All screens are now resizeable: the user can now adjust the size and position of each screen. The applications remember the user’s preferences. The size and position of the screen are stored and the next time the screen is opened, it is restored to the saved values. Users can now customize the appearance of the software to improve usability, especially on systems with non-standard fonts and font sizes.

Converted to 32-bit Windows APIs

All applications and utilities are now protected-mode 32-bit applications. This improves interactive response times and isolates each application in its own independent memory space. This isolation prevents cascading application failures, where one application crashes and brings down all other running applications. The applications are built with the industry-standard Visual C++ compiler for Windows, using a fully automated and reproducible build process under tight version control.

Eliminated Filesystem Dependencies

There is now one executable per application—no DLLs, and no “prototype” data files in the application folder. You can install or move any application by dragging the application and its help file to a new folder. This makes installation and maintenance very easy. Also, not using any DLLs greatly reduces the risk of DLL file corruption.

Improved File I/O Performance

The Meyer software now uses 32-bit Windows APIs to access all data files on disk. This provides true native long filename support, and improves resource usage and memory consumption.

Improved Navigation

All the applications now share one consistent navigation mechanism. All data screens now have navigation and editing toolbars. All plot selection screens have navigation toolbars. The toolbars feature “previous” and “next” buttons to navigate the sequence of screens. Additionally, the applications set the mouse cursor position intuitively when switching screens. When a toolbar button is clicked, the cursor is placed over the toolbar button after the new screen is displayed. This assists the user when navigating through screens using the previous and next buttons. These improvements, when combined, greatly increase usability and significantly reduce the software’s learning curve.

Improved Spreadsheets

New, modern spreadsheet interface with resizeable columns. Resizeable columns allow the user to expand cells to see their contents no matter what the size, and to shrink them to make the entire table fit on one screen. This increases the utility of the software by allowing users to see more of the “big picture” at a glance.

Improved User Preferences

Remembers last open/save folder, size of spreadsheet columns, and size/position of all screens.

Improved Units Screen

The Units screen now uses a standard spreadsheet for data entry. This improves the appearance of the screen, increases data entry performance, and reduces visual clutter.

Standardized Storage of Preferences

All preferences are now stored in the Windows Registry, not INI files. This reduces clutter in the user’s filesystem, and makes it easier for administrators to deploy a consistent group of settings across many machines.

Support for More Colors in the Plots

Plots now support up to 16 million colors. Previously, plots only supported 16 colors.

Upgraded Meyer Data Acquisition

Meyer Data Acquisition (MACQ) now uses a threaded architecture and native Win32 system calls to improve multitasking performance.

MFrac

Added Fracture Propagation Rate Controls

Added controls on the maximum time step to minimize excessive fracture propagation in any time step. If the propagation rate is too large the time step will be cut. This was added to prevent uncontrolled height growth in small interval layers with large time steps. This addition also requires a few additional time steps for fracture initiation (i.e., at early times).

Changed Proppant Type for Screen-out and Bridge-out Criteria

Prior to Meyer 2003 only proppant types of Pre-Pad, Pad and Slug would not be allowed to screen-out or bridge-out (independent of the Proppant solution methodology). Because it has become more popular to place a shut-in stage between the minifrac and main treatment, and simulate the entire job in one file, we have found that if the density meter is not calibrated properly, the shut-in stage could record a proppant concentration which would result in a screen or bridge-out (only if the Proppant solution was set to linked and the proppant type was not 000.). To correct this inadvertent screen-out, we now also include the Shut-in and Acid type stages as stages that will not screen- or bridge-out.

Changed the Definition of Propped Height, Width and Conductivity in the Pay Zone

The propped height in the pay zone now cannot be greater than the propped height in the fracture. Previously, the effective propped height in the summary report was always set equal to the pay zone height regardless of the true propped height. The average fracture width and conductivity was then reduced to give the equivalent conductivity over the entire pay zone. This has been changed to more correctly report the true propped height in the pay zone and the true propped width and conductivity of the propped fracture in the pay zone. This also corrected the problem of propped widths less than a monolayer (i.e., no embedment).

Improved Acid Diffusion Solution during a Shut-in

The acid transport solution has been improved to better simulate a shut-in periods after the acid has spent. This improvement was necessary because once all the acid either spends, leaks off by fluid loss or reaches the equilibrium concentration, the diffusion solution becomes an invariant. Therefore, for certain cases where all the acid has spent during or before a shut-in, the code would incorrectly show during a shut-in period that the etched width near the wellbore would increase and the etched length would decrease. This has been corrected in Meyer 2003.

Improved Auto Design

Improved Auto Design for the TSO and Frac-Packs. Added code to more accurately calculate the auto treatment schedule for cases when the proppant bridges-out before it screens-out. Now, the bridging criteria is based on the frac width at the time of the TSO rather than at the end of pumping if the width at the end of the job is greater than the width at the time of the screen-out. Although, the auto design solution is much better now for checking the bridging criteria, the auto design options are approximate solutions which may require slight modifications to your particular case.

Improved Extrapolation of Proppant Database Permeabilities

The proppant permeability data is now only extrapolated between the concentration per unit area limits between 0.5 lbm/ft^2 and 2.0 lbm/ft^2. Concentrations at higher or lower levels will use the permeabilities of the table parameter range (i.e., the code will no longer extrapolate outside the concentration range). You may have been impacted by this out of range extrapolation, if the permeabilities in the database varied greatly over the 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 levels and the sand concentration was much greater than 2.0 lbm/ft^2.

Improved Low Proppant Density Settling Correlation

The code has been modified to allow proppants with specific gravities less than that of the slurry. Now if the proppant density is less than the slurry density, the settling velocity will be set to zero (i.e., proppant buoyancy is not allowed). This change affects the calculated settling velocity for all proppants but is most noticeable for proppants with specific gravities near that of the slurry. This change has a minimal impact on the proppant transport solution for most cases.

Improved Real-Time Net Pressure Calculation

The net pressure is calculated by subtracting the minimum horizontal stress form the calculated or measured bottomhole treating pressure. Because MFrac uses fracture pressure and not net pressure to propagate the fracture, this is just an extraneous calculation. However, for comparison of net pressures rather than BHTPs one must use the same minimum stress for the simulated and measured real-time pressure data to calculated net pressure. During fracture propagation there is a minimum horizontal stress that a propagating fracture sees for lateral propagation which is not the same as the minimum horizontal stress in the perf zone (i.e., if you have a 10-foot perf zone with a mostly uniform horizontal stress of 5000 psi but with a 1-inch layer within the perf zone at a stress of 4500 psi, the minimum horizontal stress would be 4500 psi. However, for fracture propagation (initially) the value for all practical purposes for a 10-foot high fracture would be approximately 5000 psi). Consequently, the code now uses the minimum horizontal stress in the perf zone for real-time net pressure calculation. Prior to Meyer 2003, the BHTPs may have matched but the net pressure could have been off. This bug has been corrected.

Improved Waterflood Thermal Stress Calculations

Improved the solution for calculating fracture propagation when thermal stresses are included. Now the code is more stable for large changes in minimum horizontal stress caused by thermal stresses.

Improved Wellbore Turbulent Friction Correlation

Improved the friction correlation for drag reduction using Keck’s solution between the Prandtl and Virk asymptotic solutions. Now the solution at very low Reynolds Numbers (transition) will follow the Prandtl solution with a transition to the Virk asymptote. Previously, Keck’s transition solution did not always converge at low Reynolds numbers and the more reasonable of the Prandtl or Virk solution was chosen.

Updated Proppant Databases

The proppant databases have been updated by the following suppliers: Norton, Borden, and Carbo Ceramics. The Curimbaba Group has also provided us with their database. The data in the system databases is provided “as is” by the respective companies. Meyer & Associates, Inc. and the database suppliers shall not be liable for any loss or damage whether due to negligence or otherwise arising out of or concerning such data. To ensure that you are using the latest proppant data from the System Proppant Databases, copy the currently used proppant types from the System Database to the User Database. If you are importing files with older proppant data and have a proppant code conflict, click Cancel (i.e., to make sure that the latest System Proppant Database values that were copied into the User Database are being used).

MProd

Variable Pressure Boundary Conditions for Gas Reservoirs

Modified MProd to more accurately handle variable pressure boundary conditions for gas reservoirs. This was accomplished by using a non-constant lambda factor for variations of real gas properties with pressure. Although the principle of superposition is only mathematically valid for linear differential equations with different boundary conditions, the mean value theorem produces a solution very satisfactory for engineering applications. The old method used an average time weighted constant lambda factor (i.e., making the differential equations linear) which enabled the average reservoir pressure to always asymptote to the flowing pressure for long production times. The penalty was that the gas flow rate was a function of all flowing pressures before and after. Although this new solution may not asymptote “exactly” to the flowing pressure as the reservoir is drawn down (i.e., at extremely large times), the production rates for variable pressure boundary conditions are superior. This change is only noticeable for multiple flowing bottomhole pressure changes when the lambda coefficient is a strong function of pressure. This change does not affect multi-rate boundary conditions. Please refer to SPE 14238, Eqn. 1 for a mathematical definition of lambda.

MProd/MNpv

Improved Usability of Plots

MProd and MNpv run-time plots now remain open while performing calculations and changing units. This is a usability feature which brings the MProd and MNpv plot system up to the same level of usability as that of MFrac.

MView

Added More Parameters

MView now supports up to 50 parameters per data set, increased from 20 in previous versions.

Redesigned Build Plots

Totally redesigned the Build Plots screen. The new Build Plots screen features a task-centered user interface that is actually more flexible than the old interface, while reducing the number of buttons and checkboxes on the screen.

Meyer 2003 Changes (Build 5.00.1521)

Build 5.00.1521 was the first Russian release of Meyer 2003. It included some minor changes to the English version not found in Build 5.00.1361.

All Apps

• Added inactive selection colors to grids to make it easier to tell when a grid has the keyboard focus. (#825)
• Changed the labeling of columns for importing text data from {A-Z, AA-ZZ} to {A-Z, AA-AZ, ..., ZA-ZZ}. (#751)
• Fixed pasting into grids from Excel. (#813)

MFrac

• Changed wellbore diameter magnification in the Wellbore Staging plot (allows vertical wellbores to be displayed in a narrower window). (#842)
• Don’t switch Wellbore Hydraulics model to “none” when the radio buttons are disabled. (#838)
• Fixed a problem importing proppant database entries. (#857)
• Recalculate depths immediately in the Fluid Loss dialog after clicking a toolbar button. (#855)
• Set stage types to “Pad” and “Prop” when importing an auto-design treatment schedule. (#841)

MinFrac

• Prompt to save changes when closing the application with the “X” button instead of choosing File | Exit. (#814)

MView

• Fixed a problem loading VHD files with more than twenty parameters. (#767)
• Support up to 999 serial ports. (#809)