tNavigator 26.2: Accelerating the Digital Energy Workflow with AI, Petrophysics and Advanced Simulation
Rock Flow Dynamics continues to expand the capabilities of tNavigator with the 26.2 release, introducing powerful new technologies that help subsurface teams work faster, collaborate, and make better-informed reservoir decisions. From an all-new Petrophysics module and enhanced AI Assistant to significant advances in simulation, geomechanics, seismic interpretation and digital asset management, version 26.2 delivers one of the platform’s most comprehensive updates to date.
A Major New Addition: The Petrophysics Module
The headline feature of tNavigator 26.2 is the introduction of a dedicated Petrophysics workspacee, providing an integrated environment for well log interpretation and core analysis.
The new module enables users to:
- Import and quality control well logs, core data and borehole images
- Perform petrophysical calculations including porosity, saturation, permeability and shale volume
- Correlate well logs with core measurements
- Build mineral models
- Interpret borehole images
- Apply machine learning to petrophysical analysis
By bringing petrophysical workflows directly into the tNavigator ecosystem, users can significantly reduce data transfers between specialist software while maintaining a consistent digital workflow from raw logs through to simulation-ready models.
AI Assistant Becomes a More Powerful Engineering Partner
Artificial intelligence continues to evolve within tNavigator, with several major enhancements designed to improve productivity and troubleshooting.
Local MCP Server
One of the most significant additions is the implementation of a Local Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server. This allows third-party AI applications to securely interact with the tNavigator knowledge base, search documentation, and manage projects through API functions – without requiring additional administrator privileges.
Multi-Agent AI
The AI Assistant now supports multi-agent mode, allowing multiple specialised AI agents to collaborate when handling complex engineering questions that span different disciplines.
Intelligent Log Analysis
Engineers can now use AI to automatically analyse simulation calculation logs, identify warnings and errors, determine likely root causes, and receive practical recommendations for resolving issues.
Additional AI improvements include:
- AI-assisted workflow editing
- AI support inside the custom code editor
- Smart object name auto-completion using project context
Together, these enhancements transform the AI Assistant from a conversational tool into an intelligent engineering assistant capable of supporting day-to-day technical workflows.
Digital Asset Management Gets Smarter
Digital Asset capabilities continue to mature with several new features aimed at real-time operations and collaboration.
Highlights include:
- Project-specific Data Storage Tree templates
- New Well Profile widget for depth-based well analysis
- New Graph Analysis widget for flexible trend visualisation
- Real-time dashboard enhancements
- Improved workflow automation
- Dashboard import/export in JSON format
- Widget property sharing across dashboards
These additions simplify operational monitoring while making Digital Asset dashboards more reusable and easier to maintain across projects.
Simulator Advances for Faster, More Realistic Models
The simulation kernel receives substantial improvements focused on both physics and computational performance.
Key enhancements include:
Fully Implicit Temperature Simulation
A new fully temperature-implicit option enables more robust thermal modelling with temperature-dependent fluid properties.
Machine Learning for Phase Identification
Compositional simulation now incorporates machine learning to accelerate vapour-liquid equilibrium calculations, improving efficiency without sacrificing accuracy.
Improved Fluid Physics
Users can now model:
- Water and gas viscosity as functions of pressure gradient
- Chemical reaction rate variation controls
- Enhanced wellbore fluid density calculations
- Additional critical saturation outputs
- Expanded thermal property correlations
These improvements extend the range of applications while improving solver robustness and runtime performance.
Geomechanics Adds Greater Realism
The Geomechanics module introduces several important capabilities for more representative rock mechanics modelling.
New functionality includes:
- Support for Vertically Transverse Isotropic (VTI) rock behaviour
- Fault and fracture stiffness modelling
- Enhanced wellbore stability calculations
- New synthetic density and strength correlations
- Expanded Mohr diagram visualisation
- Improved geomechanical property generation
These updates provide engineers with more realistic tools for evaluating well integrity, stress evolution and reservoir deformation.
Significant Productivity Improvements Across Geology
Geology Designer and Model Designer receive numerous workflow enhancements that simplify daily interpretation work.
Among the most valuable additions are:
- Interactive fault extension and truncation
- Free-form multipoint cross-sections
- New stochastic simulation methods (SGS and GRFS)
- Expanded polygon editing tools
- Improved well data organisation
- Faster object navigation
- Enhanced interpolation methods
- Improved statistical and volumetric calculations
Collectively, these updates streamline geological model building while reducing manual editing effort.
Seismic Interpretation Receives Major Enhancements
The Seismic module continues to grow in an exciting direction, and has undergone one of the largest upgrades in this release. New capabilities include:
- Quality-controlled dependent seismic horizon attributes
- Wavelet analysis workspace with amplitude and phase spectrum visualisation
- New Multi-Z Horizon objects
- Single-file 2D seismic storage
- Advanced inversion algorithms
- Intelligent fault detection attribute
- Non-linear deconvolution
- Expanded AVO analysis
- Improved seismic data management and visualisation
These features improve interpretation quality while giving geoscientists more advanced tools for extracting geological insight from seismic data.
Engineering Modules Continue to Expand
Several specialist modules also receive notable improvements.
Network Designer
- Natural gas water dew point calculations
- New choke valve control mode
- Fluid property calibration options
- Improved convergence controls
Well Designer
- Dynamic simulation result visualisation
- Ansari multiphase pressure-drop correlation
- Sliding Sleeve completion component
- Injector IPR matching
PVT Designer
- Water line visualisation
- Improved contamination correction
- Laboratory-based user PVT tables
- Enhanced DLE experiment controls
Reservoir Performance
New diagnostic tools include:
- Flowing Material Balance plots
- Bilogarithmic diagnostics
- Multi-stage fracture analysis for horizontal wells
These additions expand the engineering workflows that can be completed entirely within the tNavigator platform.
Want to test out the new version, or hear more details?
If you already have a license, you can upgrade to the new version and access the full set of release notes in our client centre: support.rfdyn.com. Give it a try and send your queries, comments and feedback to tNavigator@rfdyn.com.
If you don’t have tNavigator yet, we’d love to arrange a demo and set you up with some trial licenses. Get in touch with us today – asktNav@rfdyn.com or www.rfdyn.com/contact