PETE 325

Petroleum Production Systems

Week 4
Nodal Analysis, or
Well Deliverability, or
NODAL Analysis

Production System Analysis

Divide system at a point (node) into upstream

and downstream components

Upstream components are inflow

Downstream components are outflow
Endpoint pressures are fixed: Pres; Psep

It is all one system

Preservoir Pseparator = Psystem = Pcomponent
A restriction at any component can hamper production
M ak es com pletion design im portant
Also im portant for flow assurance
( P, T can cause solids deposition)

Whole system must be analyzed for proper initial design

and/or debottlenecking
Production Engineers Often Focus on the region from well
inflow to wellhead outflowis the well performing as it
should?

Well Inflow Performance

Wellbore/Tubing Flow Performance
Preservoir Pwf Pwh surface flow system
Basically, we superimpose IPR and VLP

Each component has a corresponding q and P relationship

for inflow and outflow
(for a given flow rate, the pressure at a component is fixed)

Pnode

Inflow performance governed by Pres - Pwf

VLP governed by Pwf - P*wh

Flow through the system is determined from
the facts that
only one pressure is present at a node
inflow must equal outflow at a nodemass
balance requirement

*PPS uses
Ptf

We can compute IPR Curves and VLP Curves for given sets
of conditions. Their combination determines well deliverability.

Pnode

Inflow performance impacted by Pres - Pwf

Plus - ?

VLP impacted by Pwf - Pwh

plus
-?

We can compute IPR Curves and VLP Curves for given sets
of conditions. Their combination determines well deliverability.

Pnode

Inflow performance influenced by Pres - Pwf

Plus - fluid properties
- k, h
- ln(re/rw)
- skin

VLP influenced by Pwf - Pwh

plus
- Ppotential energy
- Pkinetic energy
- Pfriction

For a given IPR and well configuration,

We can determine flow rate as a
function of required wellhead pressure, for example.
q

Example

= 1.7

Reservoir Data:
B = 1.1 bbl/bbl; = 1.7 cp; kh = 8.3 md; h = 53 ft
re = 2980 ft; rw = 0.328 ft (7 7/8 in)
What can we say about P for the VLP
in this well and for this oil?
- PKE? PPE? PF?

Radial inflow relationship for steady-state black oil:

q=

Rearrange:

For our example:

k H h( pe pwf )

r
141.2 Bo o ln e + s
rw

r
141.2 Bo o ln e + s
rw q
pwf = pe
kh

pwf = 5651 5.54q

IPR Curve for this Well

Now for the VLP

Single-Phase Liquid Flow: Incompressible

or
Fanning friction factor or Moody friction factor

Example, Contd
PKE = 0 (incompressible fluid, no diameter change)

(Independent of flow rate.)

But:
PF is a function of flow rate (friction factor)
ff =16/vd = 16/NRE

N RE

Dv

q
=
=
D

or

q
1.48
in oilfield units
D

Example, Continued
Must assume turbulent flow.
Instead of implicit eqn. shown last week, we can use
Chens explicit method (shudder) from PPS, Ch 7:

Continued

Likewise:
300 BPD PF = 8 psi
500 BPD PF = 20 psi
700 BPD PF = 35 psi

Therefore total pressure

drop, if surface pressure
is zero?

Thus Well Deliverability:

The VLP Curve crosses
the IPR Curve at
about 3060 psi (+/-)
So the flow rate at
zero wellhead pressure
is ~470 bpd or so.