Chapter 5

Pressure Transient Testing

for Gas Wells

"Plus ra change, plus c'est la meme chose."

-Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr, Les Guepes (January 1849)

5.1 Introduction
In the preceding chapters, we have considered only single-phase flow of a slightly compressible liquid. This
chapter focuses on single-phase flow of real gases. For gas wells, there are two factors that must be addressed:
(I) gas fluid properties are functions of pressure, and (2) gas wells often exhibit rate dependent or non-Darcy
skin factor.
Section 5.2 introduces the use of pseudopressure, adjusted pressure, and adjusted time to account for pressure-
dependent gas properties in the flow equation for gases. The pseudopressure and adjusted pressure integral
transforms provide an exact linearization of the gas flow equation for steady-state flow. The adjusted pressure has
the added advantage that the gas flow equation has exactly the same form as that for slightly compressible liquids.
Similarly, the adjusted time, used in conjunction with adjusted pressure, linearizes the gas material-balance
equation describing volumetric behavior.
Drawdown tests are primarily a flow phenomenon, thus must be described using pseudopressure or adjusted
pressure along with real time. Section 5.3 shows how to use adjusted pressure and elapsed test time to analyze
gas well pressure drawdown tests using sernilog analysis, log-log type-curve analysis, and manual log-log
analysis.
Unlike drawdown tests, buildup tests are primarily a volumetric phenomenon, thus both pseudopressure and
pseudotime, or equivalently and more conveniently, adjusted pressure and adjusted time. Section 5.4 shows how
to use adjusted pressure and adjusted time to analyze gas-well pressure buildup tests, using semi log, log-log type-
curve, and manual log-log methods.

After completing this chapter, the reader should be able to

1. Calculate the real gas pseudopressure and adjusted pressure.
2. Calculate the pseudotime and adjusted time for a buildup test.
3. Analyze a gas-well drawdown test using semilog, log-log type-curve, or manual log-log methods.
4. Calculate the adjusted Horner-time ratio and equivalent adjusted time for a gas-well buildup test.
5. Analyze a gas-well buildup test using semilog, log-log type-curve, or manual log-log methods.

5.2 Gas Flow Equation

In deriving the diffusivity equation, we assumed a slightly compressible liquid with constant viscosity µ and
constant total compressibility c,. However, for gas reservoirs, formation volume factor, compressibility, and viscosity
are all functions of pressure.
For small changes in pressure, the diffusivity equation may be used to describe flow of gases as well as liquids.
As a general rule, if the change in pressure during drawdown is less than I 0% of the initial pressure, the liquid
equations may be used with acceptable results.
 100 Applied Well Test Interpretation

5.2.1 Pseudopressure and Adjusted Pressure. To account for pressure-dependent gas properties in a more
general way, we can develop a gas flow equation having a form similar to that of the diffusivity equation by
combining the continuity equation, Eq. 2.1, Darcy's law, Eq. 2.3, and the real gas law equation of state, Eq. 5.1:

pV = mRT (5.1)

Traditionally, the gas flow equation is written in terms of the real gas pseudopressure function m(p), defined as
(Al-Hussainy et al. 1966)

f:
m(p) = 2 µ(;:):(p')" (5.2)

The integral in Eq. 5.2 may be evaluated using any of a number of numerical integration methods".
Unfortunately, the units of the real gas pseudopressure function (psi2/cp) are rather awkward, as are the
magnitudes of typical values (on the order of I 09 psi2/cp for a pressure of 5,000 psi). It is convenient to define the
adjusted pressure, p"(p), a normalized form of the pseudopressure (Meunier et al. 1987), as

µ ( P,ef ) z ( Pre1 ) ( )
Pa ( p ) = 2 mp
P,,1

= µ(p,,,, J,(p,,,,
Pref
l r µ (ti
p' z p'
O
r (5.3)

where JJ,,1 is an arbitrary fixed reference pressure, most conveniently taken to be the initial pressure Pr Using P; as
the reference pressure, the adjusted pressure may be written as

pa(p) = µ;~; I: µ(:'):(p')'

'd. I

(5.4)

The pseudopressure and the adjusted pressure depend only on the reservoir temperature, gas properties, and
pressure. Thus, a table of pressure, pseudopressure, and adjusted pressure, once constructed for a given reservoir,
may be used throughout the life of that reservoir.
The real gas flow equation in radial coordinates, written in terms of adjusted pressure is (in consistent units):

; :r (r a;a) = </>µt, a;a, (5.5)

where the viscosity µ8 and the compressibility c, are both functions of pressure. Although Eq. 5.5 appears to have
the same form as the diffusivity equation, the coefficient on the right-hand side of Eq. 5.5 is a strong function of
pressure rather than a constant. Thus, the gas flow equation is a nonlinear partial differential equation.
The gas flow equation Eq. 5.5 may be linearized exactly for two special cases, steady-state flow and tank-type
volumetric depletion.
For steady-state flow, the pressure is independent of time. Thus, the partial derivative with respect to time on the
right-hand side of Eq. 5.5 is zero, and the gas flow equation reduces to the equation

; :,. (rt~')= 0, (5.6)

a second-order linear ordinary differential equation. Thus, adjusted pressure and pseudopressure both linearize the
gas flow equation for steady-state flow. Adjusted pressure has the added advantages that it has units of pressure and
that equations in terms of adjusted pressure have the same form as the corresponding liquid equations.

* Using Simpson's rule with 125 psi panel size for pressures from Oto 1,000 psia, and 250 psi panels for pressures from 1,000 psia to the
pressure of interest gives adequate accuracy for most applications. If higher accuracy is required, an adaptive step size integration method is
recommended.
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5.5 Summary
The following points summarize the important concepts introduced in this chapter.

I. Gas properties are strong functions of pressure. If large changes in pressure occur during a pres-
sure transient test, the gas flow equation must be modified to account for pressure-dependent gas
properties.
2. Pseudopressure or adjusted pressure provides an exact linearization of the steady-state gas flow equation.
3. Pseudotime or adjusted time provides an exact linearization of the gas material-balance equation when
written in terms of pseudopressure or adjusted pressure.
4. A drawdown test in an infinite-acting gas reservoir is primarily a flow phenomenon. Adjusted pressure and
elapsed test time should be used for analyzing drawdown tests.
5. For a gas-well buildup test following a large drawdown, the log-log graph of adjusted pressure change
vs. shut-in time will exhibit a decreasing wellbore-storage coefficient, causing the field data to deviate
upward from the unit-slope line. Graphing the adjusted pressure change vs. the adjusted time restores the
unit-slope line characteristic of well bore storage.
6. A buildup test in a gas reservoir is best described as a volumetric phenomenon. Adjusted pressure and
adjusted time should be used for analyzing buildup tests.

Nomenclature
A = area, ft2
b = intercept, psi
B = formation volume factor, bbl/S'TB
C = wellbore-storage coefficient, bbl/psi
c1 = formation compressibility, psi:'
c, = total compressibility, psi:'
g = cumulative gas produced, Mscf
h = net pay thickness, ft
\ = height of perforated interval, ft
k = permeability, md
/" = length of perforation tunnel in contact with formation, ft
m = slope of straight line, psi/cycle
m(p) = real gas pseudopressure, psi2/cp
M = molecular weight, lbm/lb-mole
ns = shot density, shots per ft
p = pressure, psia
Pa = adjusted pressure, psi
P; = initial pressure, psi
Paih, = adjusted pressure read from the semilog straight line at a time of I hour, psi
q = flow rate, STB/D
qg = flow rate, Mscf/D
R = universal gas constant, psi-ft3/lb mole-Pk
r; = radius of investigation, ft
r" = radius of perforation tunnel, ft
r, = equivalent spherical radius, ft
rw = wellbore radius, ft
s = Darcy skin factor, dimensionless
s' = total skin factor, including rate-dependent skin, dimensionless
t = time, hour
T = temperature, 0R
ta = pseudotime, psi-hr/cp
ta = adjusted time, hour
T1 = formation temperature, °F
!lt = shut-in time, hour
llt, = Agarwal equivalent time, hour
t = production time, hour
/J
V = volume, ft3
z = real gas deviation factor, dimensionless