Well Testing

Lecture #2: Fundamentals of fluid flow in porous

media
Instructor : A. Khaksar Manshad

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 Outline

• 1-D unsteady state flow of a slightly compressible through a homogeneous

porous media
• Development of Hydraulic Diffusivity Equation for Flow of a Slightly
Compressible Oil
• Solution
• Applications

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• The linear, one dimensional, horizontal, one
phase, partial differential flow equation for a  2 P  φμc  P
liquid, assuming constant permeability, viscosity  
and compressibility for transient or time x 2
 k  t
dependent flow:

• If the flow reaches a state where it is no longer time 2P

dependent, we denote the flow as steady state. The 0
equation then simplifies to: x 2

• The analytical solution of the transient pressure

development in the slab is given by: x

3 fluid
• Transient and steady state pressure distributions are illustrated graphically in
the figure below for a system where initial and right hand pressures are equal:
pressure vs. x
Left side
pressure

Steady state
solution

Transient
solution

x
Initial and
right side
x 2  1  n 2 2 k   nx 
Px, t   PL  PR  PL    exp   2 t  sin   pressure

 L  n 1 n  L c   L 

Px, t   PL  PR  PL 
x
4 L
Development of Hydraulic Diffusivity Equation for Flow of a
Slightly Compressible Oil and Its Solution Subjected to
Different Boundary Conditions
• Physical model
• Simplifying assumptions
• Mathematical model
– Choosing an appropriate element
– Governing equation
• Mass balance
• Momentum balance (Darcy’s law)
• Equation of state
– Initial and Boundary conditions
• Infinite acting
– Constant rate production
– Constant pressure production
• Finite acting
– Constant rate production
– Constant pressure production
– Solutions
• Laplace space solutions
• Time domain solutions
• Simplified solutions
• Applications (Drawdown (single rate & multi rate), Reservoir limit test, Build up, Superposition (time
& space), …),
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 Physical Model

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 Simplifying Assumptions

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 Mathematical Model-Governing Equation
•Mass balance
 V    o V t
    
o A v r  r    o A v r 
o t  t

t

•Momentum balance (Darcy’s law)

k p
v gr  
 r
•Equation of state
 o   ob exp co ( p  pb ) 

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 Mathematical Model-Governing Equation
cp
psia
1/psia

1   p   ct p
  r  
r  r  r  0.000264 k t

hr
ft
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ct  c f  c o S o  c w S w md
 Hydraulic Diffusivity Equation

1   p  1 p
  r  
r  r  r   t

0.000264 k

 ct

Hydraulic diffusivity equation determines the velocity at which pressure waves

propagate in the reservoir. The more the permeability the faster the pressure
wave will propagate.

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 Line-source & Finite-wellbore Solutions
• The solution to differential equations treating the well as a vertical line
through a porous medium .The solution is nearly identical to the finite-
wellbore solution. At very early times, there is a notable difference in the
solutions, but the differences disappear soon after a typical well is opened
to flow or shut in for a buildup test, and in practice the differences are
masked by wellbore storage .

• The solution to the diffusivity equation that results when the well (inner)
boundary condition is treated as a cylinder of finite radius instead of treating the
well as a line source.
Line-source: the well has zero radius Finite-wellbore

 p   qBo  p   qBo
      
 r  r 0 2 rw hk  r  r
w
2 rw hk

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Infinite cylindrical reservoir with line-source well
(Range of applicability)

qB   ct rw2 

p wf  pi  70.6 Ei  948
kh  k t 
 
The reservoir is no longer
infinite acting
‫ ﭘێووﺳﺗﮫ ﮐﺎﺗﮫﮐﮫ ﻟﮫ ﻧێوان ﺋﮫم دواﻧﮫ ﺑێت‬:

  c r 2
   c r 2

3.79 10 5 t w
  t  948  t e
 Un-Steady state Flow
 k   k 
   

The assumption of zero wellbore

limits the accuracy of the solution
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Example 100000%
• A well is producing only oil at constant rate of 20 STB/D. Data describing the well and
formation are summarized below. Calculate the reservoir pressure at radii of 1, 10, and 100 ft
after 3 hrs of production.

rw  0.5 ft hatyyyytawaaaaaa
re  3,000 ft
h  150 ft
k  0 .1 md
  0.23 
Swi  0 
  0.72 cp
Bo  1.475 RB / STB
ct  1.5  10 5 psi1
q  20 STB / Day

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First we must determine whether the Ei function solution is valid for the desired times.

  ct rw2    ct re2 
3.79 10 5
 k 
  t  948 
 k 
 2.35  t  211,900 hr
   

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 Flowing wellbore pressure
3600
E function
i
3500 Log approximation
3400

p (psia) 3300

3200
wf

3100

3000

2900

2800
0 1 2 3
10 10 10 10
time(hr)
qB   ct rw2 

p wf  pi  70.6 Ei  948
kh  k t 


162 .6qBo    k  
pwf t   pi  log  t   3.23
   ct rw  
2
kh

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 Application: Semi-log Pressure
Drawdown Data

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Example: Estimate the oil permeability and skin factor from the drawdown data
of Figure 1.34. Assuming that the wellbore storage effect is not significant
calculate:
• the permeability;
•the skin factor;
•the additional pressure drop due to the skin.

100000000000000000000%

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 Solution
Step 1. From Figure 1.34, calculate p1 hr: p1 hr = 954 psi
Step 2. Determine the slope of the transient flow line: m = -22 psi/cycle
Step 3. Calculate the permeability:

Step 4. Solve for the skin factor s

Step 5. Calculate the additional pressure drop:

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 Assignment #2.a

An oil well is producing at a constant flow rate of 500 STB/day under unsteady-state flow
conditions. The reservoir has the following rock and fluid properties:
rw  0.3 ft
(1) Calculate the pressure at radii of 0.3, 5, 10, 50,
h  100 ft
100,500, 1000, 1500, 2000, and 2500 ft, for 1 hour. Plot
k  0.2 md the results as:
  0.23  (a) pressure versus the logarithm of radius;
S wi  0  (b) pressure versus radius
  0.75 cp
(2) Repeat part 1 for t = 12 hours and 24 hours. Plot the
Bo  1.4 RB / STB
results as pressure versus logarithm of radius.
ct  1.6  10 5 psi1
pi  4500 psi (3) Estimate the bottom-hole flowing pressure after 10
hours of production.

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