"USE OF PRESSURE, PRESSURE-SQUARED OR PSEUDOPRESSURE IN THE ANALYSIS OF TRANSIENT PRESSURE

DRAWDOWN DATA FROM GAS WELLS"

K. AZIZ L. MATTAR S. KO G.S. BRAR

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GAS TECHNOLOGY JCPT76-02-06 JCPT-13 Use of Pressure, Pressure-Squared or Pseudo-Pressure in the Analysis of Transient Pressure Drawdown Data from Gas Wells K. Aziz, Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta L. Mattar, J. Mattar & Co.
Ltd., Cedar Works, Bo, Sierra Leone S. Ko, Shell Canada Ltd., Calgary, Alberta G. S. Brar, Energy Resources Conservation Board, Calgary, Alberta Abstract
In the analysis of transient pressure drawdown data, it is possible to plot the data in terms of pressure, Pressure-squared or pseudo-pressure
=
2
f
pliAZ
dp.
In this paper, we compare
these three approaches and provide some guidelines for the use of each. The use of pseudo-pressure is found to be the only reliable method when large drawdowns exist. We find that any of the three approaches is adequate when dr-aw- downs are small. However, the pressure squared approach is found to be better than the Pressure approach in most wells where these two are different. Our conclusions are based on the comparison of analytical solutions with numerical solutions for several typical gas reservoirs in Alberta. Introduction IN THE reservoir
engineering literature, the flow of gas is variously analyzed by using one of three variables - namely, the pressure, the pressure-squared or the pseudo-pressure. There is no clear evidence concerning the conditions of flow under which the use of some of these variables is admissible.
Rawlins and Shellhardt (1935) found empirically that stabilized gas flow could be described in terms of pressure-squared by the well-known
deliverability
equation q.@ = C(PR-, - P,@f)................
(1) Aronofsky
and
Jenkins
(1954) showed that Darcy flow of an ideal gas in
the reservoir could be represented by the diff usivity equation expressed in terms of pressure-squared (instead of pressure, as in the case of oil flow).
Matthews and Russell (1967), in their discussion of pressure buildup and analysis, suggested that using the pressure-squared was unnecessary and that satisfactory results were being obtained by simply using the pressure as the variable in the diffusivity equation.
Al-Hussainy and Ramey (1966) proposed yet a third variable, originally termed the "real gas potential", but later referred to as the "real gas pseudo-pressure." We refer
to this simply as the "pseudo-pressure."
There are then three well-known approaches for the plotting and analysis of well data: pressure, pressure-squared and and pseudo-pressure. To complicate matters, some 1)ressure data may be analyzed by using any one of these three variables, and give the same answer.
Other data will give a different answer for each of the variables. Moreover, deliverability tests on gas wells are usually analyzed using the pressure-squared, whereas drill-stem tests or buildup tests are often analyzed using the pressure. This gives rise to the question of
consistency of results.
Further complication and confusion results because some of the parameters that must be constant for the appreciation of the analytical
The Journal of Canadian Petroleum Khalid Aziz is a Professor of Chemical Engineering at The University of Calgary and a consultant to several Canadian and international organizations. He holds engineering de- grees from The University of Michigan, The University of Alberta and Rice University. His research interests in- clude multiphase flow in pipes, reservoir simulation and well testing. He is author or co-author of over
70 technical papers and one book. In 1975, he received the Distinguished Service Award of the Petroleum Society. He is a regis- tered professional engineer in Alberta and member of several technical societies, including The Petroleum Society of CIM. L.
Mattar worked as a project engineer at the Energy _ Resources Conservation Board, Calgary, during 1973-75, at wbich time he was responsible for a complete revision of the 1965 edition of the "Theory and Practice of the Testing of Gas Wells". He graduated with a B.Sc. (Hons-) in chemical engineering in 1965 from the University of Wales,
Swansea, and obtained an M.Sc. in chemical en- gineering in 1973 from the University of Calgary He is currently involved in engineering construction operations in Sierra Leone, West Africa. He is a membet- of the As- sociation of Professional Engineers of Alberta. Stephen C. M. Ko received his B.Sc. degree in chemi@l engineering from the University of Calgary in 1974. Pnor to working for Shell Canada Limited in September 1975, he had partially completed his M.Sc. program at the Uni- versity of Calgary and expected to obtain his M.Se. degree in the summer of 1976. Mr. Ko's primary activi@y
@ince 1974 has been in numerical reservoir simulation studies. G.
S. Brar is a project engineer at the Energy Resources Conservation Boai,d, Calgary. He graduated with a B.E. (Hons.) in chemical engineering in 1971 from Birla Insti- tute of Technology and Science, India, and obtained an M. c. in chemical engineering, with specialization in eni_ ronmental engineering, in 1973 from the University of Calgary. His latest work includes completion of a tech- nical manual entitled, "Theory and Practice of the Testing of Gas Wells", a publication of the Energy Resources Conservation Board. He
is a member of CIM and a member 4 of
the
Association
of
Professional
Engineers
of
.klberta. 58