PETE 4052 Well Testing Spring 2002

Lecture 7 Inflow Equations March 4

Inflow Equations
Outline
0. Synopsis
1. Special Cases of the Diffusivity Equation
2. Steady-State Inflow in a Circle
3. Pseudosteady-State Inflow in a Circle
4. Dietz Shape Factors
5. Effects of Shape, Skin, and Area
6. Productivity Index

Related reading
Craft et al., Sections 7.7-7.8, p. 242-248.
Dake: Sections Chapter 6, p. 141-152.

7.0 Synopsis
The flow of a single, compressible fluid through porous, permeable rock can be described using a
partial differential equation known as the diffusivity equation. If the pressure does not change with
time, or if the compressibility is small and constant and the rate is constant, then certain
approximations can be made and we can obtain easy-to-use and very useful inflow equations.

Key Concepts
Definition of steady state
Definition of pseudosteady state
Integration to obtain inflow equations in terms of external pressure and average pressure
Use of Dietz shape factors
Productivity Index

7.1 Special Cases of the Diffusivity Equation

In Lecture 6 we derived the diffusivity equation for single-phase flow of an incompressible fluid,
1 p c t p
r ............................................... (6.12b)
r r r k t
In this lecture we will consider two particular case:
p
Steady state: (r , t ) 0 .......................................................... (7.1a)
t
and
p
Pseudosteady state: r, t constant .................................................... (7.1b)
t
These terms are widely used in reservoir engineering and you should be familiar with them. The
p
third case (in which varies with r and t) is usually called transient.
t
7.2 Steady-State Inflow in a Circle
Rewriting Eqn. (6.12b) using the steady-state assumption [Eqn. (7.1a)],
1 d dp
r 0 ........................................................ (7.2)
r dr dr
We will solve this subject to the boundary conditions

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Lecture 7 Inflow Equations March 4

p(rw ) p w .......................................................... (7.3a)

and
p(re ) p e ........................................................... (7.3b)
We will also use the relation, valid for steady-state flow, of
2kh dp
q r .......................................................... (7.4)
dr

Note that this is now an ordinary differential equation, because the time derivative has been
eliminated. We can manipulate and then integrate Eqn. (7.2) once to get
dp
dr 0
dr
dp
r C1
dr
Integrating again,
dp C1

dr r
C1
dp dr
r
p C1 ln( r ) C 2
Applying the boundary conditions at rw and re,
p w C1 ln( rw ) C 2 or C 2 p w C1 ln( rw )
r
p e C1 ln( re ) C 2 C1 ln e p w
rw
p pw p pw
C1 e ; C2 pw e ln rw
re re
ln ln
rw rw
Thus, the equation for pressure is
p(r ) C1 ln( r ) C 2
pe p w p pw
ln( r ) p w e ln rw ................................... (7.5)
re re
ln ln
rw rw
p w pe p w
ln( r / rw )
ln( re / rw )
This form makes the linearity of p in ln(r) for steady-state radial flow very clear. The radial gradient
of p is
ln( r / rw ) pe p w 1
p w pe p w
r ln( re / rw ) ln( re / rw ) r
Using Darcys Law [Eqn. (7.4)],
2khr dp 2khr pe p w 1
q
dr ln( re / rw ) r
......................................... (7.6)
2kh pe p w

ln( re / rw )

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Lecture 7 Inflow Equations March 4

which is just our familiar radial flow formula for incompressible fluids. Note that q is not a function
of r.

We can also express this in terms of the average pressure. For a continuous variable,
re
r pdV
p w

re
r w
dV
We can use Eqn. (7.5) for p to get
r ln( r / rw )
r p w ( pe p w ) ln( r / r ) 2rhdr
w

p w
w
e

r 2rhdr
r w

w .............................. (7.7)
( pe p w ) r
re2 rw2 hpw 2h ln( r / rw )rdr
e

ln( re / rw ) r w

hre2 rw2
The integral can be evaluated by parts (similar to Dake, p. 144; here
u ln( r / rw ), dv r, du 1/ r, and v r 2 / 2 ),
( pe p w ) r 2
r

e
1 r r
p pw r 2
hre2 rw2
e

ln( re / rw ) 2
2 h ln( r / rw
) dr
r w
w

( pe p w ) 2 r 2
r

e
1
pw
re2 rw2 ln( re / rw ) e e w w w w 2 r
2
r ln( r / r ) r ln( r / r )
w

( pe p w ) 2
re ln( re / rw ) re rw
1 1 2 2
pw 2
re rw ln( re / rw )
2
2
r2 1
p w ( pe p w ) 2 e 2
re rw 2 ln( re / rw )

Finally, we have the average pressure equation in terms of p e and p w :

r2 1
p p w ( pe p w ) 2 e 2
re rw 2 ln( re / rw )
................................ (7.8a)

For a well in a circular drainage area, re rw and

1 ( p pw ) p pw
p pw ( pe pw )1 pe e e ............... (7.8b)
2 ln( re / rw ) 2 ln( re / rw ) 2
We can solve Eqn. (7.8b) for p e p w
p pw
pe p w ............................................. (7.9a)
1
1
2 ln( re / rw )
and use it with Eqn. (7.6) to get an inflow equation in terms of p (assuming, again, that re rw ):
2kh p pw 2kh p p w
q ........................... (7.9b)
ln( re / rw ) 1 1 1
ln( re / rw )
2 ln( re / rw ) 2

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Lecture 7 Inflow Equations March 4

Discussion
This development follows Dakes for pseudo- or semisteady state, p. 141-144, except for steady
state. The final result [Eqn. (7.9b)] is the same as his steady state inflow equation in terms of p ,
given in Table 6.1.
Note that the average pressure [Eqn. (7.8b)] is not the mean of the external and wellbore pressures.
We can find the radius at which this pressure occurs by defining [using Eqn. (7.5)]
p p( r ) p w pe p w
ln( r / rw )
.................................... (7.10a)
ln( re / rw )
But p is also given by Eqn. (7.8b) so that
( p pw )
p w pe p w
ln( r / rw )
p pe e
2 ln( re / rw ) ln( re / rw )
1
ln( r / rw )
pe p w pe p w 2
ln( re / rw )
1
ln( r / rw ) ln( re / rw )
2 ............................ (7.10b)
1
ln( r ) ln( rw ) ln( re ) ln( rw )
2
1
ln( r ) ln( re )
2
re
r
e
Because e 1.6 and re rw , the average pressure occurs at a radius greater than the mean radius
( re / 2 ). The manipulation is simpler if you recognize that ln( r / rw ) ln( re / rw ) 1 / 2 . The
average pressure occurs at r (re rw ) / 2 because so much of the volume is at high pressure a
property of being in a radial rather than a linear geometry. For a linear flow geometry, the average
pressure is the mean pressure (and is equal to the pressure halfway through the domain in linear
space). At what point would you expect the pressure to be equal to the average pressure in spherical
coordinates?

7.3 Pseudosteady-State Inflow in a Circle

Definition of Pseudosteady State

Pseudosteady (or, in Dakes terms, semisteady) state is defined as a regime in which the rate is
constant and the pressure is changing at the same rate everwhere. The rate of pressure change can
be determined by material balance. For a fluid of small and constant compressibility, and assuming
pure depletion drive,
Production Expansion
or
Rate time - (Pore volume) (Total Compressibility) (Pressurechange)
because rate was assumed to be constant. The minus sign is needed because for positvie q, the
pressure change must be negative (and all other terms are positive). This is equivalent to writing

qBt re2 h ct p .............................................. (7.11a)
Dividing by t and taking the limit as it goes to zero, we get

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p qB
2 ..................................................... (7.11b)
t re hct
We use partial derivatives because p is still a function of r as well as t.

Discussion
Note that our expression [Eqn. (7.11b)] differs from Dakes Eqn. (5.10) by a factor B. We have
converted the volume back to a reservoir basis, which is appropriate (a) for a material balance
calculation and (b) because theh compressibilities would be expressed on a reservoir volume basis.
Dake is a bit careless with his Bs and qs.

We can rewrite Eqn. (7.11b) in terms of dimensionless pressure and time using
kt kt
t DA
ct A ct re2
......................................... (7.12a)
dtDA k

t t DA dt ct re2 t DA
and
2k h
pD pi p .................................................. (7.12b)
qB
Combining Eqns. (7.12) and (7.11b),
qB k p D

qB
2
2
2kh ct re t DA re hct
..................................... (7.13)
p D
2
t DA
Dimensionless variables are so cool!

Derivation
The derivation of the pseudosteady inflow equations are given in Dake, p. 141-144. The derivation
is very similar to the steady state derivation given in the previous section. I urge you to review this
derivation. The results we will use further are listed below:
qB re 1
Pressure at r: p(r ) p wf ln s ..................................... (7.14a)
2k h rw 2
2k h pe p w
q in terms of pe: q .............................................. (7.14b)
re 1
B ln s
rw 2
qB re 3
Average pressure p : p pw ln s ........................................ (7.14c)
2k h rw 4
2k h p p w
q in terms of p : q .............................................. (7.14d)
re 3
B ln s
rw 4
and
r
r: r 3e/ 4 0.47 re .................................................... (7.14e)
e

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Several of these formulae are given in Dakes excellent Table 6.1 (attached at end of these lecture
notes). Note that we have included skin in these expression, following Dake. You should be able
to modify the steady-state equation to include skin, and understand why this works.

Discussion
If we compare the steady-state and pseudosteady-state inflow expressions in terms of average
pressure or in terms of external boundary pressure, we can see the denominator is smaller for the
pseudosteady-state expressions (see Dake, Table 6.1). That is, the same pressure drop moves more
fluid in the pseudosteady state system. We can understand this physically. In steady-state, all fluid
must move all the way from re to rw. On the other hand, in pseudosteady-state, expansion supplies
fluid at all r < re. Thus, less work has to be done to move the fluid and a smaller pressure drop is
required for a given flow rate.

We can rewrite the equations for pressure in dimensionless terms as

Steady-state: p D (rD ) ln( rD ) ..................................................... (7.15a)
2
r
Pseudosteady-state p D (rD ) ln( rD ) D .............................................. (7.15b)
reD
2k h r
where we have used p D ( p p wf ) and reD e . Notice that there is a quadratic term in the
qB rw
pseudosteady-state expression in addition to the logarithmic term. This additional term is
insignificant when rD/reD, or near the well. This implies that the gradients near the well must be
similar. On the other hand, far from the well the gradients are different (Figure 7.1).

Comparison of Pressure Profiles

7
Dimensionless Pressure

0
1 10 100 1000
Dimensionless Radius

Steady State Pseudosteady State

Figure 7.1 Pressure profiles for steady- and pseudosteady-state flow.
Note the following features of Figure 7.1:

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The gradient decreases with r for the pseudosteady case. This is true because the gradient at
the outer boundary is zero it is depletion drive. Thus, the gradient must go from the
p D
1 at rD = 1 to 0 at reD (in Figure 7.1, reD = 1000).
rD
The decrease in gradient (in log space) for the pseuosteady state implies that the flow rate
decreases. At reD the flow rate is zero. The flow rate rapidly increases as we move inward
from the outer boundary, because a large volume is filled with expanding fluid for each small
change in r at the outer boundary. On the other hand, near the well, only a small volume of
fluid expansion occurs for comparable changes in r, and the flow rate (and thus the gradient)
is nearly constant.
The rate is of course proportional to the gradient of ln(r). For steady state, it is constant. The
dq dV
flow rate for pseudosteady state is given in Figure 7.2. The change flow rate . It is
dr dr
parabolic in r, because the volume contributing to the flow is parabolic in (re r ) . The
gradient is zero at the outer boundary (Fig. 7.1), so the flow rate is zero here also (Fig. 7.2)

1.2

1
Dimensionless Rate, q(rD)/q(1)

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0
0 200 400 600 800 1000
Dimensionless Radius

Figure 7.2 Variation of flow rate with radius for pseudosteady state flow

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7.4 Dietz Shape Factors

The denominator of the pseudosteady inflow equation [Eqn. (7.14b)] can be rearranged to get
r 3 1 r2 3
ln e s ln e2 s
rw 4 2 rw 4
1 4re2 3

ln ln( e 4
)s
2 4rw2
1 4re2 3

ln ln( e 4
)s
2 4rw2
................................... (7.16)
1 4A
ln s
2 56.32 rw2
1 4A
ln s
2 31.6rw2
1 4A
ln s
2 C A rw2
where is the exponential of Eulers constant, and is equal to 1.781 (Eulers constant is 0.5772).

Why did we do this? This form (the last expression in Eqn. 7.16) is in the Dietz standard form. In
this form, the inflow equation is written as
2k h
q .............................................. (7.17)
1 4A
B ln s
2
2 C A rw
where A is the drainage area and CA is the Dietz shape factor (see Figure 6.4 in Dake). The amazing
thing about the Dietz shape factors is that they can be used for any shape or area of reservoir. For
the most part, these expressions were derived using the method of images, which we will discuss
later in the course. For now, it is sufficient to appreciate that this work has been done for us, and
the Dietz shape factors, in conjunction with Eqn. (7.17), allow as to compute the stabilized inflow
rate for practically any geometry of interest.

Application

The drainage area can often be computed from material balance [Eqn. (7.11b)],
qB
A ......................................................... (7.18)
p
hct
t
In other cases, the area can be computed from maps or pattern spacing. The shape of the well
drainage area can be estimated from maps, using the additional information that drainage volume
is proportional to well rates [as can be deduced from Eqn. (7.11b)]. We will soon see how to
kh
estimate and s from well tests. The average pressure can also be estimated from well tests.
B
These are all the parameters we need to estimate the stabilized inflow rate. This relationship is very
useful for understanding depletion behavior or reservoirs.

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7.5 Effects of Shape, Skin, and Area

The relative importance of several parameters can be deduced from Eqn (7.17), if we use our
knowledge of skin and the properties of logarithms.

First, the basic effects:

Flow rate decreases as area increases for a given bottomhole pressure and average pressure.
The change in the denominator is logarithmic; increasing A by a factor of e is like adding 1 to
the skin factor.
Flow rate increases as the shape factor increases; again, the dependence is logarithmic.
Increasing CA by a factor of e is like decreasing the skin factor by 1.

In terms of relative importance of the effects, it would be rare for well drainage areas within a given
reservoir to vary by factors larger than e2, which is like changing s by 2. Examining Figure 6.4, CA
varies from about 0.1 for very skewed drainage areas to over 30 for very symmetric areas; the
corresponding change in logarithms is about 5.5 which is like changing s by 5.5. Thus, it appears
that the effect of area will generally be smaller than the effect of shape. Furthermore, the effect of
shape can (in extreme cases) be as large as the effect of reasonable well-to-well differences in skin
factor. In reservoirs with high skin, the variability of skin will control the variability in inflow.

Finally, observing flow rates and the rate of change of average pressure gives us no information
about individual parameters such as CA, s, and k. We can only deduce the constant in front of the
pressure difference p p w . This is known as the productivity index.

7.6 Productivity Index

The pseudosteady inflow equation in Dietz form is
2kh p pw
q .............................................. (7.17)
B 1 4 A
ln s
2 C A rw2
If we define the productivity index, or PI, as the ratio of the flow rate to the pressure drop, then it
is
2k h
PI ............................................. (7.19)
1 4A
B ln s
2
2 C A rw
This leads to a definition of flow efficiency analogous to the previous steady-state radial case, but
now we have
4A
ln
2
C r .................................................. (7.20)
FE A w

4A
ln 2s
2
C A rw
Equation (7.20) shows that the effect of skin on rate depends upon drainage area and shape. Thus,
one cannot determine any of these parameters from pseudosteady- or steady-state data. We will use
pressure transient tests to isolate these parameters.

We will discuss a succession of pseudosteady states and decline curves in Lecture 7A.

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