See

discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266667717

Practical Compartmental Model for Shale-gas

Production by Multiple-Fractured Horizontal
Wells Considering Transport...

Article · April 2014

DOI: 10.2118/169011-MS

CITATIONS READS

0 36

4 authors, including:

Benmadi Milad Faruk Civan

University of Oklahoma University of Oklahoma
3 PUBLICATIONS 0 CITATIONS 264 PUBLICATIONS 2,743 CITATIONS

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

All content following this page was uploaded by Benmadi Milad on 13 August 2015.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file. All in-text references underlined in blue are added to the original document
and are linked to publications on ResearchGate, letting you access and read them immediately.
  

SPE-169011-MS

Practical Compartmental Model for Shale-gas Production by Multiple-

Fractured Horizontal Wells Considering Transport Influenced by
Nano-pore Proximity
Benmadi Milad, SPE, Faruk Civan, SPE, Deepak Devegowda, SPE, University of Oklahoma, and
Richard F. Sigal, SPE, Consultant

Copyright 2014, Society of Petroleum Engineers

This paper was prepared for presentation at the SPE Unconventional Resources Conference – USA held in The Woodlands, Texas, USA, 1-3 April 2014.

This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE program committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper have not been
reviewed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and are subject to correction by the author(s). The material does not necessarily reflect any position of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, its
officers, or members. Electronic reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper without the written consent of the Society of Petroleum Engineers is prohibited. Permission to
reproduce in print is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words; illustrations may not be copied. The abstract must contain conspicuous acknowledgment of SPE copyright.

Abstract
A practical simulation model is developed and demonstrated with applications for accurate characterization of production rate
and pressure behavior with time in shale-gas reservoirs featuring horizontal wells intersected with multi-stages of hydraulic
fractures. The model determines the contribution of each fracture stage to the overall production and predicts the pressure
changes occurring in the fracture and matrix zones by a compartmental simulation approach. Various flow regimes of
drawdown test are investigated for fracture diagnosis with different fracture permeability values to determine the external
boundary effect. Our practical mathematical modeling, coupling the wellbore and reservoir hydraulics, is solved numerically
by an iterative method to determine the flow rates coming into the horizontal well from multiple hydraulic fractures like the
commingled layers intersected by a vertical well. This approach provides a reasonable description of behavior of multiple
stages in shale gas reservoirs by considering the alteration of the gas transport properties and the changing apparent
permeability under the effect of pore proximity of shale. Various applications of our non-Darcy simulation model
demonstrate the importance of the corrections relevant for shale-gas reservoirs compared with the conventional Darcy flow
without consideration of such corrections. Commensurate with field observations, when the non-Darcy flow corrections are
considered, the cumulative gas production is higher compared with the conventional Darcy flow calculations which impact
significantly on fracture and matrix pressure responses and production forecasting.

Introduction
Production from hydraulically-fractured horizontal wells is a common practice in unconventional reservoirs which is
necessary for economically viable production operations. Hydraulic fracturing in unconventional reservoirs has become an
essential operation because of extremely-low matrix permeability where a well production without fracturing cannot be
profitable. However, only the multi-stage hydraulic fractures can provide sufficient stimulated reservoir volume for shale
reservoirs. Hydraulic fracture allows the effective gas flow from nano-Darcy shale media of the near-wellbore stimulated
reservoir volume to the wellbore. As a result, gas production is enhanced with the increase of a stimulated reservoir volume
because hydraulic fracturing overcomes the problems of production that are associated with horizontal wells completed in
unconventional reservoirs. Consequently, the number of horizontal wells that have been drilled in unconventional reservoirs
has increased significantly since 1980 (Valko and Economidies 1995). Hydraulic fracturing increases the conductivity
between the reservoir and the wellbore and enhances the production from nano-Darcies permeability porous formations of
unconventional reservoirs. However, most previous efforts in simulation of production from such reservoirs have been the
direct applications of the readily-available commercial simulators which were designed essentially for applications with the
conventional reservoirs. Thus, the overall objective of the present paper is to develop a practical simulation approach which
is capable of analyzing production from hydraulically-fractured horizontal wells completed in shale-gas reservoirs with
reasonable accuracies without the excessive computational requirements of the present commercial simulator.
Accurate estimations of the flow rates and pressure profiles at each fractured and non-fractured zones are very
important to evaluate the overall reservoir performace accurately. These estimations can be difficult when the matrix and
fractured zones have significantly different orders of magnitudes of completion and reservoir properties. The gas flow
2 SPE-169011-MS

contribution to the overall well production depends on the number of fracture stages. The production involves a complicated
scheme of the fracture stages and the matrix feeds of the fractured zones. The effects of Knudsen diffusion and pore-
proximity are vital parameters to be considered for proper description of the gas properties and transport in unconventional
reservoirs. Further, the effect of fluid influx at the external flow boundary can lead to different production performances in
the presence of partial to full external flow conditions. An investigation of the non-contributing fractures based on the
pressure transient behavior is also carried out following the Knudsen diffusion and pore-proximity corrections. These issues
can have a significant impact on well production performance and effective well optimization and management. Therefore,
these issues are accounted to quantify the contribution of each fractured zones to the total production and to analyze the
pressure behavior of fractures and matrices for shale gas reservoirs. Then, accurate prediction of reservoir performance by
production from hydraulically fractured horizontal wells can be accomplished as demonstrated in this paper.
The practical simulation model detailed in this paper provides an understanding of simulation of the production
trends by considering the non-Darcy flow behavior and gas properties modification under to the pore proximity effects from
hydraulically-fractured shale gas reservoirs. Identifying and predicting the flow rates and pressure profiles at separate zones
and the contribution of each zone to the overall well production are accomplished for effective management of production
from hydraulically-fractured shale gas reservoirs. Pressure test analysis is conducted to identify the relevant flow regimes and
the start of the external flow boundary effect for gas wells with different fracture compartment permeability. Various
problems of practical importance involving the hydraulically-fractured reservoirs are identified, demonstrated, and solved.
Furthermore, the gas coming from non-fractured zones can be considered as feeding the fractured zones in the horizontal
wells in the presence or absence of external flow boundary mechanisms, such as water influx. Inferred by Civan (2000), these
problems can be addressed by developing improved compartmental-leaky-tank models for applications in shale gas
reservoirs. This approach is performed using the coupled wellbore and reservoir models. This coupled model is solved
numerically using the trapezoidal method and implicit-finite-difference method for the wellbore and reservoir models,
respectively. The gas properties and initial pressure values were assumed for the coupled model, and then, these values have
been updated under the iterative algorithm-coupled model at prescribed production rate conditions at the surface. The coupled
model is implemented for multiple-number of stage fractures for characterization of pressure and production forecasting of
non-Darcy flow by including the Knudsen diffusion effect and pore-proximity corrections encountered in the hydraulically-
fractured reservoir region.

Review of Previous Studies

Optimization of hydraulic fracture geometry and conductivity are essential for achieving optimized well production
performance. Generally, there are two different ways in which fracture geometry can be determined. The first approach is
based on a production potential and the second approach is based on a geomechanical consideration. The data set of fracture
geometry that has been implemented in the model was inferred based on previous studies and examined based on the
prediction of production performance from the fracturing. Previous studies concerning the modeling of gas production from
shale gas reservoirs are discussed in this section.
Xu et al. (2012) proposed a model to calculate the production from fractures in horizontal wells at a transient-state
flow regime in tight-gas reservoirs using the Green’s function. They assumed that the average values of the viscosity and
compressibility coefficient for gas flow do not change and the reservoir pressure is uniform throughout. They simulated the
production flow as if it was from an infinitely-conductive-fracture path only by ignoring the flow from the matrix (non-
fractured formation) because of low flow contribution from the matrix. They concluded that each fracture contributed the
same flow rate at the beginning of production which subsequently varied when the production time increased. Their results
were based on the following fracture parameters: fracture length is 140 m, fracture width is 0.003m, horizontal permeability
is , vertical permeability is , and fracture permeability is
Rubin (2010) modeled the fracture network in fractured shale reservoirs within a simulated reservoir volume only
for a horizontal well. Rubin used a numerical simulation and assumed the fracture length is 100 ft. and shale permeability is
0.0001 md. But the fracture conductivity within the simulated reservoir volume zone was 20 md. The dimension of the
simulated reservoir region was 2500 ft. by 2100 ft. Rubin simulated seven fracture stages with 400 ft. spacing.
Horne and Temeng (1995) presented an analytical model to characterize the behavior of transient pressure and flow
performance when the multi-stages of hydraulic fractures were implemented in horizontal wells. They examined the
significant effect of number of fractures on horizontal well productivity. Closed boundaries were assumed for the reservoir
with uniformly-distributed flux contributions from the fractures. They determined that an optimum number of hydraulic
fractures can achieve a productivity that is equivalent to many hydraulic fractures. Thus, it is not always necessary to create
many hydraulic fractures to achieve high productivity. They presented four stages of hydraulic fracturing used in horizontal
systems and all the fractures propagated to the horizontal wellbore with finite conductivity. The fracture geometry was
assumed to be uniform for each fracture and the half-length of fracture was 300 ft., horizontal well length was 300 ft., and the
permeability was 0.015 md.
Yu and Sepehrnoori (2013) presented a Response Surface Methodology (RSM) by using numerical modeling to
optimize multistage hydraulic fractures for horizontal wells in unconventional gas reservoirs. Fracture geometry parameters,
such as fracture half-length, conductivity, spacing, and porosity and permeability, were considered and tested to identify the
optimum hydraulic-fracture design. They also assumed the gas entering the wellbore was only from hydraulic fractures and
SPE-169011-MS 3

there was no matrix-wellbore communication.

Freeman et al. (2013) examined the effect of different completion and reservoir parameters on the flow regime
system for horizontal wells, and hydraulic fracturing in tight-gas and shale-gas reservoir porous formations. These effects are
represented as complex fractures with prescribed spacing and conductivity, matrix permeability, and desorption effect. They
concluded that the unsteady-state regime cannot be recognized in the area of fracture when the dual permeability is
considered in their numerical simulator. Also, in the late time, the flow rate becomes lower with lower conductivity and
lower permeability as expected.
Stalgorova and Mattar (2013) presented an analytical solution to simulate gas flow for multiple-fractured reservoirs
completed by a horizontal well. Linear flow system was considered with closed outer boundary. They evaluated the
production performance from the fractures and the fracture branches that they created during the fracturing operations. The
fracture geometry, such as fracture length and spacing, were assumed to be the same at each fracture stage placed along the
horizontal well. Lateral section of horizontal well was 2000ft, the fracture half-length was 100 ft, and thickness of the pay
zone was 100 ft. Fracture permeability was 1 mD, the non-fracture permeability was 0.01 mD, and porosity was 1.0.
Hagoort and Hoogstra (1999) demonstrated a numerical solution for two-compartment gas reservoirs using p/Z
method. They employed an implicit solution to investigate the behavior of prediction and history match modes.
Transmissibility between these compartmental gas reservoirs was considered, but they observed that there is negligible
crossflow between the adjacent compartments when the production occurs in these two compartments. All the reservoir
properties were assumed the same with equal initial reservoir pressure before the production. The only advantage of their
work over previous studies mentioned is that their compartmental model is simplified and easy to program.
Hagoort et al. (2000) presented a two-compartmental reservoirs model where the partially sealing fault isolates these
compartments. They assumed viscosity of the fluid does not change and effect of compressibility is small. Also, they
assumed that each compartment represents a reservoir and the production well is located at one of the compartments, so the
fluid transmits from one compartment to the other compartment via the fault having a low permeability. Material Balance
P/Z method was used to investigate the behavior of tight gas in these two compartmental reservoirs. Numerical solution has
been utilized for a homogenous reservoir with transmissible fault using different values of permeability, namely 0.1mD,
1mD, and 10mD.

Present Work and Objectives

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, presently available commercial simulators are not actually applicable for shale
reservoirs because they were essentially developed for conventional reservoirs where permeability is sufficiently higher than
the permeability of unconventional reservoirs so that the pore-proximity effects are unimportant for all practical purposes. In
this paper, production from multiple-hydraulically fractured shale gas reservoirs is modeled to predict the production from
each stage of hydraulically fractured horizontal wells under the pore-proximity effects. When the different rock and fluid
properties are considered for each fracture as in field cases instead of averaging them over all reservoir zones, better results
are expected as in the present work. Therefore, building a coupled compartmental model for simulation is a necessary
approach to achieve improved shale gas performance forecasting and reserve estimation in hydraulically fractured zones by
considering the pore proximity and non-Darcy effects with open and closed boundary conditions of unconventional gas
reservoirs.
Thus, formulations for the coupled wellbore and reservoir hydraulics problems are derived in order to build practical
models for multiple-hydraulically fractured horizontal wells in unconventional gas reservoirs. The initial and coupling
conditions are considered appropriately by means of an iterative numerical solution scheme for the coupled wellbore and
reservoir hydraulics problems and a computer program is developed and implemented for Matlab®, (Matlab, 2011). The
practical model was built for hydraulically fractured zones in horizontal wells based on a compartmental approach, inferred
by the leaky-tank model of Civan (2000, 2011). This approach including the mathematical formulations is described in the
methodology section in this paper later on. The numerical simulator can simulate any number of multistage hydraulically
fractured compartments and the matrix compartments in unconventional gas reservoirs involving horizontal wells. This
practical model aims at simulating the gas production and pressure performance in fractured compartments and non-fractured
matrix compartments. This simulator incorporates the various relevant aspects, including
1- Non-Darcy flow effects:
a) Knudsen correction
b) Pore-proximity correction
2- Gas transport properties modified under pore-proximity
3- Interactions because of the transmissibility effect from matrix compartments to fracture compartments, and
4- Open reservoir external-flow boundary.
The application of the aforementioned computer simulator is practical and therefore easy to use, and can adequately
predict the wellbore and different reservoir zone pressure profiles for different times and the production history of each zone.
Further, the new approach and simulation incorporates the gas properties and transport issues affected by pore-proximity in
extremely-tight shale-gas formations, which is not currently available in the present commercial simulators. Also, the
compartmental approach yields a suitable model which is sufficient and adequate for practical applications. Commingling of
multi-hydraulic fractures into wellbore is accomplished in a practical manner. The present model can predict the pressures
4 SPE-169011-MS

and gas flow rates from each zone of fracture along the wellbore. This provides valuable insights and understanding of the
local details of the gas transport and the contribution of various fractures. These local details, such as the pore-proximity-
modified viscosity and density affect the pressure and production performance significantly.

Model Development and Formulation

Methodology
The methodology of compartment systems is used in hydraulically-fractured shale-gas reservoirs to evaluate the production
and pressure changes from the fractured and the matrix zones. Compartmental method subdivides the reservoir into multi-
compartments and describes the way fluid is transmitted between the compartments of the reservoir system. Two systems of
the compartments have been considered with different reservoir formation properties of porosity and permeability. The
fractured zone compartment is a hydraulically-fractured medium with relatively high permeability and porosity and the
matrix zone compartment has a very low permeability and low porosity. The production is assumed to be from the fractured
compartments and no production occurs from the nano-Darcy permeability matrix media to the wellbore. The matrix
compartment is considered to feed the fractured compartment. Further, the pore-proximity and Knudsen effects are
considered.
Then, the wellbore and compartmental reservoir models are coupled and solved using an iterative numerical method
to obtain an accurate prediction of the fracture and matrix compartments in horizontal wells. This coupled model is solved by
considering the different properties of each compartment, the different water-derive strength, and the initial reservoir
pressure. The gas production from the matrix compartment is neglected because matrix compartments do not contribute to the
well production. Therefore, the matrix compartments are programmed to feed the fracture compartments only. This coupled
model can perform production performance of reservoir with hydraulically-fractured horizontal well for any number of
compartments with elliptic flow to represent the actual fracture geometry determined by the formation anisotropy. Figure 1
shows the schematic of coupling of the wellbore and multiple-hydraulically-fractured horizontal well model. The numerical
solution for coupling the wellbore and hydraulic fracturing models is illustrated in Figure 2.

Figure 1 - A) actual well and B) leaky-tank concept of reservoir model

SPE-169011-MS 5

Figure 2- Flowchart of numerical solution for coupling wellbore and hydraulic fractured horizontal well

Wellbore Model
The wellbore hydraulics model is required for the coupled-model to calculate the pressure and gas flow rate variation along
the wellbore for dry gas based on the consideration of flows coming from different zones or fractures and their effect on the
total well production at the surface. The length of well tubing has been divided into multi segments to conduct pressure and
flow rate calculations as described in Figure 3. The model considers the effect of temperature and pressure on physical
properties, such as the gas compressibility factor, viscosity, formation-volume factor, and the friction factor at the center of
each segment. Then, the solution is carried out until obtaining the bottom-hole pressure of each reservoir zones. The wellbore
hydraulic model of reservoirs producing with hydraulically-fractured horizontal wells is solved using the Cullender and
Smith formulation applied in each horizontal segment.
The derivation of wellbore formulation for pressure loss in a pipe of any orientation is based on a mechanical energy
equation. The mechanical energy equation is a combination of the conservations of mass and momentum. Pressure drops are
always in the direction of fluid flow for upward flow in a well, and it is usual to see the pressure drop as positive in the path
of flow (Brill and Mukherjee, 1999). The pressure drops due to kinetic energy is negligible because there is not much change
in gas velocity as a result of high pressure. Therefore, the general mechanical energy balance equation for pressure loss in a
pipe of any orientation, neglecting kinetic energy, is:
………………………….…………………………………………………………………………....… (1)
Cullender and Smith (1956) determined the bottom-hole flowing pressure in dry-gas wells when pressure and flow rate at the
surface are available. They considered the changes of density, velocity, flow rate, and formation-volume factor of gases as a
function of pressure.
, , , and
Substituting the above formulas into Eq. 1 and rearranging variables yields

……………………………………………………………………………………. (2)

Where

Eq. 2 can be used in any consistent units. However, Eq. 2 can be modified for use in field units and integration yields:
…….………………………………………………………………………………….…...….(3)
where

………………………………………………………………………………………………… (4)

………………………………………………………………….………………………………………… (5)
The Nickuradse (1933) correlation is used to estimate the Moody friction factor in a well production string:
……………………….…………………………………………………………………….… (6)
6 SPE-169011-MS

Other correlations and equations used in this section are provided in Appendix A.

Figure 3- Schematic of wellbore for numerical solution in slanted well

The trapezoidal-rule based method of numerical solution according to Cullender and Smith (1956) is used. The changes of
wellbore pressure as a function of gas deviation factor, viscosity, density, and depth are solved numerically to take into
account these properties which are dependent on wellbore pressure changes. Therefore, in the wellbore model, the
trapezoidal-rule was implemented by determining the value of term given by Eq. 4 for each increment in the pipe. Because
the gas properties, such as Z- factor, viscosity, and density, are dependent on the wellbore pressure an iterative solution to Eq.
4 is carried out. The iterative solution is applied from the surface to the bottom of production tubing by dividing the well into
multiple segments. The flowing-pressure is calculated at the center of each segment. The numerical solution is evaluated at
the center of the segment based on the upper and lower segments. This is done using an iterative method and the value of
pressure at the middle of segment confirms when the pressure converges.

Reservoir Model
The coupled model next needs the calculation of the pressure distribution and flow coming from each fractured zone to the
well by using the gas pressure diffusivity equation from the reservoir model including the external-flow boundary conditions.
The fluid flow under transient conditions, pseudopressure formulation, full fluid and rock compressibility, and the fractured
zone temperature based on the geothermal gradient are considered. The gas pressure diffusivity equation, including the
transmissibility effect between the fractures and matrix compartments, can be derived by assuming a control element volume
as shown in Figure B.1. Across the element volume of porous media, the mass flow in and the mass out might not be the
same in the r-direction in the case of unsteady- state; thus, the mass accumulation should be considered. The transmissibility
between the fracture and matrix compartment was considered by the means of permeability in z-direction to allow for gas
flows from low to high permeability media. The gas pressure diffusivity equation under the unsteady-state condition is
performed based on the material balance, Darcy formulation, and equation of state.
Formulation was carried out in the radial coordinate but a transformation from the elliptic to radial coordinates has
been applied to represent the actual shape of hydraulic fracture geometry dictated by the reservoir formation anisotropy. The
continuity equation is derived by applying mass balance over a control volume, single phase-dry gas compressible fluid was
assumed, and shale apparent permeability is considered to be changing with time and location for non-Darcy calculations
according to Civan (2010, 2011). Also, pseudopressure method is used to take into account the change of gas properties such
as viscosity and compressibility factor.
Material balance equation for a single fluid flowing across the control element in r and z- directions can be expressed as
……………………………………………………….………………………..……(7)
Gas density and gas compressibility equations are considered, respectively, as:
…………………………………………………………….……………………………………………………… (8)
…………………………………………………..………………………………………………………….. (9)
Due to the strong dependence of gas compressibility and gas viscosity on the pressure, it is important to use the
pseudopressure variable to take into account these properties. Given the gas viscosity, gas compressibility factor, , as a
function of pressure, the real gas pseudo-pressure, is defined as (Al-Hussainy et al. 1966):
……………………………………………………………………………..………………………… (10)
Substituting Eqs.(8), (9), and (10) into Eq. (7), the gas diffusivity equation in terms of real gas pseudo-pressure for multiple-
compartments reservoir including the transmissibility effect between the matrix and fracture compartments can be written as
(Appendix-B):
………………………………………………………..... (11)
SPE-169011-MS 7

The following finite-difference numerical solution of Eq. 11 is used (Appendix-

C):

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….… (12)

Pore-Proximity Corrections
Two types of corrections based on pore-proximity have been made. The first correction is for the shale apparent-permeability
based on the Knudsen correction and the second correction was on the viscosity and gas density. The transport equations
need to be modified in nano-pore-size reservoir media, such as shale. In very low permeability gas reservoirs, the gas flow
experiences different flow regimes, beginning with Darcy at which the main parameter controlling the flow is viscosity, and
to non-Darcy flow regimes in which the molecular collisions with the pore walls influence the transport by changing the
shale permeability. A change occurs in the permeability from the intrinsic permeability before the well production to the
apparent permeability when the reservoir pressure decreases, i.e. the pore-pressure decreases, the apparent permeability
increases and the gas production enhances from shale gas reservoirs (Javadpour, 2009). Michel et al. (2011) examined all
flow regimes for the gas transport in nano-scale porous media by considering both ideal and real gases. They considered the
effect of pore size distribution on the gas transport behavior. Because the shale permeability is dependent on the pore
pressure, the correction of permeability is important in the transport equation in unconventional reservoirs.
Knudsen Correction. The apparent permeability is considered based on the shale structure and conditions changing with
location and time. Civan (2010) proposed a way to calculate the shale permeability based on the Knudsen number and the
other affecting parameters such as the stress dependency of rock tortuosity, permeability, porosity as well as the effect of
compressibility. The apparent shale permeability is determined from the intrinsic permeability K as follows (Beskok and
Karniadakis, 1999):
……………………………………………………….………………………………………………………. (13)
where is a dimensionless permeability correction factor, determined as follows.
…………………………………………………………………………………………..… (14)
where is the Knudsen number, and α is the dimensionless rarefaction coefficient given by Civan (2010a) as follows:
……..…….……………………………….………………………………………………………….… (15)
where, for example, and . These values depend on the type of porous rock. The
(Knudsen number) is defined by:
…………………………………………………………………………….…………………………………..…… (16)
where denotes the mean-free path of molecules and denotes the mean-hydraulic radius of flow in porous media. The
hydraulic pore radius is evaluated by Carman (1956) and Civan (2010a) as follows:
…………………………………………………………………………………………………….……. (17)
where denotes the rock tortuosity. The mean-free-path of molecules is evaluated by:
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…. (18)

Pore proximity Correction. The pore proximity effect is very important to consider in extremely small pore-size
unconventional reservoirs because it has an impact on the gas transport properties, such as the real-gas deviation factor (Z-
factor) and gas viscosity in high pressure reservoirs. The procedures of pore proximity corrections are based on the pore-
geometry and the bulk- and pore-critical gas properties of pressure and temperature. Slit-pore size curve was selected to
determine on the critical properties based on the modification-ratio of the critical pressure and temperature of Singh et al.
(2011). Then, the Al-Anazi and AlQuraishi (2010) correlation, equation A-5, is used to determine the Z-factor and Lee et al.
(1966), equation A-13, correlation to determine the gas viscosity. These were used to obtain the Z-factor and viscosity for
single phase dry gas component of a given specific gravity value. For example, Michel et al. (2011) presented a Z-factor
correction chart based on the pore-size particularly when it is less than 10 nano-meters as shown in Figure 4.
8 SPE-169011-MS

Figure 4- Pore proximity correction effect (reproduced after Michel et al. 2012)

Applications
Consider a hydraulically fractured horizontal well located well in an open boundary reservoir system that is composed of
multiple compartments. A nine-compartment dry gas reservoir was considered and four of these compartments are
hydraulically-fractured with relatively high permeability, and the rest of five compartments have very low permeability
values. The nine reservoir compartments are separated by a permeable boundary between fractures and matrix compartments
of the reservoir. Production of gas is considered from fractured compartments; thus the matrix compartments feed the
fractured compartments. Before the production starts, the fractured and non-fractured reservoir compartments are in balance
and as a result, the compartments have the same initial pressure. Once the production begins, the degree of reservoir
compartments’ depletion will be varied depending on the fracture spacing between the fractured compartments and the
transmissibility of fluid from matrix reservoir compartments to fractured reservoir compartments. The pressure of the matrix
reservoir compartments decline over time because of the crossflow between the compartments. When the pressures in the
compartments are different, the gas flows from thin permeable compartment into high fractured reservoir compartment. Our
model incorporates also the effect of the external flow boundary of water influx to support the matrix reservoir
compartments. Throughout this paper, all results and conclusions drawn will be referred to as a coupled wellbore and the
compartmental reservoir simulator solution. Graphical presentations of gas production rate versus time, and reservoir
pressure distribution versus time clearly were demonstrated for different scenarios at the end of this paper.

Table 1- Summary of hydraulic fracture data set in shale gas reservoir system

Fracture Fracture Matrix

Fracture Fracture
References Features Half-Length Permeability Permeability
Spacing (ft.) Width (ft.)
(ft.) (mD) (mD)
Xu, Haghighi, and Cooke
Gas -- 230 0.01 2219 0.38
(2012)
Rubin (2010) -- 400 50 -- 20 0.0001
Horne and Temeng (1995) -- -- 300 -- -- 0.015
Yu and Sepehrnoori (2013) Gas 80 400 -- -- 0.00015
Freeman, Moridis, Ilk, and
Gas 32.8 65.7 0.0394 --- 0.0001
Blasingame (2013)
Hagoort and Hagoort (1999) Gas -- -- -- 10 0.1
Stalgorova and Matter (2013) Gas 100 100 0.01

The data set of fracture geometry that has been implemented in the model was based on previous studies which are
presented in Table-1 and it was examined based on the prediction of production performance from the fracturing. Initial
reservoir pressure=3500 psia, surface pressure=570 oR, reservoir temperature=705 oR, and gas specific gravity=0.6, matrix
permeability=500 nanoDarcy, fracture permeabiity=6 mD, matrix porosity= 0.08, fracture porosity=0.1, fracture spacing=290
ft, number of fractured compartments=5, and non-fractured compartments=4. Also, total well production was designed to be
produced at 426 Mscf/D from these five fractured compartments. The crossflow effect was examined using Darcy and Non-
Darcy flow formulations. Different case studies are presented to investigate the effect of Darcy and non-Darcy flow in
unconventional gas reservoirs with and without the external water-influx boundary effect. All forecasts were made with and
SPE-169011-MS 9

without a water drive mechanism, and the water drive strength factor, f, is equal to 0.5, semi-water strength. The non-Darcy
effect has been considered based on the Knudsen correction and the pore proximity correction of Z-factor and viscosity as
described in the following.

Case-1: Darcy Flow. The results in this case were based on Darcy flow calculations only without the corrections of
the apparent permeability and pore proximity effect. Figure 5 shows the pressure changes in the vertical and horizontal
sections of the well based on Darcy calculations. The pressure profiles of the stage fracture compartments and productions as
well as the pressure predictions for the matrix compartments are shown in Figures 6 and 7. Figure 6 demonstrates the
pressure profile in the stage-1 fracture forecasting over 240 days after well production in the absence of outer boundary flow
and permeability corrections. Gas production rate versus time for the fracture compartment-1 can be predicted after well
production as shown in Figure 7.

Figure 5- Pressure profile in vertical and horizontal sections using Darcy flow calculations

Figure 6- Reservoir pressure prediction for stage-1 fracture using Darcy flow calculations for various
times
10 SPE-169011-MS

Figure 7- Gas production rate for stage-1 fracture using Darcy flow calculations

The Darcy-flow calculation case resulted in an observation of pressure depletion profile in the matrix compartment
as shown in Figure 8 although there is no production from the matrix compartment into the wellbore because the matrices
feed into the fracture compartments through the transmissibility of the mean permeability. Similar results of gas production
rate are obtained from the fracture compartments and the pressure prediction from both fractured and matrix compartments
are presented in Figures 9 - 12. The pressure and production profiles vary in each compartment due to different pressure
drawdowns at various times. The flow rate of each fractured zone is shown in Figure 13.

Figure 8- Reservoir pressure prediction for matrix-2 using Darcy flow calculations for various times
SPE-169011-MS 11

Figure 9 - Reservoir pressure prediction for stage-4 fracture using Darcy flow calculations for various
times

Figure 10- Gas production rate for stage-4 fracture using Darcy flow calculations

Figure 11- Reservoir pressure prediction for matrix-4 using Darcy flow calculations for various times
12 SPE-169011-MS

Figure 12- Reservoir pressure prediction for stage-5 fracture using Darcy flow calculations for various
times

Figure 13 - Gas production rate for all stages fracture using Darcy flow calculations

Case-2:Non- Darcy Flow Based on Knudsen Correction and Pore-Proximity Correction. Because the pore wall
proximity affects the gas properties in the reservoir and depends on the pore size, there is a significant effect of the molecular
interactions with the wall during the fluid transport. The results showed small increases in the gas production after correcting
the Z-factor for the reservoir condition of 3500 psia. About 1 % gas production increase occurred compared to the Darcy
flow after the pore proximity correction as shown in Figure 14. The pressure profile for the well in vertical and horizontal
section, including the bottom-hole pressure of each fracture zone, is plotted in Figure 15. Reservoir pressure profile vs. length
is plotted for all fracture and matrix compartments. But, for purposes of illustration, Figure 16, and 17 show the forecast of
pressure over 240 days for fracture compartment-1 and matrix-1. Shale gas permeability has increased more in the matrix
SPE-169011-MS 13

compartment with extremely low permeability compared to the fractured compartment. Around 0.6 percent shale
permeability increase is observed after 240 days of well production. This means the Z-factor correction is important to
include and increases the permeability in the nonporous media of unconventional reservoirs. Consequently, the gas
production is enhanced after this correction as shown in Figure 18. All zones have almost the same flow rate as shown in
Figure 18 and their cumulative productions are about the same as presented in Figure 19.

Figure 14- Comparison of Darcy and Non-Darcy on gas production rate for stage-1 fracture- Non-Darcy
flow calculations based on pore proximity correction

Figure 15- Pressure profile in vertical and horizontal sections using Non-Darcy flow calculations based on
pore proximity correction
14 SPE-169011-MS

Figure 16- Reservoir pressure prediction for stage-1 fracture using Non-Darcy flow calculations based on
pore proximity correction for various times

Figure 17- Reservoir pressure prediction for matrix-1 using Non-Darcy flow calculations based on pore
proximity correction for various times

Figure 18- Gas production rate for all stages fracture using Non-Darcy flow calculations based on pore
proximity correction
SPE-169011-MS 15

Figure 19- Cumulative gas production rate for all stages fracture using Non-Darcy flow calculations based
on pore proximity correction

Case-3: Comparison of Open and Closed Boundary of Non-Darcy Flows with Pore-proximity Correction on
Production. The comparison of pressure distribution for stage-1 fracture for the case of closed boundary and partially open
boundary flow communication from outer boundary is shown in Figure 20. The dashed-lines represent no outer flow
boundary and the solid-lines denote open flow boundary with f =0.5. There is a significant effect of the external flow
boundary to support the layer pressure and the effect of aquifer reservoir boundary is more effective in the late times of the
well production as shown in Figure 20. The effect of external flow boundary on the gas production for fracture-1 is shown in
Figure 21. The external flow boundary that comes from the aquifer has more effect in the late time of production as shown in
Figures 21 and 22.

Figure 20- Comparisons of reservoir pressure in closed and open flow boundary for stage-1 fracture
using Non-Darcy flow calculations based on pore proximity correction for various times
16 SPE-169011-MS

Figure 21- Comparisons of production rate in closed and open flow boundary for stage-1 fracture using
Non-Darcy flow calculations based on pore proximity correction

Figure 22- Comparisons of cumulative gas production in closed and open flow boundary for all stages
fractured using Non-Darcy flow calculations based on pore proximity correction

Case-4: Pressure Transient Analsysis Using Drawdown Test of Non-Darcy Flows with Pore-proximity Correction.
The log-log plot of the pseudo-pressure and pseudo-pressure derivative versus time has been used according to the Tiab’s
Direct Synthesis Technique (TDS) (Nunez et al, 2003; Chacon et al, 2004; Tiab, 2005) for gas wells to investigate different
flow regimes and to diagnosis the inactive fractured zones. Figure 23 shows the log-log plot of the pseudo-pressure derivative
versus time of 16 md fracture permeability and 500 nanoDarcy of matrix permeability. A straight-line of slope 0.5 indicates
the linear flow regime and the horizontal straight-line indicates an infinite acting radial flow as shown in Figure 23. The unit-
slope line of boundary effect is observed, which corresponds to the pseudo-steady state regime. Note that the pseudo-steady
line could appear in fractured zones of 6 and 16 md permeability but not in zones of 0.6-md permeability as shown in Figures
23, 24, and 25. Based on the simulator results of drawdown test, it is clear that when the fracture permeability is 6 md or
higher, the effect of boundary effect can be observed after 90 hours in figure 24 and after 40 hours in figure 23. Thus, the
effect of boundary appeared faster when the fracture permeability increased.
Another test of pressure diagnosis has been conducted for four stages of hydraulic zones. Firstly, this diagnosis test
was conducted by assuming all fractured zones are produced as shown in Figure 23. Then, the same zones have been
considered to produce for the same time but the last fractured zone has been shutdown after the first 40 hours as shown in
Figure 25.
SPE-169011-MS 17

Figure 23- Behavior of pseudo-pressure and pseudo-pressure derivative versus time for 16 md fracture
permeability and 500 nD Matrix permeability using Non-Darcy flow calculations based on pore proximity
correction

Figure 24- Behavior of pseudo-pressure and pseudo-pressure derivative versus time for 6 md fracture
permeability and 500 nD Matrix permeability using Non-Darcy flow calculations based on pore proximity
correction
18 SPE-169011-MS

Figure 25- Behavior of pseudo-pressure and pseudo-pressure derivative versus time for 0.6 md fracture
permeability and 500 nD Matrix permeability using Non-Darcy flow calculations based on pore proximity
correction

Figure 26- Behavior of pseudo-pressure and pseudo-pressure derivative versus time for 16 md fracture
permeability and 500 nD Matrix permeability and shut-in the last fracture compartment zone after 40 hrs
of production based on pore proximity correction
SPE-169011-MS 19

Conclusions
The following conclusions were obtained based on the results presented in this paper for hydraullically fractured horizontal
wells in tight gas reservoir media. This study considered the Knudsen diffusion effect and the non-Darcy apparent
permeability of shale. Our practical simulation model rigorously coupled the wellbore and reservoir hydraulics model. This
coupled model is capable to provide better understanding of pressure and production behavior with time in the matrix and
fractured zones, examined here under the Darcy and Non-Darcy flow conditions. Useful observations have been achieved by
this practical simulator. The permeability corrections using the Knudsen diffusion are negligible when the reservoir pressure
is above 3500 psia. Apparent shale permeability has increased the production around 0.6 percent than intrinsic permeability
after pore-proximity correction. Therefore, pore-proximity correction should be considered in unconventional shale gas
reservoirs. Also, external influx boundary increases the gas production rate as well as the cumulative production particularly
in higher permeable zones. The pseudo-steady line appears when the fracture permeability is 6 mD or higher with 500
nanoDarcy based on the operating input data.

Nomenclature
= Compressibility of fluid, psia-1.
= Total compressibility, psia-1.
= Internal pipe diameter, in.
= Water derive strength factor.
= Flow condition function, dimensionless.
= Moody friction factor, dimensionless.
= Formation thickness, ft.
= Right compartment zone thickness, ft.
= Left compartment zone thickness, ft.
= Central compartment zone thickness, ft.
= Formation permeability, md.
= Shale apparent permeability, darcies.
= Knudsen number, dimensionless.
= Permeability in r, md.
= Permeability in z, md.
= Permeability of central compartment, md.
= Permeability of right compartment, md.
= Permeability of left compartment, md.
= Permeability between central and right compartment in z-direction, md.
= Permeability between central and left compartment in z-direction, md.
= Pipe length, ft.
= Apparent molecular weight of total gas component, lb/lbm-mole.
= Pressure, psia.
= Outlet flowing pressure from wellbore segment, psia.
= Inlet flowing pressure from wellbore segment, psia.
= Pseudopressure, psia2/cp.
= Pseudocritical pressure, dimensionless.
= Gas flow rate, MMscf/D.
= Wellbore radius, ft.
= Radius of hydraulic-flow, dimensionless.
= Universal gas constant, 8314 .
= Temperature, ºR.
= Surface temperature, ºR.
= Mass flow rate into the element .
= Mass flow rate into the element .
= Gas deviation factor, dimensionless.
= Gas density, .
= Gas specific gravity, dimensionless.
= Inclination angle for deviated well, dimensionless.
= Segment increment length, ft.
= Porosity, dimensionless.
= Time, hrs.
20 SPE-169011-MS

= Gas viscosity, cp.

= Porous media tortuosity, dimensionless.
= Mean free path of molecules, m.

Subscripts
= Central compartment.
= Gas.
= Left compartment.
= Right compartment.
= Distance in r-direction.
= Water.
= Distance in z-direction.

Superscripts
= Old time level.
= New time level.

References
Ahmed, T. and McKinney, P. 2011. Advanced Reservoir Engineering, first edition. Burlington, MA 01803, USA: Gulf
Professional Publishing/ Elsevier
Al-Anazi, B.D. and Al-Quraishi, A.A. 2010. New Correlation for Z-Factor Using Genetic Programming Technique. Paper
SPE 128878-MS presented at the SPE Oil and Gas India Conference & Exhibition, Mumbai, India, 20-22 January.
Al-Hussainy, R., Ramey, H. J. and Crawford, P. 1966. The Flow of Real Gases Through Porous Media. Journal of Petroleum
Technology 18(5):624-636.
Beskok, A. and Karniadakis, G.E.: A model for flows in channels, pipes, and ducts at micro and nano scales, Source:
Microscale Thermophysical Engineering Vol. 3 No. 1 pp. 43-77 (1999).
Brill, J.P. and Mukherjee, H. 1999. Multiphase Flow in Wells. Society of Petroleum Engineers, (17) 164, Richardson, Tex.:
Henry L. Doherty Memorial Fund of AIME.
Carman, P.C. 1956. Flow of Gases through Porous Media. Gas flow; porous materials, 182 p, Butterworths Scientific
Publications (London).
Chacon, A., Djebrouni, A., Tiab, D., 2004. Determining the Average Reservoir Pressure from Vertical and Horizontal Well
Test Analysis Using Tiab’s Direct Synthesis Technique. Paper SPE 88619, Asia Pacific Oil and Gas Conference and
Exhibition Perth, Australia, October 18–20.
Civan, F. 2000. Leaky-Tank Reservoir Model Including the non-Darcy Effect. Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering
28(3):87-93.
Civan, F. 2007. Reservoir Formation Damage, second edition: Gulf Professional Publishing, Elsevier.
Civan, F. 2009. Practical Finite Analytic Method for Solving Differential Equations by Compact Numerical Schemes.
Numerical Methods for Partial Differential Equations 25(2):347-379.
Civan, F. 2010. Effective Correlation of Apparent Gas Permeability in Tight Porous Media. Transport in porous media
82(2):375-384.
Civan, F. 2011. Porous Media Transport Phenomena, John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, New Jersey, NY.
Civan, F. and Engler, T. 1994. Drilling Mud Filtrate Invasion-Improved Model and Solution. Journal of Petroleum Science
and Engineering 11 (3): 183-193.
Cullender, M. and Smith, R. 1956. Practical Solution of Gas-flow Equations for Wells and Pipelines with Large Temperature
Gradients. Trans AIME 207:281-287.
Ertekin, T., Abou-Kassem, J.H. and King, G.R. 2001. Basic Applied Reservoir Simulation: Society of Petroleum Engineers
Richardson, TX.
Fanchi, J.R. 2001. Principles of Applied Reservoir Simulation, third edition: Gulf Professional, Elsevier.
Freeman, C., Moridis, G., Ilk, D., and Blasingame, T. 2013. A Numerical Study of Performance for Tight Gas and Shale Gas
Reservoir Systems. Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 108: 22–39.
Horne, R.N., and Temeng, K. 1995. Relative Productivities and Pressure Transient Modeling of Horizontal Wells with
Multiple Fractures. Paper SPE 29891-MS presented at the SPE Middle East Oil Show, Bahrain, 11-14 March.
Jacques, H., Jaap, S., Barry, D. and Ferry, N. 2000. Material Balance Analysis of Faulted and Stratified, Tight Gas
Reservoirs. Paper SPE 65179 presented at the SPE European Petroleum Conference, Paris, France, 24-25 October.
Javadpour, F., 2009. Nanopores and Apparent Permeability of Gas Flow in Mudrocks (Shales and Siltston). SPE Journal of
Canadian Petroleum Technology, 48(8), 16-21 August.
Juell, A. and Whitson, C. 2011. Backpressure Equation for Layered Gas Reservoirs. Paper SPE 146066-MS presented at the
SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, Denver, Colorado, 30 October-2 November.
Hagoort, J. and Hoogstra, R. 1999. Numerical Solution of the Material Balance Equations of Compartmented Gas Reservoirs.
SPE-169011-MS 21

SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering 2(4):385-392.

Hagoort, J., Sinke, J., Dros, B., and Nieuwland, F. 2000. Material Balance Analysis of Faulted and Stratified, Tight Gas
Reservoirs. Paper SPE 65179-MS presented at the SPE European Petroleum Conference, Paris, France, 24 -25.
Lee, A.L., Gonzalez, M.H. and Eakin, B.E. 1966. The Viscosity of Natural Gases. Journal of Petroleum Technology. 18 (8):
997–1000.
Lee, R., Rollins, J. B., and Spivey, J. P. 2003. Pressure Transient Testing. Society of Petroleum Engineers, (9), Richardson,
Tex.: Henry L. Doherty Memorial Fund of AIME.
Lee, J. and Wattenbarger, R. 1996. Gas Reservoir Engineering, vol. 5. Richardson, Texas: Society of Petroleum Engineers
Inc., SPE Textbook Series.
McCain, W. 1990. The Properties of Petroleum Fluids, second edition, PennWell Books, Tulsa, OK.
Michel, Villazon, G., Sigal, R., Civan, F., and Devegowda, D. 2011. Parametric Investigation of Shale Gas Production
Considering Nano-Scale Pore Size Distribution, Formation Factor, and Non-Darcy Flow Mechanisms. Paper SPE
147438-MS presented at the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, Denver, Colorado, 30 October-2
November.
Michel, Villazon, G., Sigal, R., Civan, F., and Devegowda, D. 2012. Effect of Capillary Relaxation on Water Entrapment
After Hydraulic Fracturing Stimulation. Paper SPE 155787-MS presented at the SPE Americas Unconventional
Resources Conference, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 5-7 June.
Milad, B., Civan, F., Devegowda, D., and Sigal, R. 2013. Modeling and Simulation of Production from Commingled Shale
Gas Reservoirs. Paper SPE 168853-MS presented at the Unconventional Resources Technology Conference, Denver,
Colorado, 12-14 August.
Nunez, W., Tiab, D., and Escobar, F. H., 2003. Transient Pressure Analysis for a Vertical Gas Well Intersected by a Finite-
Conductivity Fracture. Paper SPE 80915-MS Presented at the the SPE Production and Operations Symposium,
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, 22-25 March.
Rubin, B. 2010. Accurate Simulation of Non Darcy Flow in Stimulated Fractured Shale Reservoirs. Paper SPE 132093-MS
presented at the SPE Western Regional Meeting, Anaheim, California, 27-29 May.
Singh, S.K. and Singh, J.K. 2011. Effect of Pore Morphology on Vapor–Liquid Phase Transition and Crossover Behavior of
Critical Properties from 3D to 2D. Fluid Phase Equilibria 300(1):182-187.
Stalgorova, K., and Mattar, L. 2013. Analytical Model for Unconventional Multifractured Composite Systems. SPE
Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering 16(3):246-256.
Standing, M.B. and Katz, D.L. 1942. Density of Natural Gases. SPE Transactions. AIME. 146(1): 140–149.
Tiab, D. 2005, Analysis of Pressure Derivative Data of Hydraulically Fractured Wells by the Tiab's Direct Synthesis
Technique, Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, Volume: 49, Nos: 1-2, Pages: 1-21.
Xu, B., Haghighi, M. and Cooke, D. 2012. Production Data Analysis in Eagle Ford Shale Gas Reservoir. Paper SPE 160076
presented at the SPE/EAGE European Unconventional Resources Conference & Exhibition-From Potential to
Production, San Antonio, Texas, 8-10 October.
Yu, W. and Sepehrnoori, K. 2013. Optimization of Multiple Hydraulically Fractured Horizontal Wells in Unconventional
Gas Reservoirs. Paper SPE 164509 presented at the 2013 SPE Production and Operations Symposium, Oklahoma City,
Oklahoma, 23-26 March.

Appendix A: Fluid Properties

The dry gas is assumed to be a mixture represented by its specific gravity . The following correlations have been used in
the field units.
The correlations of the pseudocritical pressure and temperature are given by (Standing and Katz 1942):
………………………………………………………………………………………..…….(A-1)
…………………………………………………………………………………………… (A-2)
The pseudo-reduced pressure and temperature are defined as follows:
…………………………………………………………………………………………………...………………. (A-3)
…………………………………………………………………………………………………….…………….. (A-4)
The gas compressibility factor is calculated according to Al-Anazi and AlQuraishi (2010) by:
…………………………………………………………………………………………………….………(A-5)
Where,
                         
………………………………………………………………………………………….. (A-6)
 
………………………………………………………………………………………………….........…………….………. (A-7)
22 SPE-169011-MS

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….……….. (A-8)
……………………………………………………………………………………………….. (A-9)
……………………………………………………………………………………..…..(A-10)
The gas formation volume factor in ft3/scf is defined as:
……………………………………………………………………………………………………...……(A-11)
Based on the real gas law, the gas density in can be calculated as follows:
………………………………………………………………………………………...……..(A-12)
The gas viscosity is calculated according to Lee et al. (1966).
…………………………………………………………………….……………...…… (A-13)
……………………………………………………………………………………………….… (A-14)
……………………………………………………………………………...……… (A-15)
……………………………………………………………………………………..……….. (A-16)

Appendix B: Reservoir Hydraulics Model

The diffusivity equation in field units for hydraulically-fractured horizontal gas well with multiple compartments reservoir
with transmissibility effect between matrix and fracture compartment is derived in this section.
 

Pe
 
   

  r

∆r   h
z
   
r

r+∆r

Figure B.1- Control volume element

The material balance equation for a single fluid flowing across the element in the radial direction and vertical (z) direction as
in Figure 4.2 can be written as:
…………………………………………………………………………….………(B-1)
Where stands for the mass accumulation during time. The rate of mass flow entering the control element at is
given by (after Lee and Wattenbarger, 1996). The area perpendicular to flow along the direction is
A(r+Δr)= Where
   …………………………………………………………………………………………… (B-2)
Where,
The rate of mass flow leaving the control element at is given as follows:
A(r)=
………………………………………………………………….………………… (B-3)
The formation transmissibility has been considered in the reservoir model to occur from matrix compartment to fractured
compartment. The amount of mass flow rate entering the control element in the z- direction is given by
= ……………………………………………………………..………………… (B-4)
The mass accumulation into the element with a radius of r is given by
 
Differentiation of the above equation with respect to r gives

 
SPE-169011-MS 23

Then, the mass accumulation can be written as:

…………………………………………………………………………………………………….… (B-5)
Substituting equations (B-2)-(B-5) into equation (B-1) yields,
……………………….....(B-6)
After dividing the above equation by the bulk volume of the control element, , and rearranging results in:
………………………………………………………………………..………… (B-7)
Rearranging Equation (B-7) results
……………………………………………………………….……………(B-8)
Taking limits in Equation (B-8) when and approach to zero gives
………………………………………………………………………..……. (B-9)
Applying the product rule gives:
……………………………………………………………………………………...……….(B-10)
Substituting Equation (B-10) into Equation (B-9) gives
…………………………………………………………………………….………. (B-11)
The diffusivity equation for compressible fluids can be derived based on the following assumptions: Gas compressibility and
viscosity are strongly dependent on pressure and the apparent shale permeability varies with local conditions. The Darcy’s
law in the direction with field units is
……………………………………………………………………………………………….... (B-12)
Darcy’s law in the -direction with field units is
…………………………………………………………………………………….……………. (B-13)
Where:
: Volumetric fluid velocity in r and z direction respectively, ft3/ft2-hr
: Permeability in r and z direction respectively, md
: fluid viscosity, cp
P: pressure , psi
r, Z, radius in r and z directions, ft
Substituting Darcy’s law in radial r and vertical z-directions and field units into Equation (B-12) for a central zone gives:
..……………………………………………………… (B-14)
Two variable parameters considered for gas diffusivity equation are density and gas compressibility as following:
…………………………………………………………………………………………......…………………... (B-15)
………………………………………………………………………………………………...……… (B-16)
Substituting Eq. (B-15) into Eq. (B-16)

……………..…………………… (B-17)

Dividing above equation by gives

……………………………….……………… (B-18)
Where,
: permeability for central compartment, mD
: pressure for central compartment, mD
The subscripts U, L indicate right and left compartments, respectively. Applying chain rule to right-side of Eq. (B-18) gives
………………………………………………………….……………...…… (B-19)
Expansion one of the terms in Eq. (B-19) yields:
……………………………………………………………………………..…………… (B-20)
Pore volume compressibility is expressed as
……………………………………………………………………………………………….……………....... (B-21)
Substituting the terms in Eq. (B-19) with and from Eqs (B-20) and (B-21), respectively, gives:
24 SPE-169011-MS

……………………………………………………………………………….………………... (B-22)
Substituting Eq. (B-22) into Eq. (B-18) yields:
……………………………………………..… (B-23)
There are two main advantages of using the pseudo-pressure: 1- The strong dependences of gas properties such as viscosity
and compressibility can be taken into account conveniently. 2- When the left hand side of the above equation is
differentiated, the second-degree term of pressure gradient (∂p/∂r)2 can also be taken into account for the gas case. This
increases the accuracy of the pressure solution for the real-gas diffusivity equation.
Al-Hussainy and Ramey (1966) defined the real-gas pseudo-pressure, as:
……………………………………………………………………………………………..……… (B-24)
Where, is low reference base pressure, mostly near to atmospheric pressure.
The above equation can be written in differential form as:
……………………………………………………………………………………………………...…………… (B-25)
Applying the chain rule to Eq. (B-25) produces the following equations:
………………………………………………………………………………………………………...……. (B-26)
………………………………………………………………………………………………………...…...... (B-27)
Substituting for in Eqs. (B-26) and (B-27) with Eq. (B-25) present:
……………………………………………………………………………………………..……………...…(B-28)
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…. (B-29)
Substituting Eqs. (B-28) and (B-29) into Eq. (B-23) provides:
……………………………………………………….…… (B-30)
Employing chain rule to tem

= ……………………………………………………………………………………..……. (B-31)
Substituting Eq. (B-31) into Eq. (B-30) gives
……………………………………………………… (B-32)

Appendix C: Finite-Difference Solution of Reservoir or Proppant-packed Fracture Hydraulics

The numerical solution obtained by the finite-difference method is utilized and the discretization method is applied for
nonlinear algebraic-gas pressure diffusivity Eq. 4.32. Implicit numerical solution to inner boundaries of production well,
outer boundaries of external flow boundary, upper and lower side boundaries are used as shown in Fig. C-1. Finite-difference
approximation is used for the first- and second-order space derivatives, , , and forward approximation method is
used for the first-order time derivative to solve the diffusivity flow equation. This can be done by discretizing the length
of zone into a number of grid blocks from r=rw to r=re and by discretizing the time into time steps.

Figure 1 Figure C.1- Grid-block system

SPE-169011-MS 25

Numerical discretization of pressure as a function of position and time has been implemented for the reservoir model to solve
the diffusivity equation. Figure C.2 illustrates the discretization of the space and time computational domain and the grid
system.

Figure 2 Figure C.2 Discretization of space and time computational domain and grid system modified after
Civan (2009)

The subscript indicates the central location of grid block and j indicates the time independent. The first and second order
pressure derivatives as approximated in the following steps:
…………………………….…………………………………………………………………………….……....(C-1)

………….…………………………………………………………………………………….......(C-2)

………….………………………………………………………………………..…………....... (C-3)

.……………………………………………………………….………………....…(C-4)

….……………………………………………………………………..…………….…………(C-5)

……………………………………………….........................................(C-6)

………………………………………….......................................................................(C-7)

The transmissibility terms can be approximated by:

……….…………………………………………..........................................................(C-8)
……….…………………………………………...................................................................................(C-9)
The subscript indicates the old time level, and indicates the new time level.
……….…………………………………………..................................................................................(C-10)
For simplicity set is equal to
……….………………………………………………………………………………………….........……. (C-11)
……….…………………………………………..........................................................................(C-12)
Thus, equation (B-32) can be discretized as:
……….…………………………….………… (C-13)
 26 SPE-169011-MS

Rearranging the above equation gives,

……….………………………………………………………………………………………… (C-14)
Similarly, for the right compartment

……….…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… (C-15)
For the left compartment

……….…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… (C-16)
Equations (C-14), (C-15), and (C-16) can be used to calculate the pressure for the multiple compartment reservoir for the
grid-blocks . Therefore, further steps are needed to solve the pressure and flow rate at boundaries. However, two
different boundary conditions need to be implemented, the inner boundary and outer boundary. The boundary conditions
cannot directly be substituted into the difference equations because in a real reservoir case, the inner and outer boundary
conditions would be either the specified bottom hole pressure, production, or injection rates. The inner boundary on the left
side of the upper Figure at represents the bottom hole pressure, but the outer boundary at represents the
injection rates or water-influx on the right side of the reservoir as shown in Figure C.1.
The pressure equations can be rearranged in the following general form: where
a,b, and c are coefficients. The matrix matrix equation can be shown as:

Or simply as

This tridiagonal matrix was solved using the Thomas algorithm.

View publication stats