Darcy’s Law

3- Linear Flow of Compressible Fluids (Gases)

The real-gas equation-of-state can be applied to calculate the number of
gas moles n at pressure p, temperature T, and volume V:

At standard conditions, the volume occupied by the above n moles is

given by:

Equivalently, the above relation can be expressed in terms of the flow

rate as:
 Rearranging:

Replacing the gas flow rate q with that of Darcy’s Law

The constant 0.001127 is to convert from Darcy’s units to field units.
Separating variables and arranging yields

Assuming constant z and μg over the specified pressures, i.e., p1 and

p2, and integrating gives
The gas properties must be evaluated at the average pressure p– as
defined below.

The Rankine scale (/ˈræŋkɪn/) is an absolute scale of thermodynamic

temperature named after the Glasgow University engineer and physicist William
John Macquorn Rankine, who proposed it in 1859 (the Kelvin scale was first
proposed in 1848).[1] It is used in engineering systems where heat computations are
done using degrees Fahrenheit.

Rankine (R or Ra to distinguish it from the R mer and R aumur scales) is

a temperature scale named after the physicist William John Macquorn Rankine
(1820-1872), who proposed it in 1859. ... A temperature of -459.67 F is equal to
0R
Thus, a temperature of 0 K (−273.15 °C; −459.67 °F) is equal to 0 °R, and a
temperature of −458.67 °F equal to 1 °R.
.
4- Radial Flow of Incompressible Fluids
In a radial flow system, all fluids move toward the producing well from
all direct.

The pressure in the formation at the wellbore of a producing well is

know as the bottom-hole flowing pressure (flowing BHP, pwf).
Figure 6-13 which schematically illustrates the radial flow of an
incompressible fluid toward a vertical well .
Pwf: represent the bottom-hole flowing pressure
rw: wellbore radius and pe : denote the external pressure or drainage
radius.

Darcy’s equation can be used to determine the flow rate at any radius r
At any point in the reservoir the cross-sectional area across which flow
occurs will be the surface area of a cylinder, which is 2∏ rh

The flow rate for a crude oil system is customarily expressed in surface
units, i.e., stock-tank barrels (STB), rather than reservoir units. Using the
symbol Qo to represent the oil flow as expressed in STB/day, then:

where Bo is the oil formation volume factor bbl/STB. The flow rate in
Darcy’s equation can be expressed in STB/day to give

Integrating the above equation between two radii, r1 and r2, when the
pressures are p1 and p2 yield.
For incompressible system in a uniform formation, above Equation can
be simplified to:

Frequently the two radii of interest are the wellbore radius rw and the
external or drainage radius re. Then:
The external (drainage) radius (re ) is usually determined from the well
spacing by equating the area of the well spacing with that of a circle, i.e.,
Can be can be calculated the pressure p at any radius r by:

or in terms of flow rate:

Assuming constant reservoir properties and a uniform thickness, the

approximate drainage area of a single well, Aw, is:
Example
An oil well in the Nameless Field is producing at a stabilized rate of
600 STB/day at a stabilized bottom-hole flowing pressure of 1800 psi.
Analysis of the pressure buildup test data indicates that the pay zone is
characterized by a permeability of 120 md and a uniform thickness of 25
ft. The well drains an area of approximately 40 acres. The following
additional data is available:

Calculate the pressure profile (distribution) and list the pressure drop
across 1 ft intervals from rw to 1.25 ft, 4 to 5 ft, 19 to 20 ft, 99 to 100 ft,
and 744 to 745 ft.

Solution
Step 1.
5- Radial Flow of Slightly Compressible Fluids

Separating the variables in the above equation and integrating over the
length of the porous medium gives

Choosing the bottom- hole flow pressure pwf as the reference pressure
and expressing the flow rate in STB/day gives:
Example

The following data are available on a well in the Red River Field

Assuming a slightly compressible fluid, calculate the oil flow rate.

Compare the result with that of incompressible fluid.
6- Radial Flow of Compressible Gases

For a radial gas flow, the Darcy’s equation takes the form:

The gas flow rate is usually expressed in scf/day. Referring to the gas
flow rate at standard condition as Qg, the gas flow rate qgr under
pressure and temperature can be converted to that of standard condition
by applying the real gas equation-of-state to both conditions
Combining Equations

Integrating from the wellbore conditions (rw and pwf) to

any point in the reservoir (r and p) to give

• Steady-state flow which requires that Qg is constant at all radii

• Homogeneous formation which implies that k and h are constant
Combining the above relationships yields
Above equation can be written in terms of the real gas potential to give
PVT Analysis

PVT analysis is related to the way properties that depend directly

on the volume vary with temperature and pressure.
The basic PVT analysis required to relate surface production to
underground withdrawal for an oil reservoir, is necessarily more
complex due to the presence, below the bubble point pressure, of
both a liquid oil and free gas phase in the reservoir.

The Pressure−Volume−Temperature relation for a real gas

can be defined by the simple equation of state

pV = ZnRT

Above the bubble point only one phase exists in the reservoir, the liquid
oil.
If a quantity of this under saturated oil is produced to the surface, gas
will separate from the oil as shown in fig. 2.1(a), the volume of the gas
being dependent on the conditions at which the surface separation is
effected.
Therefore, it is relatively easy to relate the surface volumes of oil and
gas to volumes at reservoir conditions, since it is known that all the
produced gas must have been dissolved in the oil in the reservoir.

If the reservoir is below bubble point pressure, as depicted in fig. 2.1(b),

the situation is more complicated.

Now there are two hydrocarbon phases in the reservoir, gas saturated oil
and liberated solution gas.

During production to the surface, solution gas will be evolved from the
oil phase and the total surface gas production will have two components;
the gas which was free in the reservoir and the gas liberated from the oil
during production.

Control in relating surface volumes of production to underground

withdrawal is gained by defining the following three PVT parameters
which can all be measured by laboratory experiments performed on
samples of the reservoir oil.
Rs =The solution (or dissolved) gas oil ratio, which is the number of
standard cubic feet of gas which will dissolve in one stock tank barrel of
oil

Bo =The oil formation volume factor, is the volume in barrels occupied

in the reservoir, at the prevailing pressure and temperature, by one stock
tank barrel of oil plus its dissolved gas.

Bg =The gas formation volume factor, which is the volume in barrels

that one standard cubic foot of gas will occupy as free gas in the
reservoir at the prevailing reservoir pressure and temperature.

All three parameters are functions of pressure, assuming that the

reservoir temperature remains constant during depletion.

figs. 2.2 and 2.3.are illustrated how these parameters can be used in
relating measured surface volumes to reservoir volumes.
Fig. 2.2 depicts the situation when the reservoir pressure has fallen from
its initial value pi to some lower value p, which is still above the bubble
point.
As shown in the P-Tdiagram (inset) the only fluid in the reservoir is
under saturated liquid oil.

When this oil is produced to the surface each stock tank barrel will yield,
upon gas oil separation, Rsi standard cubic feet of gas.

The initial value of the solution gas oil ratio must remain constant at Rsi
(scf/stb) until the pressure drops to the bubble point,
Below the bubble point the situation is more complicated as shown in
fig. 2.3

In this case each stock tank barrel of oil is produced in conjunction with

R scf of gas, where R (scf/stb) is called the instantaneous or producing

gas oil ratio and is measured daily.

some of this gas is dissolved in the oil in the reservoir and is

released during production through the separator, while the remainder
consists of gas which is already free in the reservoir