35+3 I

Measuring Water Quality and Predicting

Well Impairment
James H. Barkman, SPE-AIME, Shell Oil Co.
Donald H. Davidson,* SPE-AIME, Shell Development Co.

Introduction
In a waterflood or a water disposal project the possi-
bility exists that suspended solids will cause the in-
jection wells to become impaired. Filtration can us-
ually reduce the concentration of suspended solids;
however, the cost of water treating should be balanced
against the cost of other alternatives, such as periodic
stimulation or replacement of injection wells. In some
cases extensive water treating can be justified, but
under other circumstances it will be more profitable
to inject untreated water.
Water quality is affected by several types of con-
taminants, including suspended silts, clays, scale, oil
and bacteria. Any of these mav be the predominant
source of impairment in a particular injection water
and environment. Formation cores, artificial cores,
and membrane filters have been used in the industry
to monitor suspended solids and to evaluate water
quality. 1-’ Some studies have defined water quality in
terms of filtration rates or other experimental data.
The disadvantage of these empirical definitions is
that they cannot be directly related to well impair-
ment. This paper proposes a measure of water quality
Fmnatim !m.paknent from
Suspended Solids
in considering the effects of suspended solids, some
measure of the rate of impairment is needed. A con-
venient way to estimate how long an injector can be
used before stimulation is required is to calculate its
half-life. The half-life is defined as the time required
for the injection rate to decrease to 50 percent of its
initial value. The time required to reach some other
fractional reduction in rate can also be calculated.
Impairment from suspended solids is thought to
occur by one of the following mechanisms (see Fig.
1):
1. The solids form a filter cake on the face of the
.. <..-.-
Weiibore {iVe//h0rP riurruwlrtg],...:.--\.
2. The solids invade the formation, bridge, and
form an internal filter cake (invaskwz);
3. The solids become lodged in the perforations
(per-forcifion plugging); and
4. The solids settle to the bottom of the well by
gravity and decrease the net zone height (wellbore
fmp).

that is defined as the ratio of the concentration of sus- Each of the four basic impairment mechanisms is
pended solids to the permeability of the filter cake modeled in Appendix A for a constant-pressure-drop
formed by those solids. The water quality ratio can process. Equations are derived that express the time
;m-d Airr=etl
be Obta,.lwu UIlw-..,T7 f~~rn. rn.~rn.~~~~~ Q~ ~Q~~ fiilEitiQn required for the inject ion rate to decline to some frac-
data and can be used to calculate the rate of forma- tion ~ of its initial value. For each mechanism, this
tion impairment. time can be expressed as the product of the two func-
tions, F and G.
*Now with Kennecott Copper Co., Ledgemont Laboratory, Lex.
ington, Maas. ra g=......, . . (1)

1
I Tfl. -.____ -.--;- -..-----.-””,,J - ...-+~.flnnA -. n .,, ntn. ri;. nn.n? nvniocf Pnn ho cionifir-rrnflv I
1 rle ecurtumlc j!kr~urrrlurlc. c u] u WULGIj LUUU UI u WL4LGI ULOFUOWL ~1 Wltib. ~wv. “u ..e...u. --. u... J

aflected by suspended solids in the injection water. Here are methods and a theory
that can be used to interpret water quality data obtained with membrane filters or
cores and to predict well impairment caused by suspended solids.

JULY, 1972 86S

 1, WELL BORE NARROWING
\
-a\
SOLIDS
The F function is the same for each mechanism:

F=
7rW2hpc.

Lwpw”

The G function is different for each mechanism and

””’”””

is given in Table 1. Physically, the F function is equal

“
(2)

to the time required, at the initial injection rate, to

completely fill one wellbore volume with solids. The
G function adjusts this time according to the way
-SOLIDS
the solids are assumed to be distributed in the forma-
2. INVASION tion or wellbore. Also included in Table 1 is an ap-
proximation of the G function for the special case of
the half-life (a = 0.5).

Impairment from Wellbore Narrowing

The impairment function for the wellbore narrowing
case is given in Table 1. A simple expression for the
injector half-life can be found by substituting the ap-
proximate G?A function into Eq. 1. For an average
3. WELL BORE FILLUP injector with rc/r,, = 1,800 and r,. = 4 in., the half-
Iife is found to be:

?
“’)”=(;)% {q% (,,,m(, ‘ %< 0“0’
. . . . . . . . . . . . (3)
or
340 k,
4. I% RFoRATi Ohi PLuGf3i NG (tlJ,r = —> 0.05 . . (4)
iO ‘ k,
so (W),)lm
() z+’

If the permeability of the deposited cake is small

compared with the formation permeability, then by
Eq. 3 the half-life is inversely proportional to the
Fig. l—Typesof wellbore impairment caused water quality ratio (w/k,.), the formation permeabil-
by suspended solids. ity, and the injection rate per net sand thickness. If
the permeability of the cake is large, Eq. 4 applies,
r
100;000
WATER QUALITY RATlO w/kc, ppm/md and the half-life is inversely proportional to the solids
concentration and the injection rate per net sand
~ thickness. In the latter case, the half-life is independ-
WELL BORE NARROWING
ent of the cake permeability and the formation per-
r meability. The formation permeability (kf) in these
equations should be interpreted as the average per-
meability to injected water over the net sand interval
open to injection.
Eqs. 3 and 4 are illustrated in Figs. 2 arm’ 3. Ako
shown is a descriptive scale of water quality (good.
fair, poor, etc.), based on the order of magnitude of
the injector half-life. The proposed scale should be
..Uselul
. 4?.,1 .*llG1l
,L,-... -
~ -.. l:+o+A,c
~uaLILa L1vb s.
~. fjrnfit.a
.,., - of
“. water
.T-. qlu~~aty

will suffice.

Impairment from Perforation Plugging

A model for perforation plugging is described in Ap-
pendix A, and the resulting impairment function is
given in T’abie i. Perforation piugging is expected to
occur unless the suspended solids are so small that
1~ they can be transported through the rock matrix, or
1000 unless fractures exist which will allow the solids to
bypass the perforation.
(lNJ.RATE/NET FT)x FORMATION PERM,BD-md/ft.
By using the approximate G,; functions listed in
Fig. 2-Calculated injector half-life forthe case of Table 1, an estimate of the impairment half-life of a
wellbore narrowing with a low-permeability
filter cake (r./rW = 1, S(J13;r,, = sin.). perforated completion relative to an open-hole com-

866 JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY

Fractional life equation: ta = (F) (G)

F = ‘ir::~’
o

Mechanism Exact G Function Approximation of GI,+

Wellbore 1 ~AQZ21
narrowing G=l +&– ++— 21n0
( ) “
where

6 = (++
and

Invasion
G=[%W+Z%-R+ZW19+H
where

Perforation
plugging G= (+%) (t) (%$) ‘n+

Wellbore
fillup G=ln~
a

pletion can be made. Assuming average parameters, title sizes, invasion may take place for a period of
the half-life of a perforated completion is at least an time before an external filter cake is formed. Bridging
order of magnitude smaller than an open-hole com- will probably occur near the inflow face unless the
pletion. The faster rate of impairment ii simply due to ratio of the mean particle diameter to the mean pore
the smaller injection surface area offered by perfora- diameter is about 10-’ or less. Based on Kozeny’s
tions. Therefore, water quality requirements should equation, this corresponds to a permeability ratio
generally be more stringent when perforated comple- k,./k, of about 10-’ or less,
tions are used. The rate of impairment for the invasion mechan-
ism can be compared with wellbore narrowing by use
Impairment from Invasion of the G functions derived in Appendix A and listed
Particle invasion is a complex but important mechan- in Table 1. Assuming a porosity of 20 percent, the
ism. if particulate matter in the injection ‘water can -.---I:,-+.A h.lf_%,=c
~lGUILLLU ,lCA,L-,’ V&.O
for the two mechanisms will be
be transported great distances from the wellbore, de- the same when the invasion radius (r,,) is equal to ap-
position will occur in a region of low pressure grad- proximately five wellbore radii, When the invasion
ient, and the rate of impairment will be small. If in- radius is greater than five wellbore radii, the rate of
vasion is shallow and deposition occurs near the well-
bore, the rate of impairment will be at least equal to
that found where there is wellbore narrowing.
A complete description of the invasion process is
beyond the scope of this discussion; a review of it may
be found in the literature.’ Invasion is an example of
a deep bed filtration process in which the supertlcial
fluid velocity is a function of position in the reservoir.
Impairment is thought to occur in two stages’: (1)
particles deposit because of gravity or surface forces,
causing restriction of the pores, then (2) bridging oc-
curs within the formation, followed by the buildup of
an internal filter cake.
Tine invasion radius is a- LUIIULIU1l
t.. _.-.:_- Of vehxi~yr, pm?
size, and particle size. It cannot be predicted theore- EXCELLENT
rw= 4 inch.
tically, but an estimate can be obtained through phy- 0.1~,, 1 1
I 10 100 1,000
sical model experiments.
It is important to know whether the suspended RATE PER NET SANDTHICKNESS,
INJECTION EDlFt.
particles are small enough to permit invasion. In sys- Fig. 3—Calculated injector half-life for the case of
wellbore narrowing with high permeability
tems that have a broad distribution of pore and par- filter cake (r,/r,. = 1,800; r,, = 4 in.).

JULY, 1972 867

impairment will be slower than it would be if the well- 1 2p,,.,4,’Jpt
. . . . . (11)
hnro were .narro~inp. :=F /Lp(
““. - 7. ”.- ..-. .- . ..=. ( )

Calculating the Water Quality Ratio An independent measurement of the solids concen-
The constant-pressure-drop filtration test using cores tration can be made by weighing the deposited solids;
or membrane filters is a convenient method of meas- and the filter cake permeability can then be calculated
uring water quality. A source of difficulty in interpret- from the water quality ratio.
ing filtration data is that small particles tend to invade
and plug the porous structure of the filter medium. Experimental Data
This process can result in a large reduction in the Examples of membrane filtration data are shown in
permeability of the fiiter medium, which may be inis- ~ig. ~. ~~C~ of t~~ ~~r~~ C~rv~~ ‘was ~1,+-;n~~ ,,,;
“uLal,,=u ~,.,, th tho
,,,G

interpreted as external filter cake buildup. Even same slurry of suspended solids, but at different test
though invasion takes place during the early part of pressures and with different-sized membrane filters.
the test, bridging will often occur if the throughout -——-
The calculated filter cake permeabi]ities, Whidi rmlge
volume is large enough. Filtration theory can be used from 0.16 to 0.19, are in fair agreement, and the var-
to distinguish invasion from filter cake buildup and to iation is probably due to fluctuations in the solids
make a valid calculation of permeability. concentration of the slurry. The differential test pres-
‘---- ~--- llUL
3U1G UUG3
~-t cl~yb’t,
‘~~~”. t“fi ;~~ll-~~- tb@ PaIce p~~~A~~~j]-
,,...wt,vuvu L .W -u..
Theory ity over the pressure range tested. There will be some
The surface filtration mechanism in the absence of permeability reduction at high down-hole pressures,
invasion has been previously modeled and is dis- but the filter cake permeability measured at test pres-
cussed in chemical engineering texts (for example, sure should be accurate enough in most cases.
Ref. 6). The theory will now be extended to cover the For routine field measurements, a simple method
case of combined particle invasion and surface filtra-
tion. As shown in Appendix B, the cumulative vol- EFFLUENT VOLUME , CC
1
ume of filtered solution is related to the total testing
time by:
V = [D,’ + D, (t – t,,)]~~ + V, – D, ,

. . . . . . . . . . . . (5)
where

pcWmAr2
(6)
D, =

3...... .
w p,”A ,,, k m
and
D, = 2p, kc A,2Ap~
(7)
pap,.””””””
❑
A 50 O.lp 0.19
VR is the volume throughput at the time (t,,) that
/ B 20 o.45p 0.16
bridging occurs. When the testing time is much larger
than the bridging time, then the cumulative volume
20 80 I 0
becomes proportional to the square root of time, as
SQUARE 4:OOT OF T%ME, ~
follows:
Fig. 4--Filtration curves and calculated permeabilities

v=s~; +v,;–—
rJ

obtained for the same water sample (0.9 percent

2Q,, . . . . . (8) weight solids) using different membrane Dore
siz”esand test pressures.
where
~MEASURED SLOPE,ccl ~n
s=~m . . . . . . . . . (9) 10,000
In the special case where invasion does not take place,
the bridging volume is zero, and the flow rate at the
time of bridging is equal to the initial flow rate Q,,. I ,000:
Eq. 8 then becomes:

v= s&&. . . . . (lo)
100:
If the cumulative filtrate volume is plotted against MEMBRANEOIAMETER
= 47 mm
the square root of time, it will approach a straight line
r
with a slope S, provided a filter cake is formed. The
,o~oo
same slope is obtained whether or not invasion takes *
place. The measured slope of the straight-line portion
WATER QUALITY RATlOwlkc, ppmlmd
can be used to calculate the water quality ratio by the Fig. 5—Finding the water quality ratio directly from
following equation: the slope of a membrane filtration curve.

868 JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY

 I
of calculating the water quality ratio is suggested. The EFFLUENT VOLUME, CC
test is made using a membrane filter 47 mm in diam- F“’’’’’’’”l
eter and a differential test pressure of 20 psi. The
measured filtrate volume in cubic centimeters “is plot- MEAN PARTICLE SIZE ‘2 MICRONS
ted against the square root of time in minutes. The
slope (cc/ ~~min) of the straight-line portion of the CONCENTRATION = 0.1% WT.
curve is determined, and the water quality ratio
(ppm/md) is found from Fig. 5. Some guidelines for
determining the minimum test time are given in Ap-
pendix B. It is often convenient to run the test at a
pressure higher than 20 psi, since this will shorten
the testing time,

Characteristic Types of Filtration Curves

PIOKOfCUrnUlatiVe filtrate volume vs the square root
of time are used in drilling mud filtration studies,’ but
no theoretical explanation has been given for the 400 -
positive intercept. We show in Appendix B that when
the cumulative filtrate volume is plotted against the
square root of time, the curve must have one of three 200 -
characteristic shapes. An experimental example of
each type is shown in Figs. 6 through 8. The shape of
curve that results in any particular case will depend
20 24
S@JARE ROOT OF TIME, ~ min
Fig. 7—Example of filtration curve with invasion
....- ., -.. .
isusperision of silica rwur filtered
on Berea sandstone).

(--EFF,LUENT VOLUME CC
v I

r EFFLUENT VOLUME, CC

/7
MEDIAN PARTICLE SIZE =35 MICRONS 320

2000 MEDIAN PORE SIZE =20 MICRONS

CONCENTRATION = I % WT.
280
t I
16001 ~S’267cc/Wi
f

/--’ 1
240 -

1200
I ~QQ --------
K
1- P 1
800 “
kc= 1775 md (FromSlope)
160 -

I 20 .

o
80 -

-400 - I (MEASURED)= - 500cc

(CalCUlated= -&~ =-594 cc

-Ed 1 , , , , J
o 2 4 6 8 10 12 0
0 4 20
SQUARE ROOT OF TIME, ~ SQUARE R;OT OF ;1 ME, &
Fig. 6-Example of a filtration curve without invasion Fig. B-Example of S-shaped filtration curve with
(suspension of glass beads filtered invasion (suspension of silica flour
on Berea sandstone). filtered on Berea sandstone).

JULY. 1972 869

 .

on the properties of the suspended solids and of the to confirm the membrane results for this particular
filter medium. study. However, other experience has shown that core
When the suspended particles are larger than the tests will often indicate a lower-quality water (larger
pores of the filter medium, no invasion takes place. water quality ratio) than the membrane filter test. We
Thetype ofcurveshown in Fig. 6results, and the in- believe that this is because the core test usually lasts
terceptof thestraight-line portion attimezeroisneg- for severai days, whereas the iii~iiibiaii~ fiiki test k

ative. The measured intercept of – 500 cc is in good of short duration. Poor quality water resulting from
agreement with the theoretical intercept of —594 cc plant upsets or other causes, therefore, may be missed
calculated from Eq. 10. by the membrane test, particularly if it is run at in-
When the suspended solids are much smaller than frequent intervals.
the pores of the filter medium, invasion takes place at
least during the early part of the test. A positive in- Conclusions
“.. the
,J
tercept results, as shown by the exampie in Fig. 7. Tine suspenaeu soiids cari have d. .:,.n:Gnomt
~,~1,,,,~~,,. ofTo,-t
~..~-. fin ....
third type of curve, which has a characteristic S- performance of waterfloods and water disposal pro-
shape, can also occur under some circumstances, as jects. A measure of water quality is proposed that is
shown in Fig. 8. The bridging volume can be calcu- defined as the ratio of the concentration of suspended
lated as follows. The intercept from Eq. 8 is equated solids to the permeability of the filter cake formed by
to the measured intercept. V,, and Q,,, which are also those solids. The water quality ratio can be obtained
related by the experimental data, can then be found by filtration testing and can be used to predict the
by iteration. rate of impairment.
Four mechanisms are modeled by which an injec-
Field Application tion well can become impaired by solids. The half-
.. . .. . . -a ..:--,i f-r
Shell’s Dominguez field in the Los Angeles basin has Me, wmcn H defined as the tinie ,Gqullvu ,Ul tho
,lj& in;.
,111-
been under full-scale watetiooding since 1964. As tial injection rate to decrease by 50 percent, is derived
several individual floods in the field were nearing their for each case. The half-life is a direct function of the
economic limit, it was decided to reduce operating water quality ratio in most cases.
expenses by eliminating diatomaceous earth filtration The theory and methods’ presented in this paper
of the injection water. A group of 22 injection wells should have application in planning the degree of
was selected to test the effects of unfiltered water on water treating required for a new project or in eval-
their injectivity. Extensive water quaiity tests were ..-. .--. L- --$-. ”.. =,.O -f “ -V”cti”m llrnif=cf
ualil}g UJCpGIIul ,i,~L,ULVI all ~Alo.lilS ~..-,v-..
made before and after filtration was ceased. Both
membrane filters and alundum cores (matched to the Nomenclature
pore-size distribution of the formation) were used. A,. = area of filter cake
An average rate of decline was calculated for the An, = area of filter medium
group in order to eliminate individual fluctuations. d,, = diameter of perforation
Wellbore narrowing is believed to be the predominant D, = constant defined by Eq. 6
cause of impairment. D, = constant defined by Eq. 7
While filtered water was being used, the test group F = time to fill wellbore with solids at the ini-
showed a stabilization average rate of decline of 2.5 tial flow rate (defined by Eq.2)
B/D/well/month and an average injection rate of G = impairment function (listed in Table 1
560 B/D into approximately 280 ft of sand. By ex- for each mechanism)
trapolation, a 50-percent rate reduction (280 B/D) h = injection interval
would be reached in approximately 9.3 years. The i = injection rate
median of all water quality measurements during the id = initial injection rate
period of filtration was 290 ppm/md. The theoretical k. = filter cake permeability
half-life, assuming an average permeability of 1 md k, = formation permeability
and an average injectivity of 2 B/D/ft, can be found k,,, = filter medium permeability at the time a
from Eq. 3 (or Fig. 2) to be equal to 13 years. surface filter cake forms
After the test wells were switched to unfiltered L. = thickness of deposited filter cake
water they showed an average decline of 20.1 B/D/ L,,, = length of core or thickness of membrane
wejj/~~flth during . . . first ~ .MO~fhS.
the E)J eX!ra~Ola- filter
tion, the measured half-life is 1.2 years. The median L,, = filter cake thickness in perforation
of all water quality measurements during the 6-month m = number of perforations per unit length
test period was 4,600 ppm/md. The corresponding of interval
theoretical half-life is calculated to be 0.8 years. p = pressure
These results indicate that reasonable injector half- Lp{ = total pressure differential across fiiter
Iives can be calculated from careful membrane filter cake and filter medium
measurements made in the field. Accuracy better than Q = linear filtration rate
a factor of two should probably not be expected since Q,, = inltlal linear filtration rate
there is considerable uncertainty in fixing the injec- Q,, = hnear filtration rate at time of bridging
tion parameters and in determining the true time- r = radial distance from wellbore axis
average of the water quality ratio from spot measure- r,, = radial position in reservoir at which par-
ments. ticles bridge pores and form internal
In general, the alundum core measurements tended filter cake

870 JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY

 radial distance to depositional face of as shown in Fig. 1. At each instant of time there is
filter cake a resistance to flow across the filter cake and across
effective radius of reservoir or injection the formation. The filter cake resistance is changing
pattern, across which the pressure with time as the cake builds. The total pressure drop
drop occurs across formation and filter cake is given by:
wellbore radius
radial position divided by wellbore radius
slope of cumulative volume vs square
root of time
“=(*) (%n’-c)
. . . . . . . . . . . (A-1)
total time of filtration or injection
time at which bridging occurs A material balance on the solids yields:
time at which injection rate is a fraction
a of its initial value
half-life or time at which injection rate ‘=-(2”%7
‘c+- - ~‘A-’)
is 50 percent of initial value Eq. A-2 is substituted into Eq. A-1 and integrated
cumulative throughput volume over time, After applying considerable algebra, we
cumulative volume at bridging obtain the following result:
weight concentration of solids in water
instantaneous injection rate divided by
initial injection rate
constant defined by Eq. A-8
constant defined by Eq. A-9
bulk density of filter cake
density of water or
fractional porosity of formation
constant defined by Eq. A-6 ta =(F)(G) , . . . . . , . (A-4)
fluid viscosity where
Acknowledgment . .
a= l/lo, . . . . . . . . . (A-5)
We wish to thank Shell Oil Co. for permission to pub-
lish this paper. and

References
1. Doscher, T. M. and Weber, L.: “The Use of the Mem-
e=
~%........
() r 10
(A-6)
brane Filter in Determining Quality of Water for Sub-
surface Injection,” Drill. and Prod. Prac., API ( 1957) The half-life is obtained by setting a equal to 0.5.
169-179. For either large or small cake permeabilities the G
2. Farley, J. T, and Redline, D. G.: “Evaluation of Flood function approaches tine iimits shown in Taiie i.
Water Quality in the West Montalvo Field,” J. Pet. Tech.
(July, 1968) 683-687. Invasion
3. Johnston, K. H. and Castagno, J. L.: “Evaluation by In this model it is assumed that no appreciable im-
Filter Methods of the Quality of Waters Injected in Water- pairment occurs until the suspended particIes begin
flood;’ RI 6426, USBM ( 1964). to bridge the pore structure. Impairment then results
4. Herzig, T. P., Leclerc, D. M. and LeGoff, P.: “Flow of from the growth of an internal filter cake within the
Suspensions Through Porous Media—Application to Deep formation, as illustrated in Fig. 1.
Filtration,” Ind. and Eng. Chern. ( 1970) 62, No. 5, 8-35. Total pressure drop across formation and filter
cake:
5. Davidson, D. H.: “Transport of Solids by a Viscous Flow
in a Horizontal Tube at Constant Pressure Drop,” Ind.
Eng. Chem. Process Design Develop.
172-176.
( 1971) 10, No. 2,
“’=(+ww-n’)
6. McCabe,W. L. and Smith, J. C.: Unit Operations of . . . . . . . . . . . (A-7)
ChemicalEngineering,” McGraw - Hill Book Co., Inc.,
New York (1956). where

?. ?.ogers, W. F.: Pnmnnciiinn

./V.r. y””.. -,.
nnff
. . . .
P.nnnvtioc
- 7 -I’-,----
nf
-,
()~! W~!!

Drilling Fluids, Gulf Publishing Co., Houston ( 1963). . . . . .

APPENDIX A and
Impairment Equations
r-c
In all four mechanisms, injection is assumed to be E= —..... . . . . . (A-9)
carried out at constant pressure. The flow is incom- ra

pressible and quasi-steady state. Material balance on solids:

Wellbore Narrowing
The solids are assumed to be trapped at the wellbore

JULY, 1972 871

 (–)
Substituting Eq. A-10 into Eq. A-7 and integrating in Acp, dLc
Q. (B-2)
time: w pw T“”””””

Substituting Eq. B-2 ‘into Eq. B-1 and integrating

,a=(l’yfj(*) [1++ gives

—
.
(‘+*)e=l
a!

. . . . . . . . . (A-n)
“(’-’J”(*) (*+
. . . . . . . . .
a
. . (B-3)

The limiting value of G for small filter cake perme- The thickness of the cake is related to the cumulative
ability is shown in Table 1. volume of filtrate after bridging occurs:

Perforation Plugging Lc = (v–~B)wPw (B-4)

ACPC ”””’””
In this model, it is assumed that a filter cake forms
within the perforations and has the configuration Substituting Eq. B-4 into Eq. B-3 and solving the
shown in Fig. 1. The total pressure drop is constant quadratic, we obtain
and equal to the sum of the pressure drop across the
filter cake and the drop across the formation.

‘“ ‘(+MW+S)
. . . . . . . . . . (A-12)

Material balance:

dLv
( )
~mhpcdP2
i= (A-13]
4wpw -a-””””

Substituting Eq. A-13 into Eq. A-12 and integrating

(“l
in time, we get

(1 – a’)k.dp’m’ in ~.
‘a= (TZ%~g[c) [ 64~2kf~W2 1
. . . . . . . . . . (A-14)

Wellbore F]llup
In this model, it is assumed that alI of the solids fall c
to the bottom of the wellbore and effectively decrease
)
the injection interval as shown in Fig. 1. Fluid flow
/it
Fig. 9-Shape of curve at start of test.
through the fill is neglected.
Press&e-drop equati&:

. . . . . . (A-15)

Material balance:
v v
()
~rmzpc dh
i=—— (A-16)
w pm z“””””

Equating Eqs., A-16 and A-15 and integrating, we get

‘a=(%::l’c) ln+ ~ ~ ~ ~ ‘A-17) Fig. 10-Shape of curve just before pore bridging.

APPENDIX B
Linear Filtration Equations
The total pressure drop is the sum of the pressure
drop across the filter and the pressure drop across
the filter cake. Allowing the area of the cake to be
difIerent from the filter area, the total pressure drop is
QPLC + QPL.
_— (B-1)
‘p’–kCA. x“ “ “ “ “

A material balance gives Fig. n-Shape of curve just after pore bridging.

872 JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY

—
where D, and D, are defined by Eqs. 6 and 7. S=2Q~1 , . . . . . . . (B-7)
For t >> t, Eq. B-5 approaches
limiting form:
the following
ds - dQ

(
s,=
----==2 Q+~tT . (B-8)
d tit d~t )
VZ~D2Z+V,– D,, . . . . (B-6)
At the origin, S is zero and S’ is positive. Therefore
In analyzing filtration data, it is important to know
the shape of the curve near the origin must be of the
that the true straight-line region has been reached and
form shown in Fig. 9. Since the pressure drop is fixed,
that Eq. B-6 applies. The following guidelines may
any impairment must result in a lowering of the flow
be helpful:
1. If there is no invasion, a negative intercept equal rate, which means that dQ/d~; is negative. Thus, it
to S2/2Q0 should be obtained. is possible for S’ to be zero; the curve can have a
2. If there is invasion (positive intercept), the saddle point. Since pore bridging may oeeur before
bridging time should be estimated from Eq. 8 as the saddle point is reached, the initial part of the
described earlier. The test should be run until the curve may have two slopes (see Fig. 10).
square root of the test time is longer than the square 2. After the filter cake forms, S and S’ are obtained
root of the bridging time by a factor of 2 or more. by differentiation of Eq. B-5 with respect to the
square root of time.
Types of Fdtration Curves
T
10
~-~- —.-:-a +L. +-.--c mf Gltr.atinn mIrvec ~~~~ rn.~~ (D2/D,) vi
UC LC1llllllG LUG Ly ~v. “L ,,,.. s...”.. --. ,-..
(B-9)
be obtained when a graph of volume vs square root S = [1 +(D,/D,’) (t – tJ]* ‘ “
of time is constructed, the first and second derivatives
of the curve are investigated both before bridging and S, = @2/DJ [1 – (D,/D,2) t,,]
(B-1O)
after the filter cake forms. This analysis reveals that [1+ (D,/D,’) (t – tB)J~ “ “
three types of curves are possible. Examples of each
are shown in Figs. 6 through 8. Since S is positive and S’ can be negative, zero, or
1. Prior to particle bridging of filter pores, positive, three curve shapes are possible after bridg-
ing (see Fig. 11). At the bridging point the filtration
Original manuscript received in Society of Petroleum Engineers process is continuous in volume and flow rate, which
office July 26, 1971. Revised
Paper (SPE 3543) was presented
manuscript received
at SPE 46th Annual
Jan. 28, 1972.
Fall Meeting,
means that no discontinuity in S or S’ is possible.
held in New Orleans, Oct. 3-6, 1971. @ Copyright 1972 American Various combinations of the curves in Figs. 10 and
Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers, Inc.
11 yield three possible filtration curves, examples of
This paper will be printed in Tranaactiona volume 253, which will
cover i972. which are shown in Figs. 6 through 8. IPT

JULY, 1972 873