Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 35 (2016) 1044e1058

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Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jngse

New technique for determining rate dependent skin factor & non-
Darcy coefficient
Salam Al-Rbeawi
Middle East Technical University, North Cyprus Campus, Mersin 10, Turkey

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: A non-Darcy flow develops in porous media when the velocity of reservoir fluids becomes extremely
Received 24 June 2016 high because of the continuous narrowing of the cross section area of the flow and the convergence of
Received in revised form flow streamlines. Therefore, the inertial effect increases significantly and the total pressure drop,
8 September 2016
required by fluids to move from the outer drainage area towards the wellbore increases significantly due
Accepted 11 September 2016
to the extra pressure drop caused by the non-Darcy flow. The extra pressure drop is described by the
Available online 13 September 2016
Forchheimer equation in which the deviation from Darcy's law is proportional to the inertial factor which
in turn is a function of porous media characteristics such as permeability and porosity.
This paper introduces a new technique for estimating rate dependent skin factors (DQsc) and non-
Darcy flow coefficients (D). The new technique uses dimensionless pressure for steady state flow to
determine these two parameters. A set of plots has been developed for the term (DQsc) based on reservoir
configurations i.e. reservoir boundaries (2xe & 2ye), wellbore length, and anisotropy. All the plots have
been developed based on the fact that the rate dependent skin factor represents the difference between
the total pressure drop and the pressure drop caused by Darcy flow only when non-Darcy coefficient
equals to zero. Dimensionless pressure drops for horizontal wells producing from finite acting reservoirs
have been calculated for steady state flow when the impact of dimensionless time can be eliminated. The
calculated pressure drops have been used in reservoir performance models to estimate rate dependent
skin factors and non-Darcy coefficients.
A point of special interest in this study is the ability to estimate these two parameters without the need
for experimental work or the need to use currently proposed empirical models for calculating them. This
new technique requires knowing reservoir configurations (reservoir width and length), the length of the
wellbore, and the height of the formation in addition to the anisotropy. The study indicates that rate
dependent skin factors and non-Darcy coefficients have the minimum values when the reservoirs having
square-shape drainage area. It has also been found that both parameters have great impact on wells with
short wellbore length. Additionally, isotropic formations and symmetrical wells perform better than
anisotropic formations and asymmetrical wells in terms of extra pressure drop caused by non-Darcy flow.
© 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction where (b) is the inertial factor which has numerous empirical
models tabulated in the literature (Economides et al., 2013).
Great attention has been given to non-Darcy flow beginning in The pressure drop in gas reservoirs, caused by fluid flow, may
the early 1900s when Forchheimer pointed out for the first time have two trends: the first one is caused by Darcy flow when the
that Darcy's law is not applicable for high velocity gas flow in velocity of reservoir fluid is low and the cross section area of flow is
porous media without considering the inertial impact on pressure large enough for Darcy flow (Laminar flow approach) to be the
drop. For this reason, he stated that Darcy's law could be written in dominant flow regime. The second is caused by non-Darcy flow
the following form (Forcheimer, 1901): when the cross section area of flow decreases gradually and flow
streamlines come close together in such a way that the velocity
dP hm i increases to the turbulent condition limit. In this case, excessive
¼  v þ rbv2 (1)
dr k pressure might be needed to overcome the inertial forces resulted
from the convergence of flow streamlines. For horizontal wells, the
extra pressure drop caused by non-Darcy flow, sometimes called
E-mail address: salam@metu.edu.tr. choked flow, characterizes the flow regimes that typically result

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jngse.2016.09.028
1875-5100/© 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
 S. Al-Rbeawi / Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 35 (2016) 1044e1058
Fig. 1. Horizontal wellbore in bounded formation.
from change in the cross section area of flow and converging flow
streamlines. This could happen for both early radial flow regimes
observed during early production when reservoir fluids move
radially in the vertical plane towards the wellbore or pseudo-radial
flow regime, observed during late time production when reservoir
fluids move radially in the horizontal plane towards the wellbore.
However, it could happen also for linear flow regimes if the cross
section area of flow is not large enough and therefore the devel-
oped velocity is so high that Darcy's law is no longer be applicable.
The non-Darcy flow accompanies pseudo-radial flow is charac-
terized and controlled by reservoir boundaries and the horizontal
permeability while the non-Darcy flow accompanies early radial
flow is characterized and controlled by formation thickness and
vertical permeability. Spivey et al. (2004) stated that more than 90%
of the pressure drop within a distance of (0.5 ft) from wellbore
could be caused by the non-Darcy flow developed by completion
technique such as gravel-packed for vertical wells and slotted liner
for horizontal wells. The non-Darcy flow coefficient for pseudo-
radial flow when reservoir fluid flows in the outer drainage area
and radially converges to the wellbore, is given by (Zeng and Zhao,
2008):
 
bgg k 1 1
D ¼ 2:22*1015  (2)
hm rw re
while the non-Darcy flow coefficient for early-radial flow near the
wellbore, is given by:
 
ðbs  bÞgg k 1 1 pressure profiles and flow regimes. According to Matthews 1986
D ¼ 2:22*1015  (3)
hm rw rs
where: (b) is the inertial factor at the outer drainage area of the
reservoir and (bs) is the inertial factor for the zone close to the
wellbore or the damaged zone extended from the wellbore to
radius of (rs).
To characterize non-Darcy flow, the rate dependent skin factor
(DQsc) should be determined. This term represents the dimen-
sionless pressure drop and depends on the non-Darcy flow coeffi-
cient (D). Several models have been presented in the literature to
estimate this coefficient. One of them was given by Ramey (1965):
bgg k
D ¼ 2:22*1015
hmrw
It can be seen that the non-Darcy coefficient is a function of the
petrophysical properties of the formation, such as permeability and
porosity, inertial factor (b) which in turn is a function of perme-
ability and porosity as well as reservoir fluid properties such as
1045
viscosity and specific gravity, in addition to the formation thickness
and wellbore radius. A method of estimating the inertial factor has
long been known from experimental studies (Barree and Conway,
2004, 2009). Based on these studies, several mathematical
models have been proposed for this factor (Economides et al.,
2013). Many researchers have suggested using gas well tests such
as flow after flow tests, isochronal, and modified isochronal tests to
predict the value of non-Darcy coefficient (Ramey, 1965), (Kelker,
2000), and (Brar and Aziz, 1978). Experimental studies have also
been conducted to estimate non-Darcy coefficients especially for
the pressure drop across the completion system (Nguyen, 1986).
Pressure drawdown and build up tests have also been used to
determine the rate dependent skin factor (Zeng and Zhao, 2008).
Spivey et al., 2004, suggested using sand face flow rate instead of
surface gas flow rate for buildup test analysis to eliminate wellbore
storage effects, while Kim and Kang, 1994, introduced a semi-
analytical model for determining the non-Darcy flow coefficient
from single rate gas well pressure transient tests. In this technique,
pressure profiles and flow regimes could be derived from pressure
and pressure derivative curves. Camacho-V et al., 1996, stated that
pressure transient analysis could be used to characterize the non-
Darcy coefficient and described it as the Reynold number. There-
fore, well test analysis can be an excellent tool for characterizing
these two parameters. However, the existence of different flow
regimes, especially for horizontal wells, could cause some diffi-
culties for estimating non-Darcy coefficient from well test analysis.
In this paper, the main focus will be on estimating rate depen-
dent skin factors and non-Darcy flow coefficients using steady state
and Babu and Odeh 1989, the total pressure drop resulting from
the depletion process of a horizontal well producing from finite
acting reservoir could be separated into two terms. The first one
represents the pseudo-steady state pressure drop that is a function
of time and drainage area wherein reservoir pressure declines from
its initial to average value. The second is the pressure drop at steady
state when time does not have a significant impact on the pressure
profile at any point in the reservoir. Therefore, dimensionless
pressure can be simulated by several models and calculated for
different reservoir configurations, horizontal wellbore lengths and
anisotropy. Using the calculated dimensionless pressure, the rate
dependent skin factor and non-Darcy flow coefficient can be
determined.
(4)
1.1. Mathematical models for pressure profile
Consider a rectangular-shape formation with two side bound-
aries having the dimensions (2xe & 2ye) and height of (h) as shown
1046 S. Al-Rbeawi / Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 35 (2016) 1044e1058
in Fig. 1. The formation can be considered either a conventional or
an unconventional gas reservoir in case of pseudo-steady state flow
has already been reached. It is depleted by a horizontal wellbore of
length (2Lw). The formation is homogenous and anisotropic where
permeability in the vertical direction (kV) is not the same as the
permeability in the horizontal direction (kH). The horizontal well-
bore could be totally extended in the drainage area or it could be
partially extended in the X-direction. Formation porosity ð∅Þ is
considered constant.
The pressure drop at the wellbore of the above mentioned
horizontal well can be determined by the solution of the diffusivity
equation either by the instantaneous line source solution presented
by different researches (Gringarten and Ramey, 1973; Daviau et al.,
1988) or by Laplace transformation presented by Ozkan 1988.
Mathematically, dimensionless pressure drop for horizontal wells
extending in bounded reservoirs can be obtained applying line
source solution for diffusivity equation. This solution is well
documented in the literature such as the one introduced by Ozkan
1988 using Laplace domain, which is:
PPD ¼ PPD1 þ PPD2 þ PPD3 þ PPD4
These first two pressure items represent the solutions for fully
penetrating vertical fractures while the second two pressure terms
represent the solutions satisfy the boundary conditions in the
diffusivity equation. More details for these four models are given by
Eqs. (A-3), (A-4), (A-5), and (A-6) in the Appendix-A.
To consider wellbore storage effect, skin factor, and non-Darcy
flow pressure drop, dimensionless wellbore pressure can be writ-
ten as follows:
 
PPwD ¼ L 1 PPwD þ PPND
0 1
B SPPD þ s C both dimensionless pressure and dimensional pressure derivative
¼ L 1 @  A þ PPND
S þ CD S2 SPPD þ s
where (PPND) is the pressure drop caused by non-Darcy flow and
defined by:
PPND ¼ DQsc
The non-Darcy flow coefficient in this model is represented by:
bgg kH
D¼C
hmLw
Therefore. Eq. (7) becomes:
IND LD
PPND ¼
Iani
where: (IND) is the inertial number, representing the ratio of the
inertial force to the viscous force, and mathematically formulated
as:
C rg kH Qsc
IND ¼
mL2w
(LD) is the dimensionless wellbore length and defined as:
sffiffiffiffiffiffi
Lw kV
LD ¼
h kH
And the anisotropy (Iani) is defined as:
sffiffiffiffiffiffi
kV
Iani ¼ (12)
kH
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
where (kV ¼ kz) is the vertical permeability and ðkH ¼ kx ky Þ is the
horizontal permeability.
For late time production, the pressure drop caused by Darcy
flow only, given by Eq. (5), consists of two parts. The first part is the
pseudo-steady state behavior when the reservoir pressure declines
with time by a constant rate. The second part is the pressure drop
caused by fluid flow in the steady state period when pressure
decline is no longer affected by the production time and reservoir
boundaries have the greatest impact on pressure drop only
(Matthews, 1986; Babu and Odeh, 1989).
Therefore, Eq. (6) can be written as:
PPwD ¼ PPwDP þ PPwDS þ PPND (13)
where the term (PPwDP) is pressure drop for pseudo-steady state
caused by Darcy flow and given by:
(5)
PPwDP ¼ 2ptDA (14)
and the term (PPwDS) is the pressure drop for steady state caused by
Darcy flow and given by:
p 
PPwDS ¼ xeD yeD PPDx þ PPDy þ PPDz þ PPDxy þ PPDxz þ PPDyz
2

þ PPDxyz
(15)
The pressure terms in the right hand side of the above model are
defined in the Appendix-A. The steady state pressure drop caused
by Darcy flow is characterized by a straight line of unit slope for
(6) curves.
Typical pressure behaviors and flow regimes for horizontal wells
in finite acting reservoirs having small and large drainage areas, are
shown in Figs. 2 and 3 respectively. Obviously a horizontal well-
bore, acting in large drainage area (LD ¼ 10 and xeD ¼ yeD ¼ 0.1),
responses to the depletion process differently over time than do
(7) horizontal wellbores acting in small drainage area (LD ¼ 10 and
xeD ¼ yeD ¼ 0.5). The difference between the two cases could be
seen in both the pressure profile and flow regimes. The pseudo-
radial flow regime is developed for large drainage areas but it is
not observed for small drainage areas as there is enough time for
(8)
reservoir fluids to move radially in the horizontal plane towards the
wellbore in the first case. The radial movement of reservoir fluids
means that the cross section area of flow decreases as the fluids
approach the wellbore. This could lead to the convergence of flow
(9) streamlines and cause more lost energy due to the friction force or
inertial impact. However, it does not mean there is no lost energy if
there is no pseudo-radial flow. In general, the lost energy could
potentially be observed for linear flow also when the cross section
area of flow is not enough to demonstrate Darcy flow. The amount
of the lost energy depends on the flow rate of reservoir fluids and
the shrinkage in the cross section area of flow in addition to other
rock and fluid properties.
(10)
1.2. Mathematical models for non-Darcy flow
Several models have been presented in the literature for steady
(11) state performance of reservoirs depleted by horizontal wells. One
of these models was introduced by Joshi 1988 and developed later
by several researchers (Frick and Economides, 1993) to include non-
 S. Al-Rbeawi / Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 35 (2016) 1044e1058 1047

Fig. 2. Wellbore storage and skin effect for horizontal well acting in finite reservoir, small drainage area (xeD ¼ yeD ¼ 0.5).

Fig. 3. Wellbore storage and skin effect for horizontal well acting in finite reservoir, large drainage area (xeD ¼ yeD ¼ 0.1).

Darcy flow coefficient for gas reservoir performance. The most the change in reservoir fluid properties such as compressibility and
commonly used model is (Joshi, 1988): viscosity with production time. The pressure drop caused by the
depletion process of gas reservoirs, given by Eq. (17), can be clas-
sified into two types: The first one represents the pressure drop due
  to Darcy flow when reservoir fluids move from the outer drainage
kH h PPe  PPwf area towards the horizontal wellbore. This one can be mathemat-
Qsc ¼ 2 0 1 3
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi   ically formulated as:
4 @ aþ a2 L2w A
1422 T ln Lw þ 2Lw ln rw ð1þIani Þ þ s þ DQsc 5
Iani h Iani h

 qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi  I 2  
(16) Iani
PPwDL ¼ ln aD þ a2D  1 þ ani ln þs
2LD rwD ðIani þ 1Þ
In dimensionless form, Eq. (12) can be written as:
(18)
 qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi  I 2  
Iani The second term is the pressure drop caused by the convergence
PPwD ¼ ln aD þ a2D  1 þ ani ln þs
2LD rwD ðIani þ 1Þ of flow streamlines as the cross section area of flow narrows close to
the wellbore. The convergence of flow streamlines causes excessive
þ DQsc (17) pressure drop due to the growing inertial forces. As a result, Darcy
law may not accurately describe this pressure drop and Forchheimer
The right hand side of this model represents the impact of model can be adequately used for this purpose. It is worthy noting
reservoir configuration, wellbore length, and anisotropy as wells as that non-Darcy flow is commonly used to describe all types of flow
normal skin factor and rate dependent skin factor while the lift where Darcy law is not applicable. The pressure drop caused by
hand side is the pseudo-pressure at the wellbore which considers Forchheimer flow or non-Darcy flow can be written as:
1048 S. Al-Rbeawi / Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 35 (2016) 1044e1058
2
Iani
PPwDT ¼ ðDQsc Þ
2LD
Equating the two terms given by Eqs. (18) and (19) with the
calculated pressure drop by applying Eqs. (9) and (15) yields a new
model for the rate dependent skin factor:
"  qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi 
2LD
DQsc ¼ 2 PPwDS þ PPNDP  ln aD þ a2D  1
Iani
  # skin factor is almost constant no matter the reservoir configu-
I2 Iani
 ani ln þs
2LD rwD ðIani þ 1Þ
One point should be emphasized. The skin factor in the above
model represents all types of skin factors but not the rate depen-
dent skin factor. The skin factor might be considered for short
horizontal wellbore or for the cases of anisotropy greater than one.
However, for other cases it can be considered equal to (zero).
In the above mentioned models, the parameter (aD) is defined
as:
qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi 0:5
aD ¼ 0:5 þ 0:25 þ ðrehD Þ4
and:
sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
4 developed. For both of them the horizontal permeability is the
rehD ¼ (22)
pxeD yeD
1.3. Results' analysis
The wellbore dimensionless pressure drops by non- Darcy flow
and Darcy flow have been calculated using Eqs. (9) and (15)
respectively for different wellbore lengths, reservoir configura-
tions, rate dependent skin factors, inertial number and different
anisotropies. The skin factor has also been included in some cases to
show its impact on rate dependent skin factor. The followings are
on the trends or behaviors obtained from the results:
1 All cases demonstrate the high values for the rate dependent
skin factor for rectangular-shape drainage areas but much less
so for square-shape drainage areas as shown in Figs. 4 and 5.
This fact indicates that linear flow regimes may have non-Darcy
flow conditions if the cross section area of flow is small enough
for this flow to be developed. Even though, there is no conver-
gence for the flow streamlines in linear flow regimes as the area
of flow is constant, the friction forces resulting within fluid
layers and between fluid and rock are the reasons for the high
value of rate dependent skin factor. For square-shape drainage
areas, the cross section area of flow is large enough to eliminate,
to some degree, the impact of the non-Darcy flow conditions
and reduce the inertial factor.
2 Fig. 6 shows the behavior of rate dependent skin factors for
different wellbore lengths acting in square drainage areas. The
minimum value for this factor is produced in large square
drainage areas or in reservoirs with large width to length ratios
to the horizontal wellbore (the left side of the plot
xeD ¼ yeD ¼ 0.2). The maximum value for this factor most often
occurs when (xeD ¼ yeD ¼ 0.6). The rate dependent skin factors
decrease slightly for drainage areas having a small ratio between
reservoir boundaries and wellbore (the right side of the plot
xeD ¼ yeD < 0.6). The large drainage area or the large ratio of the
reservoir boundaries and wellbore is not recommended, even
though it has the minimum rate dependent skin factor, because
the wellbore length normalized rate dependent skin factor
shows high lost energy due to the turbulence when reservoir
(19) fluids approach the wellbore as shown in Fig. 7.
3 The rate dependent skin factor changes linearly with wellbore
length as shown in Fig. 8. This is due to the fact the total lost
energy due to non-Darcy flow conditions is the product of the
lost energy per wellbore length times the wellbore length.
However, the change in the rate dependent skin factor with the
change in the drainage area is not significantly recognized as
shown in Fig. 9. For short wellbore lengths, the rate dependent
(20) rations, while it changes slightly with the reservoir drainage
area for long wellbores.
4 For all cases, two trends for rate dependent skin factor can be
seen according to reservoir width or side boundary normal to
the wellbore (yeD). The first trend exhibits a decrease in the rate
dependent skin factor for all values of reservoir length parallel to
the wellbore (xeD) for the cases (yeD < 0.5), while the second
trend shows increasing values for this factor for all (yeD > 0.5) as
shown in Fig. 10.
5 Fig. 11 shows the impact of anisotropy on the rate dependent skin
factor. It ca n be seen that high anisotropy (Iani > 1.0) maximizes
(21) the influence of non-Darcy flow. Physically this is explained by
the fact that the anisotropy represents the index for how much
the vertical permeability of porous media is greater than the
horizontal permeability. For steady state conditions, pseudo-
redial flow and boundary-dominated flow are expected to be
controlling parameter rather than the vertical one, as reservoir
fluids flow radially or linearly in the horizontal plane toward the
wellbore. Therefore, high anisotropy means small horizontal
permeability which in turn means narrow flow passages in the
porous media definitely cause increased velocity of flow to the
limits suitable for non-Darcy flow to occur.
6 Skin factor effects are shown in Fig. 12. As the rate dependent
skin factor is calculated for steady state flow, the other types of
skin factors, such as mechanical skin factors and skin factors due
to damage sections, do not have significant impact on rate
dependent skin factor as they do not a have significant impact
on the total pressure drop resulting from fluid flow towards the
wellbore.
7 The inertial number (IND) has a considerable effect on the rate
dependent skin factor. This number refers to the size of inertial
forces that resist fluid flow in the porous media. As it is given in
Eq. (10), this number is a function of the flow rate or fluid su-
perficial velocity in the porous media. Increasing the velocity
causes a significant increase in the friction forces acting in the
opposite direction of the flow, which in turn requires extra
pressure to enable the reservoir fluid to reach the wellbore.
Fig. 13 demonstrates the effect of the inertial number in rate
dependent skin factors.
1.4. Assymmetricity impact
Horizontal well assymmetricity has a significant impact on rate
the dependent skin factor as shown in Figs. 14, 15 and 16. This factor
increases as the well location is not centralized in the formation
either in the vertical direction or in the horizontal plane. For the
cases where the horizontal well is located close to the boundaries,
non-Darcy flow might be developed and the inertial forces
increased so that the rate dependent skin factor and non-Darcy
flow coefficient exhibit increases. This could be caused by the
rapid change in the cross section area of flow for the part of
reservoir between the horizontal wellbore and the closer boundary.
S. Al-Rbeawi / Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 35 (2016) 1044e1058 1049

Fig. 4. Rate dependent skin factor for (LD ¼ 64).

Fig. 5. Rate dependent skin factor for (LD ¼ 32).

Fig. 6. Rate dependent skin factor for square drainage area.

1050 S. Al-Rbeawi / Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 35 (2016) 1044e1058

Fig. 7. Wellbore length normalized rate dependent skin factor.

Fig. 8. Rate dependent skin factor for wellbore length.

Fig. 9. Rate dependent skin factor for drainage area.

S. Al-Rbeawi / Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 35 (2016) 1044e1058 1051

Fig. 10. Rate dependent skin factor for (LD ¼ 8).

Fig. 11. Rate dependent skin factor for different anisotropies.

Fig. 12. Rate dependent skin factor for different skin factors.
1052 S. Al-Rbeawi / Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 35 (2016) 1044e1058

1.5. Productivity index is greater than for short wellbores, while the ratio of non-Darcy
flow to Darcy flow pressure drops for long horizontal wellbores is
The dimensionless productivity index for steady state flow, less than long wellbores.
controlled by non-Darcy flow, can be written as follows:

Qsc
JnD ¼   1.6. Application
PPe  PPwf
The rate dependent skin factor and non-Darcy flow coefficient
C
¼  qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi    can be determined by using the proposed technique and by
2
Iani
ln aD þ aD  1 þ 2LD ln rwD ðIIani
2 þ s þ DQsc knowing reservoir configurations(xeD & yeD), horizontal wellbore
ani þ1Þ
length, and the formation anisotropy. In this new technique, there
(23) is no need to calculate the inertial factor (b). Also there is no need
for well tests and stabilized flow rates or experimental studies to
while the dimensionless productivity index without considering estimate the rate dependent skin factor and non-Darcy coefficient.
non-Darcy can be written as: The specifications given by Hashemi et al., 2006, are shown in
Table 1 and Fig. 19.
Qsc
JD ¼   The model that has been proposed above has been used to
PPe  PPwf calculate the rate dependent skin factor as follows:
C
¼  qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi    (24) 1 The following parameters have been determined:
2
I
ln aD þ a2D  1 þ 2LaniD ln rwD ðIIani
ani þ1Þ þs sffiffiffiffiffiffi
Lw kV
LD ¼ ¼ 0:788
where: h kH

kH h sffiffiffiffiffiffi
C¼ (25) kV
1; 422 T Iani ¼ ¼ 0:46
kH
The ratio between the two dimensionless productivity indexes
is:
Lw
xeD ¼ ¼ 0:116
JnD 1 xe
¼ I2
(26)
JD ani ðDQsc Þ
1þ 2LD
  Lw
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi  I2 Iani yeD ¼ ¼ 0:165
ln aD þ aD 1 þ2L
2 ani ln
rwD ðIani þ1Þ
þs ye
D

The productivity index ratio decreases with the increase of the xw

drainage area of the porous media as shown in Fig. 17. This may be xwD ¼ ¼ 0:785
xe
explained as the Darcy flow is the dominant for a large drainage
area while non-Darcy flow is dominant for a small drainage area. yw
This fact is confirmed by Fig. 18 wherein the ratio of pressure drop ywD ¼ ¼ 0:282
ye
caused by non-Darcy flow to the pressure drop caused by Darcy
flow is in the minimum limit for small drainage areas and reaches zw
the maximum limit for large drainage areas. It is also important to zwD ¼ ¼ 0:7
h
note that the productivity index ratio for long horizontal wellbores

Fig. 13. Rate dependent skin factor for different inertial number.
S. Al-Rbeawi / Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 35 (2016) 1044e1058 1053

Fig. 14. Rate dependent skin factor for assymmetricity.

Fig. 15. Rate dependent skin factor for assymmetricity.

Fig. 16. Rate dependent skin factor for assymmetricity.

1054 S. Al-Rbeawi / Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 35 (2016) 1044e1058

Fig. 17. Productivity index ratio for square drainage area.

Fig. 18. Non-Darcy flow/Darcy flow pressure drop ratio.

Table 1 value for rate dependent skin factor and non-Darcy flow coefficient.
Well specifications given by Hashemi et al., 2006. The dimensionless productivity index for the well given by
3495 psi Initial reservoir pressure Hashemi et al., 2006, has been calculated for both Darcy and non-
410 ft Horizontal wellbore length Darcy flow and plotted as shown in Fig. 19. The following results
2,35 md kH have been obtained:
0,5 md kV
0.25 ft rw
120 ft h JD ¼ 0:325

JnD ¼ 0:008
2 The simulator has been used to calculate the rate dependent
skin factor based on the proposed technique. The results have
been plotted in Fig. 20. JnD
3 The rate dependent skin factor has been determined based on ¼ 0:24%
JD
(xeD ¼ 0.116 and yeD ¼ 0.165):
It is apparent that the non-Darcy flow is not developed very well
DQsc ¼ 119 for this case and the productivity index of the well is not affected by
the rate dependent skin factor.
Therefore for ðQsc ¼ 10; 000 MScf =Day Þ; non-Darcy flow co- Knowing that:
efficient is:

D ¼ 0; 0119 Day=MScf kH h
C¼ ¼ 3:42*104
1422T
The application of the currently used technique; i.e. by calcu-
lating the inertial factor (b), and using Eq. (4) has given insignificant then:
 S. Al-Rbeawi / Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 35 (2016) 1044e1058 1055

Fig. 19. Rate dependent skin factor for the well given by Hashemi et al., 2006.

Fig. 20. Productivity index for the well given by Hashemi et al., 2006.

 .  6 The rate dependent skin factor has a significant negative

MScf 2 contribution for horizontal well productivity index. It causes an
J ¼ 1:14 psi cp
D increase in pressure drop as the non-Darcy flow conditions
become the dominant conditions when reservoir fluid ap-
2. Conclusions proaches the wellbore and the cross section area of flow be-
comes small and in turn leads to the convergence of flow
1 The rate dependent skin factor and non-Darcy flow coefficient streamlines.
are two characterizing parameters for non-Darcy flow condi-
tions that could be developed either in the vicinity of the hori-
zontal wellbore during early radial flow or in the outer drainage 2.1. Dimensionless parameters
area when pseudo-radial flow regimes be the dominant flow.
2 These two parameters have significant impact on the pressure sffiffiffiffiffiffi
profile of reservoirs especially for short wellbore lengths or Lw kV
LD ¼
small drainage areas. h kH
3 The new proposed techniques suggest calculating these two
parameters by knowing reservoir configurations, wellbore kH hDP
lengths and formation anisotropy. Therefore, there is no need PD ¼
1422 Qsc T
for analytically calculating or experimentally measuring the
inertial factor (b). sffiffiffiffiffiffi
4 The minimum value for the rate dependent skin factor is ob- Lw kV
rD ¼
tained for square drainage area. h kH
5 Formation anisotropy and well assymmetricity may provide the
environment for developing non-Darcy flow and increasing the rw
rate dependent skin factor. rwD ¼
h
1056 S. Al-Rbeawi / Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 35 (2016) 1044e1058

kV Vertical Permeability, md
kH t Lw Half-horizontal wellbore, ft
tD ¼
∅mct L2w PPwf Wellbore pseudo pressure, psi2 =cp
PPe Reservoir pseudo pressure, psi2 =cp
xw PPwD Dimensionless wellbore pseudo pressure
xwD ¼
xe PPwDL Dimensionless wellbore pseudo pressure for laminar flow
PPwDT Dimensionless wellbore pseudo pressure for non-Darcy
y flow
ywD ¼
ye Qsc Flow rate, MScf/D
r Radius, ft
zw rw Wellbore radius, ft
zwD ¼
h re Drainage area radius, ft
S Laplace domain operator
Lw s Skin factor
xeD ¼ T Temperature,  R
xe
t Time, hr
Lw tD Dimensionless time
yeD ¼ v Velocity, ft/sec
ye
x Any point in the X-direction in the reservoir
y Any point in the Y-direction in the reservoir
x  xw
xD ¼ z Any point in the Z-direction in the reservoir
Lw
xw The X-coordinate of production point
yw The Y- coordinate of production point
y  yw
yD ¼ zw The Z-coordinate of production point
Lw
xe Distance to reservoir side boundary, ft
sffiffiffiffiffiffi ye Distance to reservoir side boundary, ft
z  zw kH u Storativity
zD ¼
Lw kV r Density, Ib=ft 3
rg Gas density, Ib=ft 3
z  zw l Interporosıty
zD ¼ ¼ zD LD 4 Porosity
h
m Viscosity, cp
h Diffusivity coefficient, ft2/sec
gg Gas specific gravity
Nomenclatures
Appendix-A
B Oil formation volume factor, RB/STB
h Formation height, ft Pressure drop caused by horizontal wells depleting finite res-
CD Dimensionless wellbore storage coefficient ervoirs can be obtained using line source solution. This solution is
ct Total compressibility, psi1 mathematically derived by integrating the point source solution
0
dP Pressure derivative, psi from ðxwD  1Þ to ðxwD þ 1Þ with respect to ðxwD Þ. The point source
DP Pressure difference, psi solution in finite reservoirs having rectangular drainage area is
k Permeability, md given by (Ozkan, 1988):
kH Horizontal Permeability, md

( pffiffiffi  pffiffiffi )
2 cosh u ðyeD jyD ywD jÞ þcosh u ðyeD ðyD ywD ÞÞ 3
pffiffiffi pffiffiffi  þ
6 usinh u yeD 7
6 7
6 8  p ffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi   qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi  9 7
6     7
6 P 0 < cosh uþa 2
ðy jy y jÞ þcosh uþa 2
ðy ðy y ÞÞ = 7
6 ∞ xwD xD eD D wD eD D wD 7
62 cos np cos np pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi  pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi  þ 7
6 n¼1 x x : 2 2 ; 7
6 eD eD uþa sinh uþa yeD 7
p 6 6    q ffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi 
7
7
P PD ¼ 6 8 p ffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi 9 7
xeD s 6 ∞ <cosh uþb2 ðyeD jyD ywD jÞ þcosh uþb2 ðyeD ðyD ywD ÞÞ = 7
6 P 7
6 2 cosðlpzwD ÞcosðlpzD Þ p ffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi  p ffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi  þ 7
6 : 2 2 ; 7
6 l¼1 uþb sinh uþb yeD 7
6 7
6 q ffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
ffi 7
6 8 pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi   9 7
6    <cosh 2
ðy jy y jÞ þcosh 2
ðy ðy y ÞÞ = 7
4 P ∞ P
∞ x 0
x uþc eD D wD uþc eD D wD 5
2 cosðlpzwD ÞcosðlpzD Þ cos np wD cos np D pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi 
l¼1 n¼1 xeD xeD : uþc2 sinh uþa2 y ;
eD

(A-1)
 S. Al-Rbeawi / Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 35 (2016) 1044e1058 1057

The integration of the above mentioned model gives the line

source solution:
2 X
∞
1
PDz ¼ cosðlpzwD ÞcosðlpðzD LD þ zwD ÞÞ (A-15)
PPD ¼ PPD1 þ PPD2 þ PPD3 þ PPD4 (A-2) p2 L2D l¼1 l2
The four separated parts are (Ozkan, 1988):

pffiffiffi  pffiffiffi 
p cosh u ðyeD  jyD  ywD jÞ þ cosh u ðyeD  ðyD  ywD ÞÞ
PD1 ¼ pffiffiffi pffiffiffi  (A-3)
SxeD usinh u yeD

2 pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi  pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi 3
      u þ a2 ðyeD  jyD  ywD jÞ þ cosh u þ a2 ðyeD  ðyD  ywD ÞÞ
2X ∞
1 np xwD xD 4cosh 5
PD2 ¼ sin cos np cos np pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi  (A-4)
s n¼1 n xeD xeD xeD u þ a2 sinh u þ a2 y eD

2 pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi  pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi 3
2p X∞ cosh u þ b2 ðyeD  jyD  ywD jÞ þ cosh u þ b2 ðyeD  ðyD  ywD ÞÞ
PD3 ¼ cosðlpzwD ÞcosðlpzD Þ4 pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi  5 (A-5)
SxeD u þ b2 sinh u þ b2 y
l¼1 eD

     
8X ∞ X∞
1 np x x
PD4 ¼ cosðlpzwD ÞcosðlpzD Þ sin cos np wD cos np D
S n¼1
n xeD xeD xeD
l¼1
2 pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi  pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi 3
cosh u þ c2 ðyeD  jyD  ywD jÞ þ cosh u þ c2 ðyeD  ðyD  ywD ÞÞ
4 pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi  5 (A-6)
u þ c2 sinh u þ a2 yeD

32 X ∞ X ∞
1  x 
PDxy ¼  sin np eD
np p3 xeD n¼1 m¼1 n n2 x2eD þ m2 y2eD 2
a¼ (A-7)  x  n p  
xeD y 
 cos np wD cos ðx x þ xwD Þ cos mp wD
2 2 D eD 2
mp 
b ¼ lpLD (A-8)  cos ðyD yeD þ ywD Þ
2
(A-16)
np
c ¼ lpLD þ (A-9)
xeD
32 X
∞ X
∞
1  x 
PDxz ¼   sin np eD
p3 x
eD n¼1 l¼1 n n2 x2 þ 4l2 L2 2
u ¼ Se2s for homogenous formation (A-10) eD D
 x  np  (A-17)
 cos np wD cos ðx x þ xwD Þ cosðlpzwD Þ
2 2 D eD
u ¼ Sf ðSÞe2s for non  homogenous formation ðdual porosity
 cosðlpðzD LD þ zwD ÞÞ
 permeability porous mediaÞ
(A-11) 16 X
∞ X
∞
1  y 
PDyz ¼   cos mp wD
p2 m¼1 l¼1 m yeD þ 4l LD
2 2 2 2 2
swð1  wÞ þ l mp 
f ðSÞ ¼ (A-12)
sð1  wÞ þ l  cos ðyD y þ yÞ cosðlpzwD Þ cosðlpðzD LD þ zwD ÞÞ
2
(A-18)
16 X ∞
1  x   x  n p
PDx ¼ sin np eD cos np wD cos ðx x
p xeD n¼1 n
3 3 3 2 2 2 D eD
 64 X ∞ X ∞ X ∞
1
PDxyz ¼  
þ xwD Þ p3 xeD n¼1 m¼1 l¼1 n n2 x2 þ m2 y2 þ 4lL2
eD eD D
 x   x  n p 
(A-13)  sin np eD cos np wD cos ðxD xeD þ xwD Þ
2 2 2
 ywD  mp 
8 X ∞
1  ywD  mp   cos mp cos ðyD yeD þ ywD Þ cosðlpzwD Þ
PDy ¼ cos mp cos ðy y þ y Þ 2 2
D eD wD
p2 x2eD m¼1 m2 2 2  cosðlpðzD LD þ zwD ÞÞ
(A-14) (A-19)
1058 S. Al-Rbeawi / Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 35 (2016) 1044e1058

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