Mass Balance

REVIEW OF BASIC STEPS IN
DERIVATION OF FLOW EQUATIONS
DR WAN ROSLI WAN SULAIMAN
PETROLEUM ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

FACULTY OF CHEMICAL AND ENERGY ENGINEERING
UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MALAYSIA
Generally, flow equations for flow in porous materials are based on a set of
mass, momentum and energy conservation equations, and constitutive
equations for fluids and the porous material.
For simplicity, we will in the following assume isothermal conditions, so that we

not have to involve an energy conservation equation.
However, in cases of changing reservoir temperature, such as in the case of

cold water injection into a warmer reservoir, this may be of importance.
Below equations are described for linear, one-dimensional systems, but can
easily be extended to two and three dimensions, and to other coordinate
systems.
Conservation of mass
Again we will consider the following one dimensional slab of porous material:
Mass conservation may be formulated across a control element of the slab,

with one fluid of density ρ is flowing through it at a velocity u:
The mass balance for the control element is then written as:
Dividing by Δx , and taking the limit as Δx goes to zero, we get the conservation
of mass, or continuity equation:
For constant cross sectional area, the continuity equation simplifies to:
Conservation of momentum
Conservation of momentum is goverened by the Navier-Stokes equations,

but is normally simplified for low velocity flow in porous materials to be
described by the semi-empirical Darcy's equation, which for one
dimensional, horizontal flow is:
Alternative equations are the Forchheimer equation, for high velocity flow:
where n is proposed by Muscat to be 2.

The Brinkman equation, which applies to both porous and non-porous flow:
Brinkman's equation reverts to Darcy's equation for flow in porous media,

since the last term then normally is negligible, and to Stoke's equation for
channel flow because the Darcy part of the equation then may be neglected.
Constitutive equation for porous materials
To include pressure dependency in the porosity, we use the definition of rock

compressibility:
Keeping the temperature constant, the expression may be written:

Constitutive equation for fluids
Recall the familiar fluid compressibility definition, which applies to any fluid at
constant temperature:
Equally familiar is the gas equation, which for an ideal gas is:
and for a real gas includes the deviation factor, Z:

The gas density may be expressed as:
where the subscript S denotes surface (standard) conditions. These

equations are frequently used in reservoir engineering applications.
However, for reservoir simulation purposes, we normally use either so-called

Black Oil fluid description, or compositional fluid description.
The standard Black Oil model includes Formation Volume Factor, B, for each
fluid, and Solution Gas-Oil Ratio, Rso, for the gas dissolved in oil, in addition
to viscosity and density for each fluid.
A modified model may also include oil dispersed in gas, rs, and gas dissolved
in water, Rsw.
The definitions of formation volume factors and

solution gas-oil ratio are:
The density of oil at reservoir conditions is then, in terms of these parameters
and the densities of oil and gas, defined as:
Typical pressure dependencies of the standard Black Oil parameters are:
Flow equation
For single phase flow, in a one-dimensional, horizontal system,

assuming Darcy's equation to be applicable and that the cross
sectional area is constant, the flow equation becomes:
Boundary conditions
As discussed previously, we basically have two types of BC's; pressure

conditions (Dirichlet conditions) and rate conditions (Neumann
conditions).
The most common boundary conditions in reservoirs are discussed in

the following.
Dirichlet conditions
When pressure conditions are specified, we normally would specify the

pressures at the end faces of the system in question.
Applied to the simple linear system described above, we may have the
following two pressure BC's at the ends:
For reservoir flow, a pressure condition will normally be specified as a bottom-

hole pressure of a production or injection well, at some position of the
reservoir.
Neumann condition
Alternatively, we would specify the flow rates at the end faces of the system in
question.
Using Darcy's equation at the ends of the simple system above, the conditions
become:
For reservoir flow, a rate condition may be specified as a production or

injection rate of a well, at some position of the reservoir, or it is specified as a
zero-rate across a sealed boundary or fault, or between non-communicating
layers.
Initial condition (IC)
The initial condition specifies the initial state of the primary variables of the
system. For the simple case above, a constant initial pressure may be
specified as:
The initial pressure may be a function of postition. For non-horizontal

systems, hydrostatic pressure equilibrium is normally computed based on a
reference pressure and fluid densities:
Multiphase flow
A continuity equation may be written for each fluid phase flowing:
and the corresponding Darcy equations for each phase are:

However, the continuity equation for gas has to be modified to include
solution gas as well as free gas, so that the oil equation only includes the
part of the oil remaining liquid at the surface:
where ρoL represents the part of the oil remaining liquid at the surface (in the
stock tank), and ρoG the part that is gas at the surface. Thus, the oil and gas
continuity equations become:
After substitution for Darcy's equations and Black Oil fluid properties, and
including well rate terms, the flow equations become:
where
Non-horizontal flow
For one-dimensional, inclined flow
the Darcy equation becomes:
or, in terms of dip angle, α , and hydrostatic gradient
where γ = ρg is the hydrostatic gradient of the fluid.

Multidimensional flow
The continuity equation for one-phase, three-dimensional flow in Cartesian

coordinates, is:
and the corresponding Darcy equations are:

Coordinate systems
Normally, we use either a rectangular coordinate system or a cylindrical

coordinate system in reservoir simulation.
Rectangular Cylindrical Spherical

coordinates coordinates coordinates
In operator form, the continuity and the Darcy equations for one-phase flow
may be written
where the operators for rectangular coordinates (x, y, z )are defined as

for cylindrical coordinates (r,θ , z)
and for spherical coordinates (r,θ ,ϕ )

Boundary conditions of multiphase systems
The pressure and rate BC's discussed above apply to multiphase

systems.
However, for a production well in a reservoir, we normally specify either

an oil production rate at the surface, or a total liquid rate at the surface.
The production is subjected to maximum allowed GOR or WC, or both.

Initial conditions of multiphase systems
In addition to specification of initial pressures, we also need to specify initial

saturations in a multiphase system.
This requires knowledge of water-oil contact (WOC) and gas-oil contact

(GOC).
Assuming that the reservoir is in equilibrium, we may compute initial phase

pressures based on contact levels and densities.
Then, equilibrium saturations may be interpolated from the capillary

pressure curves.
Alternatively, the initial saturations are based on measured logging data.

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REVIEW OF BASIC STEPS IN

DERIVATION OF FLOW EQUATIONS

DR WAN ROSLI WAN SULAIMAN

PETROLEUM ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

For simplicity, we will in the following assume isothermal conditions, so that we

However, in cases of changing reservoir temperature, such as in the case of

Mass conservation may be formulated across a control element of the slab,

Conservation of momentum is goverened by the Navier-Stokes equations,

where n is proposed by Muscat to be 2.

Brinkman's equation reverts to Darcy's equation for flow in porous media,

To include pressure dependency in the porosity, we use the definition of rock

Keeping the temperature constant, the expression may be written:

and for a real gas includes the deviation factor, Z:

where the subscript S denotes surface (standard) conditions. These

However, for reservoir simulation purposes, we normally use either so-called

The definitions of formation volume factors and

For single phase flow, in a one-dimensional, horizontal system,

As discussed previously, we basically have two types of BC's; pressure

The most common boundary conditions in reservoirs are discussed in

When pressure conditions are specified, we normally would specify the

For reservoir flow, a pressure condition will normally be specified as a bottom-

For reservoir flow, a rate condition may be specified as a production or

The initial pressure may be a function of postition. For non-horizontal

A continuity equation may be written for each fluid phase flowing:

and the corresponding Darcy equations for each phase are:

For one-dimensional, inclined flow

the Darcy equation becomes:

or, in terms of dip angle, α , and hydrostatic gradient

where γ = ρg is the hydrostatic gradient of the fluid.

The continuity equation for one-phase, three-dimensional flow in Cartesian

and the corresponding Darcy equations are:

Normally, we use either a rectangular coordinate system or a cylindrical

Rectangular Cylindrical Spherical

where the operators for rectangular coordinates (x, y, z )are defined as

and for spherical coordinates (r,θ ,ϕ )

The pressure and rate BC's discussed above apply to multiphase

However, for a production well in a reservoir, we normally specify either

The production is subjected to maximum allowed GOR or WC, or both.

In addition to specification of initial pressures, we also need to specify initial

This requires knowledge of water-oil contact (WOC) and gas-oil contact

Assuming that the reservoir is in equilibrium, we may compute initial phase

Then, equilibrium saturations may be interpolated from the capillary

Alternatively, the initial saturations are based on measured logging data.

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