PgDip/MSc Oil and Gas Engineering/Petroleum Technology 1 Topic 26: Fundamentals of Reservoir

Fluid Flow

Topic 26: Fundamentals of Reservoir

Fluid Flow

Review

This topic introduces the student to the fundamentals of fluid flow in a

porous medium and the governing equations.

Content
Introduction

The main equation that defines the flow of fluid through a porous medium is the Darcy
Law equation. Consider a packed bed with a length L and cross-sectional area A
through which a fluid of viscosity µ is flowing at a rate q. The flow leads to pressure a
drop, ∆p (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Schematic of The Darcy Law Equation.
q
A
1 P1

∆p L

2 P2

The apparent or superficial velocity, v, can be mathematically defined:

q
v=
A

k ∆p
v=
µ L

Equation 1 A = cross sectional area

k = permeability, Darcy
µ = viscosity
∆p = pressure drop (p1 - p 2 )
L = length

© The Robert Gordon University 2001 1

PgDip/MSc Oil and Gas Engineering/Petroleum Technology 1 Topic 26: Fundamentals of Reservoir
Fluid Flow

Linear Flow Model

Consider a steady state linear flow of a fluid of a constant viscosity, µ, through the
elemental rectangular core of length ∆L (Figure 2).
Figure 2. Linear Flow Model

A
P1
q P2
q
∆L

For the linear flow, we have,

q k dp
v= =− *
A µ dL

L p2
q k
v=
A ∫
0
dL = −
µ ∫ dp
p1
Equation 2
kA (p 1 − p 2 )
q= *
µ L

v = cm/s, q = cm 3 /s, A = cm 2 ,
L = cm, dp = atm, µ = cp, k = Darcy

This can also be expressed in field or API Units:

7.318k ∆p
v= *
µ L

1.127kA ∆p
Equation 3 q= *
µ L

v = ft/sec, q = bbl/day, A = ft 2 ,
L = ft, µ = cp, p = psi

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PgDip/MSc Oil and Gas Engineering/Petroleum Technology 1 Topic 26: Fundamentals of Reservoir
Fluid Flow

Linear Flow Through Combined Layers

1. Flow in Series

Consider a linear steady flow, q, through 4 layers of cores in series (Figure 3).
Figure 3. Flow Through Layers in Series.

q k1 k2 k3 k4
∆p 1 ∆p 2 ∆p 3 ∆p 4

L1 L2 L3 L4

Assuming the cores have the same cross-sectional area A, then:

∆p T = ∆p 1 + ∆p 2 + ∆p 3 + ∆p 4 = p 1 − p 4

k 1A∆p 1 k 2 A∆p 2 k 3 A∆p 3 k A∆p 4 k A∆p T

q= = = = 4 =
µL 1 µL 2 µL 3 µL 4 µL T

qµ  L 1 L 2 L 3 L 4  qµ L
Equation 4 ∆p T = p 1 − p 2 =  + + + = *
A k1 k 2 k 3 k 4  A k

L L L L L 
∴ = 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 (k = average permeabili ty)
k k1 k 2 k 3 k 4 

LT
∴k = (n represents the number of layers)
Ln
∑ kn

2. Flow in Parallel

In the case of flow through parallel layers (Figure 4), the pressure drop through each
parallel layer is the same. However, the flow rate through each layer is a function of the
individual layer permeability.
q = q1 + q 2 + q 3 + q 4

k T h T X ∆p k 1h1 X ∆p k 2 h 2 X ∆p k 3 h 3 X ∆p k 4 h 4 X ∆p
Equation 5 q= = = = =
µ L µ L µ L µ L µ L

k T = k 1h1 + k 2 h 2 + k 3 h 3 + k 4 h 4

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PgDip/MSc Oil and Gas Engineering/Petroleum Technology 1 Topic 26: Fundamentals of Reservoir
Fluid Flow

Figure 4. Flow Through Layers in Parallel.

∆p

q1
k1 h1
q2
q
k2 h2
q3
k3 h3
q4

k4 h4
X

Radial Flow Model

This case represents the most practical condition of flow into the wellbore, especially in
open hole completions.
Figure 5. Radial Flow Model.

dr r

Consider radial flow in a horizontal direction through an elemental system, dr, at a

radius, r, from the centre. Assuming steady state flow, from the Darcy Law equation:
kA dp
q= ⋅ q = production rate, A (Area) = 2πrh, k = permeabili ty
µ dr

r2 p2
q dr
Equation 6
2πkh ∫
r1
r
= ∫ dp
p1
r1, r2 = inner, outer radii, µ = fluid viscosity

2πkh ∆p
∴ q= ⋅ ∆p = pressure drop, h = thickness
µ r
ln 2
r1

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PgDip/MSc Oil and Gas Engineering/Petroleum Technology 1 Topic 26: Fundamentals of Reservoir
Fluid Flow

In Field or API Units:

7.08kh ∆p
q= *
µ r
ln 2
r1
Equation 7
k = Darcy, h = ft, µ = cp,
∆p = psi, q = bbls/day, r = ft
and:
q
qs =
B0
Equation 8
q s = stock tank production (stb/day)
B 0 = formation volume factor (rb/stb)

Radial Flow in Series

Figure 6. Radial Flow in Series.

r1

r2
h k1 k2 k3
r3

r4

1 2 3 4

As in the case of linear flow, it can be proved that:

2πk 12 h(p 2 − p 1 ) 2πk 23 h(p 3 − p 2 ) 2πk 34 h(p 4 − p 3 )
q= = =
r  r  r 
µln 2  µln 3  µln 4 

 r1   r2   r3 
2πkh ∆p
∴ q= *
µ r
ln 4
r1

r  r  r  r 
ln 4  ln 2  ln 3  ln 4 

 r1   r1   r2   r3 
Equation 9 ∴ = + +
k k 12 k 23 k 34

p 1, p 2 , p 3 and p 4 are pressures at boundaries

1, 2, 3, and 4 respective ly

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PgDip/MSc Oil and Gas Engineering/Petroleum Technology 1 Topic 26: Fundamentals of Reservoir
Fluid Flow

Radial Flow in parallel

Figure 7. Radial Flow in Parallel.

q1

q2

q3

For radial flow in parallel, it can be proven that::

Equation 10 kh T = k 1h1 +k 2 h 2 + k 3 h 3

The above equations are valid for steady state incompressible fluid flow. For
compressible flow, the mass flow rate can be said to be constant but the volumetric flow
rate changes with the conditions of temperature and pressure as well as fluid
composition.

Compressible Fluid Flow

Gas flow is a typical example of flow through the porous medium. For such flow, the flow
rate, q, is the mean flow rate expressed as:
2πk g h∆p
qm =
r2
µln
r1

Equation 11 q m = mean volumetric flow rate

at mean flowing pressure, p m
(p1 + p 2 )
pm =
2

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PgDip/MSc Oil and Gas Engineering/Petroleum Technology 1 Topic 26: Fundamentals of Reservoir
Fluid Flow

From gas law relationship, the flow rate at standard conditions can be computed as:
q sc p sc q p
= m m
z sc Tsc z m Tm

2πk g hz sc Tsc p m (p 1 − p 2 )
∴ q sc =
r2
p sc z m Tm µ g ln
r1
Equation 12
Substituting for p m yields :

q sc =
(
πk g hz sc Tsc p 12 − p 22 )
r2
p sc z m Tm µ g ln
r1

In API units:

q sc =
(
703k g h p 12 − p 22 )
r2
Tm z mµ g ln
r1
Equation 13

q sc = SCF/day, k g = Darcy
h = ft, p = psi, r = ft

Spherical Flow

In general linear and radial flow models are commonly used to describe flow in
reservoirs. However, in some special cases, spherical or hemispherical flow may be the
most appropriate. Example illustrations of these flows are presented in Figure 8.
Figure 8. Spherical (left) and Hemispherical (right) Flow.

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PgDip/MSc Oil and Gas Engineering/Petroleum Technology 1 Topic 26: Fundamentals of Reservoir
Fluid Flow

For spherical flow, the general radial flow equation can be written as:
k dp
q = 4πr 2
µ dr

by integration :
Equation 14
r2 p2
qµ dr
4πk ∫r
r1
2
= ∫ dp
p1

4πk (p 2 − p 1 )
∴ q=
1 1
µ − 
 r1 r2 
In API units:
14.16k (p 2 − p 1 )
Equation 15 q=
1 1
µ − 
 r1 r2 
For hemisperical flow, Equation 14 simply has the π term modified:
2πk (p 2 − p 1 )
Equation 16 q=
1 1
µ − 
 r1 r2 

Special Conditions of Flow in Porous Media

Klinkenberg Effect

In general, evaluation of the absolute permeability of a core sample is done with inert
incompressible liquids. This is usually taken as the absolute permeability. However,
where a gas permeameter is used, corrections need to be made. Usually, the
permeability of a core sample measured by flowing air is greater than the permeability
obtained with flowing liquid. This is due to the fact that gases exhibit slippage at the
sand grain face resulting in higher flow rate for gas at a given pressure drop. This effect
is known as the Klinkenberg effect. The correction for absolute permeability can be
extrapolated (Figure 9).
Figure 9. Klinkenberg Correction for Gas Permeability.

Ka
K1

Kg1
Absolute Permeability
K

Corrected Effective Gas Permeability

Kg

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PgDip/MSc Oil and Gas Engineering/Petroleum Technology 1 Topic 26: Fundamentals of Reservoir
Fluid Flow

Definition of Klinkenberg Effect.

When a gas at low pressure saturates a porous medium, the mean free path of gas
molecules may become of same order of magnitude as the pore size. As a
consequence, the no-slip boundary condition on the pore wall is no longer valid at the
pore scale, and Darcy’s law is no longer verified at the macroscopic scale. In effect, gas
molecules slip on the pore wall, which increases the flow rate over and above that
predicted by Darcy’s law. This phenomenon is called the Klinkenberg effect or Knudsen
flow. Air (or another gas) at atmospheric pressure is often used for determining
permeability of porous media. Thus, if the experimental conditions give rise to the
Klinkenberg effect, the measured permeability is overestimated. Therefore, controlling
the occurrence of this phenomenon is a crucial issue for accurately modelling the
properties of gas reservoirs.

Drainage and Imbibition Processes

For a Drainage process the wetting phase saturation is continuously decreasing (as
with gas drive for a water wet reservoir) whilst in an Imbibition process the wetting
phase is continuously increasing (as with water flooding).

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