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~ _US_E _OF _AN ASYMPTOTIC SERms 1! ,;:;;.DE;;::.T;;,;:E;;,;::RM=IN:.:.;IN=G AVERAGE PRESSURE

-IN STEADY-STATE RADIAL GAS FLOW

--
T. Loucks and C. D. Stahl*

Abstract

The properties of an asymptotic series are used to determine the volumet-

LY'-I()io\rtC
ricallYAaverage pressure in radial gas-flow. It is shown that relatively few

terms are required in the series to obtain a reliable value of average pressure.

An approximate solution gives values which are suitable for field application.

Introduction

One of the most valuable aids in engineering calculations is a fast method

for determining the weighted average value of a variable. This average value then

takes on the nature of a constant which is representative of all the values of the

variable. To this end the engineer has developed many averaging methods, the most

popular by far being linear interpolation. However, when the range of the variable

is large and its variations are not linear, there is need for a more exact method

of averaging. Such is the case in steady-state radial gas flow in which the pres-

sure is non-linear with radius.

The continuity equation for the steady-state flow of an ideal gas (pv = nRT)
in a uniform porous medium is

d
dr

in which the symbols p and r represent pressure and radius respectively. This dif-

ferential equation results from requiring the conservation of mass at every point

in the flow system. Integration of this expression yields the relationship

p2 = A + B In r.

A special form of this equation is obtained by evaluating A and B such that r is

 -2-

equal to re when p is equal to pe and r is equal to rw when p is equal to rw. It

is understood that the subscript e refers to conditions at a distance away from the

well bore while the subscript w refers to conditions at the sandface. The required

conditions are met if the equation is put into the form

p2 = P 2 + (pe 2 _ pw2) In(r/rw) (1)

w In(re/rw)

This equation gives the relation between the pressure and the position in a flow

system of outer radius re (p = pe) and inner radius rw (p = pw). It is obvious that

the relationship is non-linear in nature; thus a linear interpolation would result

in an error.

In order to find the average value of the pressure, we think of the radial system

as being divided into infinitesimal cylinders of thickness 6r. The pressure within

anyone of these cylinders is that given by Equation I for the appropriate value

of r. The weighted average pressure for the whole system is found in a manner sim-

ilar to that used for calculating average permeability for a series of parallel

beds. Each permeability is multiplied by the thickness of the respective bed and the

sum of these products is divided by the total thickness to give an average value

"weighted" for thickness. In the case at hand we want an average pressure "weighted"

for the volume of the .system at that pressure. Therefore in differential form we

write the relationship

[p(r) dV(r)
p = v = Total Volume
~
in which p is the weighted average pressure in the system. The total volume is

given by n(re 2 - ~)h 0 Sg and VCr) =n r2 h 0 Sg, where h is the thickness of the

system,0 the porosity and Sg the gas saturation. Therefore with dV = 2n r h 0 Sg dr

and by use of Equation I it can be shown that

p = -r-e';;;~;-'-rwa-- !
rw
dr (2)
 -3-

Since this expression does not integrate into familiar functions it is nec-

essary to either resort to numerical or graphical techniques or to develop the

solution as a series. It is the purpose of this article to show the development of

the series solution and to suggest approximations which yield easily manageable

equations.

Development of Series Solution

The expression for average pressure given in Equation 2 is easier to manipulate

if the following constants are introduced:

(p 2 _ P 2) In(r )
w e w
In(r /r )
e w

b =

Equation 2 can then be written as

r
e

f Ja
2 r + b ln r dr
p =
r 2 - r 2
e w
r
w

Next we make a change of variables to simplify the integrand. Let, by definition,

2a
J= b + 2 ln r

to get

-- ~ exp (-2a/b) d,IJ

p -f2 r 2 - r 2 (3 )
e w

The integral in this equation depends on the limits~ and~. Therefore, if we

define
z(x) = f rx e
x
dx, (4)
 -4-

the average pressure is given by

- lb exp{-2a/b)
p = ~2 (r 2 - r 2)
e w
where

2 p 2 In(r /r )
e e w

2 p 2 In(r /r )
2 In(r ) w e w
+ = p 2 _ P 2
w
e w
(6)

2a 2 p 2 In(r ) - 2 p 2 In(r )
wee w
b = P 2 _ P 2
e w

A series expansion for Z(x) can easily be obtained by expanding eX in a power

series, multiplying through by rx, and integrating term by term. The resulting

series is
Go x(n+l/2)
Z (x) = 2 <; ---,.;;~-.,............-...,............
<:. (2n+l) (n-l)
n=l

This series is valid for all positive values of x and the problem can be considered

completely solved. However, for large values of x, it is necessary to take many terms

.of this series to get the correct value of z{x). Although this is no problem on a

digital computer, the series of Equation 7 becomes very unattractive when hand calcu-

lations are being made. Therefore, it would be desirable to have another series in

which fewer terms are needed to arrive at Z(x) for the larger values of x. Such a

series can be generated by integrating Z(x) by parts. The resulting integral is again
 -5-

integrated by parts; this is continued until the following form is recognized:

z()
X = ~ eX (1 - 2xl
\/X
1
... ) (8)

This series has the unusual property that for 2 X ~l each term is less than the pre-

ceding term only for a finite number of terms. Then the terms begin to increase in

magnitude. Therefore, the use of more terms does not necessarily improve the accuracy

of the summation -- in fact, there is an optimum number of terms to be used for each

value of the argument. Any additional terms taken after this point in the series

decrease the accuracy of the answer. This may appear to be more troublesome than

the convergent series of Equation 7. Its value, however, rests in the fact that the

number of terms required to reach the optimum accuracy is much less than the number

of terms required in the convergent series to obtain the same accuracy. This advan-

tage becomes increasingly important for the larger values of the argument.

Approximating the Solution

It is useful to consider an example calculation in order to appreciate the mag-

nitude of some of the quantities. For the case in which

p = 1000 psi, P = 100 psi, r = 1000 ft, r

e w e w
= 1/2 ft,

it is found that~ = 15.35 and~ = .15. Corresponding to these we get

z(~) = 1.76 x 107 and z(~)is less than 1. Using these in Equation 5 gives

p = 964 psi. In view of these calculations we notice that in field applications the

average pressure can be approximated by

- . 11 exp(2-a/b)
p =~2 r 2
e

Substituting the forms of~ in Equation 6 into the asymptotic series it is found

after simplification that

P ;, Pe (1 -
1
I - I2
1 _ 1'"3
7 - ... )
 -6-

where
4 p
e
2 In(r /r )
e w
~ =P 2 _ P 2 (10)
e w
This form is very easy to use since usually not more than two or three terms are
needed for three-place accuracy.

If we further stipulate that p 2 is negligible compared to p 2 and that r is

W e e
greater than 500 r , then ~ ; 4 In(r /r ) and only the first two terms are needed
w e w
in Equation 9. Therefore, we get the following approximation:

- ,.= p
p (11)
e

This very simple expression for the average pressure in radial gas flow should be

very useful in most field applications. For the example problem, Equation 11 gives

p = 967 psi compared to the exact value of p = 964 psi, a deviation less than one-

third per cent. However, if the approximations we have made are not valid in a given

flow system, the exact solution (Equation 5) can be used with either the convergent

series (Equation 7) or the asymptotic series (Equation 8).

Conclusions

The expression for the average pressure in a radial gas flow system is a rather

unwieldy integral. However, through the use of an asymptotic series a very simple

approximation was found which is valid for most field applications. Even for those

cases in which the simplifying approximations are not valid, the exact series solu-

tion is much easier to use than either numerical or graphical techniques.

Table of Nomenclature

p = pressure, am

pw = pressure at inner radius ~, am

pe = pressure at outer radius re, atm

ln = natural logarithm
r = radial distance, cm
 -7-

rw = radius of inner boundary, cm

re = radius of outer boundary, cm

p = volume weighted average pressure, atm

h = thickness of cylindrical system, cm

o= porosity

Sg = fraction of pore space available to gas flow

~ a function of radial distance r

Z{x) = defined as ~JS{ eX dx

* Contribution Number 60-105

College of Mineral Industries

The Pennsylvania State University