Pressure Buildup and Flow Tests in Wells

C. S. Matthews
Manager of Exploitation Engineering

Shell Oil Company

D. G. Russell
Staff Exploitation Engineer

Shell Oil Company

Henry L. Doherty Memorial Fund of AIME

Society of Petroleum Engineers of AIME
New York 1967 Dallas
Appendix A

Solutions for Radial Flow of Fluids of

Small and Constant Compressibility

Constant Rate, Infinite Reservoir Case (1) p~ Pi as y~ 00,

The initial value problem represented by this case lim dp ql-t
is presented in Chapter 2. In summary, the mathemat- (2) y ~ 0 2y dy = 27rkh .
ical problem which we must solve is:
02p + -.!.- op = epl-tc op (Al) To solve Eq. A3 let p' = ~~ .
or2 r or k at'
Boundary and initial conditions: Then Eq. A3 becomes

= Pi =0 dp'
(1) p at t for all r. y dY + (1 + y) p' = o. . . .. (A4)

(2) (r ~~) rw = 2~~h for t > O. Separation of the variables and integration yield

(3) p~Piasr~ooforallt.
In p'= - In y - y +C
As mentioned in the text, several slightly different or
approaches to the solution of this problem have ap- p' = dp = C 1 e-l/ (AS)
peared in the literature. We have chosen to present dy y
the approach of Polubarinova-Kochina 1 because it is C and Clare constants of integration.
quite straightforward. We are indebted to H. J. Ramey,
Jr., for calling this approach to our attention. From boundary condition (2) above,
To develop the solution, we first replace the second lim dp _ ql-t
boundary condition by the condition Y ~ 0 2y dy - 27rkh .

lim op - ql-t f 0 Comparison of this expression with Eq. AS shows that

r~ 0 r a;: - 27rkh' or t > .
lim dp _ ql-t _ lim 2C _II
This boundary condition is the "line-source" approx- Y ~ 0 2y dy - 27rkh - Y ~ O l e .
imation to the original boundary condition. It has been
shown to yield identical results (from a practical stand- Thus,
point) with those obtained from solution of the problem
C1 -- 47rkh
ql-t (A6)
with the original, less-tractable condition (see Mueller
and Witherspoon5 ).
Eq. AS now becomes
Fundamental to the solution is the use of the Boltz-
mann Transformation, dp _ ql-t e-l/
dy - 47rkh y'
_ epl-tcr2
Y- 4kt . . . . . . •. (A2) which can be integrated to yield
Substitution of Eq. A2 into the differential Eq. Al
and accompanying boundary conditions gives (A7)
d 2p dp
Y dy 2 + dy (1 + y) = 0, (A3)
The lower limit of the integral in Eq. A T can be
with assigned arbitrarily. We choose y = 00 and obtain
 APPENDIX A 131

with
or (1) t::.PD = 0, at tDw = ° for all rD'

(O~PD)
00

Je-ydy + C
Y (2) = - 1, for t Dw > O.
P = - 47f'~h
q 2 •
vrD 1

11
Ot::.PD)
(3 ) ( -'0-- = 0, for all tDW '
This last equation can be rewritten as rD reD
The Laplace transform of is given 6y
p = 4~~h Ei (-y) + C 2 • (A.S)
t:.p n
00
If we apply boundary condition ( I ) to the above,
we find
P (rn, s) = Jt::.PD (rD, tDw ) e- stD '" dtnw ,
o
C2 = Pi. (All)
Finally, we obtain
where s is the Laplace transform variable (not to be
2
_ qp. [ .( epp.cr ) ] confused with skin factor). Application of the trans-
P~ - p(r,t) - 47f'kh - Ez - ~ (A.9)
form to the differential equation and boundary con-
ditions yields
which is Eq. 2.31 of the text.
This solution can also be obtained by physical and d2J> + ~ dP = s j5 (A. 12)
mathematical arguments using the instantaneous point- drD 2 rD drD
source solution as a basis. For an interesting presenta- with
tion of this approach, the reader is referred to the
book by Collins. 2
Constant Rate, Bounded Circular Reservoir Case
(1) (dP)
drD 1
=--
I
S t (A13)

~
The initial value problem for this case (from Chap- (2) ( dP) = O.
ter 2) is as follows: drD reD
2
'0 p + ~~ = epp.c op The condition at t Dw = 0 has been accounted for in
or 2 r or k ot' the transformation of the time derivative in the partial
differential equation.
with initial and boundary conditions: Eq. A.12 is simply a form of Bessel's equation and
(1) P = Pi at t = 0 for all r . possesses a general solution

(2) ( r
'OP)
ar r
W
_
-
qp.
27f'kh for t > °. (A.14)

where 10 (rD\ls) and K o (rDVs) are modified Bessel

(3) (op)
or r
= 0 for all t. functions of the first and second kind, respectively, of
e order zero. A and B are arbitrary constants whose
As mentioned in the text, this problem has been values must be determined through application of the
solved by several different authors. We shall present boundary conditions (Eq. A.13).
here the solution of van Everdingen and Hurst3 which Differentiation of Eq. A.14 with respect to rD and
employs the Laplace transform. substitution into the conditions (Eq. A.13) give
To facilitate solution of the problem, we introduce
the following dimensionless variables: Avs 11 (VS) - BvsK1 (vs) = - 1.-
's

AVS]I (reDVS) - BvsK1 (reDVS) = 0 .

If we solve these equations for A and B and substitute
the values into Eq. A.14, we obtain
(AIO)
rD = r/rw
-
p =
K 1 (reDVs) 10 (rDVs) + 11 (reDVS) K o (rDVS)
--=-:....-~--:...-=,..;-:~--'--:=--=---.::.....:::.::~~--=-.:..-.:::,~
kt
S3/2 [11 (reDVS) K 1 (ys) -K1 (r eDvs)Il(Vs)]
tDw = epp.crw2
, (AtS)
Substitution of these new variables into the differential Eq. A.15 is the Laplace transform of the general
equation and boundary conditions yields solution for the pressure behavior in a circular, bound-
 132 PRESSURE BUILDUP AND FLOW TESTS IN WELLS

ed drainage volume with a centrally located well which F(z) be the corresponding function of a complex
produces at constant rate. We must now obtain the variable. Suppose that F(z) is analytic except for
inverse Laplace transform of Eq. A15. a finite number of poles, all of which are to the
left of some line x = C'. Also, suppose that F(z)
Examination of Eq. Al5 in the complex plane indi- tends uniformly to zero along the semi-circle CDE
cates that there is a pole of order two at the origin and the segments Be and EA of Fig. A.t. Then
and simple poles along the negative real axis. These f(t) = ~ Residue ret.
F(z) ; al} where the points al
are the only singularities of the function. are the poles of F(z).
We first determine the behavior of P at small values Since we have already found the contribution of the
of s. Inversion of this equation will give the behavior double pole at the origin, we must determine the resi-
of /)"PD at large values of tDw • The behavior at small dues at the poles along the negative real axis. We set
values of s is establis~ed by introducing small argu- Z = u 2 ei'll". From Eq. Al5 we obtain

ment, asymptotic expansions for the Bessel functions

and examining Eq. Al5 in the limit as 8 ~ O. The Res{etDtoZP(Z)}= 2~i f eztDtoP(z) dz =
details of this manipulation are somewhat tedious;
however, the final result is 1
'lfi
f e-U"tD", [/ 1 (ureD) Yo (UrD) - Y 1 (Ur eD)/o(UrD)] d
u 2[/1 (u'eD) Y1 (U) - /1 (U) Y1 (UreD)] U
lim p _1- { reD2 In reD _ 'eD 2-rD 2 + 'eD2 In reD . . . . (A18)
8~O - S reD2 -1 rD 2(reD2 -1) (reD2 -1)2
The singularities (poles) are the roots a.. of the
_ (r eD
2
+1) }+l-2 2 (A 16) denominator of Eq. A18, or
4(reD -1) 2 8 reD2 -1' .
Consultation of standard Laplace transform tables / 1 (a"reD) Y 1 (an) - / 1 (an) Y 1 (a"YeD) = 0
shows that the inverse of Eq. A16 is (A19)

/)"PD -
_ 2
2
[rD2
1 -4 + tDW
]
-
re 2
D
2
lIn rD
The residues at the an are given by
reD - reD - 00
3reD4 - 4reD4 ln reD - 2YeD2 - 1 2 ~
4(reD 2 - 1)2
n=l 2 lim d'
a" U~a"du
. . . . .. (A17)
[ /1 (a..YeD) YO(a"rD) - Y 1 (a"reD) 10(anYD)]
Eq. A17 is valid for large values of time, tDW' This • [ /1 (UY eD) Y 1 (u) - 11 (u) Y 1 (UY eD)]
equation is the "long-time behavior" section of Eq. 2.34
(A20)
of the text.
To find the behavior for early values of time, we must or
apply the Cauchy Residue Theorem. The version of that
theorem which we shall apply here is as follows. 'If ; [( e-"n"tDlD / 1 2 (anYeD) [/1 (an) Yo(a"YD) - Y 1 (a,,)
Denote by F(s) the Laplace Transform of f(t). Let n=l
y 10(a"YD)] ) + (a.. [/1 2 (a"reD) - 1 1 2 (a,,)])]

(A21)
Z PLANE
By adding these exponential terms (which die out at

/
~
./ -- C B
large values of time) to the large time solution, Eq.
AI?, we obtain the complete solution given below.

2
I qp, { 2 ( YD
I p(Y, t) = Pi - 2'1fkh YeD 2 - I 4 +
c
0' \
X

.. - ---
\
\
"-
A e-a"tDlD/12 (a"YeD) [/1 (a,,) Yo (a"YD) - Y1 (a..)/O(a..YD)] }
E an[J1 2(a"YeD) -J1 2(an)]

(A.22)

which is Eq. 2.34 of the text. Note that we used the

Fig. A.I Integration path in complex plane. definition of /)"PD (Eq. AI0) in obtaining Eq. A22.
APPENDIX A 133
Constant Rate, Constant Pressure case we find that the only singularities of Eq. A.25 in
Outer Boundary Case the complex plane are simple poles at the origin and
The mathematical statement of this problem is as fol- along the negative real axis. At the origin
lows.
- 1
P = -(1n reD - In rD) (A.26)
s
and, therefore, for large time
with
!:1PD = In reD - In rD • (A.27)
(1) P = Pi = Pe at [= 0, for all r.
To obtain the complete solution we again need to
(2) (r ~~) '1' .. = 2:lh ,for [ > O. find the singularities along the negative real axis. Those
interested in the details are referred to Carslaw and
(3) pI = Pi, for all t. Jaeger."
r.
Finally, we obtain the following expression for the
If we recast the problem in terms of the dimensionless
pressure behavior at the well.
variables of Eq. A.I0, we obtain
C21:1PD
arD 2
+ 1 a!:1PD _ OI:1PD
r;ar;;-- atDw '
Pool = Pi -2qk\ [In reD -
7r
2 ~
n=l
with e-{3·"tn.. 102 ({3..r eD) ]
(A.28)
{3..2 [11 2 ({3,,) - 10 2 ({3"reD)]
(1) !:1PD = 0, at t Dw = 0 for all rD .

(2) O!:1PD
orD
I 1
= - 1, for [DW > O.
where {3n is a root of
11 ({3,,) YO({3..r eD)- Y 1({3,,) 10({3..r eD) = O.
(3) !:1PD = 0 at rD = reD, for all (DW'
Eq. A.28 is identical with Eq. 2.38 of the text.
Application of the Laplace transform to the above In Ref. 4 of Chapter 8 a slightly different form of Eq.
gives A.28 is employed to provide a basis for pressure fall-off
analysis prior to reservoir fillup in the unit mobility ra-
(A.23) tio case. This form is based on the vanishingly small
wellbore radius (rw~O) assumption. The pressure fall-
with off equation which is obtained is of the form

(1) :~ = -+~ (A.24) Since only the first term in the series expansion has
(2) PI = 0 ( been retained, this expression is valid for large values
reD )
of shut-in time only.
Again, Eq. A.14 is a general solution of the differen-
tial equation and the conditions (Eq. A.24) must be References
used to evaluate the constants A and B. In this case 1. Polubarinova-Kochina, P. Ya.: Theory of Ground Wa-
ter Movement, Translated from the Russian by J. M.
- - - - 1 R. DeWeist, Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J.
A ys II (ys) - Bys K 1 (ys) = - - ,
s (1962) 549.
A 10 (reD yS) + B K o (reD ys) = O. 2. Collins, R. E.: Flow of Fluids Through Porous Mater-
ials. Reinhold Publishing Corp., New York (1961).
Solving for A and B and substituting into Eq. A.14
yields 3. van Everdingen, A. F. and Hurst, W.: "The Applica-
tion of the Laplace Transfozmation to Flow Problems
p = 10(reDYs) Ko(rDYs) - Ko(reD\/S) lo(rDYs) , in Reservoirs", Trans., AIME (1949) 186, 305-324.
S3/2 [[1('VS) KO(reDYs) +K 1 (ys) [O(reDYS)] 4. Carslaw, H. S. and Jaeger, J. C.: Conduction of Heat
(A.25) in Solids, Oxford at the Clarendon Press (1959) 89.
which is the transformed solution to our problem. 5. Mueller, Thomas D. and Witherspoon, Paul A.: "Pres-
sure Interference Effects Within Reservoirs and Aqui-
Proceeding as with the bounded circular reservoir fers", I. Pet. Tech. (April, 1965) 471-474.