Vietnam National University - Ho Chi Minh City
University of Technology
Faculty of Geology & Petroleum Engineering
Department of Drilling - Production Engineering
Course
Reservoir Simulation
Trần Nguyễn Thiện Tâm
[email protected]
Chapter 2
Basic Single-Phase-Flow Equation
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References
Turgay Ertekin, Jamal H. Abou-Kassem, Gregory R. King. Basic Applied Reservoir
Simulation. Society of Petroleum Engineers, 2001.
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Contents
❑ Derivation of flow equations
❑ 3D single-phase flow
❑ Quantities in flow equations
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Derivation of flow equations
▪ Conservation of mass
▪ Conservation of momentum
▪ Constitutive equation
▪ Single-phase fluid system
▪ Boundary condition
▪ Initial condition
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Conservation of mass
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:
{Mass into the element at x} – {Mass out of the element x + Δx} = {Rate of change of mass
inside the element}
or
{u A}x − {u A}x +x = Ax
t
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Conservation of mass
{u A}x − {u A}x +x = Ax
t
Dividing by Δx , and taking the limit as Δx goes to zero, we get the conservation of
mass, or continuity equation:
− ( A u ) = A ( )
x t
For constant cross sectional area, the continuity equation simplifies to:
− ( u ) = ( )
x t
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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:
k P
u=−
x
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Constitutive equation
• Constitutive equation for porous materials
• Constitutive equation for fluids
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Constitutive equation for porous materials
To include pressure dependency in the porosity, we use the definition of rock
compressibility:
1
cr =
p T
Keeping the temperature constant, the expression may be written:
d
= cr
dp
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Constitutive equation for fluids
Recall the familiar fluid compressibility definition, which applies to any fluid at
constant temperature:
1 V
cf = , f = o, w, g
V p T
Equally familiar is the gas equation, which for an ideal gas is:
PV = nRT
and for a real gas includes the deviation factor, Z:
PV = nZRT
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Constitutive equation for fluids
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. The definitions of formation volume factors and solution gas-oil
ratio are:
volume at reservoir conditions
B=
volume at standard conditions
volume of gas evolved from oil at standard conditions
Rso =
volume of oil at standard conditions
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Single-phase fluid system
• Single-Phase Gas
• Single-Phase Water
• Single-Phase Oil
• Single-Phase Fluid Model
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Single-Phase Gas
gSconstant
g = =
Bg Bg
ρgS, ρg: densities of gas at standard and reservoir conditions, respectively
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Single-Phase Water
wSconstant
w = =
Bw Bw
ρwS, ρw: densities of gas at standard and reservoir conditions, respectively
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Single-Phase Oil
oS + gS Rso
o =
Bo
ρoS, ρo: densities of gas at standard and reservoir conditions, respectively
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Single-Phase Fluid Model
For all three fluid systems, the one phase density or constitutive equation can be
expressed as:
const
=
B
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Single-Phase 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:
− ( u ) = ( )
x t
Substituting the momentum equation and the fluid model into the continuity equation,
and including a source/sink term, we obtain the single phase flow in a 1D porous
medium:
k P =
const
u=−
x B
k p k p qsc
= + =
x B x t B x B x Vb t B
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Boundary condition
We basically have two types of BC's
▪ Pressure conditions (Dirichlet conditions)
▪ Rate conditions (Neumann conditions)
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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:
p (x = 0, t > 0) = pL (Pressure at left boundary)
p (x = l, t > 0) = pR (Pressure at right boundary)
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. Strictly
speaking, this is not a boundary condition, but the treatment of this type of condition is
similar to the treatment of a boundary pressure condition.
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Neumann conditions
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:
kA p kA p
QL = − , QR = −
x x =0 x x =l
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.
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Initial condition
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:
p(x, t = 0) = p0
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:
p (z, t = 0) = pref + (z – zref)ρg
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3D single-phase flow quan trong
The equation for 3D single-phase flow in field units for horizontal reservoir is as
follow:
Ax k x p Ay k y p Az k z p Vb
c x + c y + c z + qsc =
x B x y B y z B z c t B
k x P k y P k z P
ux = −c u y = −c uz = −c
x y z
Ax = Δy. Δz, Ay = Δx. Δz, Az = Δx. Δy
Vb = Δx. Δy.Δz
βc = 0.001127 k p qsc
+ =
αc = 5.614583 x B x Vb t B
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Quantities in flow equations
Quantity Symbol System of Units
Customary SPE Metric Units Lab Units
Units
Length x, y, z, r ft m cm
Area A, Ax, Ay, Az, Ar, A ft2 m2 cm2
Permeability k, kx, ky, kz, kr, k md darcy
Phase viscosity , o, w, g cp mPa.s cp
Gas FVF B, Bg RB/scf m3/std m3 cm3/std cm3
Liquid FVF B, Bo, Bw RB/STB m3/std m3 cm3/std cm3
Solution GOR Rs scf/STB std m3/std m3 std cm3/std cm3
Phase pressure p, po, pw, pg psia kPa atm
Phase potential p, po, pw, pg psia kPa atm
Phase gravity Ф, Фo, Фw, Фg psia kPa atm
Gas flow rate qsc, qgsc scf/d std m3/d std cm3/sec
Oil flow rate qsc, qosc STB/d std m3/d std cm3/sec
Water flow rate qsc, qwsc B/d std m3/d std cm3/sec
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Quantities in flow equations
Quantity Symbol System of Units
Customary Units SPE Metric Units Lab Units
Block bulk volume Vb ft3 m3 cm3
Compressibility c, co, cϕ psi-1 kPa-1 atm-1
Compressibility factor z dimensionless dimensionless dimensionless
Temperature T 0R K K
Porosity ø % % %
Phase saturation S, So, Sw, Sg % % %
Relative permeability kro, krw, krg % % %
Gravtational acceleration g 32.174 ft/sec2 9.806635 m/s2 980.6635 cm/sec2
Time t, Δt day day sec
Angle rad rad rad
Transmissiility conversion c 0.001127 0.0864 1
factor
Gravity conversion factor γc 0.21584.10-3 0.001 0.986923.10-6
Volume conversion factor αc 5.614583 1 1
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