A Numerical Model Coupling Reservoir and Horizontal Well Flow Dynamics: Transient Behavior of Single-Phase Liquid and Gas Flow

R. Vicente, C. Sarica, T. Ertekin

Research output: Contribution to conferencePaperpeer-review

11 Scopus citations

Abstract

A fully implicit, three-dimensional simulator with local refinement around the wellbore is developed to solve reservoir and horizontal well flow equations simultaneously, for single-phase liquid and gas cases. The model consists of conservation of mass and Darcy's law in the reservoir, and mass and momentum conservation in the wellbore for isothermal conditions. The coupling requeriments are satisfied by preserving the continuity of pressure and mass balance at the sandface. The proposed simulator is tested against and verified with the results obtained from a commercial code ECLIPSE-100™, and available public domain simulators and semianalytical models. The model can be used to simulate the transient pressure and flow rate behavior of both the reservoir and the horizontal wellbore. Traditional decoupling of the wellbore transients from the reservoir transients does not capture the horizontal well pressure and flow rate transients at early times since the interaction between the reservoir and wellbore is inherently neglected. Simulation runs with the proposed model reveal the actual characteristics of horizontal wellbore storage and unloading. The effects of permeability, formation thickness, well length, and fluid compressibility are also studied.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages1-11
Number of pages11
DOIs
StatePublished - 2000
EventProceedings - SPE Eastern Regional Meeting - Morgantown, WV, United States
Duration: Oct 17 2000Oct 19 2000

Other

OtherProceedings - SPE Eastern Regional Meeting
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityMorgantown, WV
Period10/17/0010/19/00

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Engineering

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'A Numerical Model Coupling Reservoir and Horizontal Well Flow Dynamics: Transient Behavior of Single-Phase Liquid and Gas Flow'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this