.

’
*
;’, ,

,.

Laboratory Models of Oil’Reserwirs Produced

By Ndtural Water Drive
B, H. CAUDLE THE U, OF TEXAS
,> 1. H. SILB6RBERG TEXAS PETROf-EUtd RESEARCH ~MMl TTEE
~
MEMBERS AIME ! AUSTIN, TEX.
I
1’
!
ABSTRACT types have in common is fiJat part of the water
flow takes place in the water “iriva~ed region of
Reservoir depletion by natural water drive is the oil reservoir while the remainder of :he water

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typified by the movement o/ water [rem an aquifer flow occurs in the aquifer, The resistance COthe
into tbe adjacent oil-bearing formation+ Prior flow of water usually will not be the same in
studies of this type of water movement have ~ese WO regions, This occurs because the
generally neglected the resistance to flow in the porous rock normally contains ?nly water in the ,
a~uifer and its e~fect on the movement of water aquifer, while the water-invade.! region always
irito the oil bearing zone, A met ho+ for designing containa microscopic globules of bypassed oil
s
and op crating scaled mode 1s o{ ‘such reservoir (residual oil) which interfere with the flow of
systems is presented. Experimental al?ta ’ On a
water through the rock.
model oj an edge-water-drive reservoir are shown The production history of ttny type of a water:
and discussed. drive system is a function of two phenomena —
INTRODUC’ITON where the water goes, and how it displaces the
oil in the area invaded by the water. It is usually
Most petroleum reservoirs derive at least a patt impractical to study these two phenomena at the
of their productive capacity from water influx. This same time. In most caaes one vPe. of ~alysis
water may be injected from the surface or it may is used to predict the gross movement of water
come from an aquifer adjacent to the oil zone. In in the reservoir, while a different type of analysis “
either case. (he reservoir engineer must be able is employkd to determine the amount of oil to “be
to estimate the advance of the water as a function recovered from the gross volume contacted by the ,
of either tche elapsed time or the fluid produced. water.
This paper deac;ibes a type of fluid flow model The portion of the oil reservoir which is invaded
which includes the &ffbct of viscous and gravita- by water is mainly a tlmction &f the resistances
tional forces in the reservoir and the surrounding to fluid flow in the several parta “of the flow
aquifer. system. This gross water influx in the three types
Natural water influx can be divided into three of natural water drive typically results in water
~enersl (but widely overlapping] catewries accord-” cusping to the ~roductiori wells either from the
ing to the direction of flow in tie aquifer. These side or from below (water coning).
are shown schematically in pig. L Fig, l(a) In 1947, Muskat described a greatly simplified
illustrates .an edge-water-drive mechanism. Irr this mathematical model for predicting the area invaded
., case, water advances updip a<tong the stratum but by wattr in a bottom-water-drive reservoir.1 This
the movement of water is essentially horizontal model used the Laplace” equation and suitable
and very little of the oil is actually underlain by boundary conditions tO describe the isopotentials
water. The bottom-water drive (Fig. l(b)) is char- and streamlines in the flow system. The use of
acterized by” a thick aquifer underlying the oil’ this model assumes that (1) the re.mrvoir rock is
zone. The water movement is generally vertictil in homogeneous in nature, (2) the, oil and water .
the. aquifer. The third category is illustrated in nobilities are equal! (3) there ia no oil flowing-in -’
l(c). Referred tc as” the “thin oil column”, this type the watqr invaded region, and (4) external forces
of oil accumulation consi scs of oil over water in — such as gravity — do not affecc the flow, This
a relatively thin stratum. Fluid movement is
method has been used for both natural water
horizontal in both ~ oil and water zones, exc~pt drives and water injectitht projects. Irr this, As
close to the producing well. in most models, the method of images is used to
One characteristic which all three of these ceduce the size..of the model necessdry to describe
— -. -. ...—...+ .- .<... .the-reaervbii; ____ . . .. J.._._- .. .. ..—. . .. ..
Original manuscript received in Society of petroleum The assumption of equal viscosities and permea-
Engineers office July 13, 1564. Revised manuscript received —.
Jan. 18, 196S. Peper presented at SPE 39th Annual Fall i~eterencee given at end of PaPer.
Meeting, held in Houston, Tex.V Oct. 11-14, 1964.

26
MARCH, 1,965

.- ..4 . ...-” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
 ... , &
8 n
,
.- .- . ,. . ..-. ..--- .—-

bilities in the oil and water regions was recognized the studies were: ‘made using equal fluid nobilities
from the first as a serious drawback to the models in the oi 1, water-invaded, and aquifer regions.
‘described above. Muskat’ estimated the generai As mentioned earlier, the wat?r mobility in the
effect of these variables and pointed out that the aauifer is usuah’ higher than .;]e water mobility
pertinent vsriables in each region should be the in’ the water-in~~ded-region by a factor Squal to
ratio of the effective permeability to the fluid the ratio of &e effective permeabilfties to water
viscosity k./p, which is the mobility of that fluid in the two regions, k Jaquifer)/& (invaded). ‘k’bus,
in the region considered.z for each case, !setween the aquifer and the, water,
Lkter, seteral studies were reported in~which the invaded regions”, there is” a fited mobilirj ratio
water-oil mobility ratio in the oil.beqring portion which is dictated by the relative permeability to
of the reservoir was varied over the range normally water at residual oil saturation. ‘l%is change’ in
encountered in practice?~’1 one of these studies fluid mobility across a fixed boundary must be
used ~caled fluid. flow models while the other used modeled as w,ell a’s dwt change in .fIuid mobility
a mathematical model. Both, however, placed an across the moving boundary betweeni the oil. and
isopotential sutfacez’ at the original water-oil the water-invaded regions. :
contact, thirs assuming no resis’rsnce to flow in These requirements make difficult the use of
the aquifer. laboratory models of uniform permeability (such
A recent publication ha,s reported the resuits of, as the model discussed above) to represent cases

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a study on a bottom-water-drive model in wliich in which the aquifer does not contain a residual
the isopotential plane was placed in the aquifer hydrocarbon phase. If a uniform-permeability
insread of at the water-oil contacts The study model of a natutal water influx was contemplated,
. included the effects of rate of’ withdrawal and immiscible fluids would have to be used to get
original thickness of the oil-bearing section of the necessary mobility ratio between the aquifer
the reservoir rock. The model was a geometrically and the wate: ‘invaded region. Most of the scaling
scaled porous mediwh of uniform porosity ‘and goups would & similar to those described by
D&meabilitv throughout the water- and -sii-bearin~ Geertsma. et al, 6 for the cold-water-drive txocess. ,.
;ections. l!he r’es;lts show that the assumption o~ : ‘i’be mos~ troublesome scaiing group, w~uld’ be
no resistance to fIow in the aquifer can result in the one which would scale the thickness of the
materially changing the oil-production history from transition zone between the aquifer arid the oil-
that which would be obtained with the flow resist- producing portion of the reservoir prior to any
ance in the aquifer included in, the ,model, Because water influx. An appropriate similarity group, to
of scaling problems with this model design, all of scale this rbic!tnes-s’ would be 12gAp/o cos a.
Since g and cos a are fixed, the ratio AP/o must
be varied as the square of th:” length scale
1 (reservoir)/l (model) used in designing the model,
Length scales under 200 can seidom be used for
laboratory models (a length scale of ZOO would e
givd a model having wells 5 ft apart for a prototype
reservoir having weIls 1,000 ft apart). This
simHarity group is hard to satisfy with laboratory
...
models of a practical size.
l(a) — EDGE-WATERDRIVE. In several of the model studies of gross water
< movement in an oil-bearing formation, a geomet-
Kkz xxzx *a* *X ~vw
A--- ----- -:-- --- ------
rically scaled porous matrix was combined with
an analog fluid system~-g water and oil were
oil represented by, twodistinguishable, but completely
.-— .— ,.

“fly’i
I
Water
J
miscible, fluids. l%is miscibility, eliminates
residual oil which is left behind the moving
boundary in a true water influx system. Because
there is no residual fluid, the effective permea-
the

l(b) — BOTTOM-WATERDRI~. “ bilities in the oil and the water-invaded regions

will be equal to the. specific permeability of .&e
matrix, and the mobility ratio will be equal to the
inverse viscosi~ tario. The ana Iog. fluid system
and geometrically scaled matrices can be used to
study the moving ~oundaty problem for nonuni~
mob& ratios which arise in the study of water
,.
movement in an oil-producing formation.
The use of the miscible fluid atialog system
— .. — does not-result -in-a discontinuity..in .fluid.mobility .— ...
‘l(c) - THIN OIL COLUMN. across a moving boundary. Because the fhtids are
FIG. 1 — THREE TYPES OF NATURAL WATER niiseible, a zone is fofmed between the cwo fluids
DRXVE, in which the composition changes conrinuousiy
, 26 SOCIt3TY OF PSTR,OLEUM ENCINEERS JOURNAI.

..-. . . . .. ~.. . . . . .. . .. . . .. . . .. .. . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . .. .. . . .. . . . . .
... .
.,, -. -.
 ..,,
,< 1
9 .,,

‘..
J. . . . . . . . –- ..—

from one fluid to the other, The fluid mobility in original water-oil contact itato twb’ geometrically
this zone changes more abruptly than does the scaled regions, ‘l’lie aquifer region would be
concentration, because the viscosity of a mixture extended far enough that the flow in the oil-●

of two miscible Newtonian fluids of unequal bearinjs region will be the same as h would be if
viscosity is not a linear function of the coticentfation. the p&ous matrix were extended much further.
Thus the analog fluid model approaches the The distance from the water-oil conract to this
mathematical model iti requiring an assumption of arbitratj isopotential will depend on the geometry
little or no flow of, oil behind the moving water- of the prototype. Fig. 2(b) shows the model saturated
oil boundary. / with the analog fluids and before any production of
The use of th$s method also assumes that the ~oil, Since the mobility ratio betwekvr the water
oil and water act as ,incompressible fluids, Ai (in the invaded region) and thd oil is to be two,
model of uniform permeability, however, cannot the oil viscosity must be twice that of the water,
be used to represent the mobility change across This creates the mobili~ regions shown in Fig. ,:
the fixed boundary between the aquifer and the 2(b). l’i-te mobility ratio across the water-oil
water-invaded oil region. ‘lbis can be modeled contact before any water influx is 6,67. Fig. 2(c) ‘”.
with the analog fIuid system by using a geomet- shoys the mobi l@ regions during die period &f
rically scaled porous matrix in which the specific water influx. Here the mobility ratio across the
permeability of the aquifkr region is greater than moving boundary AJ& Is ttvo, while the mobility

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the specific permeabil~ty in the oil-bearing region. ratio acroas the fixed boundary & /hw is 3,3. :
The ratio of the specific permeabilities koil zone/ One practical way in which the two-permeabHity
kaquifer must be made equal to the relative permea- porous matrix can be constructed is to use a
bility to water at residual oil of the prototype consolidated sand for the oil-bearing region and
reservoir rock. an unconsoli~ated sand for the aquifer portion of
Consider’ a model of’ a res&voir in which there the model, If the model is operated in an inverted -
is ‘no residual oil in the aquifer, the mobility ratio position, with 7the aquifer overlying the -ail zone,”
between the oil and the ‘warer invaded region &/AO good capillary contact between the unconsolidated ,
is two, and the relative ps~eabili”ry r~ wat& at ;nd co;soli&ted regions will, be effected. Of
residual” oil is 0.3, As shown in Fig, 2(a), the course, this arrangement requires that the oil-
model would be divided along the line of the analog fluid be more dense than the water-analog
fluid ao that the gravitational potential gradient
would act in the proper direction.
The cofi”solidated section of the model is
saturated with the oil-analog fluid before the
unconsolidated sand is added. Then the space
for the unconsolidated sand is filled with the
water-analog fluid and the sand is added in such
a manner that no sir bubbles are ‘carried into the
fluid: When the unconsolidated sand level reaches
FIG: 2(a) — POROUS MODEL FOR A NATURAL the isopoterrtial plane, the oil-bearing region
WATER-DRIVE RESERVOIR.
contains 01 ,!talog fhiid and. the: aquifer region
contains water-analog” fluid. The difference, in the
densities of the two fluids helps to maintain a
sharp separation of th~ fl~ids. Usually, the time
involved in packing the loose sand ‘and performing
the model flood wi 11 be such that the diffusion of
one fluid into the other will not affect the results,

SCALING GROUPS FOR A NATURAL ‘

WATER DRIVE MODEL

FIG. 2(b) — INITIAL CONDITION -FOR THE ABOVE A general set of dintensionfess groups can be
RESERVOIR. obtained for modeling the movement of the water-
oil boundary in a reservoir being produced by spy
ont+ of the three types of natural water influx.
Table 1 gives the variables to be considered in
constructing and operating such models. The
first four entries describe the geometry of the
reservoir or reservoir element being modeled.
l%e symbol i refers to any and all pertinent
Ieng&s (except d and h) which ‘gre needed to
describe “the “proto&pe ‘geometrically .- The--four
te~s (Aot Aw~Aa. g A p) refer to the flow properties
F~G. 2(c) — MODEL DURING A DISPLACEMENT in the reservoir. The rerm g A p is the potential
EXPERIMENT.

MARCH, 196.5 87

.s _
 .,. . /,
,.

.. ... .. .—. . . . .. .. . . . ... .. .. .- . .. ---- -. -—. .

gradient and can be treated as a single variable establish operating conditions and fluid properties
because the fluid densities and the acceleration of for the model, while the last three groups show
gravity will influence the flow only in this corn= how the model results will be related to the
birmtion. The next four quantities designate the production history of the prototype reservoir.
opersting conditions and the results of the water The displaceable porosity term is a proportionality
influx. The last variable, l-Sor-Sew, is necessary factor whose only function ia to relate the fluid
to relate the fluid volumes fIowing in the porous volumes to the bulk volume, It can be eliminated
matrix to the bulk volume of the matrix. h is the as a separate [and difficult-to-model) scaling
fraction of the bulk volumd which is recoverable group by combining it with the volumetric flow
oil (by water drive). It could be called the dis- rate. In essence, th~ fhtjd flow rate would then
placeable hydrocarbon porosity of the porous “be expressed in tkmns of bulk @lume per unit
matrix.
time 9“ This combination should be
There are 13 va~$ables listedkt Table, 1 —
@(l -s;,” - Sew)”
counting 1 as a single variable, Accord@ to the
be made for ‘q and qw, and then @(I -Sor - Scw ) “-‘
Buckingham pi theorem; there should be 10
independent dimensionless groups which are to be may be eliminated as a separate variable i.n Table
1. In addition,’ it would be convenient and proper
numerically identical in the prototype and the
to substitute the bulk vohtme Vb for hfh any time
rnodel}o These 10 groups can be obtained by a
formal dimensional analysis or by a combination this combination appears in the scaling groups,

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and an average cross-sectional area open to flow
of inspectional and dimensional analysis.
A compIete and meaningful set would be:

scaling groups, now nine in number, would be:

1. Geometric siirdlarity grotips

blfl,
-2-’ -2-’
2. Operating conditions groups (independent
The first tkeegeometric groups establish
variables)
similarity between the model and the prototype.
Sioce 1 has been,used to represent any and all
pertinent lengths, th$re would have to be as many
terms as necesssry to establish the desired degree
of geometric aimil~rityo The next four groups
1’ i
L 3. Production history groups (dependent variables)
TABLE 1 _ VARIABLES FOR A NATURAL ! . .. “ ‘,
WATERDRIVE MODEL - ,, ,-- .>),.
;’, ‘“@. ““!<: ~ “qw

Description Symbol Dimnsions* @(l - Sar4ew ) V& ‘ “ ~b’ ,7 “

DI stance botwaen well ~ d L:
Vertical thickness of the 011 zone h L The ser of geometric similarity groups is used
Any other pertinent length (POY thlcknoss, to scale alI pertinent reservoir dimensions to the
wel I penetration, d Istanco to tho water- desired model size. This is a straightforward
al I cintact, et eJ L
operation, except for the question of where to end
Reservoir dip angle I
the aquifer region. In the reservoir, the” aquifer
Mobiltty in th, region of all flow is usually ‘Iatge enough for the water to flow as
if from a source infinitely far away. Since this
Mob I lit y In the water,invaded region source (an isopotentkl surface) in the model wili
be wh~rever the, model aquifer et+ (see Fig. 3),
J
Mablllty in the aquifer regian it should be placed far enough from $e oil-
M
production region that the flow of water in this
Patential gradient due”to the water.ol 1
donslty difference region wi 11 approximate the flow arising from a
source infinitely far awav.
Water fnf Iux rat. (al sa total praductian In the group; which ~cak the operating con-”
rata)
ditions, the selected mobility ratio across the
Elapsed time - moving boundary &/A. fixes. the viscosity ratio
Reservoir bulk valums Invadad by
wotw ~3 k/p ~ of the two miscible fltd is to be used in
L3 the model, since the fluid permt .>bilities are equal
Wat& podudon rate ‘ for a miscible displacement. The sekcted mobility
.T
_——.- Dis~lacsablm hydracarban paroslty -@(l-Sa,46w) -- 1.- –
ratio across the fixed boun~ty _Aa/~~. !~xe?..!b? --- ..
ratio” of the “permeabilities” ‘of the model ka/k ~ on
*L = Iongth T = time either side of the original water-oil contact surface.
M = mass I = dinwnslordoss The third group of this set scales the flow rate

tm “SOCIINY OF PSTROLEUit ENGINEERS JOURNAL

.. -,- --: -.. .. . .. . . . . .. . . . .. . . ------ . .. .. .. . . . .. . .. .-2 .. ..- .. —..-.. “-. ..- . ..- .-- . . .. . . . .. .
. . ..”- :.-.—. ...J”’ _. _.._’
 ,.

—.-. ,

for a given model size and permeability and a model technique described above. A model of. an
given density difference between” the two’ fluids. actual reservoir would probabiy be of. Iittle general
It is actually the rdtio of the potential gradient interest, while a thorough model study of a general-
due to the grsvitati~nal force (g A p) to the otential ized situation could show the relative effects of
gradient due to the viscous flow forces {q/ rAOACI(1- variables such as the mobility ratios (across the
SO,J=W )]], Since this is. the only scaling group moving and stationary boundaries ) and the viscous-
containing the fluid density term, the density to-gravhy gradient ratio. The assumptions about ‘
difference between,. the analog fluids may be chosen the” prototype leading to this generalization were:
to give the most convenient possible model flow 1. The reservoir and aquifer rock together
rate. consist of a homogeneous porous system, and the.
The last set of three scaling groups indicate fluids are incompr&sible. -
the manner in which the model results can be 2. The flow of fluids normal to the bedding
app~ied to predict the reservoir production history. planes is negligible. Another way of stating this
These groups show that the fractional flow of assumption, is to say that the prototype r~s”ez~oir
water in the produced stream q~q, and the consists of, thin, non-communicating strata. In”
fraction of the oJ1 bearing zone invaded by water -~effect, this’. changes the prob~m from a three-
Vi /Vb will be identical in the model and in the dimenslonal system to a two-dimensional system.
prototype at equal tilues of ‘the dimensionkss ‘3. Only weIls lying’ cIose to the originaI water-
group lqt/[@( l-.$or-fcw)k’~ll. This latter group oil contact affect the wiatqr movement as long as

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could be considered a dimenaioniess time parameter, these wells, are allowed to produce fluid. This
but it is probably mole meaningful to look upon will never be true if more than one line of produc-
it as a dimensionless total fluids produced, Since ing wells exist in the ieservoir. However, the
@(l%,+JVb is the total displaceable hy~o- relative effectk of the resistance. to flow in the
carbon volume of the oil bearing region; and qt is aquifer and the gravitational forces should be
the cumulative volume produced’ at ame t, the , similar for any si&: reservoir system.
ratio of these quantities wouId be the number of 4. The original water-oil contact in the reservoir
“displaceable volumes produced. This is a con- is close to this line of producing wells. This
venient reference axis for showing the water cut choice emphasizes the effect of all tbmse variables
and volume swept histories of the water flood. on the resulting production history. Consequently,
if the effect of one of these variables is negligible
AN EDGE-WATER-DRIVE MODEL over some range in this system, it will. probably
have no effect over this same range in most
Because of the complex geometries involved, reservoirs.
a modeI which satisfies the scaling groups for Fig. 3 shows the plan view of geometry of the
one reservoit will usuaHy not suffice for another. ” idealized reservoir. The dashed line outlines the
However, a very idealized and sinipIified edge- model element used in d-te study reported here.
water-influx modei was chosen to illustrate the Since a iine drawn through’ the row of producing
wells closest, to the aquifer does not fail on an
invariant streamline (i. e., the area on one side

I
>Frodu.in,wel,.
< of this line is not a mirror image of the .itrea on
the other side)t the model does not rigorously
represent the reservoir system as shown. However,
as ‘pointed out earlier, studies on this model “
sho~ld illustrate the effects of the three operating
0 ----- - variables rnenti oned above.
r -?
011 I Fig. 4 ia a perspective drawing of the model
/ 1’ area of the reservoir. The variablea pertinent to
Water Olt Contact I 1. this model would be those listed in Table 1,
....... ...... . ....... . .... .. .....I... . . ........ . .. .! .. ----- .. . .........
except that the potential gradient due to the
I I
I
i _ Froductlon Well
i I ,_ ,,2
Aquifer
I
I
I
I
I
i
1“ i
I ---- ----

~--1 EncI.s.. M.deI used

““t-” -1””’ ”-”-””-- - ------ -- -- ---b” -’ ----- ---- -- ----
-.

FIG. 3 — PLAN VIEW OF IDEALIZED EDGE-WATER

DRIVE RESERVOIR. FIG. 4 — EDGE-WATER DRIVE ‘MODEL.

MARCH, 1966 29
 I
/
-. ------,---,-- ..-—-------------
+ i--- .. ..—..-. ..—. .. —- . ..—. ..— —

density difference would be gAp sin d (the the sand piate to one end of a sheet of Lucite ~
dimensions are still M/U T2). Since the system in. thick, 24-in, iong and 12=in. wide. More Lucite
is being treated as tvi&dimensional, 6 can ‘rise was used to construct a box adjacent to the un-
eliminated as a separgte variable and scaling seaied edge of the con so iidated sand. This box
paranieter because its. oitiy effect wiii be on thii,... ~ contained the aquifer section (unconsolidated sand
gravitational gradient due to the density difference, usuaiiy) ‘and the auppiy of water for fiooding “the
The scaling group which is the ratio of the “model, The production. well has a l/16-iw radius
gravitational to, the viscous potentials thus be- and extended through the Lucite back plate into a
comes [AogApA @(l-Sor -Scw ) ain. @]/q; Note that valve and tubing fitting. A variable-rate piston, pump,
q/[AQ(l+ -sew)] ia the mean veiocity of the running backward, was used to measure the fiow
water fiowing acroas the water-oil contact. This rate from die production weii.
aliows the use of any 6 (except zero) in making Since the model was vertical, the pian view
the model study. Choosing d.= 90° (running the of the modei area invaded by water divided by the
modei in a verticai posjtion) would cause a model , total area was ntimericaiiy’ equai to *e voiutrte of
of any thickness to act as a two ~mensionsi the modei invaded by water divide$ by the totai
system. Thus a compidte range of the grdient volume. Thus, the modei results can be interpreted
ratio parameter was studied by varying oniy the by recording the pian view area invaded by the
fiuid densities and the withdrawal rste. water-anaiog fluid as a functiort of the cumulative .
In addition, the modei was operated with the ‘‘ voiume of fluid withdrawn from 4the production

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aquifer overlying the oil zone and the fluid weii. Early studies of this type used fluids which
densities reversed, as suggested earlier, to we~e opaque to gamma rays to record these invaded
obtain good contact between the unconsolidated areas ,xadiographicaily.g Other investigators have
and the consolidated sand portion of the model. used coicred fluids in modeis with transparent
The consolidated part of the model was made coatings and recorded the results phrxographica lly.
from O~awa sand bonded with 6 per cent (by weight) , This iattei technique was used in the study reported J
of epoxy resin; This part of the modei was made ,here.
5 x 10 x % in. thick, as shown in Fig. 5. All of Aqueous soiutions were chosen to be the analog
the surfaces except the wellbore “hnd the wa~er-oii flui,ds because a water-soluble dye would adsorb
contact edge were seaied wi#t a tratisparent less onto the epoxy-coated sand surface in the
epoxy resin: This resin was alao used to ~ttach consolidated part of the model than would an oil-”
solubie dye. A 5 per cent solution of blue, food
Liquid coloring in watec gc ve a good definition of the
.
,., . . . .. ,, .,,,. ,. Level invaded areas regardless of whether the in-place
.:. ’$:”..,, ., .. . . . . ,,,’
or the injected fl~id was dyed, All of the experi-
!...
Isopotentlal .’: * .‘
7
mental runs were made with the water analog fluid
(the inva&ng fluid) dyed blue. Glycerin& was added
\ \’ to distilied water to increase the fluid viscosity
to obtain the mobility ratios desired. Whenever
it was; necemary, potaasium iodide was used as

, *+
\ \“ a weighting agent. In the concentrations used,
potassium iodide in solution did not appreciably
[ affect the fluid viscosity. ,
15$1

I Uncmmolidated
Sand
‘ An electrically operated camera capabie
holding up to 25 .ft of 35 mm fiim was used to
of

\ record the fronta 1 advances. Panchromatic fi I,m

was. used and was developed in a two-soiution
\ developer. A dark red fiitet was used on the ‘
‘ camera legs to increase the apparent contrast
between the regions.
\\
Fig., 6 ..show$ a photograph from one of the
\ experimental runs. This picture was taken after
the start of water production from the producing
well. In this run the mobility ratio across the
moving boundary was 11.75 and the mobility ratio --
across the stationary boundary was 2.16. The
eIectric clock is included in the picture so that
Producins the position of the moving boun-&y couid be ‘
— well related accurately to the cumulative volume of
>,
fiuid withdrawn. Each of the experimental runs ‘ !
.
.1.
.- —. —. -- —... .>..
t
—.. -.. ..— -.-:.
was operated at a p~e~gt, constaqt race _of -.. -..
– .1
withdrawal.

,. FIG. 5 — MODEL FOR THE EDt3E-WATER

-. DRIVE.
I
I
80 SOCIETY OF PETROLEUM ENGINEERS JOURNAL

1
 ●

✎ ✎ ✎ ✎✎✎✍✎ ✎ ✎ ✎✎✍ . -,-. .— .

,,
EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE corresponds to the assumption of no resistance
to flow in the aquifer region. The gradient ratio
The consolidated portion of the model was
parameter, which is dependent on the oil mobility,
initially saturated with the oil-analog fluid without waa varied from the point where the~e was little
any unconsolidated sand present in the aquifer
effect of the gravity gradient to where this effeot
portion of the model. The production well was was quite pronounced. The numerical value of the
~shut in to prevent. any flow through the model. range differs for the different I mobility ratios’
Any surplus oil-analog fluid in the empty aquifer Aw/ho at@ied.
chamber was removed with an aspirator and the The entire production history of the model run
blue water-analog fluid was pdc into the aquifer was obtained from the information recorded on the
space. The unconsolida~d sand was added
film. The developed strip ‘of 35 mm film was
slowiy so that no air “bubbles would be carried
placed in a microfilm reader, and the “positions of
down into the aquifer. A mechanical vibrator
the moving boundary at various times during the
attached, to the rear of, the supporting, stand
run were. aaced onto a single sheet of paper.
helped pack the ~consolidated sand evenly. Since
this entire operation ~(from the addition of the Fig. 7 shows such a t~cing. The numbixs refer
‘ water-analog fluid) couId be done in less than 15 to the picture from which that particular boundafi~
mi$uces, there was no significant mixing of the was traced. k, this particular casi, all pictures
were taken at equal time intervals so that the
‘-. fluids at the water-oil contact. Some of the runs
numbers are proportional to the cumulative volume .

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were made withciut the unconsolidated sand in
order to make the water-oil contact an isopotential of fluids produced. A polar planimeter was used
plane. to determine the fraction of the total “area invaded
As pointed out earlier in this study, only one ‘by water for each of the boundary posirions traced. ,
geometric configuration of an edge-water drive This fractional area is the group V~/Vb.
reservoir was modeled, This particular shape As mentioned earlier, it is convenient to express
was chose~ to produce a maximkm effect of the the fractional volume invadedias a function of the
remaining operating variables’ on the production dimensionless volumes in jetted {qt/[@V& (l+., -
history. Mobility raiios across the moving boundary Sew)]), The displaceable pore Volume Vb @(l-.$o, -
wk ranged from 0.0S5 to 11.75. Mobility ratios Sew) for the modeI runs can be determined from the
across the fixed boundary ha/& were 2.60, 10.15~ data recorded &fore the breakthrough of water in
and -. This last value was included because it the production well. When the fractional volume
invaded is plotted as a function of the cumulative
volume in je~;ed, the prebreakthrough points form a
straight line. The reciprocal of the slope of this line
is the displaceable pore volume. This is shown in
Fig, B(a) for the tracings of Fig. 7. ‘J%e straight
line through these’ six points has a slope of 0.0197
and an x-intercept of -1.1. Thus the displaceable
pore volume. for this rut-i is 50.8 cc. This number
will be different for the various runs. One reason
for this k that the pump could not be accurately
preset to the desired flow rate although its flow
;ate during any one run was quite constant. This
is immaterial in analyzing the results since the
flow rate is always in tetms of bulk volume per
unj t’ time q/[@( l-S., -S=w )1. . These straight lines
seldom .pass$d through the origin, because the
picture sequence was not always started at the

--
.. . . . .. . . . --- ... ...;
16

.?2

30

40

- # “:mm~
M--”----”---’- ‘--- “-”””-” - -“ “-”------- ------
%$1
i’

I FIG, 6 — PHOTOGRAPH
RUN.
OF THE MODEL ‘DURING A FIG. 7 — POSITIONS OF THE MOVING WATER-OIL
BOUNDARYAT VARIOUS TIMES.

sl
MARCH, 196S

I . ..’. -.,
 ,,
b

—.—.. . ...—. . . ..- — .. .— . ,, _.. _

same instant that the flow was started. The x. The acaiing” parameter [A~@A@(I-J&,-.S=w )]/q ‘
intercept is a correction factor which must be used for the modei runs was aiso determined from the
to get the true volume produced for the various photographically recorded data. As pointed out “
tracings. Thus, the dimensionless volume produced eariier, @/[A@( kSor-.S=w)] is the average velocity
parameter was found by: of the water movement into the model oii zone.
me fractional volume swept ~ /Vb per unit of
Qt =(volume produced - x- time .up to the breakthrough point was obtained ~
VbQ(I - SO?- S=w) intercept) siope from the tracings (see Fig. 9). This quantity,
J when divided by the width of the modei d/2 gives
The plot of Vf/Vb vs @/[V&~l-So’f “- ~zw)l g/[A@(I-Sop - Sc~)l in centimeters per second.
(Fig. El(b)) gives the production history of the ~Putting thd remainder of the variables .~n consistent
(metric) units tesuited. in a, dimenaionfgss number
modeif.!ood in” terms of dimensionless parameters.
for the gradient ratio scaiing group.,
The wai~r cut gw/q as a function of the dimension-
Each of the runs was analyzed ~n the maaner ,
less volume ia obtained from this pIot. Since Vi/
described 9Ariier. In some of th’e modei runs, t~e
Vb ia numerically equai to dle cumulative oii ‘
data taks% before breakthrough were fitted ,to a
anaiog fluid produced (expressed as a fraction of
straight Iine using the method of ieast squares. In
the total amount producible from .&e modei), ,the
other tuna, the data were so linear that the dis-
siope of the curve at any point is the fraction of
placeable pore voiume couid be determined .,
the total amount producible from the model), the

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graphically. TabIes of originai data and typicai
slope of the curve at any point is the fraction of
the producing stream which is oil qo/q at that moving boundary positions for each experimental
point. The water cut at any time is equai to one run can be found in another p.ubiication. 12 The
minus .tbe oil cut [(9W/q) = 1 - (9./9)1. Piots of results of each run are given in TabIe 2. Production
water cut and of voiume invaded as functions of ., history curves in terms of the scaling parameters
cumulative volumes produced,, ali’in dimensionless can be constructed from the information shown in
terms, show the resuits of a modei mn. Table 2..
1.0
APPLICATION OF THE DATA
The individual production histokies fourtd in
0,8
Table 2 can be cross-plorted co obrain a predicted
production history for a prototype reservoir system
0.6 .with any given properties. Particular, c~r~ must
‘vi be taken. to ensure that the scaling parameters are
Tb dimensionless. Table 3 gives conversion factors
0.4 for putting reservoir measurements into consistent
units. With these, each reservoir variable may be
“Vok’ne produced correction factor = 1.1 converted separately or a total correction factor
0.2 for each scaiing group may be computed which
will aiIow normal field units- to be used in the
caiculationa.
0 A’ -1
0510 20 . so 40 90 60 70
The theory of similitude as applied to designing
and operating scaled models points out that a
Volume prquced (uncorrected]
complete set of dimensionless groups derived
FIG. S(a) — DETERMINATION OF Vb @(l-SO r-ScW)O through any suitabie technique must-be numerically
1..0
equai in model and prototype regardless of any
1.0
/. : -/

0,8
0,8

0,6
0.6 .

vi %
Tb ~b
k, 8 4* A + [i-s*,-scw) she
0,4 D.*. ~

0,2 ,50 .51 .+3 0.2 --- 4.772

.62. .39 ,61
— 0. 1?42 “

.s2 .17 .83

.68 .10 .90
0
1 z v 0.4 0.8 1. z
‘—---- ‘“. qlMJi+
&.?=”? .: . –
.j.
.--”. —.-. . -. —. ,
Vb! (l.sor.sew)
FIG. 9 — EFFECT OF RATE ON PRODUCTION,
FIG. 8(b) — ANALYSIS OF THE DATA. MOBILITY.RATIO = 000851, && = 10.15,

sOCIETY OF PETROLEUM ENGINEERS JOURNAL

 1,0 = 0 Q.S9 0,59 0+ t 10.15 0.21s 0,41 a, ii 0+
0, *S 0,4$ 0,44 0,48 0. 5a 0.25
0. so 0,5* o, 4s a, 61 6, 54 a. 3Z
‘j. 0. m a, M 0.5? 0,6) o. *2
1,0s a. 72 0,65 0.80 a. w
, a. DI 1.62 a. 8S a. 7b 1.09 . 0 6s
0,42 2, lb a.9a a, 87 I.Sb o. m ,
O;9J 1.99 0.06
0,26 = 0,01600 a. 30 0. so 0+
0.35 i a, $6 o.4a I 10,15 1. OZ6 a. 6) a, 61 0.
0.17 0! 41 0.57 0.66 a. b? 0.Z4
a, 39 0.46 00 ?1 0,70 a, 7Z 0.34
0,41 a. w 0.75 0.73 a. 77. o.4#
9,43 0.63 0.80 o. ?a “a. Ba b!.55
a.45 a. 14 a, 81 0,42 0. 9s 0.63
0. 4q 0.96 a. 83 a. 86 1,01 O.w
a, 67 1.97. 0. ST
0.64 . 2.01 0<S9 1 30.15 z, zl~ 0.67 0.67 04
0.13 a.~z % Z7
3.80 10.1$ ‘ o.a14z5 0,n a. 34 a+ a,73 0. ?b >0. z?
0,31 o:4a”. 0.59 0.70 a.m a. 50
0. M 0.46 a. 70 a.ai 0.93 ,. 0,55
0.42 0.$9 0.74 a. 87 1, Ob a. ?0 ,
0.48 0, M 0.70 ~ 0.91 1.21 0:79
0.69 1.46 0. Bb 0.94 3,%7 0.82
., 0,To 2.45 0,9*
a.zb) * 0,as65 0.56 0. S6 0+
3.00 10,15 0.1?30 0.x 0, SE m . 0.60 O.bk o. a8
0,39 .;6J 0. Z9 a.~o a.74 0.29 ,

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a.4S , 0,42 0.80 0.90 a, 4V
0.47 a, 51 0, sa O.qo L 16 0,7a
0. 5Z a. 67 0.62 0. qs L 35 0,77
0.63 1.96 37.’33
0.75 1.13 0. M a.263 10.15 a. a367 o. m o. 5B 0+
a.85 L 39 a. 91 0.60 0.61 w 0s
0.7a 0.14 0, Z9
3.510 10,15 0.0100 0.51 0, M o+ 0,40 0,90 0,47
0.39, 0.44 a. 60 0,90 1.16 0,70
0. 4s 0, 5b a,69 !, !5 u
0.50 a. 82 0.7$
0.56 a. 60 O,Z63 10.15 0. za85 0.6Z 0.6Z 0+
1.0?
a. 65 1.7, 0, al 0.70 0.?2 a, 20
0,71 z. M o;el 0.75 0.19 0, JO
; 0,60 0,87 J o, 4,?
a.42 0+ 0.85 0,96 Q,St
), so 10.15 0.>89 0.4Z
0,46 0.25 0.90 1.09 6 bk
a.4s
a.49 a. 5Z 0,’21
0.53 0, 5s 0.46
ab44 0.263 10,35 k.20s 0.71 0.71 0+
0.56 0.65
0.61 0.71 0,62 0,71 0.78 0.30
0.61 0.85 a, 40
a.n 1.1$ 0.75
0.83 L 77. 0. S4 0,85 0.92 ‘3,48
0.91 0,88 0, ‘?7 0,54
0,90 2.4a
0, 90 1.00 0, bD
a+ 0.9.2 I 09 a. bb
11,75 ;. O.!lonw 0.24 0, t+
0,29 0.3> O:bz
a. oa51 . 0.1775 0.64 0,64 O*
0.31 0.38 0, b?
0.44 a. 7a 0.70 0,11 0.11
a. 3Z
0 !7 0.60 0.76 0,75< 0,77 D,18
0. ii 0.03 0.80 0,83 0. z+
olii
0.49 0.90 0, B5. 0.90 0,32
1.54
0.34 0.93 &90 --- 0,90 0. 4a
z, 17
0.95 1.0$ 0.60
,, 7* ...- 1..11
..J 0, OVIX* 0. ,?6 0,26 04
0,08$1 ta. N 0,1141 0. h.? 0,62 0+
0. so o. M 0.41
0.’30 0.71 on
0.33 a. 37 a.5?
0,67 a. 75 0,71 : 0. h
a. 35 0.63
0.71 0.60 D.83 0. Z4
0. In 0.65
0:85
....
n 4! .. .. .
0.02 0,86
0.90
0,90
0.98
.0,32
b.4Q
a.49 1, 5Z 0.90
a. w 0.95 I 08 0. a6
0,53 z. N

O,zo 0.Z8 0+ 0,0851 30.15 1.772 O.G 0.65 O*

11 ’25 10 !5 0. 19)5
0.33 0,)4 0, #z 0,70 0. ?0 0.0?
0.36 O,*Z 0,41 0.15 0.76 0,14
0.39 0,49 0=xl a.no q.nz o. m
0,42 0, $b 0. 5b o. Z5 OaL!. a. Z5
0.46 0,10 0.71 o.9a 0.95 0, 1!3
0,58 1,19 D.77 95 1.05 0.50
.,
0,10 1.74 a. 85
0.0851 2,60 0.$0545 0,63 O,bJ a+
0. OZ1O 0, Z5 0,25 0+ 0.70 0,71 0. H
11.75 10,1$
0.53 0,36 0. 5a 0,16 0,71 a. IS
0.>5 0, *Z 0.64 0,40 0.85 cl..?4
0.37 a. 40 9.12 0.85 0, ml 0.32
0.41 0.63 0,0.5 a. 90 0,98 0.40
0.+8 1. Z7 0.89 0.95 1.08 0.60
0,54 1.90 a. 9Z
a. 59 z, 54 0.9Z ,0.0851 z, 5.0 t. 857 0. b5 0.65 339
0.70 a, 7a o. o?
—. a. 3a 9.30 a+ 0,75 0.76 a. I*
11.’7s 10.15 9. 9b4iz
a. il O.zs o. w 0. Sz o. .?0
0.31
0: 3Z ‘J. 34 .0,37 0.85 0.88 0.25
0.3> 0, M 9.45 b,90 w 95 0.32
0.37 0.51 &65 a. 95 1! 05 0. so
a, 41 0.70 0,78
0.45 0.64 0:263 Z.60 0.0395 a, 57 a.57 at
1,03
a 50 I. 49 a. 88 a.60 0.61 0. at
0,54 Z,oo 0.91 0. ?0 0.14 a Z9
0.62 2,60 a. 9s 0.90 0. qo 0.47
o.9a 1.16 0,10 , ,
0.40 a+ 0.95 1, M 0.17-
.1 10,
IS o. 09ZZ 0.40
0.46’ 0.46 a. 3a
0.n a. 57 0,4a
. . . .. . .. . .. . . . . ~j;. ._:$ ._ .0<47
a. 58-
a: *z l:JZ 0.’47
a. m L 11 0. @7

.,

MARCH, 196S
 .,. ,,
,,, ,~.
,.
. .. —..——-------- ------ —..-..-..
.--. -——.
-—.--.——
TABLE 3 _ UNITS CONVERSION FACTORS
TABLE 2 (CONT9D) - INDIVIDUAL PRODUCTION FOR RESERVOIR PROPERTIES
HISTORIES,
Convorsimr Focter
Fl&
PtopOrty _ English (fps) - Metric (Cgs) J
length foot 1 ft 3.0S X 10 cm
1 2,60 0.1035 9.45 0,45 0+
araa acres 4,3S6 x 104 sq ft 4,05 x J07 sq cm
. 0. 6m 0.51 0. SI
0. bi?
0, 5s
0,56
0,67
0, 3s
0,49
volume bbl S,615 cu ft 1*59X 10SCC
. . 0,68 0,90 9. bo pormoability doray 1,06x lG-l 1 sq ft ‘ 9,87x 10* cqa..t
1
O,?6 , 0,69
Viscoslt y CP &72 x lb lb/fr S-C 10+ om/Em-sec
0.82 ;?+ 0. ?#
0,87 l.?a o. so d~nsit y lb/cu ft I lb/cu ft 1,6 x 10+gm/co
4.$60 0,’79 0, IV o+ flow rota B/D “ 6.S X 10+% ft/g@ 1,84 CC!S*C ‘
I Z. 69
0.81. 0,82 0,22
0.6s 0.85 0.34
O.*a
Example: I dorcy = 1,06 x 10-lisq ft = 9.87 x 10+ sg cm
0. S6 0.89
o. M o. *Z 0.49
0,91 0,99 0, M ,
0.95 L 13 0s 10
0. 9s 1.>4 0.69
When these conditions have been fulfilled~ at
3.80 2. ho 0.708 0,49
0,53
0,49
0,54
o+
0,35
every time where
‘. 0.57
0.64
0.69
O.ba
0,7?
0.92
0.47
‘c. 57
0. 6S
rgt:t
0.74 1.07 0. 7a
1

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@(l-Sor-S=w)V& ~ = @(l-Sor-Scw)V& ~
o. 7s I.za 0.76
0.81
H 1
0.81 1. M

>.ao .5,60 0.01036 0.34 0.34 0+

the following relationships also hold:
0.37 0,39 0.41
,, 0. 5a
0. *O 0,45
0.44 0,56 0.66
0. M 0.91 0.76

u, 75 2.60 0; 2S5
0.63
0.7a

0.35
0.30
0.4s
L 36
,?,27

0, 3s
0,3’3
0.49
T
0.44
o. a9

0.35
0,51..
(%),=t)m
0,47 0.51 0,60
0. S4 0.7’3 0.78
0.62 1,14 0. S1
0.60 I. sa 0.8?

n#,75 Z. 60 0, OIIbZ 0.24 0.24 o+

0.26 0. S9 0.35 Furthermore, any relationship between groups
0,n 0.40 0,34
..-
0.3? 0.51 O.bo which is true for the model is also true for the
0; 44 0. ?3 0.69
. Oy53 L 09 0,79
reservoir. Such relationships are shown iri the
0.61 1, 5s 0,1? model production history curves. The corresponding
relationship for the prototype reservoir” an be
developed in teqns of ressdivoir variables by
lack of equality of the individual v~iakfles using the equations shown abo~e.
involved~o Thus, for the water-influx model, Suppose that the displaceable volumes parameter
letting the subscripts m and r denote model and for the model qt/[l$j @(l-so, -.s=w)*l “is to be
reservoir quantities, respectively, similitude changed to cumulative fluid withdrawn from the
requires that: reser-voir so that a plot of water cut vs total fluids
produced can be ma~e.. .,,

‘qt
($)m,=(:)r E

(+).+$), [
‘V, w-sor - SW)
1“
r

(qt),

(~)m”(?), [v& %l-s., - Sew) 1: =

and

[
~gApA9?(l-Sor
9.
_S=w)aif16
1
.-. , m
=

(qt), = vbqJ&-sew) ~ [Vb @(@o;~csu )1,.

..—_.[.__.__.: . .. . 1 . .... .. . .. . . . . . .. ... ._.. ______

1“
‘ Ao-gA“p-A@(I+o~ Z,S{W) ‘sin t? ‘--- - ‘- ‘-
.
[ 9. f- . The units of (qt), will depend upon and be

-. ....- .. . . ....... . . . .. .-.

,,- .—
 *4 .

,’
. . . . ..—. . . . ... .. . . . .__.
consistent with the units cimsen for [Vb ~ l-S., - oii saturrdon of 0.099.
~cw)lr. Relationships among’ other quantities can
3. (AJAw) = 2.6. ‘Ibis represents a rock with a
be developed in the same maimer,
rehitive permeability to water at re~tdual oil of
The results of the individitalrqs may be cross-
0.385.
plotted to show the gf~~ct of the three operating
parameters on the production history. Other publica- It can be seen. that this scaiing parameter ‘does
tions have shown the general effect ‘of the mobility not affect the production history at Iow (favorable)
ratio across the moving water-oil boundary on both water-oil mobiiity ratios, There ia a significant
areal and volumetric sweep efficiencies. There- effect of this scaling parameter on production
fore, a criws-pfot to show the effect in this particular’ histories for water-oil mobilhy ratios of one and
study has not bekn. presented. As in all other higher (Figs. 13, 14 and 15). This effect is also
studies, reported, the sweep efficiency of the greater at higher withdrawal rates. <
edge-water drive model increases with decreasing
mobility ratio across the moving bouq?ary. As
might b! expected, this effect is more pronounced
at high ~production rates, where the effect of the ‘‘
gtavitattonal gradient is ,small.
9.8 .“
Figs. 9 and 10 show the effect of withdrawal
rate on production history for the two qxtreme

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mobility; ratios studied. The data shown in :these 0.6 .

figures hre for a mobiiity ratio across the fixed +’1

Vb
boundary ~/A ~ of 10.15., For’ any given reservoir,
0. b .
the effedf of production rate is ~lven by the effect
of the g$adient ratio parameter [A. gAp @( l-S., - --- hal~ 80
m,l~. . SO. *S
‘Scw) sin ~k9]/’q,This parameter varies as the inverse a. .l—
0. ....... A*/h- , ;,6

of the production rate. These two figures show

production history curves for two different gradient
u
ratios. ‘i%e effect of withdrawal rate on th~ oii e , 0.1
Wlv,ul.8.,.*=J
production is greater at higher vaiues of mobility
ratio ~/&. However, it is not iikely that any FIG. 11 — EF~ECT OF AJAw FOR Aw/Ae = 0.08S,
increase $ oii production efficiency that might be ,.
obtained by iow wididrawal rates wwild be worth
deisying the production of the oii from an economic
point of view, ‘l%ese graphs do indicate that the 0, D .
gradient ra?io can be an important scaling group in
the design! of rese~oir models.
I The effqpt of resistance to flow in the aquifer 0. b ,

can be shown, by cross-plotting the data obtained vi

Vb,
at high production rates. This is shown in Figs.
0.4
11 through 15. Here, for the five water-oil mobility
--- hJiw . =
ratios are the production histories f& the following &h . IO, ts
—*”
cases: O,z .,,..,. hatbw. z,6

L, There is no resistance to fl;w in the aquifer

(&/~w = ‘*). 0
I 2. (4z /&J) = 10.15. ~is represents a rock which 0 0.2 04 0.6
ql/v#(t.sor-scwl
has a reiative permeability to water at resiciuai
., ‘ Fxcl. 12 — EFFECT OF &/~ ~ FOR AJAe =0. ~6.
‘
1,0

0.1
/4
.-O “
D, 6 . >.- —
.*’ 0. b
% /“’
0.4 . he8 &p A *(l.se,.s=w)Mm $
0.4
,.

0.2 . --- 0.1925

— 0.00’? 34. 0. #

0 ,
o
.--. . . .. . . -Wvb$({
.Sa;a;wl - -- -- -- .- 6.6 – 1.0 - -*.4:-–- 2.0 -- . ..2. $.– .— .3.
.

QIN-bw-s.,.ql
~G, 10 — EFFECT OF RATE ON” PRODUCTION,
MOBILITY RATIO = IL 75, &/~= 10,15, FIG. 13- EFFECT OF ~/~ FOR ~/~e = 1,

lSAitCti, 1966 8s ‘i

. . . . . ....:... . ... .. . .. .. .... ..- . . . .. .. . ... . .... ...

,,,.
. .. .
-11---:-- -“- ‘- .“. -- “. :::. ”..- ‘. .’,?:7
 ,,
“ J, ,’

.. . . ,,. . _ .- . —

.
1.0 1,0 ‘
,.

0.8

O,b 0,6 . . ...-.”

vi e. - ---

‘r
v, ------
9,4

.-. ta/iw . ■
., kJhw ● 40, Is
0. a .“,,.,,. - hJ~ = 1,*
t—
. ... . . . $J~ “ 2,b

Q ;
Lo’ Z,o 3. J
~ 0
‘,1
twb+il-#w.R#

FIG. 14 — EFF~CT OF &/&, FOR &/& = 3,8, ,

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

‘1
The ~resulrs of the edge-water-drive model have Aa = mobility in the aquifer region (& //Jw)aquife,r
shown rhe importance of considering the flow

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A. = mobility in the oil ‘zone (ho/po) ~
resistance in the aquifer when’ desi&ing a model
study of a natural water influx. The studies reported ha = mobility in the water invaded ~one (kw/
here suggest that this is particularly true for high ~w)lnvaded zone
(unfavorable) mobility ratios and high production PO = oil viscosity
rates, The effect increases as the effective pa = water viscosity
~permeabi Iity, in the aquifer approaches that in the f ,
p. = oil density
watered out region, that is, as Au/AW,approaches
. pw = water density
unity.
The niodel technique using mismible liquids as D = surface ten&i&’
analog reservoir fIuids and a two-pernieability 6 = dip angle of the formation ‘(or model)
model appears to be a practical way to represent ~ = poroai~
the production from natural water driven teaervoirs a = water-oil contact angle
in laboratory studies. It is ‘recommended that the
REFERENCES
effect of modeling the resistance to flow in the 1, Mu~kat, M,: ~rPerfo~ance of Bottom Water Reaer-
aquifer region for the bottom-water-drive reservoir vofra~~, Trans,, AIME (1947) Vol. 170, SL
and the thin oil column be studied using the method 2. Musket, M.: physical J+fncigwls of Oil Hoductfox,
outlined earIier. The’. study of an edge-water-drive McGraw-Hill Book Co, Inc., N,Y, (1949),
system reported here did not model any producing 3. Henley, IX, Owens, W, W. and Craig, F.- F.,’ Jr.:
wells farther from the water-oil contact than the 10W.. Pet, Tech, (Jan., 1961) 90,

first row shown in Fig. 4, The effect of interior 4. Hutchinaon, T. S. and Kemp, C+”&EL: “An Extended I
Analy+a of Bottom-Water Drive ~servoir Perforrn-
producing wells on the water influx pattern should ance$;, Twne,, AIME (1956) Vol. 207, 256.
be investigated.
S. Stephene, A. C... .WA Model ‘Study of. Bottom-Water
Finally, it is suggested that the model technique Drive Performence$>,, M.S, Tlaeais, U, of ~Texas
described here will be useful for d~signing and (Aug., 1962).
operating scale models of particular reservoirs. 6. Geertama, J., Croea, G, A. and Schwartz, N,:
Trans., AIME (1956) VOL 207, 11S.
NOMENCLATURE
h = distance between water-oil contact and 7, Dyes, A. ~., Caudle, B, H, and Erickson, R. A,:
a~Oil Production after Breakthrough — Aa
first row of dells in an edge - water Influenced by Mobility Ratios ~, Truna., AIME
drive reservoir (19 S4)-”VO1.201, S1.
d = dk+tance between wells s, Habermann, B.: @l?be Efficiency of Miscible
g = acceleration of .gravi~ . Diaplacemente as a Function of Mobility Ratiot’,
?%??JS,, AIME (1960) Vol. 219, 264.
k = absolute permeability 9. Slobod, R, B, H,: ~~X-Ray Sbadow-
~~ and Caudle,
k. = effective permeability to oil graph Studies of Areal Sweepout l$fflclenciea~~,
Tm?ns., AIME (1952) vol. 19S, 265.
kw= effective permeability to water
‘lo, Murphy, Glenn: Similitude in Engit4eerittg@Ronald
1 = length (any pertinent length) Press, New York, N.Y.
q= production rate (total fluids) , 11. Cheek, R E. and Menzie, D. E: ~fFluid Mapper
Model Studies of Mobility RatioLo, Trans., AIME
90 = pfiduction rate of oil (19S5) Vol. 204, 27S. :
~w = proziiction rate of water lzi, ~udle, B. Hos 8~LaboratoW, Models of Reservoirs
$., = residual oil saturation .“,Produced by Natural Water DriveC~, Ph.D. Diaaerta-
-.,~:-- .- ,. ~ ~tion: -Ttie U. of -Texas- (Aug.j 1963), - --------- -- –‘A
Cw = resiihial”-witii” 5a-tiratiO-i--””””‘“-”“-- -‘
~i. Muskat, M. $ #’Effect of Withdrawal Rate on the
t= time Udforndty of Edgewster lntruaion~’, Tnwzs.,
Vb = bulk volume AIME (1951) vol. 142, 327. ***

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