MECHANICS OF FLUID FLOW IN POROUS MEDIA

for compressible fluid

Expressed in field unit:

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Pressure Distribution in a Linear Flow System:
From Darcy’s equation,

and

This equation indicates that the pressure decline vs. distance is a

straight line for the linear flow of an incompressible fluid and that it is
independent of the permeability of the porous medium and of the
viscosity of the fluid.

Similarly, for gases,

This pressure decline vs. distance follows the parabolic law. The Fig.1
below shows comparative pressure decline for linear flow of
incompressible (liquid) and compressible fluids (gas).

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Pressure Distribution in a Radial Flow System:
For the flow of incompressible fluid in a radial system the pressure
distribution is given by the following equations:

For the flow of compressible fluid in a radial system the pressure

distribution is given by

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Spherical and Hemispherical Flow
Depending upon the type of wellbore completion configuration, it is
possible to have a spherical or hemispherical flow near the wellbore. A
well with a limited perforated interval could result in spherical flow in
the vicinity of the perforations as illustrated in Fig.4. A well that only
partially penetrates the pay zone, as shown in Fig.5, could result in
hemispherical flow. The condition could arise where coning of bottom
water is important.

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Horizontal Steady State Multiphase Flow:

Water-Oil Ratio (WOR)

By the application of the generalized Darcy Law to horizontal flowing
conditions, the effect of gravity may be neglected and the following
relationships, valid within the reservoir itself for linear flow, are
obtained:

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Dividing Qw by Qo from the above equations, we obtain

Gas-Oil Ratio (GOR)

Let us apply similarly the generalized Darcy Law to the horizontal flow
of oil and gas, making assumptions similar to those for the calculation
of water-oil ratios. We have

Dividing the Qg by Qo, from the above equations, we obtain

The surface gas-oil ratio becomes

Gas-oil ratio surface =

Where Bg = Pa Tf Z/Pm Ta is the reservoir volume at the mean pressure

Pm of one unit volume of surface gas.