Solution of the nonlinear diffusivity equation in

heterogeneous reservoirs

Done By: Wisam Istifan

Abdullah Hussain
Introduction

 We consider the application of the Finite Element Method (FEM) for numerical pressure transient analysis where no
reliable analytical solution is available.

 The pressure transient response of the reservoir is a widely used method for reservoir characterization.

 extracting a true reservoir parameter, a wellbore model is required.

1) empirical correlations,

2) homogeneous models

3) mechanistic models
Diffusivity Equation

Most of the theoretical treatments of pressure transient analysis well situated in a porous medium of infinite radial extent and assume that
the fluids flow to a central cylinder in the following flow equation:

where ρ is the density of the formation fluid, ϕ is porosity, u is the fluid velocity vector and t is time.

Flow of the fluid in the porous media is assumed to follow the form of Darcy’s law where ∇D is a unit vector in the direction over which
gravity acts:

Substituting Darcy’s equation into the first equation yields:

Is Analytical solution Possible?

In this equation Wellbore storage is considered which is accumulation of fluid in the wellbore in addition to phase
redistribution in the well bore:

here Cϕ is a measure of the potential pressure increase due to gas phase redistribution and τ is the rise time of the gas bubbles, dpw is the
instantaneous bottom-hole flowing pressure.

In case of wellbore storage with phase redistribution, the diffusivity equation is nonlinear.

The diffusivity equation can not be solved analytically because of multiple reasons:

• significant phase redistribution effect in the wellbore

• Spatial variation of porosity and permeability

• non-ideal wellbore storage effects and phase redistribution

Model characteristics

 The reservoir is divided into two zones: near

wellbore damaged zone and undamaged zone.

 The wellbore radius is 0.1 m, the outer reservoir

radius is 1000 m
Verification

to verify the performance of numerical solution, the results are

compared with analytical solution

Case 1: homogeneous reservoir without any wellbore

storage and skin effects

The reservoir is a very large homogenous reservoir, where the

pressure transient response does not reach the outer boundary
and acts as an infinite acting reservoir.

In order to validate the numerical model, the numerical

pressure transient response of a homogeneous reservoir
without any effects of wellbore storage and skin is compared
with its analytical solution as shown in Fig. 2.
Case 2: homogeneous reservoir with wellbore storage and skin effect

In this case the well is open or closed on the surface and there is the possibility of expansion or contraction of the wellbore fluid but no
phase redistribution.

The wellbore storage effect is observed in the early portions of the pressure response and appears as a hump on the log–log plot that
gradually vanishes at later times where the flow becomes purely radial.
• Case 3: homogeneous reservoir with phase redistribution and skin effects

In this case the well is shut in on the surface and a phase redistribution phenomenon is assumed to occur during wellbore
storage. The inner-boundary condition is calculated using phase redistribution equation.

The Numerical Solution is compared to the semi analytical one in the following graph:
Conclusion

We presented a numerical solution for the nonlinear diffusion equation based on the finite element method (FEM)
that can be used without any restrictive a priori assumptions. , the solution can be obtained for heterogeneous
media and handling problems involving wellbore storage with significant phase redistribution.