Preparation and Testing of Low Permeability Porous Media To Meet Scaling Requirements for Gas Reservoir Modeling
Authors: Evers John F. , Preston Floyd W. , Sadiq Shehzad , Swift G.W. 
Published: December 2007

Proper scaling of unsteady-state flow in laboratory gas reservoir models can be achieved in the permeability/fractional porosity ratio is less than 0.5 md. Porous media meeting this specification can be obtained from mixtures of sand and Portland cement provided

- the water/cement ratio is in the range of 0.35 to 0.40,

- the sand/cement ratio is in the range of 1/1 to 2/1,

- the sand grain size is in the range of 48–100 to 18–28 mesh,

- the mortar curing time is 7 days or more and

- the cured mortar is dried under vacuum to reduce the temperature level employed during the drying process.

The areal homogeneity of the mortars tested is reasonably good, although significant trends in vertical permeability were noted. The Klinkenberg and non-Darcy coefficients of mortar are such that proper scaling of these effects in the laboratory model could be expected.

Introduction

A long term deliverability prediction for a gas well is generally based on data determined from flow tests that are of short duration relative to the producing life of the well. These data, together with an estimate of gas reserves in place, form the basis for establishing the parameters of the mathematical model used to predict performance at future times. Results obtained from a mathematical model represent only an interpretation of the physical process being modeled. Experimental verification of the production process from discovery to abandonment is needed where production occurs under carefully controlled conditions. Ideally, one might consider such an experiment to be conducted in the field. Even if the cost of such an experiment could be justified, the time required would make it impractical to consider. However, if the time scaling problem could be handled properly, an experimental model of the gas reservoir production process could provide the necessary data to study the mechanisms of the production process in a reasonable time period.

An experimental model has been designed and constructed using the data of this study as a basis. The model reservoir system consists of one producing well located at the center of a right-circular cylinder of porous material. Ten to 15 observation wells are located at strategic offset positions from the producing well. These wells, and the producing well, are fitted with pressure transducers so that the pressure-time history can be recorded at various radial and azimuthal positions in the drainage area during the entire production life of the system. Time is scaled in the model so that the time required to produce gas from discovery pressure to abandonment pressure is about 2 hours. This compares with a 20-year producing life in the model's field counterpart and gives a time scale factor of approximately 1:100,000.

DESIGN CRITERIA

To establish design criteria for the experimental model, the reservoir is considered to be a finite right-circular cylinder of radius r, and height h with a producing well of radius r, located at the center and completed through the producing formation. This reservoir consists of a porous medium which has a uniform permeability k and gas porosity and the gas contained in the reservoir has density, viscosity and molecular weight. Initially, the pressure at all points within the reservoir is uniform at, and the reservoir temperature is .