Research - Potentiometric-model Studies of Fluid Flow in Petroleum Reservoirs (TP 2262 Petr. Tech., Sept. 1947)

A simplification of the method of Hurst and McCarty for conducting potentiometric model studies by the single probe method is presented along with experimentally determined invasion patterns for certain idealized flow problems. The analytical solution for one class of these problems is given. Finally, a general description is given of a newly developed instrument which permits direct mapping of flow lines and determination of transit times in potentiometric-model studies. Introduction The object of this paper is to present: I. A simplification of the method of Hurst and McCarty for conducting poten-tiometric-model studies of oil and gas reservoirs by the single probe method. 2. Results of a series of studies of certain idealized flow problems and the general conclusions to be drawn therefrom. 3. A description of a new instrument, the Chronocartograph, which greatly reduces the labor and time required for conducting potentiometric-model studies. Certain general conclusions may be drawn as results of the investigation of the idealized flow problems. They are: I. Injection and extraction areas should be separated by as great a distance as conditions permit since, in general, the recovery prior to first breakthrough tends to vary as the square of this distance. 2. Little advantage is to be gained by use of more than eight injection wells or groups of injection wells for the case of circular productive limits. 3. Elongated shapes of productive limits are best exploited by injection on the extended major axis only, with a line of extraction wells lying on the major axis. 4. The use of peripheral injection wells for elongated shapes is permissible, if necessary, but requires extension of the line of extraction wells. The exploitation of an oil or gas field is effected either by the expansion of the gas and oil, or by their displacement by another fluid. Both methods may be used simultaneously. When the displacement of the oil or gas is the controlling factor there arises the problem of mapping the progress of the boundary between the fluid in place and the displacing fluid. This problem is of particular interest in the operation of a cycling project in a gas-condensate field, where the wet gas is produced from one or more wells, commonly called "extraction wells.'' This wet gas is taken into a processing plant where the condensate is removed. The remaining "dry" gas is injected back into the field through one or more wells, called "injection wells," both to conserve the gas for future use and also to maintain the pressure in the field. In an operation of this type it is essential to anticipate the manner in which the dry gas will spread through the field, because the ultimate recovery of the wet gas depends