A new method of pressure drop modelling in sandstone rocks

Abstract

Production capacity of any hydrocarbon reservoir is the most important question that needs to be answered. This depends on both the obtainable drawdown between the well and reservoir and the petrophysical properties (pore size distribution, wettability properties, saturations etc.) of the porous rock material. Permeability, introduced by Darcy is the parameter describing restrictions present during fluid flow in porous media. Although this method is the one currently accepted and implemented in the industry it has a major flaw because it considers flow in the geometric (total) rather than the effective volume, where it truly develops. During this study a new approach of flow restriction modelling was found, where flow restrictions, measured from sandstone plug samples were compared with the theoretic flow volumes which are equal to the total pore volumes, constructed of steel capillaries of equal diameter. Results show that flow restrictions of incompressible fluids in sandstone can be demonstrated by the new model.