Gas well testing

Differences in flow behavior of gases compared to liquids:

the compressibility c and the viscosity are pressure-dependent
therefore, a concept of "real gas pseudo-pressure has been introduced to adopt the general
diffusivity equation to the conditions of the real gas flow in porous media

=> p0 is an arbitrary reference pressure which can be excluded if the initial pressure p1 and
the final pressure p2 are defined
Comparison between m(p) and p:
chart for gases primarily consisting of methane

the function p/z is linear with respect to pressure in the range of 1 MPa < p < 15 MPa
=> low pressures
=> z = const
=> thus for pressure changes within this range we can infer

the function p/z is almost constant for the pressure range p > 30 Mpa
=> high pressures
=> p/z = const
=> thus for pressure changes within this range we can infer

=> C = 2(p/z)average

Linearization of the diffusivity equation for real gases:

=> this equation is linear only when

=> in fact, over a limited range of pressure this term only varies slightly
=> therefore, this term is commonly calculated for initial pressures
=> consequences
=> any solution of this linearized equation is an approximation
=> the smaller the pressure range, the better the approximation
=> the principle of superposition is not strictly valid for gas flow
Dimensionless solution of the diffusivity equation for real gases:

=> identical to the dimensionless solution of the diffusivity equation for slightly
compressible liquids
=> every solution of the diffusivity equation obtained for the slightly compressible liquid
can be applied to real gases when instead of pD we use mD
Non-Darcy flow:
Forcheimer equation
=> considers flow governed by both viscous and inertial forces

integration of this equation for semi-steady state flow conditions yields a fundamental
equation

Flow-after-flow test:
gas well test in which one flow rate immediately follows another
each flow period reaches stabilized flow (constant rate of production)
the bottomhole flowing pressure pwf at the end of each flow period is used to calculate gas
well deliverability (calculated or measured rate of production)
performed at semi-steady state flow conditions
the integrated Forcheimer equation for semi-steady state flow conditions can equivalently
expressed as

=> plotting m(p) m(pwf)/qsc vs. qsc yields a straight line

=> with the slope b
=> and the y-axis intercept a

productivity index PI
open flow potential AOF