Exact Solutions for InfiniteConductivity Wells

Paul Papatzacos, SPE, Rogaland Research Inst.

Summary. In pressure transient testing, the infinite-conductivity condition translates mathematically into a
uniform-pressure (or uniform-potential) condition at the well. This means the flux at different points of the well
should be determined in such a way that potential remains uniform at the well. The integral equation for
accomplishing this is solved analytically to yield the Laplace-transformed potential. For fractured-well problems,
this leads to a relatively fast algorithm for drawing type curves directly on a computer screen. For limited-flowentry problems, the analytical pressure expression can be used with the method of images to treat problems in
reservoirs of finite thickness and/or areal extent.
Introduction
One traditionally thinks of a well as having infinite conductivity in the direction parallel to its axis. This assumption is also included as a standard option in most numerical
reservoir simulators. In pressure transient testing, the concept is important for wells with limited flow entry and
for fractured wells.
The infInite-conductivity condition translates mathematically into a uniform-pressure (or rather uniform-potential)
condition at the well. This means that the flux at different points of the well is unknown a priori and must be
determined in such a way that potential is uniform at the
well. Muskat 1 recognized that this amounts to solving an
integral equation. Muskat and later Gringarten and
Ramey 2 showed how to solve the integral equation formulation numerically by dividing the source into small
elements, each having uniform flux. To determine these
elementary fluxes, two conditions must be applied: they
must sum to the required total rate and they must produce
a uniform potential at the well. This method was applied
by Gringarten and Ramey 3 to "the limited-flow-entry
problem and by Gringarten et at. 4 to the fractured-well
problem.
In the present paper, this integral formulation is solved
analytically to yield the Laplace-transformed potential.
For the fractured-well problem, the purpose of this calculation is to obtain an expression for the pressure that
leads to a relatively fast algorithm for drawing type
curves, both for single-well testing and for interference
testing, directly on a screen. It is usually easier to obtain
numerical results from analytical expressions than from
their nonanalytical analogs.
For the limited-flow-entry problem, on the other hand,
the purpose of the calculation is different. Because the
reservoir is considered to be infinite, both laterally and
in thickness, type curves would not have a direct reservoir
engineering application. The interest in an analytical expression in this case lies in the possibilities it offers in
conjunction with the method of images to treat problems
in reservoirs of fmite thickness and/or finite areal extent.

Copyright 1987 Society of Petroleum Engineers

SPE Reservoir

Em:rinf'prin~

Mil"

10~7

One such problem of interest is the calculation of limitedflow-entry pseudoskin 5 ; another is water coning. 6 Some
details about the treatments of these problems will be
given.

Limited-Flow-Entry Problem
Dimensionless Variables and Spheroidal Coordinates.
.The situation considered is that of a line-source well with
limited flow entry in a reservoir that is infinite in all three
dimensions. As shown in Fig. 1, the axes are chosen so
that the perforated wellbore covers Interval (-a, +a)
along the z axis. Note that, because of symmetry across
the xy plane, one is also solving the problem of a semiinfinite reservoir with a horizontal no-flow upper boundary, and a line-source well perforated from the top downward to the depth of a.
k H and k y are the permeabilities in the horizontal and
vertical directions, respectively. Dimensionless coordinates are defined as
XD =(ky/kH ) Ih(x/a), ..................... (1a)

YD =(ky/kH ) 1h(Y/a), .................... (lb)

and
ZD =z/a,

(lc)

and dimensionless time as

2.367 X 10 -4 kyt
-----

(2)

.pl-'c t a 2

The pressure potential,

.p=p-P o zl144.0,

(3)

can easily be shown to 'obey the same diffusion equation

as the pressure, p. An expression for.p can be written
in terms of the appropriate Green function and of an
unknown source function. 3 The latter must be determined
217

x
-a

+a

z
Fig. 1-Limlted-flow-entry problem. The well Is perforated
along Interval (- a, + a) on the z axis (thick line).

in such a way that cI> does not vary with z at the wellbore.
At this point, it is. important to choose a system of coordinates that allows an easy representation of the linesource well: prolate spheroidal coordinates, 4 (~,a.,{j), related to the usual Cartesian coordinates by the following
equations.

x D =sinh ~ sin a. cos {j,

YD = sinh ~ sin a. sin {j,

Fig. 2-Limlted-flow-entry problem. Sections of a plane

containing Z D with ~.constant and a-constant surfaces.
The resulting ellipses and hyperbolas are labeled by the
corresponding ~ and a values (a Is In degrees).

We can now write an expression for the dimensionless

potential, 4> D, in terms of the unknown dimensionless
flux along the well, qwD (see Appendix A for a derivation and for the definition of q wD):

4>D =

(4a)

(6)

4J;(tD -tv)%

(4c)

These new coordinates are restricted to .the intervals

O~~~oO, 0~a.~'1I", and 0~{j~2'11".
The surfaces with ~ constant are rotational ellipsoids,
while the surfaces with a. constant are rotational hyperboloids (of two sheets). The axis of rotation for both these
families is the ZD axis. The surfaces with {j constant are
planes containing the ZD axis. Because of the rotational
symmetry, it is useful to introduce

r D -_(XD2 +YD2)1h_'nh
- SI . c;t. SID
a... . . . . . .. . . . . . . . (C)
:J

The sections of some constant-~ and constant-a. surfaces

with an arbitrary rD,ZD plane are shown in Fig. 2. The
ellipsoids become thinner as ~ becomes smaller. The ellipsoid for ~ = 0 has degenerated into Segment( -1 , + 1)
on the ZD axis. In other words, the producing interval
of the well, given by XD =0, YD =0, -1 ~ZD ~ + 1 in
Cartesian coordinates, is simply 'given by ~ =0 in spheroidal coordinates. An arbitrary point at the wellbore has
a ~ coordinate equal to zero and an a. coordinate in Inter'
val (0,'11").
218

r'll"

dtv J da.' sin a.' qwD(a' ,tD)

0

.e _[R 2 /4(I D -Ih)]

(4b)

and
ZD = cosh ~ cos a.

riD

where
4>D

ak H

- - - ( 4 ) i -4

(7)

141.2j.tqt

and

R 2 = (sinh ~ sin a)2 + (cosh ~ cos a-cos a.')2.

..............."

(8)

Note that R2 =rJ +(ZD -ZV)2 and that 4> D depends on

~, a., and tD' By setting ~=O in Eq. 6, we obtain cID
at the wellbore, which we denote by 4>wD(tD), thus
making explicit the fact that it is uniform along the wellLe., independent of the coordinate a.:

e -[R; /4(t D -th)]

x

4J;(tD -tv)%'

(9)

SPE Reservoir Engineering, May 1987

In Eq. 9, R w is the expression obtained from Eq. 8 by

setting ~ =0. One must be careful, however, because
~ wD is known to be infinite f?r a line-so~rce well. To
avoid infinities in the calculatIons, we wnte
. a ,)2
R; = (sinh ~w sin a) 2 +(cosh ~w cos a-cos

............................ (10)
and let ~w go to zero. This limiting process will be i~d~
cated at the proper place later. In other words,lt IS
assumed that the well is a thin ellipsoid that is forced to
degenerate to a line. The question arises w~ethe~ it ~ould
be more realistic to model the well as a thm elbpsOld by
choosing a ,small but nonzero v~ue. for ~ w' thus. a~o~d
ing the difficulties of taking the bmlt ~ ~ ~O: ThIS IS mdeed possible, but it should be kept ~n mmd that the
solution given here is then only approX1m~te. because an
ellipsoidal well (with ~ w 0) has a nonvamshmg surface,
while the Green function used in Eq. 9 is correct for a
reservoir with no boundaries at finite distances. ,
We show in Appendix A that the flux, q wD, must
satisfy

111"da sin ex qwD(a,tD) =

1.

e- Rw
1Pw(S) = lh 111"dd' sin a' U(a' ,s)

and
111"da sin a U(a,s) = lis,

where R is given by Eq. 8 and R w by Eq. 10. Now the

problem is to solve Eqs. 17 and 18 for 1P wand U. When
the resultant expression for U is used in Eq. 16 and the
integration performed, one obtains an express~on for the
Laplace transform of the dimensionless potential.
Solution. Step 1. An analytical solution of the problem is made possible by the existence of an eigenfunction
expansion of exp[ - R:fi ]/R. This expansion is given in
Refs. 8 and 9 for exp(iTR)/R and is written below for
T=i.[; and for R given by Eq. 8:

e- R
00
1
J
- - - = -2.[;
--Son(i'\lS, cos a')
R
n=O NOn

L:

XSon(i.[;, cos a)Rb~ (i.[;,I)Rb~ (i.[;, cosh ~).

(11)

cC[~D(~,a,tD)]=1P(~,a,s),

(12)

cC[~wD(t D)] =1Pw(S),

(13)

In this expression, S mn is the angular spheroidal wave

function while R ~~ and R ~ are the radial spheroidal
wave functions of the first and third kind, respectively
(see also Ref. 7). In Eq. 19, only the fu~ctions with fi~st
index equal to zero are involved. N mn IS the normalIZing constant; i.e., for m=O,
111"da sin a SOk(k.[;, cos a)Soj(i.[;, cos a)=okjNOb

o
............................ (20)
where 0kj is the Kronecker delta.
The following expression for SOn is needed:
00

L: d~~+r(i.[; )P2k+r(COS

a),

(21)

k=O

[qwD(a,tD)] = U(a,s).

(14)

One finds in Ref. 7 that

=[

............................ (19)

SOn =

and

(18)

o
This is the analytical expression of the first condition
imposed by Muskat 1 and by Gringarten and Ramey 2 on
the elementary fluxes-i.e., that they add to the total rate.
The second condition on qwD is expressed in Eq. 9: the
flux rate must be such as to produce a uniform potential
at the well.
Statement ofthe Problem. It is necessary to solve Eqs.
9 and 11 for the two unknown functions ~ wD and q wD .
The time integration in Eq. 9 is a convolution, a~d an
obvious first step is to use the Laplace transforma~lOn to
eliminate one integration. Here [j(t)] is the Laplace
transform ofj(t) and S is the Laplace parameter. We first
introduce the following notation:

, .... (17)

Rw

exp[ - R 2/(4t D)] ) =

exp( - R.[; )

4";;t8

2R'

............................ (15)

so by taking the Laplace transform of Eqs. 6, 9, and 11,

one obtains

1P(~,a,s)= lh

1
o
11"

e -R

da' sin a' U(a' ,s)

SPE Reservoir Engineering, May 1987

00

, .. (16)

where P is a Legendre polynomial, and where r=O

(1) whenmn is even (odd). The diJn(i:..{;) are expansion
coefficients with known rules of calculation. 9
Step 2. The function U (Laplace transformofthe flux,
see Eq. 14) depends only on the angular coordinate ex and
can be expanded in a series of eigenfunctions, SOn' which
form a complete set on Interval (0,1r). There is a simplification because of the symmetry of the flux across the
x D,Y D plane; this implies that U is symmetricaro~nd
a=1r/2-Le., that it is a function of cos 2 a. Accordmg
to Eq. 21 and the properties of the Legendre polynomials, one may then write
, U(a,s)= ~ (3kS02k(i.[;, cos a),
k=O

(22)
219

Le., an expansion in terms of angular functions with an

"even second index. The function U will be determined
as soon as the coefficients {3 k are known.
Step 3. It is now possible to solve Eqs. 17 and 18 to
find t/;w and U.
Substitution of Eqs. 19 and 22 into Eq. 17 gives the
following relation between the coefficients' {3 k and t/; w
(see Appendix B):
__ t/;w(s)

R
~k

J; 2d82k (iJ; )

N02kRb~k(i.j;,I)R~ik(iJ;, cosh ~ w)'

....... (23)

Substitution of Eqs. 22 and 23 into Eq. 18 gives (see Appendix B)

1

00

t/;w

k=O

-=-J; ~

Thus t/;w is determined, and so are the 13k (by Eq. 23),
which means that U is determined by Eq. 22. One finally
obtains t/; (see Appendix B):
00

"'(~,a,s)="'w(s) ~

sure in finite reservoirs in situations where it is known

that such a steady-state solution exists. One case of in'terest consists of an areally square reservoir of finite thickness with a limited-flow-entry well in the middle of the
square and a constant-pressure condition at the lateral
boundaries. This situation arises in the calculation of the
critical rate to water coiting first investigated by Muskat. 1
The advantage of Eq. 26 is that the infinite-conductivity
condition is satisfied at the outset. An investigation of critical rates along these lines has been performed by
Hoyland. 6
It is more surprisingthatEq. 26 (more exactly, an
asymptotic expansion obtained from Eq. 25 for large t D)
can be used to obtain an expression for the pseudoskin
for a limited-flow-entry well in an areally infinite reservoir ,with finite thickness. The applicability of Eq. 26 is
not evident because dimensionless pressure is proportional
to In tD for large tD in this case, whereas Eq. 26 is a
steady-state expression. The method of images leads to
the calculation of an infinite sum because infinitely many
images are necessary to satisfy the no-flow boundary conditions at the upper and lower boundaries, and the infinite
sum turns out to be divergent. One must then identify this
mathematical divergence with the physical divergence of
p D, which is caused by In t D in the limit t D -+ 00. The
geometrical skin is obtained as the finite ex~ression that
remains when the divergence is subtracted. Ref. 5 discusses the applicability of the method of images to the
problem considered. Re[ 5 shows that the method destroys the condition of strict uniformity of potential at the
well, but that this condition applies to a good approximation for the majority of cases of interest.

Infinite-Conductivity VerticalFracture Problem

k=O

This problem's solution is exactly analogous to the one

used previously.

............................ (25)
Eqs. 24 and 25 constitute the solution tothe limited-flowentry problem. The solution is approximate if ~ w is given
a nonzero value, as noted above. For a line-source well,
however, the solution is exact but must be obtained by
letting ~ w-+ 0, taking care of the fact that R~~1 (i,J;, cosh
~ w) diverges when ~ w-+0. 9 In 'practice, this can be done
by inverting the Laplace transform (Eq. 25) for a very
small value of ~ wand using an expansion for the function R~~1 (i...{;, cosh ~ w), valid for small ~ w. 9 This has
not been attempted in the present paper for the reasons
given in the Introduction. An analytical investigation of
Eqs. 24 and 25 for small ~ w and small s, however, has
been carried out in Ref. 5. One product of this investigation is the long-time approximation, obtained by inverting term by term the small-s expansion of Eq. 25 10 and
dropping terms that vanish when t D -+ 00. One finds that
~D

=lf2 In

e~ +1
- t - '- .

e'" -1

. ...............

(26)

Dimensionless Variables and Elliptical Coordinates.

The situation is that of a vertical fracture. Flow is twodimensional. The axes are shown in Fig. 3 and the fracture extends from -xf to +xf along the x axis. We assume .an isotropic reservoir and introduce
XD =x/xf,

(27a)

YD =y/xf'

(27b)

and
2.637 x 10 -4 kt

---~-~-C-tX-f2---'

(27c)

The reservoir is supposed to be isotropic, with constant

k. The fracture is ,most easily represented
in ellipticS, 1 coordinates (p,v), which are related to the
Cartesian coordinates x D' YD by
permeabili~,

XD =

cosh p cos v

(28a)

and

Applications. Eq. 26 can now be used in conjunction

with the method of images to get the steady-state pres220

Y D = sinh p sin v. .

(28b)
SPE Reservoir Engineering, May 1987

-----:-------+---------~,

Fig. 3-Vertical fracture problem. Fracture Is along Interval

(-x" +x,) on th~ x ,"axis (thick line).

The curves with p constant areellipses, while the curves

with v constant are hyperbolas (see Fig. 4). The p=O ellipse has degenerated into Segment (- 1, + 1) along the
x D axis and thus represents the fracture. Coordinates p
and v vary in the intervals 0 s p s 00 and 0 S v S 21r.
The dimensionless pressure, P D, can now be written
in terms of the unknown dimensionless flux at the fracture, qjD (see Appendix A):
tD

PD =

Vz Jr
o

Fig. 4-Vertlcal fracture problem. Elliptical coordinates.

With p constant, lines are ellipses (labeled by the values
of p) and with" constant, lines are branches of hyperbolas
(labeled by the values of v In degrees).

Note that there is no difficulty in setting p =0 because

pressure is known to be finite at a fracture of zero thickness, so there is no limiting procedure involved here, as
in the case of the line-source well. Eq. 32 is the first of
two equations that qjD must satisfy; the second is (see
Appendix A)

r2 dv

11"

sin v' qjD(V',tD)=1.

(33)

r21r

dtb J dv' sin v' qjD(v' ,tD)

0

Statement of the Problem; One must solve Eqs. 32 and

33 for qjD and PjD' Eq. 29 will then give the dimensionless pressure. Introducing the notation

e -[D 2 /4(t D -tb)]

X

(29) .

tD-tb

where

kh

P D = 141.2~q (Pi -p)

(30)

[p D( P,v,tD)] =1/t( p,v,s),

(34)

[PjD(tD)] = 1/tls),

(35)

and

[qjD(V,tD)] = V(v,s),

and

(36)

one finds that the Laplace transforms of Eqs. 29, 32, and
33 are
............................ (31)

In Eq. 30, h is the reservoir thickness. If PjD (t D) is the

uniform dimensionless pressure at the fracture, then by
setting p=O in Eq. 29, one obtains

rt D r2
PjD = Vz J dtb J
o
0

r2 dv' sin v'

1/t= J

11"

V(v' ,s)Ko( .[;V),

(37)

r2

11"

1/tf= J dv' sin v' V(v',s)Ko(.[;lcos v-cos v'I),

o
............................ (38)

11"

e -[(cos p-cos

dv' sin v' qjD(v' ,tD)

pl)2 /4(t D

and

-tb)]

(32)

tD-tb
SPE Reservoir Engineering, May 1987

rll"dv' sin v' V(v',s)=1/s,

(39)

o
221

whereK0 is the modified Bessel function of order O. 7

The problem reduces now to solving Eqs. 38 and 39 for
1/11 and V. 1/1 will then be given by Eq. 37.
Solution. As in the case of the limited-flow-entry well,
an analytical solution is made possible 2Y the existence
of an eigenfunction expansion of K 0 ( oJs D). Such an
expansion is given in Ref. 8 for the Hankel function
H 0 (1). Using the relation 7

Finally, the Laplace transform of the dimensionless

pressure is

one obtains, when D is given by Eq. 31,

Eq. 44 was presented by Kucuk and Brigham 11 with

another notation for the Mathieu functions.
Applications. The large t D approximation implied by
Eq. 45, obtained by inverting its small s expansion term
by term and dropping terms that vanish when t D -+ CXJ, is

1/I(p,v~s)=1/It<s) m=O
~ 2A~m(~)
,4

P D = 1h In (e - 2p t D) + 2 In 2 where ce m is the angular or periodic Mathieu function

and Ie m and Ke m are radial Mathieu functions. 7 There
is a normalization formula for the ce m functions analogous to Eq. 20. 7
There is also an equation like Eq. 21 for the cem; it
is written below to establish a notation that will be used
later:

ce2m(V,q)= ~ A~: (q) cos 2nv

(41)

s=ln- -p,

~ Akce2k (v,-~);
m=O'
4

1r

2k
Ao (-s/4)

"
Ie2k (0,s/4)Ke2k (0,s/4)

(43)

where A ~k has been defined in Eq. 41 and

1
-=s

'I/Ils) ,
222

00

2[A~m( -s/4)] 2

m=O

Ie2m(0,s/4)Ke2m(0,s/4)

L;

where p can be obtained from Eqs. 28:

p=arc cosh [

1 +r~+[(l +rh)2 -4rh cos 2 8]

...... (44)

lh ]lh

... :

(42)

Le., an expansion in terms of ce functions, with an even

index.
It is now possible to solve Eqs. 38 and 39. The calculations are exactly analogous to the ones performed in the
limited-flow-entry case, so only the final results are
reported.
The Ak'S of Eq. 42 are given by

1/Ils)
Ak=--

(47)

XI

n=O

The Laplace transform of the dimensionless flux at the

fracture, V, can be expanded in a series of angular eigenfunctions ce m . An expansion that accounts for its symmetry properties (V is even about v=0,7r/2,7r,37r/2) is

(46)

where "'I is Euler's constant (0.5772), so that 2ln 2-"'1/2=

1.09769. Thus for p=O-Le., at the fracture....:..Kucuk and
Brigham's 11 result is recovered.
By assuming that the wellbore is situated at x D=YD =0
and by denoting the well radius ,as r w, one can extract
from Eq. 46 the following expression for the skin factor:

2r w

00

V(v,s)=

f'

(48)

The notation and definition of the inverse hyperbolic function is that of Ref. 7, and r D and 8 are the usual polar
coordinates.
XD =rD cos 8

(49a)

and
YD=rD sin 8

(49b)

Eq. 46 shows that tD/exp(2p),is the proper combination against which to plot P D if one wants curves with
different p values to collapse as much as possible into a
unique curve. For larger rDi. Eq. 48 shows that exp(2p)
is approximately equal to 4rD' Eqs. 44 and 45 have been
inverted with the Stehfest algorithm. 12 Fig. 5 is a plot
ofpD vs. rD at a fixed angle 8 and a fixed time.tD, showing that the condition of uniform pressure at the fracture
(Le., for 8=0) is satisfied. Table 1 gives PD vs. tD at
the fracture (P =0) for different value of the Stehfest integer N. Note that N=6 is acceptable for most practical
purposes. There is some discrepancy between the values
SPE Reservoir Engineering, May 1987

1.209

r------.. . .
~

1.0

TABLE 1-p 0 VS. to AT THE FRACTURE (p = 0) FOR

DIFFERENT VALUES OF THE STEHFEST PARAMETER, N

= 1.0
e

=0

e = 71/4
e = 71/2
0.5

0.0
0.0

2.0

1.0

3.0

Fig. 5-Vertlcal fracture problem; Po VB. the polar coordinate, r0' for three values of the polar angle, 8. Note uniform pressure at the fracture (8 0).

shown in Table 1 and those of Gringarten et ai. 4 on the

order of 4 % for small times and decreasing to about 0.1 %
toward the bottom of the table. Fig. 6 shows P D vs.
t D/exp(2p) for a range of p values, the value of p being
the same. The curves are drawn by linear interpolation
between the calculated points, which are equidistant and
have a density of 6/log cycle. Depending on the work
load, the calculation of the set of points needed to draw
one curve takes from 10 to 20 seconds a high-performance
32-bit minimachine.
Eq. 46 is represented by the dashed line in Fig. 6. Table 1 and.Fig. 6 show that the difference between the log
approximation (Eq. 46) and the exact value is less than
about 2% when tD >4.

Time
0.01
0.02
0.04
0.06
0.08
0.10
0.20
0.40
0.60
0.80
1.00
2.00
4.00
6.00
8.00
10.00
20.00
40.00
60.00
80.00
100.00
200.00
400.00
600.00
800.00
1,000.00
2,000.00
4,000.00
6,000.00
8,000.00

N=6
0.1698
0.2359
0.3256
0.3914
0.4450
0.4909
0.6592
0.8693
1.0115
1.1204
1.2091
1.5045
1.8222
2.0148
2.1536
2.2620
2.6023
2.9458
3.1475
3.2908
3.4021
3.7480
4.0943
4.2969
4.4407
4.5522
4.8987
5.2453
5.4480
5.5918

N=8
0.1697
0.2358
0.3253
0.3911
0.4446
0.4904
0.6585
0.8684
1.0105
1.1194
1.2081
1.5036
1.8215
2.0142
2.1529
2.2614
2.6017
2.9452
3.1469
3.2902
3.4014
3.7474
4.0936
4.2963
4.4401
4.5516
4.8981
5.2447
5.4474
5.5912

Pressure
N=10
0.1699
0.2357
0.3253
0.39fo
0.4446
0.4904
0.6589
0.8684
1.0105
1.1194
1.2082
1.5037
1.8216
2.0143
2.1530
2.2615
2.6018
2.9452
3.1469
3.2903
3.4015
3.7475
4.0937
4.2963
4.4401
4.5517
4.8982
5.2447
5.4475
5.5913

-- --

Asymptotic *

0.8423
0.9861
1.0977
1.4443
1.7908
1.9936
2.1374
2.2490
2.5956
2.9421
3.1449
3.2887
3.4003
3.7468
4.0934
4.2962
4.4400
4.5516
4.8981
5.2447
5.4474
5.5913

'Obtained from Eq. 48.

Conclusions
New theoretical results concerning infinite-conductivity
wells have been presented in the form of Laplace transforms. Some implications of the result for the limitedflow-entry problem have been discussed in general terms.
Detailed calculations are presented elsewhere. 5 ,6 Results
of the inversion of the Laplace transform have been
presented for the vertical fracture problem. There are
some discrepancies with earlier results,4 amounting at
worst to 4 %. These discrepancies are difficult to account
for because they occur between calculations that are very
different from each other, but are mild and will not introduce any detectable uncertainty in a type-curve analysis.
The inversion of the Laplace transform of Eq. 45 is fast
enough to allow the plotting of type curves directly on
a screen by an interactive computer-graphics program
without long waiting periods. Eq. 46 is new and agrees
with that obtained by Kucuk and Brigham 11 when p = O.

Nomenclature
a = half-length of interval open to flow,
ft [m]
A';: = constant in Eq. 41
ce m = periodic Mathieu function 7
c t = total reservoir compressibility, psi -1
[kPa -1]
mn
d r ( ) = expansion coefficient in Eq. 21
SPE Reservoir Engineering, May 1987

~exp(-2p)

Fig. 6-Vertlcal fracture problem; Po

elliptic angular coordinate v is 45.

VB.

t o /exp(2p). The

D = constant defined in Eq. 31,

dimensionless
h = reservoir thickness, ft [m]
H~l) = Hankel function 7

i=~

Ie m

= Mathieu function 7

k = permeability, md
kH:k v = horizontal and vertical permeabilities,
md
Ke m = Mathieu function 7
K 0 = modified Bessel function 7
(f) = Laplace transform of function f
223

N = positive integer
Non:;:::: normalIzing constant in Eq. 20
p= reservoir pressure, psi [kPa]
p D = dimensionless pressure (see Eq. 30)
PfD = P D at the fracture
Pi = initial pressure
Pm = Legendre polynomial 7 (see Eq. 22)
q = real number (see Eq. 41)
qfD = dimensionless flux at the fracture (see
Eqs. 29 and A-12 through A-14)
qt = ,total well volumetric flow rate, RB/D
[res m 3 /d]
q wD = dimensionless flux at the. well (Eqs. 6
and A-5 through A-7)
,
q(x,y,t) = volume of oil withdrawn at point (x,y)
and at time t, per unit reservoir
volume and unit time, RB/D-ft3
[hours -1]
q(x,y,z,t) = volume of oil withdrawn at point (x,y,z)
and at time t, per unit reservoir
volume and unit time, RB/D-ft 3
[hours -1]
r D = dime~sionless radial coordinate
(see Eq. 5)
r w = well radius, ft [m]
R = constant equal to
+(ZD -Zb)2 (see
Eq. 8), dimensionless
R mn
(1) = radial spheroidal function of the first
kind 7 ,9
R ~ = radial spheroidal function of the third
kind 7 ,9
R w = R with ~=~w (see Eq. 10),
dimensionless
s = Laplace parameter, dimensionless
S mn = angular spheroidal function 7,9
t = time, hours
t D = dimensionless time
U = Laplace transform of qwD
V = Laplace transform of qjD
x,y,z = Cartesian coordinates, ft [m]
XD,YD,ZD = dimensionless Cartesian coordinates
xi = fracture half-length in the x direction,
ft [m]
Z = complex variabl,e
a,(3 = angular spheroidal coordinates
(see Eqs. 4)
(3 k = coefficient in Eq. 22
'Y = Euler's constant (0.5772)
oij = Kronecker delta, 1 if i=j, 0 otherwise
8 = angular polar coordinate (see ~qs. 49)
Ak = constant defined in Eq. 43
p. = oil viscosity, cp [Pa' s]
v = elliptic angular coordinate (see Eqs. 28)
~ = radial spheroidal coordinate (see, Eqs. 4)
~w = ,~ at the well
p = elliptic radial coordinate (see Eqs. 28),
dimensionless
Po = oil mass 'per unit volume, lbm/ft 3
[kg/m 3 ]
.

rB

224

(J

7'

cP
4>

= i.J; (see Appendix B) .

= real number

= porosity, fraction

= potential (see Eq.

3), psi [kPa]

dimensionless potential (see Eq. 7)
= initial value of 4>, psi [kPa]
cI> wD = 4> D at the well (see Eq. 9)
1/; = Laplace transform of 4> D in low-flowentry problems and of P D in infiniteconductivity vertical fracture
problems
1/;f = 1/; at the fracture
1/; w = 1/; at ~ ~ w' Laplace transform of 4> wD

4> D
eJ>i

::

Subscripts
j,k,m,n = integers
Superscripts

= integration variable

Acknowledgments
I gratefully acknowledge the financial support of Norsk
Hydro and express my thanks to Leif Larsen for much
useful advice.

References
1. Muskat,M.: "Physical Principles of Oil Production," Inti. Human
Resources Development Corp., Boston (1981) 209.
2. Gringarten, A.C. and Ramey, H.J. Jr.: "The Use of Source and
Green's Functions in Solving Unsteady-Flow Problems in
Reservoirs," SPEJ (Oct. 1973) 285-96; Trans., AIME, 255.
3. Gringarten, A.C. and Ramey, H.J. Jr.: "An Approximate Infinite
Conductivity Solution for a Partially Penetrating Line-Source Well,"
SPEJ (April 1975) 140-48; Trans., AIME, 259.
4. Gringarten, A.C., Ramey, H.J. Jr., and Raghavan, R.: "UnsteadyState Pressure Distributions Created by a Well With a Single InfiniteConductivity Vertical Fracture," SPE/ (Aug. 1974) 347--60; Trans.,
AIME,257.
S. Papatzacos, P.: "Approximate Partial-Penetration Pseudoskin for
Infinite-Conductivity Wells," SPERE (May 1987) 227-34.
6. Hoyland, L.A.: "Critical Rate for Water Coning in Isotropic and
Anisotropic Formations, " Cando Tekn. thesis, Rogaland Regional
C., Stavanger, Norway (1984).
7. Abramowitz, M. and Stegun, I.A.: Handbook of Mathematical
Functions, Dover Publishing Inc., New York City (1972).
8. Morse, P.M. and Feshbach, H.: Methods of Theoretical Physics,
McGraw-Hill Book Co. Inc., New York City (1953).
9. Flammer, C.: Spheroidal Wave Functions, Stanford U. Press,
Stanford, CA (1957).
10. Carslaw, H.S. and Jaeger, J.C.: Conduction of Heat in Solids;
Oxford Book Co., New York City (1959).
11. Brigham, W.E. and Kucuk, F.: "Transi~nt Flow in Elliptical
Systems," SPE/ (Dec. 1979) 401-10; Trans., AIME, 267.
12. Stehfest, H.: "Numerical Inversion of the Laplace Transforms,"
Cori1nutn.ications ofthe ACM (Jan. 1970) 13, No.1, Algorithm 368.
13. Williams, W.E.: Partial Differential Equations, Clarendon Press,
Oxford (1980).

Appendix A-Flow Equat'ons

Flow Equation and Flux for the Limited-Flow-Entry
Problem. Equations in this Appendix are written in consistent units, and conversion constants are indicated when
necessary. The diffusion equation with a source term is

kH
kv

(il

<}>

ox 2

il

<}

oy2

+ 0 2 4> _ cPp.c 04>

oz2

P.
=--q(x,y,z,t),

kv

k v ot
(A-I)

SPE Reservoir Engineering, May 1987

where q(x,y,z,t) is the volumetric rate of oil withdrawn

at Point (x,y,z,t) per unit reservoir volume. In other
wor~s,

lq(x,y,z,t)dxdydz= -q,

(A-2)

where q t is the total volumetric flow rate of the well. Integration in Eq. A-2 can be extended to the whole of space
because q will be different from zero only at the well.
By introduction of dimensionless coordinates (Eq. 1),
dimensionless time (Eq. 2), and dimensionless potential
(Eq. 7), Eqs. A-I and A-2 become
2
a cpD
aXE

+ a2cp D + a 2cp D- _
aYE

aZE

acpD =27ra 3 kH

!i

To recoverEq. 6, it suffices to introduce the prolate

spheroidal coordinates given by Eq. 4 and to use zb =cos
a. Eq. A-9 then gives Eqs. 6, and Eq. A-7 gives Eq. 9.

Flow Equation. and Flux for the Vertical-Fracture

Problem. The equations analogous to Eqs. A-3 and A-4
are easily found to be

and

kv t

atD

........................... (A-3) ,
and

k v qt

jq~xD'YD,ZD,tD)dxDdYDdzD=-3"'

kHa

...... (A-4)

To find a general expression for the function q describing a line-source well as shown in Fig. 1, it is convenient
to use the so-called Dirac delta function, O(x).13 Here,
because the well is along the z axis, one may write

k v qt
q(XD,YD,ZD,tD)= - -3"0(XD)O(YD)qwD(ZD,tD),
kHa

.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (A-5)
where, on the rjght side, the constants are included for
convenience, and where the unknown function, qwD' is
the dimensionless flux along the well. When qt and a are
expressed in customary units, the factor 1.539 X 10 4 must
be included on the right side. The units for q are then
RB/D-ft 3 . Function q wD is such that

The flux q at the fracture can be expressed in terms of

a delta function expressing the fact that the fracture is an
infinitely thin sheet and an unknown dimensionless flux
at the fracture, qfD:

When qt, h, and xi are expressed in field units, then

the factor 1.539 X 10 4 must be included on the right side.
The units for q are then RB/D-ft 3 . Function qjD must
satisfy the following conditions:
qjD(XD,tD)=O when IXDI

IZDI

>1

(A-6)

. ','"

(A-13)

and
+1

qwD(ZD,tD)=O,

>1

qfD(xb,tD)dx v

= 1.

(A-14)

-1

and
+1

qwD(ZV,tD)dzv=1.

(A-7)

The differential equation for P D (Eq. A-IO) then

becomes

-1

Eq. A-7 results from the combination of Eqs. A-4 and

A-5. By using Eqs. A-3 and A-5, one obtains

a2CP

a 2CPD

a2CPD

OCPD

aYE

aZE

OtD

.......................... (A-15)

- -D+ - - + - - - - aXE

and has the solution

Eq. A-8 can now be solved with the help of the known
Green function 3,8 to give the dimensionless potential cP D :
1

'CPD(XD,yD,ZD,tD)=

fD dtb J+ dzbqwD(Zb,tb)
o

x ---=----exp

-1

[ -XE -yE -(ZD -ZV)2]

4J;(tD -tv)%

'
SPE Reservoir Engineering, May 1987

4(tD -tv)

(A-9)

Using Eqs. 28 together with xb =cos u' in Eqs. A-14

and A-I6 yields Eqs. 29 and 33.
225

Appendix B-Proof. of Equations

For simplicity, the notation u=i.Jiwill be used throughout this Appendix.
Proof of Eq. 23.Substitution of Eqs. 19 and 22, into Eq.
16 gives

the equation are then multiplied by sin a S02j(U, cos a)da

and integrated from 0 to 71" by use of Eq. 20. Eq. 23
emerges if, in addition, one uses

J1I"da sin a

02k
S02k(U, cos a)=2d o (u),

(B-2)

o
which follows easily from'Eq. 21' and from known properties of the Legendre polynomials. 8

x[

_1_ S0k (u, cos a')Sok(U, cos

k=O NOk

a)R&~(u,l)

XR~J(u, cosh ~),

where the terms involved by the a/integration have been
underlined. This integration can be performed with the
help of Eq. 20, giving

Proof ofEq. 24, When one makes use of Eq. B-2, sub-'
stitution of the right side of Eq. 22 into Eq. 18 yields

When the right side of Eq. 23 is substituted for the (3 k,

one obtains Eq. 24.
Proof of Eq. 25. Eq. 25 is obtained immediately when
one uses Eq. 23 forth~ (3 k in Eq. B-1.

00

81 Metric Conversion Factor

degrees

XRrl~1 (u, I)R~1 (u, cosh ~). .

(B-1)

One first sets ~ = ~ w' the left side thus becoming the
a-independent function V;w (see Eq. 17). Both sides of

226

1.745 329

E-02 = rad
SPERE

Original manuscript (SPE 13846) received in the Society of Petroleum Engineers office
Dec. 3, 1984. Paper accepted for publication Feb. 6, 1986. Revised manuscript received Jan. 24, 1986.

SPE Reservoir Engineering, May 1987