Fractured-Well-Test Design and Analysis in the Presence of Non-Darcy Flow

J.A. Gil, SPE, and E. Ozkan, SPE, Colorado School of Mines, and R. Raghavan, SPE, Phillips Petroleum Co. Summary The objective of this paper is to discuss the design and analysis of fractured-gas-well tests to account for non-Darcy flow within the fracture. The results and discussions are based on a semianalytical model. Guidelines and correlations are presented to enable engineers to design fractured-well tests whereby the magnitude of nonDarcy flow may be estimated and its effect minimized, if necessary. The effect of non-Darcy flow skin (or rate-dependent skin) is discussed in detail. A method is also presented to analyze fractured-well tests under non-Darcy flow conditions to estimate the non-Darcy flow coefficient, fracture conductivity, and reservoir properties. Unlike the conventional methods, this method does not require two tests at different production rates. Introduction For unfractured vertical wells, it is possible to ascertain conditions for which the effects of non-Darcy flow should be negligibly small. Such information does not exist for fractured wells. Also, in the latter case, we need to contend with multiple flow regimes. Should the effects of non-Darcy flow be ignored, then it has been shown in the literature16 that lower estimates of fracture conductivity and/or half-length will result. The conventional recommendation to conduct tests at two different rates to estimate fracture properties (length and conductivity)4,5 is often not a practical proposition. The adverse effect of non-Darcy flow on our ability to analyze tests is further exacerbated by the influence of producing time on buildup analysis.5,6 In this study, we use the semianalytical model discussed in Refs. 4 through 6 to investigate the effect of non-Darcy flow in the fracture. We incorporate the effect of wellbore storage along the lines suggested by Cinco-L. and Sameniego-V.7 It is assumed that for the ranges of the fluid and reservoir properties considered in this study, flow obeys Darcys law in the reservoir or, as discussed by Wattenbarger and Ramey,2 the effect of non-Darcy flow in the reservoir is negligibly small when compared with that within the fracture. The ranges of the reservoir and fracture properties considered in this work are similar to those used in Refs. 8 and 9 and are summarized in Table 1. One of the contributions of this work is to improve fracturedwell-test design and analysis under non-Darcy flow conditions. We calculated the magnitude of the skin factor caused by non-Darcy flow and determined the ranges of production rate and fracture half-length for which the estimates of fracture conductivity and half-length will be unaffected by non-Darcy flow. We assume that if the pressure drop caused by non-Darcy flow is less than or equal to 10% of the total drawdown, then the effects of non-Darcy flow will be negligibly small. We also present guidelines and correlations that can be used to design fractures in which non-Darcy skin factor (rate-dependent skin) would not exceed this limit. Our calculations may be used to obtain similar information for other limits or to obtain an alternate design of the fracture variables. Another contribution of this work is to present an analytical technique for fractured-well tests under the effect of fracture nonDarcy flow. This technique requires transient-pressure data during the bilinear- and linear-flow periods. The technique is applicable for the ranges of parameters required by the technique proposed by Guppy et al.,4,5 but unlike their method, our technique does not require multiple tests at different flow rates. As suggested by Lingen,10 we use sandface flow rates to determine the non-Darcy flow effects; thus, the effect of wellbore storage does not hinder the application of our technique. We start this communication with the definition of the variables used and the ranges of parameters investigated. We then present the results to delineate the effect of non-Darcy flow in the fracture and to quantify the non-Darcy flow skin. These discussions lead to the guidelines and correlations to design fractures and well tests with acceptable effects of non-Darcy flow. Introduction of the new analytical technique for fractured wells under non-Darcy flow conditions follows. We conclude this presentation with general comments. Definitions and Ranges of the Data Used Here, we introduce the system examined, define the variables used in the discussions, and present the ranges of the data investigated. Definitions. Let us first define the system investigated in this work. We consider a laterally infinite reservoir of uniform thickness, h, and a vertical well intercepted by a fully penetrating hydraulic fracture. The hydraulic fracture has a height of h, halflength of xf, width of wf, and permeability of kf. A real gas flows in the system, and the reservoir permeability is assumed to be constant and uniform. Because we deal with real-gas flow, we present our results in terms of pseudopressure, m(p), defined by mp = 2

Z p p dp, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (1)
0

where p is the pressure, Z is the gas compressibility factor, and is the gas viscosity. The dimensionless pseudopressure is defined, in field units, by mDtD = kh mpi m pwf, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (2) 1,422qT

where pi and pwf stand, respectively, for the initial and flowing wellbore pressures; q is the constant surface production rate; and T is the reservoir temperature. In Eq. 2, the dimensionless time, tD, is defined by tD = 2.637 104 k

ctixf2

t, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (3)

for t in hours. The term ( c t ) i in Eq. 3 is the viscositycompressibility product at initial conditions. As discussed in Refs. 4 through 6, the transient-pressure responses of finite-conductivity fractures with non-Darcy flow are governed by the dimensionless fracture conductivity (CfD) and the dimensionless flow rate (qDND) defined, respectively, by CfD = kfwf , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (4) kxf 4.64 1016 kf M q , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (5) wf hi

where kfwf is the fracture conductivity, and

Copyright 2003 Society of Petroleum Engineers This paper (SPE 84846) was revised for publication from paper SPE 71573, first presented at the 2001 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, New Orleans, 30 September3 October. Original manuscript received for review 29 November 2001. Revised manuscript received 2 April 2003. Paper peer approved 4 April 2003.

qDND =

where M is the molecular weight of the gas and is the non-Darcy flow coefficient. All the equations and results presented in this
185

June 2003 SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering

work are in field units. In this unit system, is measured in ft1. Sometimes, is expressed in terms of atm-s2/g. For conversion, 1 atm-s2/g 30.8917959106 ft1. Reservoir, Fluid, and Fracture Properties. To develop guidelines and correlations for fractured-well tests under non-Darcy flow conditions, we consider the ranges of reservoir, fluid, and fracture properties shown in Table 1. These ranges of data were taken from the works of Vincent et al.8 and Settari et al. 9 and should cover most practical ranges of gas reservoirs and fractured wells. Note that the work of Settari et al.9 concentrates on the analysis of fractured-well performance in high-permeability reservoirs in which fracture half-lengths are usually short (< 100 ft), whereas our attention is not restricted to a specific range of properties. It should be emphasized, however, that in high-permeability reservoirs, fracture non-Darcy skin may be large even for small fracture half-lengths. Because our main objective in this study is to delineate the conditions (ranges of properties and flow rates) under which the effect of non-Darcy flow can be held within acceptable (arbitrarily defined) limits, high-permeability reservoirs normally fall outside the scope of our interest. In other words, as we discuss below, our results indicate that the production rates and fracture half-lengths required to limit the non-Darcy flow pressure drop to 10% of the total drawdown are usually outside the practical ranges. Therefore, considering the reasonable ranges of production rate and fracture half-length in high-permeability reservoirs, it is practically not possible to limit the non-Darcy flow effect to acceptable ranges by design considerations. Under these conditions, one should expect non-Darcy flow effects to be significant. Effect of Fracture Non-Darcy Flow and Rate-Dependent Skin Our objective in this section is to present guidelines and correlations for the design of fractures and fractured-well tests to estimate the effect of fracture non-Darcy flow. To set the stage for discussion, we first briefly review the effect of non-Darcy flow on transient-pressure responses of finite-conductivity fractures. We then consider the skin effect attributable to non-Darcy flow for the ranges of the properties shown in Table 1, and we present charts that may be used to determine the ranges of properties for which non-Darcy flow effects should not be of concern. Fig. 1 presents an example for the transient pseudopressure responses of fractured wells with and without fracture non-Darcy flow in the fracture. Although the responses shown in Fig. 1 are presented in terms of dimensionless variables, they were generated with the data shown in Table 2. We will use this data set as the base case in our following developments and discussions. For the
186

particular case shown in Fig. 1, we chose the fracture half-length, xf 200 ft, and considered three values of production rate, q 1,000, 5,000, and 10,000 Mscf/D. As mentioned previously, the dimensionless pseudopressure responses of fractured wells (dimensionless pseudopressure, mwD, vs. dimensionless time, tD) under non-Darcy flow conditions are governed by the dimensionless fracture conductivity, CfD, and dimensionless flow rate, qDND. For the case shown in Fig. 1, CfD 375 (note that fractures with C fD 300 display infiniteconductivity characteristics). The three unbroken lines in Fig. 1 are for the non-Darcy flow cases ( 0.032 atm-s2/g), with qDND 12.62, 63.12, and 126.24 corresponding to q 1,000, 5,000, and 10,000 Mscf/D, respectively. The dashed line in Fig. 1 represents the responses for the Darcy flow case ( 0, qDND 0). Note that for the Darcy flow case, the dimensionless pseudopressures are not a function of the production rate. The pseudopressure difference between the Darcy and non-Darcy flow cases is a function of qDND (or, because everything else is constant, the difference is a function of the flow rate). This difference is called non-Darcy flow or rate-dependent skin. For a given value of qDND, the nonDarcy flow skin is a function of time (and, thus, the flow regime) until the onset of pseudoradial flow, when it becomes a constant. In practice, the term non-Darcy flow skin is used in reference to the constant value attained after the onset of pseudoradial flow. Hereafter, we will use the same terminology and denote the nonDarcy flow skin by SND. Because non-Darcy flow skin is an indicator of the reduction in productivity caused by non-Darcy flow in the fracture, it may be used to assess the influence of non-Darcy flow effects on well deliverability and on the analysis of fractured-well tests. In this study, we used a threshold value of 0.1 for the non-Darcy flow skin. For the ranges of the properties considered (see Table 1), SND 0.1 corresponds to a non-Darcy flow pressure drop that is less than 10% of the total drawdown. We must note, based on our results in this study, that as the reservoir permeability increases, SND 0.1 represents a much smaller proportion of the total drawdown than 10%. This result may not be readily understandable or may even be contrary to the intuitive expectation. Therefore, an explanation may be appropriate. As discussed in Refs. 11 and 12, when the reservoir permeability increases, dimensionless fracture conductivity decreases, and more fluid enters the fracture from the regions closer to the wellbore. This decreases the effectiveness of the fracture or, as stated in common terminology, reduces the effective fracture length. The effect of reduced conductivity alone has been shown to increase the pressure drop required for a given production rate. It also should be realized that when more fluid enters the fracture
June 2003 SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering

Fig. 1Effect of non-Darcy flow on transient-pressure responses of fractured wells for the base case (Table 2).

around the wellbore, flow rates and (thus) velocities in these sections of the fracture increase. This increases the non-Darcy flow effects and thus leads to a further increase in the drawdown. Therefore, when the reservoir permeability increases, unless the design of the fracture is changed (that is, the fracture permeability and/or width is increased, or the fracture length is decreased), both the drawdown and the pressure drop caused by non-Darcy flow increase. As we show later, if the reservoir permeability is high, unless the fracture conductivity (kfwf) is increased, the non-Darcy skin values corresponding to a 10% contribution in the total drawdown usually cannot be accomplished unless very low flow rates or extremely short fractures are considered. Fig. 2 shows the non-Darcy skin factors as a function of fracture half-length and production rate for the base case (Table 2); results for xf = 200 ft were shown in Fig. 1. As expected, the non-Darcy skin increases as the production rate and fracture halflength increase. For example, if we want to increase the fracture half-length but limit the non-Darcy skin at the threshold value of SND 0.1, the production rate should be decreased. Similarly, if we want to use higher production rates, then shorter fractures would be needed to remain below the threshold value of SND

0.1. For the particular case shown in Fig. 2, when the production rates were 5,000, 7,000, 10,000, and 15,000 Mscf/D, the fracture half-lengths would have to be shorter than 220, 160, 110, and 75 ft, respectively, if no more than 10% reduction in productivity because of non-Darcy flow was desired. Because these values of xf are rather small to maintain a viable production rate, we may now seek an alternate design from the information given later. Plots similar to Fig. 2 for other cases are given in Ref. 13. In this study, we considered over 1,200 combinations of the properties shown in Table 1, generated transient-pseudopressure responses, and examined the non-Darcy skin effects in the form shown in Fig. 2. As a result of these investigations, we determined the pairs of fracture half-length and production rate at the threshold value of the non-Darcy skin. Our attempts to correlate the relation between the production rate and the fracture half-length yielded the result shown in Fig. 3 (the details of our investigation and the development of the correlation may be found in Ref. 13). Fig. 3 presents the conditions for which non-Darcy flow effect is negligibly small as defined in this paper (SND 0.1). Strictly speaking, the correlation given in Fig. 3 is valid for the fracture permeabilities, kf 50,000 md, and the initial pressures, pi 2,000 psia. As shown in Fig. 4, however, for pi < 2,000, the correlation developed in this study (Fig. 3) provides conservative estimates of the properties for which non-Darcy flow should not be of concern. Similarly, Fig. 5 indicates that, even for fracture permeabilities as low as kf 10,000 md, the correlation shown in Fig. 3 (represented by the unbroken line in Fig. 5) is a good approximation. Furthermore, as the fracture permeability decreases, the boundary of the acceptable region in Fig. 3 moves upward and to the right. That is, the correlation presented in Fig. 3 always provides conservative estimates. One final remark is on the effect of specific gravity, g. We have tested the effect of specific gravity on the correlation given in Fig. 3 and, as shown in Fig. 6, found that the correlation takes into account the variations in specific gravity in the range of 0.6 g 0.9. The correlation presented in Fig. 3 is a convenient and practical tool for the design of fractures and fractured-well tests. Using Fig. 3, it is possible to design fractured-well tests and determine the flow rates to avoid the complexity of non-Darcy flow effects in the analysis. Examination of the correlation shown in Fig. 3 also reveals that sometimes, the non-Darcy flow effect may not be avoided in practice. For example, assuming the base-case properties shown in Table 2, except for a higher permeability of k 10 md and a production rate of q 3,000 Mscf/D, the fracture half-length should be as short as 4 ft to accomplish SND 0.1.
187

June 2003 SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering

Fig. 2Non-Darcy skin as a function of fracture half-length and production rate for k = 0.1.

As we mentioned earlier, as the reservoir permeability increases, both dimensionless pseudopressure and non-Darcy skin increase. In these cases, SND 0.1 may correspond to pressure drops that are much smaller than 10% of the total drawdown. Tables 3 through 5 present dimensionless pseudopressures and non-Darcy skin values as a function of time for three reservoir permeabilities, k 0.1, 1, and 10, and the values of the production rate shown in the tables. Other properties are the same as those for the base case (Table 2). The last value of the dimensionless pseudopressure for each value of xf corresponds to the onset of the pseudoradial flow, and the value of the non-Darcy skin becomes constant after this time. For example, for the k 0.1 and xf 50 ft case (Table 3), even when the flow rate is as high as 5,000 Mscf/D, the non-Darcy skin, SND, is approximately 0.8% of the dimensionless pseudopressure, mwD, at the onset of pseudoradial flow (t 53.8 hours). Table 5, however, indicates that if k 10 md, for the same fracture half-length (xf 50 ft) and a lower

production rate of q 3,000 Mscf/D, SND at the onset of pseudoradial flow (t 0.896 hours) is approximately 19% of mwD. As mentioned before, when the reservoir permeability increases, nonDarcy skin may be the norm for practical ranges of fracture halflength and production rate; that is, the threshold value of 10% may be too conservative. Fig. 7 is a visual representation of the preceding comments for the data considered in Table 5. Fig. 7 indicates that, even for a threshold value of SND 0.5 and a production rate of 3,000 Mscf/D, the fracture half-length should not exceed 25 ft. For a production rate of 5,000 Mscf/D, the corresponding fracture half-length is as low as a few feet. These results indicate that when the reservoir permeability becomes large, the effect of non-Darcy flow may not be avoidable. At this point, it may be useful to recapitulate the results of our discussions so far. The preceding results and discussions emphasize that under certain conditions, the effect of non-Darcy flow in the fracture may be minimized by careful design. In these cases, it

Fig. 3Envelope of SND 0.1 for pi 2,000 psia and kf 50,000 md. 188 June 2003 SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering

Fig. 4Envelope of SND 0.1. Effect of initial pressure, pi.

may be possible to conduct well tests with a minimum effect of non-Darcy flow (for a given reservoir and fracture, this normally means the selection of the appropriate flow rates). The results presented above and the correlation presented in Fig. 3 may be used to design fractures and fractured-well tests when fracture non-Darcy flow is of concern. It may also be used to determine conditions for which non-Darcy flow would be of concern. (Note that in developing the correlation for the envelope, we have used the criterion of SND 0.1. These results may be readily extended to different tolerances by using Figs. 2, 3, and 7.) Our results also have indicated that under some conditions, the effect of non-Darcy flow may not be avoided by simple design considerations. In these cases, considerable reductions in the productivity of the fracture may result from non-Darcy flow effects, and it may not be possible to estimate fracture length by well tests because of non-Darcy flow effects. Before completing this section, we demonstrate the reduction in well productivity caused by non-Darcy flow. The non-Darcy flow

skin values estimated in the preceding discussions were used to compute the productivity indices of wells producing by finiteconductivity fractures and non-Darcy flow. We assume that the flux distribution has stabilized, and we define the productivity ratio, PR, as the ratio of the productivity indices for the cases with and without non-Darcy flow in the fracture. For simplicity, assuming radial reservoir geometry and using the effective wellbore radius (rw ) concept, we may write the following expression for PR. PR = lnre r w 0.75 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (6) lnre r 0.75 + SND w

is the effective radius of the In Eq. 6, re is the reservoir radius, rw fracture given as a function of dimensionless conductivity, CfD (see Cinco-L and Sameniego-V.12), and SND is the non-Darcy flow skin. We have assumed that the mechanical skin is zero. Fig. 8 shows PR (or the productivity reduction because of non-Darcy flow) as a function of fracture half-length for the six

Fig. 5Envelope of SND 0.1. Effect of fracture permeability, kf, for pi 2,000 psia. June 2003 SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering 189

Fig. 6Envelope of SN- 0.1. Effect of specific gravity, g, for kf 50,000 md and pi 2,000 psia.

cases noted above the figure. The base-case properties given in Table 2 were used to generate the results in Fig. 8, except for those noted on the figure. An 80-acre spacing was assumed. As expected, Fig. 8 indicates that the PR decreases (or the productivity loss because of non-Darcy flow increases) as the fracture halflength (xf) and/or dimensionless flow rate (qDND) increase. An increase in the fracture width (wf), however, decreases the flow velocities in the fracture and reduces the non-Darcy flow pressure drop, leading to an increase in PR. Also, as we discussed earlier, as the reservoir permeability increases, the PR for a given fracture half-length decreases. For example, for Case 6 in Fig. 8, for k 10 md, the productivity loss because of non-Darcy flow becomes as high as 60% as the fracture half-length approaches 300 ft. Once again, the results shown in Fig. 8 indicate that especially for moderate- to high-permeability reservoirs, non-Darcy flow effects may be so significant that no practical design can reduce them to acceptable ranges. In such cases, special analytical techniques, such as the one suggested next, are to be used. Analysis of Fractured-Well-Test Data in the Presence of Non-Darcy Flow The transient-pressure responses of finite-conductivity fractures under the influence of fracture non-Darcy flow are a function of the dimensionless conductivity, CfD (Eq. 4), and dimensionless flow rate, qDND (Eq. 5). An examination of the definitions of these dimensionless variables and the results presented in the literature16 indicate that the non-Darcy flow coefficient, , should be

determined from well tests and used in the evaluation of the performances of fractured wells. This, however, is not a simple task. As we mentioned in the Introduction, the conventional recommendation to conduct two tests at different flow rates to estimate fracture properties (length and conductivity)4,5 is often not a practical proposition. On the other hand, because reservoir and fracture flow rates should be lower during a buildup test, the effect of non-Darcy flow may be expected to be less significant on buildup analysis. This, however, has been shown not to be true in Refs. 5 and 6. The buildup tests follow production periods, and if nonDarcy flow influences the reservoir performance during the producing period, the conditions in the reservoir at the instant of shut-in may dominate the buildup responses. The analysis of pressure-buildup tests in fractured wells is further complicated by the effect of short producing time.5,6 Umnuayponwiwat et al.6 have shown that the buildup analysis of a fractured-well test under non-Darcy flow conditions would be equivalent to the corresponding drawdown analysis if the producing time was sufficiently long. For short producing times, however, the results of buildup analyses usually do not match those of the drawdown analyses, and the buildup results include more error. Another difficulty in the analysis of fractured-well responses in the presence of non-Darcy flow has been addressed by Ref. 6. This difficulty is a result of the fact that the non-Darcy flow responses can be matched with the Darcy flow responses for a lower (apparent) conductivity. It can be shown that the apparent conductivity is a function of the dimensionless flow rate, qDND (or the

190

June 2003 SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering

non-Darcy flow coefficient, ), and the true fracture conductivity, CfD, defined in Eq. 4. Therefore, provided that they yield the same apparent conductivity value, infinitely many combinations of qDND and CfD may be found to match a Darcy flow type curve. This makes the regression analysis (or type-curve matching) a fruitless exercise because of the non-uniqueness problem. This discussion indicates that if non-Darcy flow affects the responses, then the transient-test analyses (drawdown and buildup) should take this effect into account and determine the non-Darcy flow coefficient, . It is also clear that new techniques are required to analyze fractured-well-test responses in the presence of nonDarcy flow if only one test is available. Here, we present an analytical technique for fractured wells that does not require two tests at different rates to determine the non-Darcy flow coefficient, . Theoretical Basis of the New Analytical Technique. The technique presented here is based on the analytical expressions of bilinear- and linear-flow regimes in finite-conductivity fractures and the correlation of the apparent fracture conductivity under non-Darcy flow conditions in the fracture. Bilinear Flow. It has been shown by Cinco-L. and SameniegoV.12 that during bilinear flow, the dimensionless pseudopressure responses may be expressed in the following form: mwDDarcy =

CfD,app =

CfD , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (9) 1 + 0.31 qDND

where CfD represents the true conductivity of the fracture as defined by Eq. 4. The ranges for which this correlation is applicable are given in Ref. 4 and cited below for convenience: For all values of qDND that yield CfD,app 2 and CfD < 10. For 1 qDND 20 and 10 < CfD <100. For qDND 10 and 100< CfD <500. (Ref. 4 also presents a figure that is more general than the correlation given in Eq. 9 and shows the relation between the apparent conductivity, CfD,app, and true conductivity, CfD, as a function of dimensionless flow rate.) Using Eqs. 7 through 9, the following relation may be obtained between mwD (non-Darcy) and mwD (Darcy): mwDCorrected, BL = mwDnon-Darcy

1 + 0.31 qDND

5 4 2CfD

14 tD

= mwDDarcy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (10) Eq. 10 indicates that if qDND is known (that is, if the non-Darcy flow coefficient, , is known), then the non-Darcy flow responses can be corrected to match the dimensionless pseudopressure responses of the Darcy flow case for the true fracture conductivity during bilinear flow. Linear Flow. According to Camacho-V.,14 the following equation may be used to compute the pseudopressure responses of finiteconductivity fractures during the reservoir linear-flow period: mwDDarcy = tD + a , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (11) CfD

5 42CfD

14 tD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (7)

Guppy et al.4 have shown that Eq. 7 could also be used under fracture non-Darcy flow conditions provided that the fracture conductivity, CfD, is replaced by an apparent fracture conductivity, CfD,app; that is, mwDnon-Darcy =

5 4 2CfD,app

14 tD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (8)

where a is a constant given by a=

They also presented a correlation for the apparent fracture conductivity, CfD,app, that is given here:

3 for CfD 25 0.944 for CfD = 10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (12) 0.902 for CfD = 5

June 2003 SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering

191

Fig. 7Non-Darcy skin as a function of fracture half-length for k = 10 md.

By analogy to bilinear flow and by using Eq. 11, we may write the following relation for the dimensionless pseudopressure under non-Darcy flow conditions: mwDnon-Darcy = tD + a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (13) CfD,app

Further assuming that the correlation given in Eq. 9 also holds during the linear-flow period, we may obtain mwDCorrected, L = mwDnon-Darcy = tD + 0.31 a qDN CfD

a = mwDDarcy. . . . . . . . . (14) CfD

Similar to the bilinear-flow case discussed previously, Eq. 14 indicates that if qDND and CfD are known, then, during the linearflow period, the dimensionless non-Darcy flow responses may be corrected to match the pseudopressure responses of the Darcy flow case with the true conductivity value.

It is important to note the following feature of the corrections to the non-Darcy flow responses during bilinear- and linear-flow periods. Because the form of the correction is different for linearand bilinear-flow periods and the correction requires that the individual values of qDND and CfD (not their combination in the form of an apparent conductivity) be known, unless the correct values of qDND and CfD are used, corrected pseudopressures cannot be matched with a Darcy flow type curve during both bilinear- and linear-flow regimes. This technique overcomes the nonuniqueness problem encountered in the conventional regression analysis of the non-Darcy flow responses of fractured wells mentioned earlier. Furthermore, because it uses the responses of two different flow regimes at the same flow rate (instead of the responses of the same flow regime at two different rates), it provides a convenient and practical method to compute the non-Darcy flow coefficient and the true fracture conductivity from one single rate test. We demonstrate these features of the new analytical technique on the example cases considered next. Before discussing the examples, however, we should make two comments.

Fig. 8Reduction in productivity caused by non-Darcy flow in the fracture. 192 June 2003 SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering

Fig. 9Example application of the new analytical technique (Example 1).

We have also tested the apparent fracture-conductivity equation given by Gidley,15 but we did not obtain good results in our correction technique. Also, as will be demonstrated by the examples below, the correction term used for the linear-flow responses appears to be a good correction to the pseudoradial-flow responses. This, however, is an empirical observation, and we do not have a theoretical justification for this observation. Application Examples. Here, we consider two examples. The first example intends to demonstrate the application of the new analytical technique. The second example concentrates on the effect of wellbore storage and skin. Example 1. Here, we consider the example shown in Fig. 9. The dashed line is the dimensionless pseudopressure responses representing the test data. The unbroken line is the Darcy flow responses for the same case and represents the type curve to be matched. The circular and triangular data points correspond to the corrected pseudopressure test data for the bilinear- and linear-flow regimes, respectively.

As expected from the preceding theoretical developments, Fig. 9 shows that both bilinear- and linear-flow corrections yield excellent matches with the Darcy flow type curve during the corresponding flow regimes. The legend on the figure shows the match properties of and CfD, which are in excellent agreement with the input data used to generate the test case denoted by the dashed line. To demonstrate the uniqueness of the match shown in Fig. 9, we consider another combination of the and CfD values to generate the corrected responses shown in Fig. 10. Although the apparent conductivities (computed by Eq. 9) are the same for the combinations of and CfD used in Figs. 9 and 10, for the case shown in Fig. 10, it is not possible to match both of the corrected responses with the Darcy flow type curve. (Fig. 10 shows the match of the corrected responses during the linear-flow period, but the corrected responses for the bilinear flow do not match the type curve. If the corrected bilinear-flow data were matched, then there would be no match for the corrected linear-flow data.) This result supports our claim on the uniqueness of the match obtained by our analytical technique.

Fig. 10Demonstration of the uniqueness of the analysis, Example 1. June 2003 SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering 193

Fig. 11Data for Example 2 without wellbore storage effects.

An important observation from Figs. 9 and 10 is that our correction to the linear-flow responses also works during the pseudoradial-flow period; that is, the linear-flow correction matches the non-Darcy flow responses with the Darcy flow type curve for all times after the beginning of linear flow. Note, however, that our correction technique requires the existence of two flow periods, and the bilinear-flow period has to be one of them. The second flow period may be linear, pseudoradial, or latetime transitional. Example 2. The objective of this example is to discuss the application of the new analytical technique under the influence of wellbore storage. We have generated the data for this example with and without wellbore storage. The data shown in Fig. 11 are without the effect of wellbore storage and are intended to highlight the flow regimes that might be masked by wellbore storage effects. According to Fig. 11, at early times, we should have the bilinearflow period. At later times, however, no apparent linear-flow behavior is observed. Our correction technique, however, still works at late times.

Fig. 12 shows the example for the wellbore storage case. Here, the dimensionless wellbore storage coefficient is CD 0.01; comparing Figs. 11 and 12, we can see that most of the bilinear-flow data are masked by wellbore storage effects. Fig. 13 shows the results of the application of our correction technique. Despite the fact that most of the bilinear-flow period was lost because of wellbore storage and no well-defined linear flow existed, our technique yields an excellent match with the corresponding Darcy flow type curve during the bilinear- and late-time flow periods. Here, two remarks are in order. First, as suggested by Lingen,10 in this case we computed the qDND terms to be used in the correction by using the sandface rates. Although we obtained excellent results, we should note the difficulties in computing the sandface rates accurately from the pressure-derivative data. The following equation provides a means of computing the sandface flow rates: qsf dmwD = 1 CD , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (15) q dtD

Fig. 12Data (non-Darcy flow) and type curve (Darcy flow) for Example 2. 194 June 2003 SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering

Fig. 13Match of the corrected responses with Darcy flow type curve. Pseudopressure responses.

where qsf stands for the sandface rate and q is the constant surface production rate. The accuracy of the computations by Eq. 15 is usually not sufficient because of the accuracy or oscillations of the derivative data. An alternate approach is to first generate the sandface flow-rate data from Eq. 15 and then match the data by using the exponential model given next: qsf = 1 expatD. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (16) q Once a satisfactory match is obtained and the constant a is fixed in Eq. 16, the sandface flow rates can be generated by using Eq. 16, and they are used in the corrections. The second remark is on the uniqueness issue. The results not shown here confirmed that the other combinations of and CfD, different from that used in Fig. 13, failed to correct the non-Darcy

flow responses to match the Darcy flow type curve during both bilinear- and late-time flow periods. Finally, for completeness, we include the derivative responses in our analysis. Fig. 14 shows a composite pseudopressure and derivative plot for the example under consideration. It can be seen from this plot that the derivative responses for the corrected nonDarcy flow data also yield an excellent match with the Darcy flow derivative type curve. Conclusions In this study, we investigated the effect of non-Darcy flow on the performance of fractured wells. We have shown that the nonDarcy flow effect may or may not be reduced by design considerations. In moderate- to high-permeability reservoirs, the effect of non-Darcy flow may be much too large for it to be avoided. In other cases, the correlation and the results presented in this paper

Fig. 14Match of the corrected responses with Darcy flow type curve. Pseudopressure and derivative responses. June 2003 SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering 195

may be used to design fractures and fractured-well tests to minimize the influence of non-Darcy flow. Another important result of this work is a new analytical technique to account for non-Darcy flow in finite-conductivity fractures. Unlike the conventional techniques, the method presented in this paper does not require multiple tests at different flow rates. Nomenclature CD dimensionless wellbore storage coefficient CfD dimensionless fracture conductivity ct total compressibility, psi1 h formation thickness, ft k permeability, md m(p) pseudopressure, psi2/cp M molecular weight of the gas, lbm/lb-mol p pressure, psi q production rate, Mscf/D qsf sandface production rate, Mscf/D qDND dimensionless flow-rate constant re reservoir radius, ft rw effective wellbore radius, ft SND non-Darcy flow skin t time, hours T reservoir temperature, R wf fracture width, in., ft xf fracture half-length, ft Z gas compressibility factor non-Darcy flow coefficient, ft1 porosity g specific gravity of gas viscosity, cp Subscripts and Superscripts D dimensionless f fracture i initial w wellbore wf flowing wellbore References
1. Millheim, K.K. and Cichowicz, L.: Testing and Analyzing LowPermeability Fractured Gas Wells, JPT (February 1968) 193; Trans., AIME, 243. 2. Wattenbarger, R.A. and Ramey, H.J. Jr.: Well Test Interpretation of Vertically Fractured Gas Wells, JPT (May 1969) 625; Trans., AIME, 246. 3. Holditch, S.A. and Morse, R.A.: The Effects of Non-Darcy Flow on the Behavior of Hydraulically Fractured Gas Wells, JPT (October 1976) 1169. 4. Guppy, K.H. et al.: Non-Darcy Flow in Wells With FiniteConductivity Vertical Fractures SPEJ (October 1982) 681. 5. Guppy, K.H., Cinco-Ley, H., and Ramey, H.J. Jr.: Pressure Buildup Analysis of Fractured Wells Producing at High Flow Rates, JPT (November 1982) 2656. 6. Umnuayponwiwat, S. et al.: Effect of Non-Darcy Flow on the Interpretation of Transient Pressure Responses of Hydraulically Fractured Wells, paper SPE 63176 presented at the 2000 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, Dallas, 14 October.

7. Cinco-Ley, H. and Sameniego-V., F.: Effect of Wellbore Storage and Damage on the Transient Pressure Behavior of Vertically Fractured Wells, paper SPE 6752 presented at the 1977 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, Denver, 912 October. 8. Vincent, M.C., Pearson, C.M., and Kullman, J.: Non-Darcy and Multiphase Flow in Propped Fractures: Case Studies Illustrate the Dramatic Effect on Well Productivity, paper SPE 54630 presented at the 1999 SPE Western Regional Meeting, Anchorage, 2628 May. 9. Settari, A., Stark, A.J., and Jones, J.R.: Analysis of Hydraulic Fracturing of High Permeability Gas Wells to Reduce Non-Darcy Skin Effects, JCPT (May 2000) 39, No. 5, 56. 10. Lingen, P.L.: Rate-Dependent Skin From Afterflow, paper SPE 28832 presented at the 1994 SPE European Petroleum Conference, London, 2527 October. 11. Cinco-L., H., Samaniego-V., F., and Dominguez-A., N.: Transient Pressure Behavior for a Well With a Finite-Conductivity Vertical Fracture, SPEJ (August 1978) 253. 12. Cinco-Ley, H. and Samaniego-V., F.: Transient Pressure Analysis for Fractured Wells, JPT (September 1981) 1749. 13. Gil, J.A.: Fractured-Well-Test Design and Analysis in the Presence of Non-Darcy Flow, MS thesis, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colorado (2001). 14. Camacho-V., R.G.: Response of Wells Producing Commingled Reservoirs: Unequal Fracture Length, MS thesis, The U. of Tulsa, Tulsa (1984). 15. Gidley, J.L.: A Method for Correcting Dimensionless Fracture Conductivity for Non-Darcy Flow Effects, SPEPE (November 1991) 391.

SI Metric Conversion Factors acre 4.046 873 E+03 m2 atm 1.013 250* E+05 Pa cp 1.0* E03 Pas ft 3.048* E01 m E02 m3 ft3 2.831 685 in. 2.54* E+00 cm lbm 4.535 924 E01 kg psi 6.894 757 E+00 kPa
*Conversion factor is exact.

Jamir A. Gil is an engineer working for PDVSA, Venezuela. e-mail: jamirgil@yahoo.com. Gil holds BS and MS degrees in petroleum engineering from U. Central de Venezuela and the Colorado School of Mines, respectively. Erdal Ozkan is a professor in the Dept. of Petroleum Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines. e-mail: eozkan@mines.edu. Previously, he was on the faculty at Istanbul Technical U. Ozkan holds BS and MS degrees from Istanbul Technical U. and a PhD degree from the U. of Tulsa, all in petroleum engineering. He has served on the review committees of the SPE journals, was a Review Chairperson for SPEREE, and was a steering committee member for an SPE Forum. Presently, he is a member of the JPT Editorial Committee. Rajagopal Raghavan has worked at Stanford U., Amoco Production Co., the U. of Tulsa, Texas A&M U., and Phillips Petroleum Co. e-mail: rsraghavan@earthlink.net. He holds a BS degree in electrical engineering from the Birla Inst. of Technology and MS and PhD degrees from the U. of Birmingham and Stanford U., both in petroleum engineering. Raghavan is an honorary member of SPE and has served on several SPE committees and forums; he presently serves as the Senior Technical Editor.

196

June 2003 SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering