sOCIETY OF PETROLEUM EN’GIXEERSOF AIME PAPER

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THIS IS A PREPRINT --- SUBJECT TO CORRECTION

Fast Water-Coning Evaluation Method

By

Claude Bournazel and Bernard Jeanson, Institut Francais du Petrole

@ Copyright 1971
American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers, Inc.

This paper was prepared for the ~th Annual Fall Meeting of the Society of Petroleum Engineers
of AIME, to be held in New Orleans, La., Oct. 3-6, 1971. Permission to copy is restricted to an
abstract of not more than 300 words. Illustrations may not be copied. The abstract should contain
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usually granted upon request to the Editor of the appropriate journal provided agreement to give
proper credit is made.

Discussion of this paper is invited. Three copies of any discussion should be sent to the
Society of Petroleum Engineers office. Such discussion may be presented at the above meeting and,
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ABSTRACT for excluding water production.

Many approximate methods have been
published for making fast evaluations of reser-
voir behavior when water coning is involved.
Baaed on theoretical or experimental
research, these methods usually provide a fair-
ly close approximation of the critical flowrate
and the breakthrough time under restricted
geometric and drive conditions.
However, when economic necessities make
production above the critical flowrate inevi-
table, the WOR increase versus time or oil
production must be evaluated. Heretofore this
evaluation haa required the uae of complicated
and costly mathematical models.
This paper proposes a new method combining
experimental correlation using dimenaionlesa
numbers with a simplified analytical approach
baaed on the assumption that the front shape
behaves like a current line, in an equivalent
model of different shape.
This method can be numerically processed
quickly and easily. It gives a sufficient
approximation of both the critical flowrate and
the breakthrough time as well as of the WOR
increase, the pressure drop, the productivity
index and the minimum flow value below which
it would be necessary to decrease the flowrate
References and illustrations at end of paper.
The process can be applied to any thick
homogeneous reservoir which is horizontally fed.
Conversely, the method can be used for
approximately determining the optimum completion
and withdrawal rate.
The results obtained using this method have
been compared with those from numerous diphasic
flow experiments iisiiig
c?ifferent-sized physical
models. The initial conditions and the fluid
characteristica were varied to a large degree
during these experiments.
Although the calculations do not take into
account the capillary forces existing in the
,,,WV=.,
nmA,a 1 there is satisfactory agreement between
the different results.,agreement which is expec-
ted to be sufficient for making a fast predic-
tion and especially for choosing the penetration
depth.
An example is given of how this method is
applied to a typical problem. This is followed
by a discussion of the influence on water-coning
behavior of the different parameters that
usually characterize displacement.
. Consequently, although derived from exis-
ting methods, the fast evaluation process
described here can be used for a much wider
 FAST WATER-CONING EVALUATION METHOD
variety of cases and it provides a fuller
description of reservoir behavior when coning
phenomena are involved.
INTRODUCTION
Water drainage study in a thick layer with
cone formation is a problem whose analytic
solution is known to be difficult even impossi-
ble. A general study of the problem may b[
divided into three parts of increasing
difficulty :
critical flowrate determination = the f:owrat
above which there will be sooner or later a
water production;
- determination of breakthrough time or, water-
less cumulated production, for a given super-
critical flowrate;
evaluation of the WOR (Fwo) evolution after
breakthrough.
The first two problems have been studied,
analytically or experimentally. Muskatl assumed
that mobility of both oil and water were the
same, that gravity forces were negligible and
that local fingering did not occur.
. Hutchinson and Kemp* have extended these
results to different mobility ratios and includ
ed the influence of gravity forces.
. Henley, Owens and Craig 3 did an experimental
study on physical models under vertical feeding
They have found that capillary forces have
negligeable influence on the coning phenomena.
. Stephens, Moore and Caudle4 extended these
results when the equipotential surface is no
more the initial water oil contact but another
horizontal plane, much deeper in the water zone
Their results show that external feeding condi-
tions are of some importance in coning history.
. Sobocinski and Corneliuss did other experi-
mental tests, with lateral drive, whose resuits
were checked with the help of the numerical
model of Welge and Weber6.
. Khan”8 did similar experiments involving
variation of the water and oil zones thickness
ratio. His numerous and interesting results giv
valuable indication about the Fwo evolution
after breakthrough, but were limited to very
supercritical flowrates, i.e. when gravity
forces remain practically negligible.
With the results of many coning experiment
on similar but differently sized models, simple
correlations based upon a restricted analytic
study have -been verified. This method ‘gives
approximate critical flowrate, breakthrough tin
SPE 3628
and the most probable Fwo evolution, versus
different parameters whose experimental explo-
ration would have been drastically time
consuming. Thus the use of expensive numerical
methods is not needed for a first approach of
the suitable penetration flowrate.
LIMITS OF THE STUDY
This study has been limited to the case of
lateral drive (Fig. 1), the producing zone being
reasonably thin and the top and the wall
impervious. For a practically horizontal reser-
voir, this implies a well spacing large enough
vs the reservoir thickness, so that a radial
flow of oil and water may be assumed at the
outer limit.
The upward movement of the water-oil
contact (A) at the external radius depends on
the volumetric balance of the fluids entering
the “ influence zone “ selected.
In most experiments - and for the calcula-
tions - this W-O contact was constant. Therefore
it is evident that, for long time forecast of
realistic situations, a superpo~i~~on work shall
be done, as suggested by Cottin ‘ .
The capillary functions (capillary pressur~
and local relative permeability) are not taken
into account in the theoretical correlations.
Nevertheless, all the experiments were made witt
unmiscible fluids.
Finally, the fluids were assumed to be
incompressible and the total flowrate constant.
Under these conditions, the method for
determining the breakthrough time suggested by
Sobocinski ! was found satisfactory ”after slight
modifications. A critical flowrate formula,
consistent with the above correlations, can be
readily found.
Thus , the key problem was to find a
satisfactory correlation of the Fwo evolution
after breakthrough, since there was apparently
no valuable material published up to date on
this matter.
PROPOSED CORRELATIONS
Breakthrough time
Sobocinski and Cornelius5 plotted a
reduced height of the water cone
2mA~gkxh~(l- hp/ho)
ZD =
PO q
versus a reduced breakthrough time
SPE 3628
A~g ‘z ‘BT
‘D = appear throughout our experiments where relho
ycl ‘e ‘o
where f(M) is a function of the mo”~iiity ratio
1+M4
f(M) = ~
From a wide exploration of the mobility ratio
(from O.14 to 7.3) a value of ~ = 0.7 has been
selected.
Initial critical flowrate
According to the B.T. correlation, the
critical flowrate could be deduced from the
as~ptotic value of ‘D (infinite ‘alue ‘f
breakthrough time). A direct experimental
.-. , ~~~i~d
research or Cne critical f~O”W’~ate v?.de~
conditions led to an average value of Z~lim
# 4.3, which is in good agreement wit
the correlation ZD = f(tD) obtained with super-
critical flowrates.
A simple analytical form of ZD = f(t )
has then been researched, assuming an inl? lal
slope equal to 3. This value is the theoretical
limit when the pay zone is very thick, the well
“ non penetrating “ and if the two fluids are
identical (M = 1, A~=O, Z=o, t=O).
Of course, this remark has m~aning o~ly if the
water-zone thickness is aasumed to be of negli-
gible influence, which is undoubtedly true as
far as the critical flowrate is concerned, but
rather questionable for the breakthrough time
evaluation. Moat probably, the parameter ho
introduced in the Sobocinski’s tn should be a
.
function of ho, hp, h .
w
Nevertheless, a simple analytic form was
found to be in good agreement with experiments;
data :
3 tD
1 +0.7 tD
‘D =
Consequently, the critical flowrate ia
given, for field situationa scaled with the
investigated cases, by
*
@ kx h: (1 - h ho)
qc = 1.466 (1) permanent flow is reached. However a good
M,-
,G
.
This is an expression of the “encroaching”
critical flowrate, i.e. the flowrate ecrrespcfi. ~~im~
ding to the highest stable cone, beyond which
the instability will develop. It is known (10)
that the appex of this last stable cone remains appendix is suitable only for isotropic reser-
at a distance of the bottom of the well.much
greater than the well radius. Thus, it is
physically understandable that the q is inde-
pendent of the well radiua. Conversely, it
should depend on the external radiua when
B.P. JEANSON and C. BOURNAZEL 3
dealing with lateral drive at fixed boundaries.
This effect is anyway fairly small and did not
“ ‘(M)
was not modified to a large degree,
Stabilized Fwo determination (Flim)
The calculation method is described in the
appendix. Assumption was made that current line:
are horizontal around the well. Furthermore, “th{
capillary functions are neglected. The pressure
drop between the external limit and the well ma:
be written as :
where ~. and ~w ,~epresent respectively the
“ shape parameter of oil flow in the oil zone
and of water flow in the water zone and in the
~Qfie.h’ is the height between the water-oil
contact at the well when stabilized flow is
reached and the initial water-oil contact. Yo,
~wand h’ are functions ofF1im.
The expression of Flim is then given by
an equation whose solution is numerically easy
% ‘lim .$+( F1im+l)w. +-i ‘(
w-r- p. ~ o
w o
(2)
where q = qo + qw.
The calculated Flim depends, of course, of
the fluids properties and of the characteristic:
of the porous medium which is aaaumed to be
homogeneous, and also of geometric parameters
for which the experimental facilities did not
allow a broad investigation : well radius,
external radius, ratio of water zone thickness
to oil zone thickness, etc..
On another hand, this calculation gives a
“ stabilized productivity index “ (q/~p) versu:
the other parameter, mainly versus the penetra
tion depth
This expression is right only when the
~pprcxiP&tieP. of che index can be obtained
during the cone evolution period by replacing
by the actual WOR, (Fwo) in the calculation
,. .L- a.l.-..a
J.nL.LL=uuv= a“nwa@eiOq .
Gay.=””---
0
The calculation ofypreaented in the
voirs. An anisotropic reservoir may always be
represented by an isotropic model if :
L FAST WATER-CONING EVALUATION METHOD SPE 3628

ti=tafi;
hi=hafi ; Y. (F
1im
=0) = 1/1.4’6’

which implies a large well radius, unrealistic

k k in the field, but sometimes possible in physics
qi=qa~ ; and Api = ‘Pa or numerical models.
~
z T
Evolution of F
~o
where k is the horizontal permeability of both
reservo~r and model and k is the vertical From the breakthrough time tBT and the
permeability of the aniso1 ropic reservoir. limit value of F under stationary flow Flim,
a correlation ha~”been attempted by a
When dealing with an anisotropic reservoir systematic plot of the experimental data for :
the equivalent isotropic model will be identi- F (experimental)
fied with the help of the abwe formulas, then F=wo
the calculation will be made for this model F ~im calculated
and the results rearranged by the reverse
tranaformations : which varies theoreti~ally from O to 1, versus
r a dimensionless time
kz 5
qa = qi ~ Ap = Api >
a 3-0,7 ZD kz qt ~+Mo.7
x i x
FD = tD = kx de h~ x 4~(1-hp/ho)
‘D o

t
~
=
‘i J r ~ ‘lima = F 1imi x (3-0.7 ZD)

which is equal to 1. at breakthrough.

Similarly, F can be plotted versus a dimen

When a well has been produced under a sionless cumulative oil production.
supercritical flow for a time long enough, it
has been observed that the releasement of the
cone, i.e. the elimination of water production,
e,—–—--- —..-l_
requires a decrease or t’nellowra~e mucn bel~w
the so called “ encroaching “ critical flowrate
x (3-0.7 ZD)
q. This property of the water cone has been
m~at of time justified by the capillary hyster-
where N = 1; at breakthrough.
esis which is obviously an important factor, pD
but it can be explained by more simple dynamic
In spite of the great variety of experimen.
considerations.
tal data and conditions, it has been found that
such a correlation gives a fairly good
Equation (2) is valid only if there is a
evaluation of F evolution versus time or cum
stationary flow of water, but it can give a
lative oil prod%~tion.
value of the critical flowrate q necessary to
releaae the cone and thus eliminaCte the water
EXPERIMENTAL STUDY
production :
A large experimental model (Fig.2) is
working in the I.F.P. laboratories since 1968.
When F ~im~o ~ w . F1im+O and
It is a pie-shaped model whose characteristics
have been described by Bournazel and SonierlO.
h’~ h-h
o P This model allows accurate measurements.
Unfortunately its large dimensions increase the
experimental dead-time, especially when the
Equation (2) becomes
porous media or the fluids have to be changed.

qcd =
kow’: ‘i -hp;ho)
(3)
That is the reason why another model has
been built, of similar shape, but small enough
~“” ‘O(F1im=O) to make possible a great number of varied exper
iments. Table 1 summarizes the characteristic
of the models, porous media and fluids which
Comparison of qcd (3) and qc (1) shows
that qcd = qc if have been used.
SPE 3628 B.P. JEANSON and C. BOURNAZEL

Experiments involving mobility ratios From these two curves and after calcu-
lower than unity were performed by perforating lation of Flim and tBT it is possible to know
the well from the bottom of the water-zone. the 1? value corresponding to a given time or
Although the dimensional analysis remains a giv~~ cumulation oil production :
significant, a preferential oil-nettability of
the model walls favourizes a premature entry of
the undesirable fluid in the well. F= (>)_ (Fig. 5)
Wo x ‘lim
lim N
pD
RESULTS

Breakthrough time F = (>) - (Fig. 6)

Wo x ‘lim
1im ‘D
Figures 3 and 3a compare experimental
values of tD versus ZD for both models. The EXAMPLE OF INTERPRETATION
correlation function
In order to analyse the influence of the
3 tD different parameters influencing on the water-
ZD = coning, this method was applied to a typical
1 + 0.7 tn
reservoir whose characteristics were varied
successively. It is an horizontal reservoir,
is drawn on these figures : the agreement with
lateraly fed, with impermeable top and wall
the experimental results is quite good mainly
(Fig. 7). The initial characteristics are :
when the biggest model was used.
External Feeding radius re = 200 m (20.000 cm
Stabilized Fwo
Well radius rw = 10 cm
Oil zone thickness ho = 40 m ( 4.000 cm
Figure 4 compares calculated Flim to
Water zone thickness ~= 20m (2.000 cm)
experimental results. Throughout these series
Total thickness
of tests, the mobility ratio was varied from
Penetration depth
0.14 to 7.3, the dimensionless flowrate (qD)
from 0.8 to 13.7 and the well penetration ‘orizonta~ perllleabi~ity~ n ‘g g ‘;:= ~]
to oil kx = 1.5 1o-8 perm
(hP/ho) from 0.10 to 2.0. Experimental values
Relative permeabilities
of Flim ranged from 0.018 to 3.11 i.e. within
ratio >;:O :;.;
a rakio of i. to 173.
Anisotropy ratio
Effective porosity @:z: =010
In spite of this very wide exploration of
Viscosity of oil r“o = 0.04 P.
the principal parameters, the discrepancy
Viscosity of water pw = 0.008 P.
between+experiments and correlations does not
Density of oil = 0.75 g/cm3
exceed - 50 per cent in any situations (~ 20% $: . 1.05 glic+
Density of water
only for the results of the 64 feet model).
Flowrate q = 50 m3/day
(579 cm3/s)
Evolution of Fwo
The fast evaluation method lead to the
Figure 5 indicates the evolution of following results :
~o/F1im versus the dimensionless oil productio
NPD. For the sake of clarity, only fifteen - Breakthrough time tBT = 1.655 107 S.

experimental curves ‘havebeefi Clrs-wil CO~i3SpGfi- _ ~~~~~~~~ Flrw.wsta

..”” . . ..- (I.
-IL = 19/+ cm31s
ding to dimensionless breakthrough times rangiq - Decrease critical
from 0.24 to 4.11 and values of Flim from 0.018 flowrate qcd = 41 cm3/s
to 3.1. When the mobility ratio is lower than - WOR limit ‘lim = 0.833
.,”+*., “W-AA
hnth -.A-
th,a c=~cu~~c~d ~- . are
and tET - Pressure drop Ap = 8.54 106barye
~~~”~~gh; this is probably e~~?ainable by the - Productivity index q/Ap = 6.78 10-~
inversion of nettability on the walls of the cm31sl
mode 1. barye
- Cumulate oil at
However, an average F line has been breakthrough N = q.tBT =
-yo __-__.L,-- PBT
drawn (wide piain line). Lne ~easunau~y gGd

nesting of the experimental curves within the 9.58 109cm3

departure lines (+ 50 and - 33 per cent from The correlation method was then applied to
average) gives to this correlation the meaning this typical case in order to investigate the
of a typical “ response curve “. influence of the different parameters on the
abwe characteristics of the coning behavior.
Figure 6 shows similarly —the typical Fwo
----- 2:---.:-.-1.-..
versii~ tkleUAUIe LIa AU LL. C-=
+4nla~
GA . ...=
D“

6
Flowrate (Fig. 8)
-.—cl
Eor
—— ...
IL UWL_L=
l:-htl.,a--star
s.A~*...J .5------
critical flow, increase of the flwrate leads
to a rapid decrease of breakthrough time and
thus, of water-free production . Flim increases
quickly versus flowrate.
Above 2.000 cm3/s, the gravity forces
become less influent in regard of the viscous
forces and the coning behavior is less sensi-
tive to the total flowrate.
penetration depth (Fig. 9, 10 and 11)
Figure 9 shows that the optimal penetra-
tion is not necessarily the smaller, even if
there are no productivity problems. Flim
exhibits a minimum value fOr D = 0.45 in this
particular case. For this pene * ration, qcd is
maximum (fig. 10). The stationary productivity
index is fOr hpD = 0.45 two times lower than it
-wc-uldl.-.
u=
....la..
ut~u=.
g ~~~=~ n.netrstion
~.-..------_.-bue seven
times higher than for one meter penetration
(Fig. 11).
Conversely, of course, any increase of
penetration depth reduces the water-free pro-
duction (Fig. 9).
Water zone thickness (Fig. 12)
~~,e.w.a~
~r ~crLe +hir-lrmacc
-.. -- . . ..s .,-
the critical flowrates. According to the
proposed approximate correlation, its influencl
on the breakthrough time is assumed to be
negligible. Its effect on Fli is significant,
mainly for small thicknesses ?under50 to 100,
in that case). When the water zone thickness
increases, the coning phenomena tends toward a
bottom-coning (vertical drive).
TwlelL IA -,. =,4;,,= (u.”m. ~~)
.-=.=” \. .5
Well radius has influence neither on the
critical eneroacklirlgf~o~~ate qc pa~~Qpa~~.~
breakthrough time tBT. Figure 13 shows however
that the Fwo evolution can be sensitive to the
well radius if this one becomes too large. Thi
is of poor importance in the field, but should
be kept in mind when physical or mathematical
models are to be designed.
On the other hand, the smaller is the wel
radius, the lower will be the “ decrease crit-
ical flowrate “ qcd.
External radius (Fig. 14)
This parameter has little effect on Flim
and qcd. This means that it may be choosen
rather approximately, provided the general
assumptions (re/ho large enough) are satisfied
FAST WATER-CONING EVALUATION METHOD SPE 3628
Oil viscosity (Fig. 15 and 16)
~~.ap. ~he The figures ~how the influence! which iS
qualitatively evident, of oil viscosity, i.e.,
as the water viscosity is constant, the effect
of the mobility ratio.
Anisotropy (Fig. 17)
In the typical example, the vertical perme-
ability has been modified, the kx remaining
constant. The breakthrough time is proportional
to the anisotropy ratio kxfk . The influence
of this parameter on Flim an~ qcd is very s=ll!
Forecast of the reservoir behavior
Coming back to the initial data, an
attempt can be made to describe the behavior of
this typical field using the correlation curves
of Figures 5 and 6.
‘i’~.~
~ vs time is obtained by a simple
multiplica~on of the abscissae of the curve
(Fig. 5) by the calculated breakthrough time
(1.655 x 107 S) and of the ordonnates by the
calculated Flim (0.833). In the same way, FWO
can be plotted vs the cumulated oil production
by multiplying the abscissae of curve (Fig. 6)
by the calculated Np (9,58 x 109 cm3) and the
ordonnates by 0.833.
has p-~ effect On The ~ae,,lts are Shm on figure 18.
---- .------ ---
Evidently, the asymptotic WOR value may be
reached only if the outer water-oil contact is
stationary, which is an unrealistic field
situation. Otherways, a step by step procedure
involving volumetric balance calculation will
be necessary. Anyway, it can be expected that
the forecasting of coning evolution indicated
by the curves (Fig. 18) is significant up to
five to ten times the breakthrough time.
This results of the proposed fast evalua-
tion method have been compared to the numerical
~~ii”U~t~
-1.&”4..#.A
UUCaALL=U “y
1....
+l-”m.thamst+(-al
. .=
rn.Q&a~
,,-...=--------
Of
Sonier, Besset and Ombretll. Arbitrary but
realistic capillary functions were introduced
in the numerical model. Figure 19 shows the Fwo.
vs time as calculated by the numerical model
and by the fast correlation method.
CONCLUSION
The fast evaluation method presented in
this paper is a synthesis of the numerous
experimental. results collected in the I.F.P.
laboratories all along a two years work about
cylindrical coning.
Although it may not appear to be general
and remains open” to criticism, it is expected
to be useful in spite of the great complexity
of the coning phenomena.
 B,P. JEANSON and C. BOURNAZEL 7
W 3628
I
In the most general case of lateral drive,
the suggested correlations allow a good forecas tD= A$.f$y. (l+2M0”7)
of the water-free production time, the water- eo
oil ratio increase after breathrough and the
. . . -- ,L. .-t . -t. L—_ -L ----- -- . -- I
k2 N
critical tlowraces wnacever ~ne cnaraccer~sLLcs
of the fluids, the properties of the porous N=
pD kx @e h3
medium and the geometry of the system. o

=..-+~e~e-.
.- th.i~~~~h~d make possible a
K u....=.... Other dimensionless forms used :
quick optimization of the penetration depth and 2nAQg kx h? (1 - hP/ho)
the total flowrate, which are in fact the only ZD=
PO q
parameters depending on the field engineer’s
will.
l+ M0”7 (3-
0.7 ZD)
~=NPD
. 4~(1-hp/ho) “
The use of costly mathematical iiiodelsezri
thus be avoided as long as the knowledge of the
reservoir characteristics is not accurate enoug” 3 - 0.7 ZD
;=~ =*.G
to justify the expense. D D“ q.
‘D
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
NOMENCLATURE
The authors wish to thank the Association
de Recherche sur les Techniques du P6trole F stabilized WOR
Flim ~ actual WOR
(A.R.T.E.P.), the Institut Fran$ais du P&trole Wo
—- !z . gravity acceleration
(1.F.F.) for permission to pub]ish this paper, .
and both Y. Penlae and J. Dufort for helping h= height, thickness
with the experimental work. h’ = maximum water cone elevation
k= permeability
DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS M= mobility ratio
Np = cumulated oil produced
. pressure
Scaling requirements P
q = flowrate
h’ ‘X = external radius
a) geometric A = ~ .~ ‘e
r– ‘“z rw = well radius
t = time
k z = height
B = tg2d. ~ &= dip angle
z
r f. sha~e parameter
~~ = . e A= difference
rw viscosity
P=
. density
h . effective porosity
G’ = f
~ e

: SUBSCRIPTS
‘pD =
0 a = anisotropy
BT = breakthrough
b) dynamic M= c = critical (encroaching)
cd = critical (decrease)
D= dimensionless
= isotrope
‘1= ;m ‘ limit
= relative to oil
;= relative to well penetration
t = total
‘2”
w= relative to water
x . radial or horizontal
z . vertical
‘3=

REFERENCES
Dimensionless correlating groups :

poq 1. Muskat, M.: “ The performance of Bottom

Water-drive Reservoirs “ Trans. AIME, 1947
qD =
Agcoso(kxh2 ~, 81-111
f o
3 FAST WATER-CONING EVALUATION METHOD SPE 3628
L1le
A“...l
ml--
equa&AJ.J
4+., -G
w.
mT-aecl??-0
y-------
dl-qs ~ D
r
between
2. Hutchinson T.S. and Kemp C.E. : “An extencie(
analysis of Bottom Water-drive Reservoir A’ and B for both fluids leads to :
Performance”, Trans. A.I.M.E. 1956, 207,
p. 256-261.
3. Henley D.H., Owens W.W. and Graig F.F. : “A
scale model study of Bottom-Water-drives”. $and~a re respectively characteristics
J. Petroleum Technol. , January 1961 p. 90-9/ of th~ resist~nce to oil flow in the oil zone
4. Stephens A.C., Moore T.F. and Caudle B.H., and to the resistance of water flow in the water
“Some model studies of Bottom Water-driven zone. They depend on the geometry of the system
reservoirs”, Preprint S.P.E. 561, Okla. i.e. on the shape of the stabilized cone.
S.P.E. P.R. Symposium April 30, 1963.
-.L_-i-_I.: ~.~. ...~ofi--nl-i,,= A .1 11A
5. DODOCLIM5KA =LLU UU-.S ----- ‘---- : ‘- Tine total flowr~te iS cmsta~t :
correlation for predicting water coning
time”. J, Petroleum Technol. May 1965, q = ~ + q. Flim = ~tqo
p. 594-600.
6. Welge H.J. and Weber A.G. : “Use of two-di- F has to be calculated as a function of
mensional methods for calculating well coni I}ifiillbe assumed that the current lines
q.
behavior”. Sot. Petroleum En~rs. J., Dec. are horizontal just around the well, then :
1964, p. 345-355.
7. Khan A.R. and Caudle B.H., “Scaled model F = ~/qo= M+ (2 A
studies of thin oil columns produced by 1im
natural Water-drivef’. S.P.E. Preprint where
No 2304, Sept. 29, 1968. h =h’+h -ho
8. Khan A.R. : 11Ascaled model study of ‘ater pw P
Coning” - S.P.E. preprint No 2456, May 25, h ho - h’
1969. po =
9. Cottin R.H., : “Optimizing well completion or
and production under two-phase coning con- Mh /h.
ditions” - A.R.T.E.P. Meeting, I.F.P. h’/h = 1- (3 A
France 7-9 June 1971 0
‘+ ‘Mm
10. Bournazel C.L. and Sonier F. - “Physical an
numerical models for the study of oil drain For the determination of ~ , it will be
age with cone formation” - A.R.T.F.P. 3rd assumed that the water-oil cont~ct line AB is
Meeting, Pau, France. Technip Editions identical to a current line in a single phase
1969. (oil) equivalent model which would keep the
11. Sonier F., Besset Ph. and Ombret R. : “A actual values of ho, h P. and thus h’ (Fig. A 2)
numerical model of multiphase flow around a
well” - S.P.E. 3627, Fall Meeting, New In such a model, the flux is assumed constar
Orleans, October 1971. at both the well surface and the external sur-
i
12. Muskat M. : “Physical principles of oil face, which means that the equivalent oil
production” - Mc Graw Hill, 1949, p.205-2C model should have a thickness hto such that :
13. Reiss L.H. and Cottin R.H. : “Effect of h - ho
Boundary conditions on coning phencmena F =M .&=M ‘0
under super critical rates” - A.R.T. F. P. lim h ho
po
~Ed rnee~ing, Pau, France, m--’i--i-LfSGnULIJ
~~~~~Gr’<
1969. or (F~im+ M) ho
h= (4 A
14. c~lleau Y., Chaumet P. , Jeanson B. and to M
Van Quy N. : llNmerical and Experimental
~~,d~y~f Edge-C~ninglts A=R:T=F,P. , lrst ~_ is the pressure drop coefficient in this
Meeting, Rueil, France,Techniv Editions eq-u~valentmodel submitted to oil flow. The
1963. dimension less penetration is then :
h
L (5 A)
APPENDIX %o=~=F ‘+M.h
h to
1im o
The typical model (Fig. Al)isa cylinder of Similarly, i w is the pressure drop coeffi-
external radius re, with a central well of cient in another single-phase (water) equiva-
radius ru, penetrating UP to a depth hp fr~ th~ lent model where ~, h w and h’ will keep the
top. hp may be smaller, equal or larger than their actual value (F?g. A 3) . However it
h Both wall and top are impervious. There should now be kept in mind that hpo is them
i~”a lateral horizontal feeding at re. The
modified since the well is penetrating from
external water-oil contact (A) remains fixed. the top.
When a permanent flow is reached, the cone
h
height is then h ‘ and the water-oil contact nex (6 A)
~= 2
well (B) remains constant. h h
ptw tw
. 9
B.P. JEAIKON and C. BOURNA2EL
-.
SPE 3628

(7 A)
remarking that :
h’ = (htw - hw) - (hptw - hpw)
T_(n+l)=n r(n).
Combining 6 A, 7 A, and 3 A :
hw(hw+ ho-h) The function~(x) beeing nearly symetric
(8 A) around x = 3/2 between x= 1 and x = 2, one
i = (F1ti+M) (F~im+ M) h - Flim hp
tw w can write

md r(2- 0.125~) #T(l + 0.125~)

~=+= ‘lim ‘P (9 A)
w (M+ F1im) hw
tw r(2 - 0.875 ~)~ ~(1 + 0.875~)

The expression of~ may thus be simplified:

They values are such that
~= Log (1 - 0.875~) +Log (1 - 0.125~)
A kh
Y= “p, remembering that

~rL& ~=~~=~ , -:..m._

elnole ~.--—.
nhase flow with partial pe.-
netration.

A very satisfactory approximation had been

and 1
.ven by Muskat12 : qo=q ~
k h~ 1im
2TI .&(~-d)-Log~
pq e
The knowledge of h’, ~ o and ~ w versus
F and all others parameters leads to the
lim
implicite equation

fw +

rith (11 A)
r(l + 0.875 iii).m + 0.125Ki) kh 2Apg
Ga
‘L% ~(1 - 0.875 ”Fi). r(l - o.125rj)
‘-i J
poq’
@ rw2
2+
0.875~j +— +(0.875%j) u!
~nd ~&h.2
11 1 Where ~ is given by (3 A)
4
o
3 = Log
\j r2 +
—2
- 0.125 ~j+~ +(0.125 hj) ~and ~ are calculated by (10 A) where
4h w o
[ 1
j h and ~ are given by (4 A) and (5 A) for the
calculation of~o, and by (8 A) and (9 A) for
+ is the dimensionless
Where~. =
J i the calculation of $$
J
penetration.
 TABLE 1

t 1

I 195 : ra (c=) j 65
: : :
: 2.s : rw (cm) : 1 a
t : : :
t 60 : h (c=) 1 20 !
t : i 1

1 24U. 10-8 : k (PM) : 950,10-8 :

1 : : t

t 0,265 1 de 0.3W $
●
t ;
———-— -A-m-——-m.-= L---——..
t : : :
: t t 1
t 0.164 : Ap (s/c9’) : 0.166 t
t : : :
: I 0,11 g (Po) gl 115
o.:—-- ?
~o
: : : :
t 5.9 t M I 7.27 :
: —9n——9— L~.-—— !

t t 1 t
: : : 1
0.18s A f) (S /C93) 0.178
: : i i

: r 1
2.6 n 3.25
f 1 $

8
i
I
: A @s/c=3) ,. I
0.202 ;
:
: 1 :
p. (m) ; XXI o ,Oam
1 : :
I : : 1
M 1.o8
I I ! I
1 : : t
 t I I
Oil wn* r
,%-
ho
Fluld in
A ———— ———— ——

hw ~ Wotw mm

F!g. 1 - Lateral feeding.

radius: 6+ ft).
Fig. 2 - Experimental model (external

I
tD+~ .—
,+MO.?
z
0.5
I I
1
,~to=*.*
4 6 8-
2
F!g. 3A - Breakthrough t!me correlate an.
FIg. 3 - Breakthrough time correlation.

1 FLlm Esperimentol

,/
/

.-
I
Fwo (~IWIM
FIJm
— r
+-----
SO%
I

I. /,&’
.M>l
tM<l
6 1/2hat MOdd
I
//:” j’ /’

.M>l
oM<I I 2 -y’”+ “ ~

/ 0-/’ ,~” 1
o. 1
/ .. I / /- I i
/

/
/
/
/
FLim Colculotod
o.01
0.01 0. I
Fig. 5 - Carrel atlon of Fwo evolutlon vs reduced
Fig. 4 - Film: comparison of experimental and
cumulative 011 produced.
calculated results.
 Fwo (experimental)
FLi~

.,.
[,.,,
..... Well +---i

ho-
I
.......i ...........
l..:.hp..:.....
.,.”..”.l
........

. .. ““”:””.
”l::;:I::::;:;
”~;.’i0*. !::::::::::::::
::::::::.:.::
... ,..”...’.
.,
......’
...’...:
.......... ....... . ....................
. * L
~w -

F!g. 7 - Typical reservoir submitted to lateral

feeding.

362/?
10 100
/%
I

time.

t,r (Sec.) q.t,~ t,?

(~3)
FLim
I t (Sec.) I
~.,07

!1 1
I
i
1.5

I
I

I
i 2.107
lo”~ I

y.. . .——

~~1 0.5 107

I ,
+
I
I
I .,.-9 .

\ hp (m)

t,r o 000 2000 m m 5000

F!g. 9 - Effect of well penetration on breakthrough

I time and Flim.

, Iq km%)

I
I ,& 8 Ap (turyd
,03 2.103 3,103
Fig. 8 - Flowrate Influence on breakthrough
t!me and water-free production.
I
A q~ , qed

1-
(~3/,) 108

I I I I I
\

200

107

I I
100

q cd

106 hp(cm)

2000 ?JmO 4mo

o 2000 4000
o 1000
Fig. 11 - Effect of well penetration on An.
Fig. 10 - Effect of well penetration on qc and q~d.
 i
qsd
FLim I ‘ FLim
,. \ - 200
0.8

I
0.6

0.4 -

o- ‘
50>
0. 2

hw(cm) I I I rw (cm) 01
~ 2
,&

Fig. 13 - Well radius Influence on Film and qcd.

Fig. 12 - Influence of water zone thickness on Flim.

>@g
/
;-3

1.5
I FLim qsd

I 75

I I
I
FLim
I 30
I

I
----- .
qsd ,OJ . I 10
I
as 25
.

#be (m) ,
re (em)
o *o
I
103 n~ 10’ IcF 10-’
F!g. 15 - Influence of oil viscosity on Film,
Fig. 14 - External radius Influence on Film and q~d.
qc and qcd.

FLim :L t
t km% no

I ) I
4.107

\ 0.7s 150
3.107 FL im
\
1
100
210 7 0.s

30
0.2 s-

ks/kx
0 1000
0 I 10 100
& 10-’

Fig. 16 - Influence of 011 vlscoslty on Fig. 17 - Effect of anisotropy on Flim, qc. and qcd.

breakthrough time.
 ‘ Fwo Fwo. 0.833 (m FLim)
-——— .- J ------- ,.
--------
./ (
0.8.

II /“” ,“ //- i,/’

.“ I ./

I
0.6 ,
I I
\
0.4

0.2

0 07 (sec.)
,.11 Np :cm3)
loo 10’0

Fig. 18 - Evolutlon of Fwo vs time Or cumulative

oil produced (from correlation).

CorreiotiOa

0.5

t (3ec.)
0

Fig. 19 - Cvolut ion of Fwo VS time (numerical

model and correlation).

?e rw

1
qo
,—
B
ha “A 1 ho
h’
h’ two
A ------ ----

I I
Fig. A-1 F!g. A-2

-1

hew h’

hw
#

Fig. A-3