SPE 11104

SPE
Society of' Petrolel.rn Engineel'8 of A1M E

Enhanced Gas Recovery From Water-Drive Reservoirs-

Methods and Economics
by Femi M, Akindele" and Djebbar Tiab, U. of Oklahoma
Members SPE

* Now with Sohio Petroleum Co,

Copyright 1982, Society of Petroleum Engineers of AIME

This paper was presented at the 57th Annual Fall Technical Conference and Exhibilion of lhe Society of Petroleum Engineers of AIME,
held In New Orleans, LA, Sept. 26-29, 1982. The malenal IS subject to correction by the author. Permission to restricted to an
abstract of not more than 300 words. Write: 6200 N. Central Expressway, P.O. Drawer 64706. Dallas, Texas

Meanwhile, conventional gas reserves continue

to decline rapidly as demand soars. In the cases
As the search for additional natural gas con- where reservoir pressure depletes naturally with gas
tinues, recovery of known reserves must be improved production, recovery efficiency tends to be high,
if the goal of avoiding shortages is to be met. One often approaching 90 percent. Where there is water
area requiring further industry attention for enhanced encroachment, recovery may be as low as 10 percent of
gas recovery is the reservoir associated with an the original gas in place. The remaining reserves
active aquifer. In reservoirs of this type, pressure would be unrecoverable unless external aid is pro-
maintenance and entrapment of gas by encroaching vided to reduce the water influx and induce pressure
water greatly reduce recovery. depletion.

This paper discusses the mechanism by which the In the past, the natural gas price did not
aquifer reduces gas recovery and the magnitude of encourage wide application of external aid to produce
gas possibly left in place. Three methods of improv- these known reserves. With the increasing price
ing recovery are analyzed including (1) planned water and vnlue of gas, recovery of such reserves should be
production, (2) accelerated gas production and (3) given mOTe attention than it_ currently receives.
gas by other gas of lower
economic value. The study shows criteria for tech-
nical and economic feasibility of the methods. Since huge investments may be required to enhance
Examples are used to illustrate the evaluation the recovery of these reserves, detailed studies re-
procedures. quiring sophisticated evaluation approaches and
computer applications are often required. The field
engineer who is closest to the data and information
on the reservoirs probably has the responsibility of
initiating such studies. Unfortunately, his time is
Enhanced gas recovery has traditionally been limited and routine operations may prevent him from
used to describe methods of unconventional gas re- acquiring and applying the necessary tools.
covery from tight gas sands, Devonian shales, coal-
bed methane and methane from geopressured aquifers. The aims of this work, then, are (1) to provide
These sources of gas have been estimated by experts some information to the field engineer regarding the
to contain between 200 and 3,300 TeF of potentially magnitude of gas reserves he may be leaVing in his
recoverable gas in the United States. Both the water drive reservoir, (2) to review the possible
industry and Government have addressed and actively methods he can apply to improve his gas recovery, (3)
pursued the development of these reserves. However, to show procE:~dures for initial reservoir evaluation
numerous difficult issues, particularly the techno- which may be used as a basis for detailed studies,
logy, risk and economics, remain barriers to progress and (4) to discuss the economic analysis method
in this direction. We are probably still far from necessary to justify the project.
commercially developing these reserves.

paper.
2 ENHANCED GAS RECOVERY FROM WATER DRIVE RESERVOIRS--METHODS fu~D ECONOMICS SPE 11104

Naar-Henderson l7 proposed that residual gas

saturation can be obtained from the original gas
The mechanisms by which the aquifer reduces gas saturation. Their expression for consolidated sands
recovery include: is as follows:

(a) Dissolving of gas (1)

(b) Capillary Entrapment
(c) Pressure Maintenance 18
Agarwal obtained the following correlations
by regression analysis:
These are briefly discussed as follows:
2
+ (2 )

for consolidated sandstones,

The diffusion of gas into the encroaching
water generally causes a slight loss of recoverable
gas due to the ability of water to dissolve the gas. "" A 0
l
+ A2 logk + A3S gi + (3)

As shown in Figure 1, gas solubility in water has

for limestone, and
been found to decrease with increasing temperature
and to increase with pressure. In addition, increas-
ing water salinity reduces gas solubility.
S
gr
+ (Sgi 0) + A30 + A4 (4)

for unconsolidated sandstones.

As water invades the gas bearing sand, capillary His values for the coefficients
presented in Table 2. The above
effects cause water to move irregularly. Where the
probably provide reliable starting point estimates
water path forms an enclosure around any gas bubble,
if no laboratory data are available. However, actual
such bubble becomes unrecoverable. See Figure 2.
measurements must be made to increase confidence in
The amount of gas left in place by this pro~asstends
the quantity estimated for each reservoir.
to decrease linearly with increasing porosity as
Experimental evidence is available to show that
depicted in Figure 3.
reservoir residual gas can closely be predicted
from laboratory tests. See Reference 1.

It is well known that a gas reservoir derives

most of its producing energy from the expansion of
gas itself. Where water influx occurs, pressure
The magnitude of residual gas possibly left in
reduction and, therefore, gas expansion are restricted.
place after water influx suggests the need for im-
In effect, at the time the reservoir is abandoned,
proved recovery methods for this system of reservoir.
the reservoir pressure may be too high to allow
Total prevention of water encroachment would be pre-
maximum recovery of in place. Results of
ferred in most cases. Unfortunately, no practical
several investigations indicate that residual
approach has been found for this. Even if found, the
gas in a water invaded reservoir is dependent mainly
technique may not be completely acceptable due to the
on the strength of the aquifer, the original gas
advantage of water influx in maintaining deliver-
saturation, and the production rate. In general,
ability. In addition, where substantial oil reserves
the stronger the aquifer, the larger the residual gas.
exist between the gas zone and the aquifer, preventing
water influx could reduce oil recovery. These must
be considered in curtailing the effects of aquifer
response.
Years ago residual gas after water influx was
To improve gas recovery when water influx may be
considered to be between 5 and 15 percent. Accord-
a problem, three reservoir management techniques
ing to Ref. 1, this was based on the relative ease
have been found applicable. These are (1) planned
of gas movement as compared to water and on the
water production, (2) accelerated gas production,
assumption that gas displacement by water would give
and (3) natural gas displacement. A review of these
results similar to liquid displacement by gas. Labor-
techniques follows.
atoryand field tests of Geffen et.al~, and other
researchers have put the size of such residual gas
at between 10 and 68 percent. Table 1 summarizes
the results of different investigations on the magni-
This method involves simultaneously producing
tude of residual gas saturation.
gas and water using separate wells. The aim is to
reduce reservoir pressure to a level below what would
It is noteworthy that a wide range exists in
otherwise result from aquifer influence. This is
the results presented in the table. Many investi-
essentially reducing the aquifer strength as it
gators have attempted correlations between reservoir
affects the gas zone.
parameters and residual gas after water encroachment.
At least two such expressions exist.
SPE 11104 F.M. AKINDELE AND D. TIAB 3

The application of this technique may be studied

using the line source equation. One form is given by:
This approach is dependent on being able to pro-
per,t) : : : Pi - (-EL(-12h.lC t //0. 00105kt (5) duce the gas reserves at a rate that will deplete
the pressure rapidly relative to aquifer response.
Several aspects of the operation must therefore be
where pressure at a distance (r) from a producer and considered including:
time (t) is defined to be equal to initial pressure
(Pi) less pressure drop due to production. The Ei (1)
function is easily evaluated using published tables. 19 (2) allowable.
(3) such as water
Observation of the expression shows that care- coning, paraffin.
fully locating wells to produce the aquifer at planned
rates and times would cause the reservoir pressure to The general procedure for evaluating the
drop. Consider a hypothetical well producing 200 Bbls. viability of this approach follows.
of water from a 16 foot thick reservoir with an 1n1-
tial pressure of 3200 psi. Other reservoir and fluid (A) Match pressure and production histories
properties are: for existing producers. For a new field,
pressure and production profiles must be
12% -6 predicted.
13xl0 /psi (B) Predict reservoir pressure, water influx
13 md. and ultimate recovery for various pro-
u .8 cpo duction rates.
(C) Predict coning rate.
Pressure at a particular time and location may be (D) Predict de1iverability.
predicted using Equation 5 and assuming the water (E) Optimize production rate based on maximum
formation volume factor is 1. For example, after 30 recoverable reserves.
minutes of production, the pressure at any distance
(r) is: The above steps can be accomplished by combining
material balance with coning and deliverability cal-
P(r,O.S) culations which are based on relationships between
-6 ? time, pressure and production rate. These variables
P -'--__---::-::----::--;:-!----'-----'- (-E' (-. 12) ( . 8) (13xl 0 ) r ,- ) are the essential basis of accelerated gas production
i -
1(0.00105)(13)(0.5) which must be optimized as illustrated in the follow-
-4 r
2 ing discussion.
= Pi - 54.35(-Ei(-1.82xI0
Examine the volumetric balance equation given by:
Similarly, after 50 hours
-6 ? 0AhdP.-P)
. 1 + (6)
P(r,50) = Pi - 54.35(-Ei(-L82xlO r-)
Define O.02829ZT/P CF/SCF (7)
It is readily shown that by properly choosing the
distance between the water well and the gas producer, By assuming an appropriate water influx model,
the rate of water production and the duration of pro- can be obtained. For example, if an aquifer of
duction, a required pressure drop at the gas producer extent is considered to respond radially,
can be obtained. In the case illustrated, at 50 feet water influx is:
from the water producer, the aquifer pressure of 2j =n-l
3200 psi would drop to about 2939 psi at the end of HeCSCF) = 6.2830c.r hZAP.Q (8)
50 hours. . e j=:oO J t

Table 3 presents calculated pressures at indicate Thus, the rate of gas production can be represented
distances (30 minutes and 50 hours) from the water by
producer. These are graphed as shown in Figure 4. q(SCF/D) = Al (Pi - + A i.6P.Q (9)
2 J t
It is clear from the graph that higher pressure drops
are obtained near the water producer. This suggests \vhere Al and A2 are constants.
that the water well must be located as close as
possible to the gas-water contact for maximum effect. By assuming various pressure drops over a certain
period of time, the required production rate can be
The foregoing analysis clearly shows that timing obtained, which maximizes recoverv for the period.
and location of the water producer are major con- Theoretically, it appears that reservoir pressure
trolling factors in this method of enhanced gas re- drop can be imposed as high as desired for a maximum
covery. Optimizing the operation may, therefore, call production rate. This may be achieved using several
for using existing watered-out wells or drilling new wells produced at capacity. However, there is a
water producers in the aquifer. On the other hand, maximum number of wells that can be justified econom-
the appropriate well location may be in the aquifer ically for a gas reserve. In addition, de1iverability
before or after the start of water encroachment. Each and coning constraints must be considered.
option must be examined vis-a-vis the expected add-
itional gas recovery. The final choice would depend
on economics.
4 ENHANCED GAS RECOVERY FROM WATER DRIVE RESERVOIRS--METHODS AND ECONOMICS SPE 11104

In view of the fact that water encroachment may

not completely be avoided and due to the restrictions
The maximum production rate of a gas well may be that may be imposed by possible operational problems
determined from the following expression: outlined above, this method may not result in maximum
gas recovery. Therefore, completing wells to produce
q (10) the encroaching water may still be necessary if sub-
stantial residual gas remains in place.
Furthermore, allowable production is a fraction of
the absolute open flow potential and may be expressed A major setback with the acceleration method is
as: that if the gas zone is separated from the aquifer by
an oil rim, it may be technically unwise or uneconomic
q = (11) to produce the gas. The accelerated gas production
may need to be delayed in favor of oil production.
where X = fraction of open flow potential. This, in turn, may reduce the present worth of the
gas. The next section discusses a method to alleviate
Equation (11) represents the maximum production this problem.
rate that a gas well may produce. It, therefore,
indicates the rate that will give the highest pressure
drop possible for the reservoir if depletion is to be
accomplished by only one well. It is clearly seen In order to avoid undue delay in recovery and
that the highest production rate is obtained when possible entrapment of natural gas in a gas-oil-
X is 1, i.e., the well produces at capacity. Thus, water system, it may be prudent to replace the natural
recoverable reserves increase with X. It is easy to gas by injecting another gas of lower economic value.
see that if the reservoir is depleted by two or more This method of enhanced gas recovery is particularly
wells, recoverable reserves should increase. encouraged by the increasing demand for aild price of
natural gas.
It may be operationally unwise to produce a gas
well underlain by water at capacity due to coning The main purpose of this method is to maintain
tendencies. This is examined next. adequate pressure in the gas zone for maximum oil
recovery without delaying gas sales. Residue gas,
carbon dioxide and nitrogen could be used to replace
natural gas since they are worth less than natural
Consider a well in a gas reservoir associated gas. These options must be evaluated, however, based
with an aquifer. Assume that the relevant reservoir on
and well data are as shown in Table 4. If we further (1) Price of the replacement gas
assume that the graphical coning evaluation technique (2) Availability
proposed by Meyer and Garder 22 is adequate, then we (3) Favorable physical and chemical properties
can predict the maximum gas production rate to avoid
water coning as follows: The use of residue gas may be precluded by un-
necessary sales deferment thereby restricting the
For a cone height, h 30' choice to carbon dioxide and nitrogen. In terms
Apparent rate q' = 2000 MCF/D 5) cost, availability, and ease of operation,
have shown that nitrogen is superior to carbon dioxide
q' q In (re/r w) /k (12) Therefore, the following discussion will concern
q q'k/ In(re/rw) nitrogen injection.
1 MMCF/D
Typically, nitrogen is injected high in the
Thus, the maximum production rate for this well should structure. Natural gas and oil are then produced
be about 1 MMCF/D if coning is to be avoided. The simultaneously from their respective zones. The
absolute open flow obtained by Equation (11) is main factors that must be analyzed to usc this
technique include
q Cp2n
10(4000)1.6 (1)
5.8 MMCF/D
Nitrogen is readily obtainable on site from
These rates indicate that coning would restrict pro- air. This involves cryogenic separation of air
duction to about 17 percent of absolute flow potential. components--a process consisting of air compression,
Earlier discussion. however, indicated that the followed cooling and distillation. Plants may be
reservoir must be produced as fast as possible. It, owned by operator or nitrogen supplied by a con-
therefore, becomes necessary to evaluate the feas- tractor who owns and operates the plants.
ibility of additional drilling. Although following
this evaluation, increased density may be desirable, ~len compared to other gases, nitrogen appears
it may be prohibited by spacing rules and economics. cheaper for injection purposes. Cost comparisons
These factors must be carefully considered in applying found in the literature indicate the average price of
this method of improved gas recovery. ni trogen is about $0.45 per MCF while flue gas and
carbon dioxide cost approximately $0.69 and $1.13
respectively. About 51 percent of nitrogen injection
cost is attributed typically to the electric power
requirement. Compression accounts for 15 percent
while nitrogen itself takes 34 percent.
SPE 11104 F.M. AKINDELE AND D. TIAB 5

(2) (5)

(a) Segregation Tendency. In view of density The volumetric replacement property of nitrogen
similarity for nitrogen and natural gas, the injected is a key factor in the application of gas injection
nitrogen tends to be retained above the reservoir gas. for enhanced gas recovery. In general, the volume
Figure 6 presents density trends for nitrogen and of nitrogen required to fill a certain amount of
natural gas under various temperature and pressure reservoir space is lower than the volume of natural
conditions. gas. Figure 10 shows the fraction of nitrogen that
will replace a unit volume of methane for various
(b) The viscosities of nitrogen and methane are temperatures and pressures. This is a definite ad-
compared in Figure 7. In the range of temperatures vantage in natural gas replacement by nitrogen.
and pressures normally encountered in the reservoir,
nitrogen appears more viscous than methane. This (6)
indicates a fingering tendency. This tendency can
generally be overcome, however, if the nitrogen Natural gas in contact with nitrogen during this
injection rate is controlled. recovery process may gradually lose heating value.
This may reduce the pipeline quality and cause devia-
(3) tion from an existing contract. It may be necessary
to renegotiate the gas price since this is directly
Solubility of nitrogen in the contacted reservoir dependent on the BTU content of the gas. In general,
content does not appear to be a major problem in the the higher the nitrogen proportion in the nitrogen-
application of this method. In a reservoir containing natural gas stream, the lower the obtainable heating
natural gas, oil and water, upstructure injected value.
nitrogen may contact oil and connate water. These
two fluids are capable of dissolving nitrogen thereby Figure 11 is adapted from Ref. 14. It depicts
reducing the efficiency of the operation. In Figure curves of BTU content as a function of nitrogen con-
8, nitrogen solubility in water of various salinities tent. Similar curves must be established for each
is shown with respect to temperature and pressure. individual case as reservoir fluid characteristics
The curves agree with the earlier discussion of gas may affect the trend. Such curves would aid in
solubility with respect to changing temperatures, determining adherence to the sales contract or the
pressures and the salinity of water. Notice that need to reject nitrogen from the natural gas produced.
only about 10 cubic feet of nitrogen would dissolve
in 1 barrel of connate water of 55,000 ppm at 4000 psi (7)
and between 100 and 200F. The solubility of nitro-
gen is higher in high-gravity than low-gravity crude The process by which diluted natural gas in
oil. The temperature effect appears negligible but contact with nitrogen is purified is known as nitro-
oil composition may be important in establishing this gen rejection. This process involves a cryogenic
factor. Figure 9 is a general trend of nitrogen sol- distillation of the nitrogen-natural gas mixture at
ubility in oil of 20-40 0 API gravity. At about the end of which nitrogen is separated from the
4000 psi, approximately 100 standard cubic feet of methane. A variety of processes exist. In
nitrogen would dissolve in one stock tank barrel of when the nitrogen content is high over the
oil. the process, it becomes complicated and may be pro-
hibitively expensive. It has been shown, however,
(4) that there are cases when installation of the process
may yield better economics than when a provision is
Contacting the reservoir fluids with nitrogen may not made to reject the nitrogen for natural gas
alter the phase behavior of the hydrocarbons. For purification. See Figure 12 where the economics of
example, the dew point pressure of the gas may be the following are compared.
increased causing retrograde condensation. Although
some of the liquid dropping out in the reservoir may (1) Produce gas, recover natural gas liquid
re-vaporize upon further nitrogen contact, the portion and re-inject residue gas.
left in the reservoir may be permanently lost due to (2) Produce gas and sell without liquid
relative permeability effect. Stripping the crude extraction.
oil of its light to intermediate components by con- (3) Produce gas, recover liquid and reject
tacting with nitrogen has been observed in laboratory nitrogen before selling residue.
experiments. IS This causes reduced formation volume
factor, increased oil viscosity and lower API gravity. The results indicate that Case 3, rejecting
These changes are generally minimal as shown in nitrogen, provides better economics since the value
Table S where density and viscosity alterations are of the residue gas is improved due to high BTU
indicated due to nitrogen-oil contact. content. Notice that projecting the curves would
indicate a break-even point at which Case 3 gives
These effects must be determined for individual equal economics with Case 1 or 2. At this point,
reservoir fluids and conditions. They must be con- the nitrogen content of the stream is so high that
sidered in the project feasibility study and in the the cost of rejection is prohibitive.
process design.
6 ENHANCED GAS RECOVERY FROM WATER DRIVE RESERVOIRs--~mTHODS AND ECONOMICS SPE 11104

The final decision to install this facility must ?;as with water influx which reduces recovery and (2)
be based on incremental economic analysis. Such enhancing recovery by incr.easing the investment using
analysis must include all alternatives of operational one or more of the methods discussed herein.
method and equipment design.
When comparing alternatives as required here, the
profitability must be based on incremental economic
analysis. This permits the assessment of the economic
The foregoing discusses various key aspects of advantage of additional investment to recover add-
this enhanced gas recovery method that must be in- itional gas. An alternative (A) requiring certain
vestigated before application. The steps to follow investment may yield a higher economic indicator,
for quantitative analysis can be summarized as follows: for example rate of return, than another alternative
(B) requiring higher investment. This may not
(a) Determine gas reserves for the project. necessarily mean that (A) is mOre profitable than (B).
(b) Assemble data on the properties of To properly evaluate (A) and (B), an acceptable pro-
reservoir fluids. fitability index must be established and each invest-
(c) Establish compatibility of nitrogen ment option must be analyzed and compared to the
with reservoir fluids. index. The economics of the extra cost of (B) must
Cd) Evaluate nitrogen requirement and compare then be evaluated to account for the added benefits.
sources and price. The result is then compared to the index. If this
(e) Identify market and establish price for last comparison indicates an equal or better result
the quantity and quality of the gas to than the acceptable index, investment (B) should
be produced; do the same for any liquids. probably be undertaken provided funds are available.
Cf) Analyze profitability.

It is obvious that most of the information re- CONCLUSIONS

quired for project design must be obtained by laba-
tory measurements or correlations. Contacts must This presentation has reviewed the problems of
also be made with gas and liquid purchasers as well gas recovery from reservoirs associated with active
as nitrogen suppliers. After all these have been aquifer and some possible solutions. The following
done, we can obtain the required nitrogen quantity conclusions are made.
from the relationships of Figure 10. For example,
if the gas reservoir has a 300g psi pressure and a (1) Residual gas saturation in reservoirs
bottom hole temperature of 150 F, about 84 SCF of which are subject to water encroachment can be
nitrogen will be required to replace 100 SCF of high unless proper methods are devised to enhance
methane. We must then project the rate of gas pro- the recovery of the gas.
duction for the field by year. Nitrogen requirement
is then equal to 84 percent of yearly gas production (2) Carefully designed reservoir engineering
if the reservoir pressure remains constant at 3000 and production plans such as those discussed here
psi. Otherwise, the nitrogen requirement must be re- can result in improved gas recovery over which is
evaluated at the expected pressures. otherwise recoverable from aquifer supported
reservoirs.
The gas price negotiated prior to the start of
nitrogen injection may warrant nitrogen rejection to (3) In view of its increasing value, natural
meet the contract BTU content. Model studies to gas replacement in water drive reservoirs using gas
predict the nitrogen content of the produced gas such as nitrogen is likely to become popular.
would be required. A typical trend of nitrogen con-
tent with respect to time is shown in Figure 13. In (4) Compared to other enhanced gas recovery
general, the nitrogen concentration rate increases options (unconventional gas), the technology of each
with time and must be established for each reservoir. method discussed here is relatively uncomplicated.
These methods offer an economic source of additional
natural gas with virtually no risk.

So far , ~.;re have shown that there is usually a

size of residual gas in the reservoir operated
the influence of an active aquifer. It has also been
discussed that methods exist which may be used to
improve recovery from this system of reservoir. Since We
technical feasibility must be complemented by economic acknm"ledge the \'lOrk of the referenced authors whose
viability for a project to be acceptable to an opera- figures were adapted for illustrations here.
tor, we offer some comments on the appropriate method
of profitability analysis.

Enhanced gas recovery necessitates providing

additional funds over what would ordinarily be spent
to develop the gas reserves. Thus the options exist-
ing are (1) spending minimum money to produce the
SPE 11104 F.M. AKINDELE AND D. TIAB 7

7. Kumar, A.: "Strength of Water Drive or Fluid

Injection From Transient Well Test Data", J.
A Drainage area, sq. ft. Pet. Tech. (Nov. 1977) 1497-1508.
Bg Gas formation volume factor, CF/SCF
Bw Water formation volume factor, RB/STB 8. Kumar, A.: "Drainage Areas for Wells in Edge
C Well performance coefficient -1 Water-Drive Reservoirs", (Dec.
Ct Total effective compressibility, psi 1977) 1673-1682.
Ei Exponential integral
h Formation thickness, ft. 9. Knapp, R.M., Henderson, J.H., Dempsey, J.R. and
k Formation permeability, md. Coats, K.H.: "Calculation of Gas Recovery Upon
n Flow exponent Ultimate Depletion of Aquifer Storage", J. Pet.
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u Viscosity, cp
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Moderate Water Drive Reservoir", Paper SPE 9473
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8 ENHANCED GAS RECOVERY FROM WATER DRIVE RESERVOIRS--METHODS AND ECONOMICS SPE 11104

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25. Agarwal, R.G.: Personal Communication

3
bb1 x 1.589 873 E-Ol m
cp x 1.000* E-03 Pas
ft x 3.048* E-Ol m
psi, psia x 6.894 757 E+OO kPa
sq ft x 9.290 304 E-02 m2

~<Conver s ion factor is exac t.

TABLE 1

RESIDUAL GAS ~~GNITUDE AFTER HATER INFLUX

PERCENT RESIDUAL GAS BY RESEARCHER

Geffen l Chierici 2 Crowe11'+ Keelan5
Rock Type et al et a1 et a1 & Pugh

Unconsolidated Sand 16 18-26 --- ---

Slightly Consolo Sand 21 --- --- ---

Consolidated Sand 17-24 --- ---
Consolo Sandstone 34-50 18-31 14-45 ---
Limestone 50 10-22 --- 23-68
 TABLE 2

AGARWAL' S- B~EG1RESS ICm COEFFICIENTS

2
Eq. 0.80841168 -0.63869116x10-

Eq. -0.53482234 0.33555165x10 0.15458573 o. 14403977x10 2

2
Eq. 4 -0.51255987 o. -0.26769575 0.14796539x10

TABLE 3

EXAMPLE PRESSURE PROFILE BY Ei-FUNCTION

(A) Time, t = 30 minutes TABLE 4

Distance From the Producer~ ft. Resultant Pre.ssure, psi DATA FOR EXAMPLE CALCULATION
0.33 2643
1 2765 h 30'
6 1
5 2939 c 300 x 10- pSi-
t
10 3014 k 100 md.
50 3167 0 0.15
100 3197 r 3000 ft.
e
500 3200 li 0.02 cp
1000 3200 g 0.9
B
g
0.0065 cf/cf
(B) Time, t "" 50 hours P. 4000 psia
1
r 0.25'
Distance. From the Producer, ft. Resultant Pressure, nsi w
T 180F
0.33 2396 n 0.8
1 '2516 C 10
5 2699 S 0.1
wi
10 2765
50 2939
100 3015
500 3167
1000 3197

TABLE 5

EFFECT OF NITROGEN ON OIL DENSITY

AND VISCOSITY @ 3000 PSI

Before N2 Contact
Temperature K Viscosity
(OF) (cr~)

60 288.7 49.45 50.69

80 299.8 48.93 1.6 50.19 2.6

100 310.9 48.39 1.4 49.73 2.1

120 322.1 47.91 1.2 49.26 1.7

140 333.2 47.38 1.0 48.79 1.4

Source: Ref. 15
 26~~~~--~~~~~~~~--~~~~--~~~--~~~

24
22
.20
~18
en 16
0::
Wl4
Q..
.12
t-
lLlO
.
::> 8
U
6
4
2

o 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500 5000
PRESSURE - PSIA

FIG. I - SOLUBILITY OF NATURAL GAS IN WATER

("<ef. 7.3)

Time 3

Time 2

DGas

_ Water

Time 1
~Sand

FIG.2 - GAS ENTRAPMENT BY CAPILLARY

(T(d. 2(l)
 ~ 50
rt
(/)

w
~ 40
a..
"*
Z 30
o
~
cr::
=>
~ 20
(/)
(/)

~
~ 10
=>
o
(j)
w
cr::
OL-~~~~-L-L~~~~
o 0.2. 0.4
POROSITY - FRACTION

FIG.3 - TRAPPED GAS SATURATION

AFTER FLOODING VS POROSITY
(Ref. 20)

3200~~~~~~O~R~/~G~/N~A~L~A~Q~U=/=F=R==P=R='=~=S=U=R============1

t=50HOURS
~
~2800
0::
::>
~2600
w
a:
a..
2400

2200

20000~~~~~~--~~~~~~--~~~~~~~~~IO~OO
200 300 400 500
DISTANCE FROM WATER PRODUCER - FT.

FIG.4 - PRESSURE AS A FUNCTION OF DISTANCE FROM PRODUCER

 50,000

~ 10.000

40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200

h=HEIGHT OF CONE- FEET

FIG.5 - MAXIMUM GAS PRODUCTION FROM A GAS-WATER SYSTEM

WITHOUT WATER PRODUCTION
(Ref. 22)
 O.30r-----+----+------~--4-~~~~~

8
........
<.!) 0.20t-----\----I-- -f-+-~--bJoIc--_+____+-f____1
I
~
Vi 0.15t----+---~----::l~
Z
W
o
(J)
~ 0.1 Ol----~~~~---+----+---+--+--~

1500 2000 3000 4000 6000 8000

PRESSURE - PSIG

FI G. 6A - NITROGEN DENSITY VS PRESSURE AN D TEMPERATURE

(Ref. 21)

0.401------+---+----+----I---t.,..--I--f-----1

0.30t----+---I-----+ -/-+--I--~'9---1

u
u
........
<.!) 0.20t----+---+
I
>-
t-
en 0 .15t----+--~-+--
Z
W
o
(J)
~ 0.1 Ot--~--+--.I"---1'-

0.05L..-...L--"""'--_---l.._ _ _..1..-_--'-_....!..---i-_..i..-.-J
1000 1500 2000 3000 4000 6000 8000
PRESSURE - PS I G

FIG.69-NATURAL GAS DENSITY VS PRESSURE AND TEMPERATURE

 0.05 .----....,.-------~---.,...___--_,_~-__r_-~~

0.04 I-----+----+----i---+-----+--~<_+_--~

c::.
.::.
>-
.~ 0.03 1---_ _-+-__-+_ _--+_ _---,~p:_--j-~!C--~-_::.II'fIC--,
o
U

::>'"
'"
ra
lJ

0.01 1..-_ _........_ _--1.._ _ _I _ _ _:...-_ _..1-_ _ _ _ __

1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000

Pressure (OSi2)

FIG.7 - GAS VISCOSITY VS TEMPERATURE

AND PRESSURE
(Ref. 21)

20

0.04
\ I

$
0::
...."
U
'C
15
0.03
\
"I~--
>- is
;::; I-
:c Vl
~
:::l
"0
""'-u g
Vl Vl

~~ 0.02
C
QJ
0.0 10 ..........
g
~
.Q '"
<lJ
:::l
Z "0 c:
Vl
Z~
0.01
I---
-

o
2000 4000 6000 8000
Pressure (psig)
Ol..-_~ ________________ ~ __ ~

1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000

Pressure (psigl
FIG.9 - SOLUBI L1TY OF NITROGEN
IN CRUDE OIL
FIG.8 - SOLUBI UTY VS SALI N ITY (l\ef. 21)

TEMPERATURE AND PRESSURE

(P.ef. 21)
 0.941-'t-'-..-.+--+--+--+---+---+----I

0.92 ft--\---'\--J---'oor.:--t---t--+--+----j----I

1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000

Pressure (psiRl

FIG. 10 - NITROGEN-METHANE VOLUME FRACTION

(Tlef. 21)

-.J
~
::::> 800
~
Z
LL 600
o
w
:3 400
~
~ 200
~
W
:I:
o 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
PERCENT NITROGEN IN GAS MIXTURE

FIG. II - BTU/SCF VS NITROGEN CONTENT

(Ref. 14)
 BASIS: 40MM SCFD
$5.00/MM BTU FUEL VALUE
10/GAL. NGL OVER FUEL VALUE
6
40 MIL/KWH ELECTRIC POWER
HYDROCARBON FRACTION OF GAS
82.0% C,
10.0% C2
5.0% C3
4
2.0% C4's
$/M SCF OF 1.0% CS's
FEED GAS

o 10 20 30 40 50 60
% N2 IN FEED GAS

FIG.12 - COMPARISON OF ECONOMICS

NITROGEN INJECTION PROJECTS
(Ref. 14)

~ 100
<.j
t-::

z 80
z
z
w 60
<.j
0
0:
t- 40
z
t-
Z
w 20
U
cr:
w
a.. a
TIME-YEARS

FIG. 13 - TYPICAL TREND OF INJECTED NITROGEN

CONCENTRATION IN PRODUCED GAS
(Ref. 14)