Scribd
Upload
54 views7 pages

A1 Hydrostatics Solution

The document contains solutions to 5 problems involving hydrostatics in oil and gas wells. Problem 1 calculates the change in air pressure between ground level and the top of the Calgary Tower. Problem 2 sketches pressure profiles for a well full of water or oil, given the fluid densities and bottomhole pressure. Problem 3 is similar but provides depths and pressures in metric units. Problem 4 sketches a generic profile for a well producing both oil and water. Problem 5 provides additional details to sketch pressure profiles for a specific well, taking into account new bottomhole pressure data and requiring equal volumes of oil and water.

Uploaded by

Vatsal Shah
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
54 views7 pages

A1 Hydrostatics Solution

The document contains solutions to 5 problems involving hydrostatics in oil and gas wells. Problem 1 calculates the change in air pressure between ground level and the top of the Calgary Tower. Problem 2 sketches pressure profiles for a well full of water or oil, given the fluid densities and bottomhole pressure. Problem 3 is similar but provides depths and pressures in metric units. Problem 4 sketches a generic profile for a well producing both oil and water. Problem 5 provides additional details to sketch pressure profiles for a specific well, taking into account new bottomhole pressure data and requiring equal volumes of oil and water.

Uploaded by

Vatsal Shah
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 7

ENPE 533/622

PETROLEUM PRODUCTION ENGINEERING/SUBSURFACE PRODUCTION OPERATIONS

ASSIGNMENT 1: HYDROSTATICS
DUE: 12 noon W 11 Jan 2023
SOLUTION

1. The top floor of the Calgary Tower is 158 m above ground level. What is the change in
air pressure between ground level and the top floor? Assume the density of air is
constant at 1 kg/m3 .

SOLUTION: hydrostatic gradient for air = 𝜌𝑎𝑖𝑟 𝑔 = (1 kg/m3)(9.81 m/s2) = 9.81 Pa/m.
Ptop = Pground – 𝜌𝑔ℎ → Ptop – Pground = -(9.81 Pa/m)(158 m) = –1.5 kPa

2. A well is 3000 ft deep. It has been shut in for a month. The pressure at the top of the
well (z = 0) has stabilized at 300 psi.
a. Sketch the pressure profile in the well assuming the well is full of water. The
water density is 65 lbm/ft3.
b. On the same sketch, show the pressure profile assuming the well is full of oil.
The oil density is 45 lbm/ft3.

SOLUTION:
a) The hydrostatic gradient for water is (65 lbm/ft3)(32.2 ft/s2)(1 lbf/32.2 lbm ft/s2)(1
ft2/144 in2) = 0.45 psi/ft. The water pressure profile increases from 300 psi at top of
well to 1650 psi at the bottom.
b) The hydrostatic gradient for oil is (45 lbm/ft3)(32.2 ft/s2)(1 lbf/32.2 lbm ft/s2)(1 ft2/144
in2) = 0.31 psi/ft. Thus the oil pressure profile increases from 300 psi at the top of
thewell to 1240 psi at the bottom.
3. A well is 1000 m deep. It has been shut in for a month. The pressure at the bottom of
the well (z = 1000 m) is 12 MPa.
a. Sketch the pressure profile in the well assuming the well is full of water. The
water density is 1000 kg/m3.
b. On the same sketch, show the pressure profile assuming the well is full of oil.
The oil density is 800 kg/m3.

SOLUTION:
a) The hydrostatic gradient for water is (1000 kg/m3)(9.81 m/s2) = 9.8 kPa/m. The water
pressure profile decreases from 12 MPa at the bottom of the well to 2.2 MPa at top of
well.
b) The hydrostatic gradient for oil is (800 kg/m3)(9.81 m/s2) = 7.85 kPa/m. Thus the oil
pressure profile decreases from 12 MPa at the bottom of the well to 4.2 MPa at top of
well.
4. A well is producing both oil and water. It was shut in for a workover and the pressure in
the well has stabilized. Sketch the pressure profile in the well.

SOLUTION: assume the water is more dense than the oil. The lower part of the well will
contain water and the upper part will contain oil. The hydrostatic gradient in the lower part
of the well will be larger than the hydrostatic gradient in the upper part. Thus the slope of
the pressure profile will change at the boundary between oil and water in the well.
5. The well in Problem 4 is 2000 m deep. It was producing 100 bbl/d of water and 100
bbl/d oil before it was shut in. The volumes of oil and water phases in the well are in
same ratio as the production rate, i.e. 50:50. Oil density is 612 kg/m3, water density is
1020 kg/m3
a. Sketch the pressure profile in the well assuming it is full of liquid.
b. New information arrives in the morning report: A bottom hole pressure gauge
reads 15 MPa. Sketch the pressure profile in the well assuming it is full of liquid.
c. Sketch a pressure profile that is physically consistent with the following
assumptions:
i. The bottomhole pressure gauge is accurate
ii. The fluid densities are accurate
iii. The volume of oil in the well equals the volume of water in the well.

SOLUTION:

a) Because volumes of oil and water phases are equal, the well contains water from z =
1000 m to z = 2000 m and oil from z = 0 to z = 1000 m. The hydrostatic gradients for oil
and water are 6 kPa/m and 10 kPa/m, respectively. No pressures in the well are given,
so we cannot determine the profile quantitatively. We do know the slopes of the
profile, as sketched below
b) If we assume the well is full of liquid, then the pressure decreases by (10 kPa/m)*(1000
m) = 10 MPa in the water-filled part of the well. Thus the pressure at z = 1000 m would
be 15 MPa – 10 MPa = 5 MPa. The pressure would decrease by (6 kPa/m)*(1000 m) = 6
MPa in the oil-filled part of the well. This means the pressure at the wellhead would be
5 MPa – 6 MPa = - 1 MPa. The resulting profile looks like this:
c) Negative absolute pressure is not physically possible. One of our assumptions must be
incorrect. In addition to the assumptions about bottom hole pressure, fluid densities
and fluid volumes, we assumed the well was full of liquid. If we accept the first three,
we must reject the assumption that the well is full. Rejecting this assumption is
reasonable; the liquid level in shut-in wells is often some distance below the wellhead.
Assuming the pressure at the top of the oil column within the well is zero, we find the
following profile. Note that the top of the water is now at z = 1063 m, rather than 1000
m. The requirement of equal volumes of water and oil means that the top of the oil
column must be at z = 126 m.

You might also like