Interpretation of temperature transient data from coupled reservoir and wellbore model for single phase fluids

This paper presents a non-isothermal, transient coupled reservoir/wellbore model that accounts for the JouleThomson (J-T), isentropic expansion, conduction and convection effects for predicting the transient temperature behavior and computing the wellbore temperature at different gauge depths. In this study, single phase fluid flow of oil or geothermal brine from a fully penetrating vertical or inclined well in an infinite-acting homogeneous single layer reservoir is modeled. The coupled simulator solves mass, momentum and energy conservation equations simultaneously for both reservoir and wellbore. We improve solutions by the functional iteration procedure that updates fluid properties based on available correlations as a function of pressure and temperature at a given time step. A comparison of the developed model with a commercial simulator is provided. To understand and identify diagnostic characteristics of temperature transients at gauge locations at the sandface and above the sandface that may arise during a well test, we examine the sensitivity of the model parameters appearing in the coupled non-isothermal reservoir/wellbore model through a synthetically generated test data sets and history matched field application. The drawdown and buildup sandface transient temperature data are obtained from the coupled model and used to interpret and analyze temperature transients. In addition to the J-T coefficient of fluid, history matching transient temperature data provides estimates for the skin zone radius and permeability when analyzed jointly with the conventional pressure test analysis (PTA). An investigation on the effect of gauge location on temperature data shows that the early-time response is influenced by the wellbore phenomena while the J-T effects are clearly identified at later times at typical gauge locations up to 100 m above the top of the producing horizon. Logarithmic derivative of temperature transients are found as a useful diagnostic tool to differentiate the wellbore phenomena from the reservoir response. It is also shown that the temperature transient is more reflective of the properties of the near wellbore region (e.g., skin zone) than the pressure transient. For this reason, analyzing temperature transients together with the pressure transients could add more value to the analysis to better examine near wellbore characteristics.

Automated summary

This paper presents a coupled reservoir/wellbore model that accounts for various effects and compares it with a commercial simulator. By using synthetic data and history-matching field applications, diagnostic characteristics of temperature transients can be identified, along with tracking model parameter sensitivities. The study finds that temperature transients can better reflect the properties of the near wellbore region.