Radial Darcy Reservoir Flow & Wellbore Drawdown

Mining & Petroleum Engineering

How It Works

Fluid drainage toward a vertical wellbore penetrating a porous petroleum reservoir is governed by the radial diffusivity equation derived from Darcy's law and fluid mass conservation. Radial convergence of streamlines creates a logarithmic pressure drawdown funnel centered at the wellbore. The steady-state production rate obeys the Thiem-Dupuit radial flow formula.

Governing Equation
(1/r) · ∂/∂r [r · (∂P/∂r)] = (ϕ · μ · c_t / k) · (∂P/∂t)  |  q = [2π · k · h · (P_e - P_wf)] / [μ · ln(r_e / r_w)]