Application of the Centrifugal Model to the Study of Reservoir Behavior

A centrifugal reservoir model has been constructed for studying solution gas-drive phenomena. The model has been used to study the effect of oil properties, well location and producing rate on the recovery of oil from a solution-gas-drive reservoir. Gravity segregation effects were minimized by the slow rotation of the model about a horizontal axis. The studies were conducted on a synthetic porous media having a permeability of less than 10 md; the bubble point of the crude oil ranged from a few hundred to over 2,000 psi; connate water was present. It was found that the crude oil properties had a very large effect on the total oil recovery. The effect of well spacing and rate of production is presented. It was found that for the conditions of the test the well spacing and production rate may have an effect on the oil recovery depending on the reservoir system and producing technique. Introduction In 1952 the Texas Petroleum Research Committee initiated a research project to study criteria for determining the most efficient rate of producing an oil reservoir. A large number of articles bearing directly on this subject have appeared in the literature. Three recent reports on this subject have included literature reviews so a review is not repeated here. Field data have been used, model studies made, and certain mathematical techniques have been used to estimate the effect of reservoir rock and fluid properties, rate of production and well spacing on solution gas-drive performance. Following the review of the literature it was decided that a laboratory model would be built in which one could simulate a solution gas-drive reservoir so that one could determine experimentally the effect of production rate, well spacing, and fluid and reservoir properties on oil recoveries. Small parts of reservoirs have been built in various shapes and sizes to represent reservoir conditions; however, gravitational effects in the actual reservoir and the part of a reservoir used in the laboratory may not be the same. The overall effects of gravity in either an actual reservoir or a part of a reservoir used in the laboratory are not well defined.