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ABSTRACT: For two-phase multicomponent flow with mass exchanges between phases, the limit behaviour
at large times is shown to depend on the relative phase mobility. For a gas-liquid system where the relative phase
mobility is contrast. Due to a contrast mobility of gas and liquid the steady-state flow is shown to be unstable
when accompanied with phase transitions. We derive the limit compositional model of contrast flow which
possesses a class of semi-stationary solutions with a stabilized pressure and chemical concentrations but with a
non-stationary liquid saturaton, which is shown to be correct. The model is studied numerically and compared
to the full compositional model.
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Copyright 2005 Taylor & Francis Group plc, London, UK
So, the capillary pressure which is the difference bet- 1.3 Boundary and initial conditions
ween phase pressures may be neglected: For a radial flow towards a well, we assume the fol-
lowing general initial and boundary conditions:
2 SEMI-STATIONARY MODELS
1.2 Thermodynamic closure relationships In this section we suggest a new model of gas-
The closure relationships for system (1) describes condensate flow which results from the full compo-
the locally equilibrium thermodynamic behavior. They sitional model as an asymptotic limit when the phase
consist of N equilibrium equations in terms of chem- properties (viscosities and compressibilities) become
ical potentials (3a) for each chemical component, two contrasting.
equations of phase state (3b) and two normalizing Before to develop new model version, the com-
equations for concentrations (3c): positional model (1) should be transformed to an
asymmetrical form in which each equation has a strict
physical meaning: one equation describes gas flow,
the second describes liquid flow, while the remain-
ing N 2 equations will describe the transport of
basic chemical components. This form will be called
canonical.
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Copyright 2005 Taylor & Francis Group plc, London, UK
describes the relative concentration variations pro- 2.3 Semi-stationary model
duced by pressure P or basic concentrations (K) . For a gas-liquid mixture (at rather low liquid satura-
These functions are really associated with that tions) the following conditions are always satisfied
property which is named component neutrality. A
component is called neutral with respect to both phases 1) the liquid mobility is much mower than that of gas:
if this component has no preferences to be dissolved 0 < << 1.
in a phase. Otherwise, the components are active, as
for instance the lightest components which are prefer- For gas-condensate mixtures, 0.01 0.05.
ably dissolved in gas, or the highest components which 2) the liquid compressibility is very low so all the
prefer liquid. dimensionless isothermal compressibility coeffi-
cient of liquid is small:
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Copyright 2005 Taylor & Francis Group plc, London, UK
The basic conclusion of this analysis consists in that is significantly simpler that the full compositional
the pressure and concentrations stabilize after a short model, moreover the governing equations are practi-
time period of order , whereas the saturation field cally identical. Indeed, we illustrate this by presenting
does not tend to any stationary limit. below the near-critical model.
We will use the monovariant model in a general
form:
3 INSTABILITY OF STATIONARY
GAS-CONDENSATE FLOW
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3.2 Perturbation description where
Let us assume that the medium is homogeneous and
dos not perturb the flow, so the permeability and
porosity are constant, then: (r) = 1 and f (r) = 1. The
perturbation will be transferred through the flow rate
at the well:
To simplify the analysis we assume that the flow rate
was constant before the perturbation: q0 = 1.
Equation (14) should be completed with an initial
Herein and further, index 0 corresponds to the sta- condition:
tionary state, while index 1 corresponds to the per-
turbation. If the flow rate is constant, then q0 = 1, and
then q = 1 + q1 . We shall consider a non-permanent
perturbation, i.e. a splash similar to the delta-function
3.3 Properties of the stationary solution
in time. As the delta-function may be expanded into
series of the exponential functions, it is then possible Let us note some basic properties of the stationary sat-
to introduce perturbation in the form eikt with (1/k) uration following from (13). First of all, let us note that
a small time. So, we shall do the stability analysis in for constant coefficients the solution is logarithmic:
terms of short-wave perturbations.
Let us assume, by virtue of the equilibrium hypothe-
sis, that the exchange between phases is a rather quick.
But in reality such process take a some short time. We
suppose that this process more slow than the perturba-
tion. Then the concentration behave as not perturbed, where is the domain boundary, s0 is the saturation
during the short times about (1/k). On the other hand, at the domain boundary. Note also that function kl (s)
we assume that the pressure is established very quickly is monotonously increasing.
after the perturbation, so the characteristic time of Parameter o1 is always positive, while o20 can
the pressure stabilization (t ) is less than (1/k). From change the sigh. If the stationary state corresponds
the unicity of the stationary solution it follows that the to a domination of condensation prior to evaporation,
pressure will be stabilized onto the same value which then o20 > 0 and then stationary saturation s0 () is a
was maintained before the perturbation. Hence, the decreasing function which grows in direction to the
pressure field can be considered as stationary. well: s0
< 0. If in contrast, a region exists (normally
Thus, the perturbation will concern only the sat- in the vicinity of well) when evaporation dominates,
uration. We will search then saturation as a sum of then o20 < 0, so s0
> 0 and the saturation decreases in
the non-perturbed stationary part (s0 ) and a perturbed the direction to the well.
part (s1 ):
3.4 Qualitative analysis of perturbation
evolution scenarios
The perturbed equation (14) has a clear physical mean-
For saturation we have equation (9) which may be ing, which helps to understand the probable ways of
reformulated using new variable r 2 : perturbation evolution.
Term ()s1 determines the saturation convection
along the streamlines without any saturation growth
or decrease. Indeed, the solution to the corresponding
truncated two-terms model:
Substituting (11), we obtain the following equation for
the stationary flow:
is a travelling wave s() with = d/() which
is displaced in space without any deforming of its
form.
and for the saturation perturbation: Term ()s1 causes an exponential growth/decrease
of the perturbed saturation, i.e. s1 exp(()). As
() = o1 s0
kls0
, with o1 > 0, kls0 > 0, then the sign of
() is determined by the sign of s0
. As mentioned, if
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Copyright 2005 Taylor & Francis Group plc, London, UK
the stationary state corresponds to a domination of The analytical solution to this equation may be
condensation prior to evaporation, then the station- obtained using the method of characteristics. Equa-
ary saturation grows in direction to the well: s0
< 0. tion (18) may be rewritten along the characteristic lines
Otherwise, a region may exist in which s0
> 0. = c in the form:
Thus, for a pure condensation in the overall reser-
voir, either an exponential decrease of perturbation
is observed if () < 0, or an exponential growth of
perturbation occurs in a region of evaporation (where
() > 0). The second process is evidently unstable.
The last term ()q1 in (14) determines a linear Therefore, satisfying the initial condition we obtained
growth/decrease of the perturbation. Indeed, for a the exact solution:
truncated two-term equation following from (14):
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2) The saturation does not reach any stationary limit and it does not represent a physically significant
at any time and remains always non-stationary. This object.
is also due to the contrast phase properties, i.e. to The research is financed by the Schlumberger
the fact that . If the phase mobilities were Abingdon Technology Center.
identical, then 1 and the time derivatives in
(8) would disappear. This would mean that the
saturation would reach a stationary limit. REFERENCES
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