One-Dimensional Flow to a Constant-Pressure Boundary in a
Pressure-Sensitive Porous Medium
Abstract
In some “pressure-sensitive” rock formations, the variation of
permeability with pore pressure is sufficiently large that it needs to
be accounted for. Accounting for this variation of permeability renders
the pressure diffusion equation nonlinear, and not amenable to exact
analytical solutions. A constitutive model that fits many data sets is
that of a permeability that varies exponentially with pressure.
One-dimensional flow to a constant-pressure boundary in a medium whose
permeability varies exponentially with pressure is investigated in this
work, using numerical and approximate approaches. As part of the
analysis, a dimensionless “pressure-sensitivity” parameter β is
defined as the logarithm of the ratio of the far-field permeability to
the permeability at the outflow boundary. The problem can be approached
by applying a Boltzmann transformation to the governing PDE, and
converting the resultant ODE into an integral equation, which can be
solved by an iterative procedure. This numerical solution can serve as a
benchmark against which to judge the accuracy of approximate solutions.
One simple approximate model is based on the “sorptivity
approximation” developed by Philip for unsaturated flow, which can be
adapted to any nonlinear diffusion problem. This model linearizes the
problem by defining an effective permeability as a drawdown-weighted
average of the permeability as a function of pore pressure. The Philip
approximation predicts that the flowrate, normalized against the case in
which the permeability is constant, is 1–0.333β, to first-order in β.
This problem can also be approached as perturbation problem, with β as
the perturbation parameter. The zeroth-order solution is the classical
error-function solution for a 1D diffusion problem with a
constant-pressure boundary. The first-order correction is obtained in
closed form, from which the flowrate at the outflow boundary is found.
To first-order, the normalized flowrate is 1-0.318β. This solution is
extended to higher values of β by defining an effective permeability
such that, if inserted into the analytical solution for the
mathematically linear problem, yields a flowrate that is exact to first
order in β. When compared to the numerical solution, this new result has
5% accuracy out to values of β = 2, which probably covers most cases of
interest.