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      A test of the effect of boundary conditions on the use of tracers in reservoir characterization

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          Abstract

          Tracer tests are fundamental in characterizing fluid flow in underground formations. However, the setting of appropriate boundary conditions in even simple analytical models has historically been controversial, mainly due to the lack of sufficient physical evidence. Determining the relevance of boundary conditions on tracer test analysis becomes therefore a topic of renewed interest. The subject has been previously disscused by studying the tracer breakthrough curve sensitivity to diverse model parameter values. In our present work we examine the issue from a new practical reservoir characterization perspective. Two well-known equivalent elementary tracer transport models having different boundary conditions are matched to the same tracer test data. The resulting model parameter difference quantifies the effect of boundary conditions on reservoir property determination. In our case a tracer pulse injected in a homogeneous one-dimensional porous medium and moving at constant speed dominated by advection and dispersion is considered. The tracer transport models to be used yield conditions (i) on the tracer concentration, and (ii) on the tracer flux. Three data sets from tracer tests performed in different oil reservoirs are used to fit the models and determine the parameter values. We found that boundary conditions become more important as Peclet number gets smaller. The cases analyzed have Peclet numbers 25.0, 5.4 and 3.7. The largest parameter difference obtained in each case is 5%, 18% and 37% respectively. These differences are large for laboratory experiments, but less relevant for tracer tests in oil fields, where data variability is frequently high. Nevertheless, attention should be paid when small Peclet numbers are present.

          Translated abstract

          El establecimiento de condiciones de frontera adecuadas en modelos de transporte de trazador ha sido un tema controvertido principalmente debido a insuficiente evidencia física. En nuestro trabajo se analiza el problema desde una perspectiva orientada a la práctica. Se ajustan dos modelos equivalentes, pero con condiciones de frontera distintas, a una misma serie de datos de una prueba de trazadores y los valores resultantes de los parámetros de ajuste se comparan entre sí. La relevancia de las condiciones de frontera será alta si los valores difieren importantemente. El sistema considerado es la inyección de un pulso de trazador en un medio homogéneo unidimensional, en el cual el pulso se mueve a velocidad constante sujeto a advección y dispersión. El primer modelo establece condiciones sobre la concentración de trazador y el segundo sobre su flujo. Se encontró que las condiciones de frontera se vuelven más relevantes a menores números de Peclet. En los casos analizados el número Peclet es 25.0, 5.4 y 3.7 respectivamente; ello dio lugar a una diferencia máxima en el valor de los parámetros de ajuste de 5%, 18% y 37%. Aunque grande para experimentos de laboratorio, este porcentaje es en general poco significativo en pruebas de trazadores en campos petroleros, pues la variabilidad en los datos es frecuentemente alta. El uso de ciertas condiciones de frontera en lugar de otras parece no tener consecuencias importantes en la caracterización de yacimientos petroleros, sin embargo se debe tener cuidado cuando se tengan números de Peclet pequeños.

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          Most cited references16

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          On the physical meaning of the dispersion equation and its solutions for different initial and boundary conditions

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            Flux-Averaged and Volume-Averaged Concentrations in Continuum Approaches to Solute Transport

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              Effects of Boundary Conditions of Models on Tracer Distribution in Flow through Porous Mediums

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                Author and article information

                Journal
                geoint
                Geofísica internacional
                Geofís. Intl
                Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Instituto de Geofísica (Ciudad de México, Ciudad de México, Mexico )
                0016-7169
                June 2009
                : 48
                : 2
                : 185-193
                Affiliations
                [01] México orgnameInstituto Mexicano del Petróleo
                [02] Buenos Aires orgnameUniversidad Nacional del Comahue orgdiv1Facultad de Ingeniería Argentina
                Article
                S0016-71692009000200002 S0016-7169(09)04800200002
                69df210b-e894-4fef-8940-8b2b3cd226d4

                This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

                History
                : 05 November 2008
                : 27 March 2007
                Page count
                Figures: 0, Tables: 0, Equations: 0, References: 18, Pages: 9
                Product

                SciELO Mexico

                Categories
                Articles

                condiciones de frontera,transporte,yacimiento petrolero,problema inverso,Tracer,solute,boundary conditions,transport,oil reservoir,inverse problem,Trazador,soluto

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