Simulating well testing on the analogy between pressure and thermal diffusion: Development of an educational material based on analogue experiments controlling skin, wellbore storage, and boundary effects

Abstract

Experimental techniques to simulate well testing on the analogy between pressure and thermal diffusion have been developed. These experiments aim to help young reservoir engineers and students to confirm and improve their understanding after learning the fundamentals of well testing. The experimental apparatus consists of a bundle of a thermocouple, nichrome wire, and enameled wire inserted into oil clay put on an expanded polystyrene plate. The temperature responses generated by several experiments can be consistent with reservoir pressure responses during well testing by controlling skin, wellbore storage, and boundary effects successfully. The consistency of the experimental results with the typical single-porosity reservoir model has been confirmed through successful type-curve matching using an originally developed Python code.