BEM for 3D unsteady-state flow problems in porous media with a finite-conductivity horizontal wellbore Original Research Article

This paper presents a Boundary Element Method (BEM) for the solution of unsteady-state fluid flow problems in a 3D domain. A general 3D reservoir model was developed in a bounded porous media with Neumannʹs, Dirichletʹs or mixed boundary conditions. To consider the influence of frictional pressure loss in a horizontal wellbore on the reservoir performance behavior, a wellbore hydraulics model was developed and coupled with the reservoir model. The coupled model was solved using a sequential iterative approach, which converges rapidly. The model developed can account for practical reservoir and well conditions, and thus provides a powerful tool to reliably predict production performance and rigorously simulate pressure transient testing for horizontal wells. This model is validated by example problems and its applicability is demonstrated by various cases.