Calculated Temperature Behavior of Hot-Water

Injection Wells
ABSTRACT
D. P. SQUIER
D. D. SMITH
E. l. DOUGHERTY
JUNIOR MEMBERS AIME
A system of differential equations describing the tem-
perature behavior of fluid injected at constant surface
temperature in a well is derived and solved analytically.
A formula for the fluid temperature at any time and
depth is given, as well as a special formula valid for
very large times. These formulas are used to calculate
temperatures for several typical cases. The results indicate
that, initially, the temperature of the water entering the
formation is considerably lower than the injection tem-
perature. This condition lasts for only a short period-
less than three days for most cases of practical interest.
Following this highly transient period, during which the
temperature of the fluid entering the formation builds up
to about 50 to 75 per cent of the injection temperature,
the system enters a quasi-steady state in which the tem-
perature changes are very slow. After several years, the
bottom-hole temperature will still be 50 to 100F lower
than the injection temperature, but the heat losses may
be tolerable.
INTRODUCTION
Predicting the behavior of a hot-water flood requires
that the temperature of the water entering the injection
interval be estimated. This report describes the develop-
ment and solution of a system of equations which de-
scribes the temperature behavior of the injected water in
the well bore with certain simplifying assumptions. The
only previous means known to the authors for describing
such a process is that of Moss and White.
'
Their results
appear to be close to those obtained by our method in
the practical cases which were compared; this agreement
is largely due to the fact that in our method temperature
soon approaches a quasi-steady state, as was assumed in
their method throughout. However, our model covers all
times, is continuous (whereas the Moss-White model de-
pends on breaking the depth into discrete intervals) and,
we feel, more closely describes the physical problem.
FORMULATION OF THE PROBLEM
PHYSICAL SYSTEM AND ASSUMPTIONS
The injection procedure consists of pumping water at
a fixed surface temperature To down an infinitely long
Original manuscript received in Society of Petroleum Engineers office
July 10, 1961. Revised manuscript rEXleived Dec. 6. 1961. Paper presented
at 36th Annual Fall Meeting of SPE, Oct. 2-5, 1961, in Dallas.
"References given at end of paper.
SPE 95
436
CALIFORNIA RESEARCH CORP.
LA HABRA. CALIF.
cylindrical well or tubing of inner radius r w' Any material
exterior to the water column such as mud, casing, or
cement is regarded as part of the formation.
The general behavior of the system may be described
qualitatively as follows. When the hot water is first intro-
duced into the system, the temperature difference between
the formation and the water is large, resulting in a high
rate of heat transfer. As a result, the temperature adjacent
to the wellbore rises very quickly. Because the segment of
the formation adjacent to the well bore largely controls
the heat transfer rate, the heat transfer rate will become
relatively constant when this portion has reached a tem-
perature close to that of the water opposite it. The
temperature of the water and formation then increase
very slowly with time. The length of the initial highly
transient period and the temperature of the water at its
conclusion will be functions of depth, injection rate,
injection-string radius, surface injection temperature and
the physical properties associated with the water-formation
system.
The following additional assumptions were made.
1. There is no heat transfer by radiation in the system.
2. There is no heat transfer by conduction in the
vertical direction in either the injection stream or the
formation.
3. The linear volumetric and mass flow rate of the
water is constant throughout the injection stream.
4. No horizontal temperature gradient exists in the
injection stream.
5. The product of density and heat capacity is constant
for both the water and the formation, and the formation
thermal conductivity is constant.
6. Initially, both the water in the wellbore and the
reservoir are at a temperature given by the (constant)
ambient surface temperature plus the product of depth
and geothermal gradient (assumed constant). At large
distances for the well bore (r ~ (Xl), the formation will
remain at this temperature.
7. The water temperature and the formation tempera-
ture at r = r., are equal for all depths D.
DERIVATION OF EQUATIONS
The differential equation satisfied by the fluid tempera-
ture T.,(D, t), which is obtained by writing a heat bal-
ance on a cylindrical differential of volume dV of the
injection string between the depths D and D + dD, is
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, aT., aT"
- CwpwTrrw v :aD + 2TrrwKE !r=r
W
, 'OTw
= CwPwTrr ., (1)
where TE(r, D, t) is the temperature of the earth. Under
the assumptions, TE is governed by the following equation.
o2T" 1 oTE .pEC
E
aTE
3T+---,:-a,:-=K;;-3( (2)
The temperature must also satisfy the following initial and
boundary conditions:
lim T = lim T = T + wD D > o
t-to 10 t-4O E A , ,
lim T = T t> 0
D -7 0 10 0, ,
Tw = TE at r = r w, all D, t;
lim TE = TA + wD, allD, t; . (3)
r .... 00
where w = geothermal gradient, OF/ft. TA is the surface
temperature of the earth, so that TA + wD is the natural
temperature of the earth at depth D prior to injection.
The system (Eqs. 1, 2 and 3) can be simplified as
follows:
OTE* 1 oT.,* oT.,*
3:R!R=' =-;- (4a)
'OTE* 'O'TE" 1 aTE"
'OR' +If oR ;
lim T " = lim T * = yC {; > o
o 0 10 (J -) 0 E t;, ,
lim T * = T T -.6.T () > o
0 - A -, ,
Tw* = TE* at R = 1, all t ();
= () .
by substitution of the quantities
TE* = TE - T
A
,
Tw*=Tw-TA'
and
_ vr,,,z pw C
w
w
y - 2KE '
r
R=-,
rw
(4b)
(4c)
(4d)
(4e)
(4f)
(5)
Each of these quantities is dimensionless with the excep-
tion of y, TE* and Tw *, which are expressed in degrees
Fahrenheit.
Of the pair of functions Tw * ()) and TEJ* (R, ())
satisfying the system (Eqs. 4a through 4f), only Tw * is
of interest here. Its formula is most conveniently given in
terms of the quantities of Eq. 5.
Tw (D,t) = TA + - 2:Y(2; 1,-l;/2)
(6)
where
APRIL, 1962
and
00
1 = f (1 - e-U,e) du
1 0 -it'{[ul
o
(u) - al,(u)], + [uYo(u) - aY,(u)]'} ,
_ 00 [1_e
u
.(e. :)]e-''';:
I. - f 0 u'{[u1o(u) - al,(u)]' + [uYo(u) - aY,(u)]'}
X (ual. - u ,) Slll- + -cos- du,
[
"I 2a
7ff1 7i 7Tf1
-.' ( 0 - f,
00 e a
13 = J 0 u Trl, (7)
10 = Bessel function of the first kind, order zero,
I, = Bessel function of the first kind, order one,
Yo = Bessel function of the second kind, order zero,
Y, = Bessel function of the second kind, order one,
I. = lo(u)I,(u) + Yo(u) Y,(u)
1, = 10'(u) + Y;(u).
A brief sketch of the method for solving the system of
Eqs. 4a through 4f is given in the Appendix.
Because injection in the field is likely to be carried on
for long periods of time, it is convenient to have an
approximation of Tw(D, t) simpler than Eq. 6 valid for
large t (or, equivalently, valid for large ()). Such an
approximation can be obtained from Eq. 6 and is given by
A B C
Tw(D, t) ,.....,. To + logO + (log ())' + (log (})"
(8)
where A = - 26:..n,
B = - yf(0.80908 + + + 0.80908),
C = 17.988 -r +
+ 0.33333e)
+ .6.n(1.9814 - - l.3333e),
and 6:..T is given by Eq. 4d. The method for obtaining
this expression, as well as higher-order terms, is also
given in the Appendix.
EXAMPLE CALCULATIONS
Values of the temperature Tw(D, t) were computed on
a digital computer from Eqs. 7 and 8 using the following
data.
and
PE = 155.0 lb/cu ft,
CE = 0.23 Btu/(lb-OF),
p., = 57.0 lb/cu ft,
C., = 1.0 Btu/(lb-OF),
KE = 1.45 Btu/(hr-ft-Op),
w = 0.02F/ft,
T ... = 80F,
r., = 1.0 and 2.0 in.,
i., = 1,000 and 3,000 B/D
D = 3,000 and 7,000 ft,
431
These values were used in plotting the graphs of tempera-
ture vs time in Figs. 1 and 2, and temperature drop vs
surface injection temperature in Figs. 3 and 4.
Fig. 1 shows the effect of flow rate on the temperature
at a depth of 3,000 ft for water having surface tem-
peratures of 300 and 500F. The higher injection rate
leads more quickly to a steady-state condition. Fig. 2
illustrates the same effect for a depth of 7,000 ft. These
figures also indicate the rate with which the bottom-hole
temperature approaches the surface injection temperature.
Initially, the increase in temperature is quite rapid. In
Fig. 1, for example, the temperature at 3,000 ft was
initially 140F; but after 10 days of injecting 1,000 BWPD
at 300F, the temperature has reached 235F. At larger
times, however, the bottom-hole temperature increases
very slowly. Thus, after three years of injection there is
500
u.
0
400
W-
0:
::J
-
I-
<J:
300
0:
w
a.
::;:
-------------- ------
300,
w
I- 200
x
3 O"'3000ft. ,w1.00in.
t -- iw" 1000 bbl/doy f---
W
--- iw 3000 bbll d oJ
OL-__ ______ __ ______
5.0 10.0 50.0 100.0 500.0 1000.0
TIME, DAYS
FIG. I-EFFLUX TEMPERATURE VS TIME.
500
u.
0
500F
400
--- --
W-
-- --------------- ------
0:
::J
I-
500F
<J:
300
0:
w
:::
-3(;0-01=------
a.
::;:
-- -------------- -----
w
200
300F
I-
x
3 0'" 7000 1t. TW"' 1.00 in.
__ iw" tOOObblldoy J--
W ___ iw. 3000 bbl/doy
u..
0
-
a.
0
0:
0
w
0:
::J
!;(
0:
W
a.
::;:
w
I-
__
5.0 10.0 50.0 100.0 500.0 1000.0
T I ME. DAYS
FIG. 2-EFFLUX TEMPERATURE vs TIME.
250
iw' 1000 BID
I--
l" 1000 8/0, 2000 BID. 3000 BID I
/V
'-6 MONTHS, 0"7000 FT., r."'2.oo
200
/"
./
V
i
w
"2000B/D
150
V
V
V
./V
..,/
V
-
f-
i
W
"3000BID
100
V
V-
I---
l-
f-
f-
50
,--y
0
300 400 500
SURFACE INJECTION TEMPERATURE. OF
FIG. 3-TEMPERA'fURE DROP BETWEEN SURFACE AND
INTERVAL VS SURFACE hJECTION Tr:MPERATURE.
j:llI
still a substantial temperature drop in each of the cases
illustrated.
Fig. 3 illustrates the increasing temperature drop which
results when the surface injection temperature is increased.
With the data of the figure, for example, after six months
of injection at 1,000 BWPD the water temperature at
7,000 ft will be 75F less than the injection temperature
if that temperature is 300F, whereas it will be about
135F less than the injection temperature if that tem-
perature is 400F. Fig. 4 compares similar information
for different depths.
Fig. 5 compares field measurements and theoretical
results. The field data were taken from Nowak". Water
at a surface temperature of 83 OF was injected at the
rate of 900 B/D through 7-in. casing for three years.
Values of heat capacities and thermal conductivity not
given in the reference were assigned the values used in
the preceding examples, except P,o = 62.4 lb/cu ft. Two
calculated curves were plotted, one for KE = 1.5 Btu/ (hr-
ft-OF) and one for KE = 1.25 Btu/(hr-ft-OF). The "forma-
tion temperature" curve is geothermal. The calculated tem-
peratures exceed the measured temperatures in both cases,
but the field temperatures are a little lower than one might
expect from the geothermal. The agreement, therefore,
appears to be satisfactory.
The utility of Eq. 8 is best demonstrated by means of
an example. The Fig. 1 data are used, with water at 300F
being injected at the rate of 1,000 B/D for 400 days. The
data are reduced to the compatible ft-hr-Ib-Btu-OF system.
250
0"'3000 FT, 7000 FT.
D" 7000FT.

t-S MONTHS, iw= If>OOB/D. TW 2.00 IN. I
P
u.
200 0

V
0
0:
0
w
0:
::J
I-
<J:
0:
W
a.

w
I-
./
V
D' 3000FT.
150
V- I---
V
./
V
I---
V
100
V
50
0
300 400 500
SURFACE INJECTION TEMPERATURE, of
FI('. DROP SURFACE AND INJECTj():\
INTERVAL VS SURFACE L'IJECTIO;-': TEMPERATURE.

2000
I-'
U.3000
i
I-
a.
W4000
0
50
6000
7000
60 BO 100 120 140 160 180
TEMPERATURE of
FIG. 5-COMPARISON OF FIELD AND CALC[JLATED
TEMPERATURES
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!:::.T = 300 - 80 = 220F;
= 1.9, = 60F;
() = 5.8 X 10<, log () = 10.97;
A = --720, B = 2,020, C = -3,860.
From Eg. 8, T w = 249F, which checks against Fig. I.
Since the last term in Eg. 8 is - 3, it is expected that the
computation of any further terms would be unnecessary-
and that is the case.
NOMENCLATURE
v = linear velocity of water, ft/hour
iw = volumetric injection rate, cu ft/hour
r w = injection-string radius, ft
r = radial distance from axis of injection string, ft
R = dimensionless distance from axis
D = distance from surface, measured vertically
downward, ft
= dimensionless group proportional to D
pw = water density, lb/cu ft
PE = formation density, lb/cu ft
C", = water heat capacity, Btu/{lb-OF)
CE = formation heat capacity, Btu/{lb-OF)
KE = formation thermal conductivity, Btu/(hr-ft-OF)
TA = ambient surface temperature, of
T, = temperature of the injection water at the sur-
face, of
!:::.T = T" - TA
W = geothermal gradient, of /ft
y = group proportional to w, OF
t = time, hours
(J = dimensionless group proportional to t
0' = dimensionless ratio of pC products
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors are grateful to the management of Cali-
fornia Research Corp. for their aid in the preparation of
this paper and their permission to publish it.
REFERENCES
1. Moss, J. T. and White, P. D.: "How to Calculate Temperature
Profiles in a Water-Injection Well", Oil and Gas Jour. (March
9,1959) 57, No. 11, 174.
2. Lesem, Louis B., Greytok, Frank, Marotta, Frank and McKetta.
John J., Jr.: "A Method of Calculating the Distribution of
Temperature in Flowing Gas Wells", Trans., AIME (19571
210,169.
3. Jacob, Max: Heat Transfer, John Wiley and Sons, Inc., N. Y.
(1949) .
4. Ingersoll, L., Zobel, O. and Ingersoll, A.: Heat Conduction.
U. of Wisconsin Press, Madison, Wise. (1954).
.s. Watson, G. N.: Theory of Bessel Functions, Cambridge U.
Press (1944)
6. Nowak, T. J.: "The Estimation of Water Injection Profile,
from Temperature Surveys", Trans .. AIME (1953) 198, 203.
. APPENDIX
The method of solving the system of Egs. 4a through
4f closely follows Lesem, et aC The following Laplace
transforms are introduced.
00
Lo(Tw*) = ()d() = yes, 0,
o
APRIL, 1962
CfJ
= J : "'y(s, = yes, p),
o
CLJ
Lo(Te*) = ()d() = s),
o
00
Lo,(TE *) = J = w(R, p, s).
o
The Laplace transform with respect to B of both Eg.
4a and Eg. 4b is taken, making use of Eg. 4c, to give
Ow I = + Sy)
oR I He, 0'
(9)
o'w low
- + sw = oR' + R oR .
( 10)
The Laplace transforms of Egs. 9 and 10 with respect to
t: are taken, using Eg. 4d, to give

p)Y'= 'lw/ +++ !:::.T,

a oR R", pa S
a-w 1 dw y
dR' + R dR - sw = p'
Eg. 12 has the general solution
W = + BKo(Ry-;) +
sp'
( 11 )
(12)
(13 )
where I" is the modified Bessel function of the first kind,
zero order, and Ko is the modified Bessel function of the
second kind, zero order. The boundedness of TE*' hence
-;; as R 00 implies that A must be zero. From Eg. 4e
it follows that w(1, s, p) = yes, p). This relationship, with
Egs. 11 and 13, determines B and, hence, ;; and y.
- Y
v(s, p) = - .. - [
w sp' p -I- -I-
!:::.T
-I- -- .---- --- (14)
s [p + + J
K,(S) . h d'fi d B I
where G(s) =--. The term K, IS t e rna I e esse
Ko(s)
function of the second kind, first order. From Eg. 14 fol-
lows
T*., is found from yes, 0 by a contour intergration as in
Ref. 2 to yield the final result (Eq. 6). In fact, the first
two terms of Eq. 15 appear in Ref. 2 .
The development of the approximate formula (Eg. 8)
for large () is based on the fact that the integrands in Eg.
6 tend rapidly to zero as u 00 if () -1> o. Conse-
0'
quently, the major contribution to the integrals comes
from small values of u, particularly when () is large.
The mathematical development depends on two form-
ulas. With
D(u) = u'{[uJo(u) - O'J,(u)]' + [uYo(u) - O'Y,(u)]'}
and
(u)
20' I, f( 2 ). 20' 2t]
- - auf, - U f, sm -f + -=-cos=-f
7T /1 1 " d 1
- -- D(u) ._-_ .. _------
the first formula is
-- I,) = _ 2aJoo e-
u2
( 0- ) E(u)du
7T 7r 7T
o
+ o( 00. . (16)
This can be demonstrated as follows.
2 foo[- 2(e-
: I, - I, = 1 - e -u --;;- E(u)du
o
"( ) ; ,
J
oo e-u- 0 - -;;- (1 - e--;-u- )du
+ .
o D(u) _.
Since D(u) behaves like u as u 0, the last integral be-
haves like
J
u 1
o e-u'oudu = 28 as 8 00.
It remains to show that
2 JOO
E(u)du
7r
o
Now
. 2a (2a ) 2a JOO
lIm - .. -1, - 12 E(u)du.
8-'00 7r \7r To 0
But
q(s) = s 1 t1 - >v
7
'J(v;)l]
s f-; + y's GC\/s) 1
is the Laplace transform of 2a - 0, ) with respect
7r To /
to 8,from Eq. 15. Therefore,
since
lim ,( 2a I, - I,) = lim sq(s) =
()-"'oo 7T 7T 8-70
- - 1
y'sG(y's) -1- as s O.
ogs
Eq. 16 substituted in Eq. 6 shows that
Tw = T" + 2:
y
Joo e-
u
'( o-_-!-) E(u)du
o
_ 13 + 0 . (17)
It is easy to show (by integration by parts) that, if I(t)
is any integrable function,
rFUt211(t) Idt ,;;;; Me-Do'
where M is a constant depending only on I(t). Conse-
quently Eq. 17 may be put in the form
Tw = To + r [2:Y E(u)
o
2!::.T _, I, .
- --e ,u 1," sm -
7rU 7r/,
e-,'odu + o( }).
The portion of the integrand in brackets can be developed
in a series in 1j1og u for small u so that
f
li
2
e-uodv
Tw = To + "
o v (log v)-
[a+
IO
:
V
+ (l:gV)2+ . (18)
In order to complete Eq. 18, the second basic formula
must be introduced. If k is an integer greater than one and
8 ,;;;; 1h, then for large s,
44()
I
i)
e-"dt 1
t [log t [t = (k - 1) (log S)k-,
o
N (k+n-1)!c"
+ n:o n!(k -1)!(logsr
H
"
+ 0 ( [lOg: [k+X+1 )
where
(19)
c" = dv + dv.
J
1 (e-
u
- 1) (log v) n J 00 e-
u
(log v) n
v v
o 1
To demonstrate this formula, the left side is rewritten
1 J
r"- +f U
j 0 J
(k - 1) (logs)" 1
(e-" -- 1)dt
t [ log t [ k
+ JO] e-"dt
t I log t [ k
-'
1 Jl (e-
C
- l)dv
(k - I) z'" + 0 v [ log v - z [ k
f
OB
+ _ J -v--'[--:lo-g-v---z'[""
e-udv
= ___ 1 +Jl (e-U-1)(1_10gV)_kdV
(k - 1 )z"-' vz
k
Z
o
+ JOs ---==-_( 1 _ log V) -k dv
vz" Z
1
where z = log s. The result follows on expanding the
binomials in a Taylor's series with remainder and on
further observing that for large s
fS e-u(lo:v)n
dV
= Joo e-U(lo:v)U
dV
+ O(e-").
1 0
Using Eq. 19 to perform the integrations in Eq. 18
yields the formula
A* B* C*
T w = T" + log e + (log 8)' + (log e)'
+ 0 ([10: 8! ,)
(20)
where
A* = yf -
B* = A* (Jl (e-'- - l)dv + roo e-vdv
v J V 2
o 1
C* = 2A * dv + dv
(
r
1 (e-
v
- 1) log v roo e-
u
log v )
J
o
V J
1
V
- b (f : 1 )dv + Joo dV) + ; ,
o 1
b = 4 [ -g ) _ I:!.T ( - )]
c = 8y ( 6gh - 8g
3
- 2h2 + 16g'h - 16
g1
)
7r'f _ (:3 + f]
+-8- g 8"
- 81:!.T[H4g
2
- h) - 3gf +
g = v - log 2, "
h = (v - log 2), + ,and
v = Euler's constant ,...., 0.5772157.
Eq. 8 was obtained from Eq. 20 by performing the neces-
sary calculations to six decimal places and rounding. ***
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