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DualPorosity
Naturallyfracturedreservoirshavetwodistinctporosities,oneinthematrixandoneinthefractures.Although
naturallyfracturedreservoirsconsistofirregularfractures,theycanberepresentedbyequivalenthomogeneous
dualporositysystems(WarrenandRoot(1963)).

Quiteoften,thevolumeofhydrocarbonstoredwithinthenaturalfracturesismuchlowerthanisstoredinthe
matrix.Indualporositysystems,thenaturalfractureshavemuchhigherpermeabilitythanthematrix.When
thewellbeginstoflow,fluidtravelsfromthehighpermeabilitynaturalfracturestothewellboreandisrapidly
produced.Oncethenaturalfractureshavebeendrained,thelargevolumeofhydrocarbonscontainedwithinthe
bulkofthereservoir(matrix)beginstoflow.Thesehydrocarbonsflowtonearbynaturalfracturesandvirtuallyall
ofthefluidistransportedtothewellboreviathesefractures.

Thesignatureofdualporositysystemsonasemilogplotistwoparallellinesasshownbelow.

Thefirstsemilogstraightlineisobservedatearlytimeandrepresentsradialflowasthefluid,initiallyinthe
fractures,travelstothewellbore.Thesecondsemilogstraightlineoccurswhenthefracturesdeliverfluidfrom
thematrixtothewellbore.Thetransitionperiodbetweenthetwosemilogstraightlinesoccurswhenfluid
beginstoflowfromthematrixtothefracturesbuthasnotyetreachedastateofequilibrium.

Beawarethatdualporosity,especiallythefirstsemilogstraightline,maynotbenoticeableevenifthe
reservoirisnaturallyfracturedbecausewellborestorageeffectscouldaffectthedata.

Naturallyfracturedreservoirsarecharacterizedbytwoparameters,theinterporosityflowcoefficient()andthe
storativityratio().

Asshownintheplotbelow,astheinterporosityflowcoefficientdecreases,thetransitionbetweenthetwosemi
logstraightlinesisdelayed.Thatis,thelargerthefracturepermeabilityisincomparisontothatofthematrix,
themoretimethefractureswillhavetodrainbeforethecontributionfromthematrixbecomessignificant.
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Notethattherearetwotypesofinterporosityflowwhichareusedtomodeldualporositysystems:

Pseudosteadystateinterporosityflow

Transientinterporosityflow

Thesecondparameter,storativityratio(),essentiallyrepresentsthetimeseparationinlogcyclesbetweenthe
twosemilogstraightlinesasshownbelow.

Astorativityratioof1isasingleporositysystemwithallofthereservesinsidethefractures,andastorativity
ratioapproaching0isasingleporosityreservoirwithallthereservesinsidethematrix.Therefore,asthe
storativityratioisdecreased,agreaterportionofthereservesarecontainedinthematrixandthelongerittakes
forthematrixandfracturesystemtoreachastateofequilibrium.Thisisshowninthefollowingplot:

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Thesignatureofdualporosityonaderivativeplotshowsupastworegionsofradialflowwiththesame
conductivity,kh,separatedbyatransitionperiod.Thisisoftenreferredtoasthedualporositydip.

Asinthecaseforthesemilogplot,theshapeandlocationofthistransitionperiodordualporositysignatureare
definedbytheinterporosityflowcoefficient()andthestorativityratio()asshownintheplotsbelow.

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Itisimportanttonotethatwhenanalyzingdualporositydatathatthevalueofapparentortotalskin(s')should
alwaysbetakenfromthesecondsemilogstraightlineorthesecondradialflowregiononthederivativeplot.

References
1. "GasReservoirEngineering",J.LeeandR.Wattenbarger,SocietyofPetroleumEngineersInc.(1996)
Volume5,7374,173181.

2. "TheBehaviorofNaturallyFracturedReservoirs",J.E.WarrenandP.J.Root,SocietyofPetroleum
EngineersInc.(1963)SPEJ426.

Copyright2012FeketeAssociatesInc.

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