Theoretical study of fluid flow accompanied by solid precipitation in porous media

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Abstract
This paper deals with compressible fluid flow accompanied by solid deposition in a porous reservoir. The isothermal fluid flow is considered to be radial and follows Darcy's law. The initially dissolved substances precipitate from the solution as a result of solubility reduction as the pressure declines. These deposits accumulate in the void spaces and hence inhibit the flow. An idealized model describing this transport mechanism has been proposed. On the basis of this model, a numerical technique has been developed to predict the amount of solid precipitation and the pressure distribution as functions of time and radial distance.The method is applied to the production performance of a reservoir containing mainly hydrogen sulfide saturated with elemental sulfur. The solid sulfur builds up rapidly in the vicinity of the production well. A very negligible amount is formed close to the impermeable outer boundary. It is shown that plugging by solid sulfur in the porous medium can be reduced either by reducing the production rate or by choosing closer well spacing.

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