File 000004

ECLIPSE Pre- and Post-Processing Suite
ECLIPSE* reservoir simulation software
User Guide
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Table of Contents
List of Figures ..... ...................................................................................................................................................................7
List of Tables ...... ...................................................................................................................................................................8
Chapter 1 - Overview ........................................................................................................................ 9

Features ............. .................................................................................................................................................................11
Vertical flow performance tables...........................................................................................................................................17
Chapter 2 - Getting Started ............................................................................................................ 21

Introduction ......... .................................................................................................................................................................21
Chapter 3 - Tutorials ....................................................................................................................... 23

Introduction ......... .................................................................................................................................................................23
Available Tutorials ................................................................................................................................................................24
Tutorial 1: Calculating a VFP table .......................................................................................................................................27
Tutorial 2: Flow performance along deviated tubing.............................................................................................................35
Tutorial 3: Inflow Performance Relationships and 3D Visualization .....................................................................................55
Tutorial 4: Matching measured pressure data ......................................................................................................................63
Tutorial 5: Manipulating VFP tables......................................................................................................................................67
Tutorial 6: Compositional Fluids and Calculated Fluid Temperatures ..................................................................................75
Tutorial 7: Creating a VFP table to model choke pressure loss............................................................................................83
Appendix A - Configuring VFPi ..................................................................................................... 93

Introduction ......... .................................................................................................................................................................93
Appendix B - Calculating Pressure Traverse ............................................................................... 97

Length step selection............................................................................................................................................................97
The pressure gradient calculation.........................................................................................................................................99
Artificial lift .......... ...............................................................................................................................................................102
The multi-phase flow correlations .......................................................................................................................................103
Appendix C - Black Oil Correlations ........................................................................................... 105

Introduction ......... ...............................................................................................................................................................105
Oil formation volume factor and solution gas-oil ratio.........................................................................................................106
Oil viscosity......... ...............................................................................................................................................................108
Gas formation volume factor...............................................................................................................................................109
Gas viscosity ...... ...............................................................................................................................................................110
Water formation volume factor............................................................................................................................................111
Water viscosity ... ...............................................................................................................................................................112
Oil-gas interfacial tension ...................................................................................................................................................113
Water-gas interfacial tension ..............................................................................................................................................114
Local volumetric flow rates .................................................................................................................................................115
Local phase densities .........................................................................................................................................................116
Emulsion viscosity ..............................................................................................................................................................117
References ......... ...............................................................................................................................................................118
Appendix D - Correlation Tuning................................................................................................. 119

Introduction ......... ...............................................................................................................................................................119
Measured data.... ...............................................................................................................................................................120
Calculating the tuning factors .............................................................................................................................................122
VFPi User Guide 3

Table of Contents
Appendix E - Compositional Fluid Property Calculations ........................................................ 125
Introduction ......... ...............................................................................................................................................................125
Density ................ ...............................................................................................................................................................126
Volumetric flow rate ............................................................................................................................................................127
Viscosity.............. ...............................................................................................................................................................128
Oil-gas interfacial tension....................................................................................................................................................129
Water properties . ...............................................................................................................................................................130
References ......... ...............................................................................................................................................................131
Appendix F - Wellstream Compositions ..................................................................................... 133

Introduction ......... ...............................................................................................................................................................133
User specification ...............................................................................................................................................................134
Wellstreams from a depletion experiment...........................................................................................................................135
Pressure dependent wellstream compositions ...................................................................................................................137
References ......... ...............................................................................................................................................................140
Appendix G - Heat Transfer Calculation .................................................................................... 141

Introduction ......... ...............................................................................................................................................................141
Enthalpy balance equation and its solution.........................................................................................................................142
Overall heat transfer coefficient ..........................................................................................................................................144
References ......... ...............................................................................................................................................................145
Appendix H - Matching Observed Data....................................................................................... 147

Introduction ......... ...............................................................................................................................................................147
Observed data .... ...............................................................................................................................................................148
Multi-phase flow correlation fitting factors...........................................................................................................................149
Regression technique .........................................................................................................................................................151
References ......... ...............................................................................................................................................................152
Appendix I - Command Language............................................................................................... 153

Introduction ......... ...............................................................................................................................................................153
Using the command language ............................................................................................................................................154
Commands and keywords ..................................................................................................................................................156
Example command script 1.................................................................................................................................................158
Example command script 2.................................................................................................................................................160
Appendix J - Production Table Format ....................................................................................... 161

Introduction ......... ...............................................................................................................................................................161
Appendix K - Injection Table Format........................................................................................... 167

Introduction ......... ...............................................................................................................................................................167
Appendix L - VIP Well Hydraulics Table ..................................................................................... 171

Introduction ......... ...............................................................................................................................................................171
Black oil fluid tables ............................................................................................................................................................172
Compositional fluid tables ...................................................................................................................................................173
Appendix M - Keywords ............................................................................................................... 175

Structure of keyword file .....................................................................................................................................................175
General keywords ...............................................................................................................................................................177
METRIC: Declares metric unit convention.......................................................................................................................... 178
PANELS: Panel positions.................................................................................................................................................... 179
PROJECT: Project definition ............................................................................................................................................... 180
VFPTABLE: Name and number of the VFP Table.............................................................................................................. 181
4 VFPi User Guide

Table of Contents
WELLNUM: Number of wells in data tree............................................................................................................................. 182
VFP table calculation keywords..........................................................................................................................................183
ALQ: Fifth variable.............................................................................................................................................................. 184
FLOW: Flow rate values ...................................................................................................................................................... 185
GFR: Gas fraction values ................................................................................................................................................... 186
PRES: Tubing head or bottom hole pressures ................................................................................................................... 187
TABNAME: VFP table name................................................................................................................................................ 188
TABNUM: VFP table number............................................................................................................................................... 189
WFR: Water fraction values ................................................................................................................................................ 190
Well keywords .... ...............................................................................................................................................................191
WELLFLAG: Child nodes types........................................................................................................................................... 192
WELLNAME: Name of well................................................................................................................................................... 193
WELLNODE: Child nodes of well ......................................................................................................................................... 194
WELLNOTE: Well Description ............................................................................................................................................. 195
Tubing keywords ...............................................................................................................................................................196
ANNULUS: Fluid diameters vs. tubing length...................................................................................................................... 197
BEAN: Bean data................................................................................................................................................................ 198
CASING: Casing and annulus table ................................................................................................................................... 199
CASEDESC: Casing and Annulus description..................................................................................................................... 200
COATING: Concentric ring thermal data ............................................................................................................................ 201
COMPTABL: Gas compressor tables .................................................................................................................................. 202
DELTAP: Local pressure drop vs. flow rate tables ............................................................................................................. 203
DEPTHS: Depth vs. length down tubing table..................................................................................................................... 204
DIAM: Fluid diameter vs. tubing length .............................................................................................................................. 205
GASLIFT: Black oil gas lift data......................................................................................................................................... 206
GASLIFTC: Compositional gas lift data ............................................................................................................................. 207
OHTC: Heat transfer coefficients ........................................................................................................................................ 208
PUMP: Pump tables ............................................................................................................................................................ 209
ROUGHNES: Tubing roughness........................................................................................................................................... 210
TEMP: Temperature vs. length down tubing....................................................................................................................... 211
TEMPTABL: Fluid outlet temperature vs. flow rate ............................................................................................................. 212
TUBCNTRL: Tubing control data......................................................................................................................................... 213
Black oil fluid keywords.......................................................................................................................................................214
BOFCNTRL: Tubing control data......................................................................................................................................... 215
DENSITY: Surface fluid densities ...................................................................................................................................... 216
DGASPVT: Dry gas PVT tables........................................................................................................................................... 217
EMLVSC: Emulsion viscosity .............................................................................................................................................. 218
OILPFIT: Oil PVT correlations tuning............................................................................................................................... 219
OILPVT: Oil PVT properties table...................................................................................................................................... 220
SHEATC: Fluid specific heat capacities .............................................................................................................................. 221
STCOND: Standard surface conditions ............................................................................................................................... 222
STOG: Oil-gas interfacial tension tables ............................................................................................................................. 223
STWG: Water-gas interfacial tension tables ........................................................................................................................ 224
WATPVT: Water PVT properties table ................................................................................................................................ 225
WGASPVT: Wet gas PVT properties tables......................................................................................................................... 226
Compositional fluid keywords .............................................................................................................................................227
ACF: Component acentric factors ...................................................................................................................................... 228
BIC: Component binary interaction coefficients ................................................................................................................ 229
CNAMES: Component names ............................................................................................................................................. 230
EOS: Equation of state to be used ..................................................................................................................................... 231
HYDRO: Hydrocarbon/ non-hydrocarbon ............................................................................................................................ 232
MOLWW: Molecular weight of water ..................................................................................................................................... 233
MW: Component molecular weights .................................................................................................................................... 234
NCOMPS: Number of components ...................................................................................................................................... 235
OMEGAA: OmegaA EOS coefficients .................................................................................................................................. 236
OMEGAB: OmegaB EOS coefficients .................................................................................................................................. 237
PARACHOR: Component critical parachors......................................................................................................................... 238
PCRIT: Component critical pressures ............................................................................................................................... 239
PRCORR: Modified Peng-Robinson EOS............................................................................................................................ 240
VFPi User Guide 5

Table of Contents
SSHIFT: EOS shift parameters.......................................................................................................................................... 241
TCRIT: Component critical temperatures .......................................................................................................................... 242
VCRIT: Component critical molar volumes ........................................................................................................................ 243
VCRITVIS: Component critical molar volumes for viscosity calculations .......................................................................... 244
ZCRIT: Component critical compressibility factors ............................................................................................................ 245
ZCRITVIS: Component critical compressibility factors for viscosity calculations.............................................................. 246
ZDEPEXP: Reservoir depletion experiment ........................................................................................................................ 247
ZLEANGAS: Lean gas composition..................................................................................................................................... 248
ZWELINP: Input of wellstream compositions...................................................................................................................... 249
Calculation control keywords ..............................................................................................................................................250
ACCHDCHK: Acceleration pressure head calculation check ............................................................................................... 251
ERODEVEL: Erosion flow velocities .................................................................................................................................... 252
FTFACTOR: Data fitting parameters ................................................................................................................................... 253
FLOWCORL: Multi-phase flow correlations .......................................................................................................................... 254
ITLIMS: Pressure step iteration limits............................................................................................................................... 255
ITPTRAV: Pressure traverse iteration limits ...................................................................................................................... 256
ORKPARAM: Orkiszewski water cut parameter ................................................................................................................... 257
MESSLIMS: Print and Stop message limits ........................................................................................................................ 258
SONICPRS: Reported pressure at supersonic flow ............................................................................................................ 259
SONICVEL: Sonic velocity checking option........................................................................................................................ 260
NEWSTEPS: Length step control data ................................................................................................................................. 261
Measured Pressure Data keyword......................................................................................................................................262
OBSPRES: Pressure measurements................................................................................................................................... 263
Appendix N - Petalas and Aziz Flow Model ................................................................................ 265

Disclaimer ........... ...............................................................................................................................................................265
Introduction ......... ...............................................................................................................................................................266
Model description ...............................................................................................................................................................267
Model behavior ... ...............................................................................................................................................................268
Conclusion .......... ...............................................................................................................................................................270
References ......... ...............................................................................................................................................................271
Appendix O - Sachdeva Choke Model ........................................................................................ 273

Introduction ......... ...............................................................................................................................................................273
Model description ...............................................................................................................................................................274
Model behavior ... ...............................................................................................................................................................277
References ......... ...............................................................................................................................................................280
Appendix P - History .................................................................................................................... 281

New Facilities in 2004A.......................................................................................................................................................281
New Developments for 99A release ...................................................................................................................................282
Appendix Q - Index ....................................................................................................................... 289
6 VFPi User Guide

Table of Contents
List of Figures
Figure 1.1 .......... VFPi in action!.........................................................................................................................................10
Figure 3.1 .......... Tubing module showing a simple, vertical length of tubing ....................................................................28
Figure 3.2 .......... BHP versus Flow panel ..........................................................................................................................32
Figure 3.3 .......... VFP Curves module showing BHP versus Oil ........................................................................................33
Figure 3.4 .......... VFP Table Data panel ............................................................................................................................34
Figure 3.5 .......... Tubing module showing a deviated well .................................................................................................37
Figure 3.6 .......... Tubing module showing a deviated well with a pump.............................................................................40
Figure 3.7 .......... Tubing module showing a deviated well with a gas lift injector...............................................................41
Figure 3.8 .......... Tubing module showing a deviated well with a compressor ...................................................................43
Figure 3.9 .......... Detailed Pressure Traverse module showing the effect of a pump on the pressure profile....................45
Figure 3.10 ........ Data Tree window...................................................................................................................................46
Figure 3.11 ........ BHP vs. Flow panel ................................................................................................................................47
Figure 3.12 ........ VFP Curves module showing BHP versus flow rate ..............................................................................48
Figure 3.13 ........ VFP Curves module showing BHP versus flow rate for 2 different tubing diameters .............................49
Figure 3.14 ........ VFP Curves module showing BHP versus flow rate for 3 different tubing diameters .............................50
Figure 3.15 ........ Using reservoir pressures in place of BHP .............................................................................................51
Figure 3.16 ........ THP vs. Flow panel.................................................................................................................................52
Figure 3.17 ........ THP vs. Oil flow rate curves ...................................................................................................................53
Figure 3.18 ........ BHP vs. Flow panel ................................................................................................................................57
Figure 3.19 ........ VFP Curves module showing BHP vs. Oil for 3 different values of THP ................................................58
Figure 3.20 ........ Linear IPR panel .....................................................................................................................................59
Figure 3.21 ........ VFP Curves showing Flow vs. BHP........................................................................................................59
Figure 3.22 ........ 3D VFP Curve Viewer ............................................................................................................................61
Figure 3.23 ........ Match Control Panel ...............................................................................................................................65
Figure 3.24 ........ VFP curves module showing BHP vs. oil for 5 different values of THP ..................................................68
Figure 3.29 ........ The File Browser ....................................................................................................................................76
Figure 3.30 ........ Wellstream compositions panel ..............................................................................................................76
Figure 3.31 ........ VFP Table Data panel ............................................................................................................................77
Figure 3.32 ........ Temperature Data panel.........................................................................................................................79
Figure 3.33 ........ The Tubing module showing a casing cross-section ..............................................................................80
Figure 3.34 ........ Temperature profiles for both the fluid and the surrounding environment ..............................................82
Figure 3.35 ........ Bean parameters panel ..........................................................................................................................84
Figure 3.36 ........ Tabular:BHP vs. Flow panel ...................................................................................................................88
Figure 3.37 ........ VFP curves module ................................................................................................................................89
Figure 3.38 ........ BHP vs. ALQ panel.................................................................................................................................90
Figure 3.39 ........ VFP curves module ................................................................................................................................91
Figure C.1 .......... Variation in viscosity of emulsions of crude oil and brine (after Woelflin) .............................................117
Figure F.2 .......... Pressure variations in phase mean molecular weight during reservoir depletion .................................138
Figure N.3 .......... Flow Pattern Map Air/water system at atmospheric conditions, 00 inclination......................................268
Figure N.4 .......... Fractional pressure gradient- Air/water system at atmospheric conditions, 00 inclination ....................269
Figure N.5 .......... Volume fraction liquid- Air/water system at atmospheric conditions, 00 inclination ..............................269
Figure O.6 .......... Critical and sub-critical choke behavior ................................................................................................277
Figure O.7 .......... Choke solutions ....................................................................................................................................279
VFPi User Guide 7

List of Figures
List of Tables
Table 1.1 Choice of variables ..................................................................................................................................18
Table 3.1 .................................................................................................................................................................28
Table 3.2 .................................................................................................................................................................29
Table 3.3 .................................................................................................................................................................30
Table 3.4 .................................................................................................................................................................30
Table 3.5 .................................................................................................................................................................30
Table 3.6 .................................................................................................................................................................36
Table 3.7 .................................................................................................................................................................37
Table 3.8 .................................................................................................................................................................39
Table 3.9 .................................................................................................................................................................42
Table 3.10 .................................................................................................................................................................55
Table 3.11 .................................................................................................................................................................56
Table 3.12 Example pressure measurements ...........................................................................................................64
Table 3.13 COMPOS: Casing Table ..........................................................................................................................79
Table 3.14 .................................................................................................................................................................81
Table 3.15 BEAN SEGMENT: Tubing Section Data ..................................................................................................84
Table 3.16 Temp vs. Length panel ............................................................................................................................85
Table 3.17 .................................................................................................................................................................85
Table 3.18 .................................................................................................................................................................85
Table 3.19 .................................................................................................................................................................86
Table 3.20 .................................................................................................................................................................87
Table L.1 Combinations of black oil fluid tables supported by VIP ........................................................................172
Table L.2 Units used by ECLIPSE and VIP for black oil fluid tables ......................................................................172
8 VFPi User Guide

List of Tables
Overview
Chapter 1
Note Maintenance of this application is continuing until further notice.
VFPi is the graphical, interactive successor to the Vertical Flow Performance program, VFP.
Through a series of graphical modules, control and data panels, it allows you to study all aspects
of pressure traverse calculations along wells and pipelines for black oil and compositional
fluids. You can also generate and examine production and injection vertical flow performance
tables for input into the ECLIPSE and VIP simulators.
VFPi is able to perform pressure traverses using data from more than one well within a single
session of the program. This multiple-well data is controlled from the data tree window, with
each well represented as a node connected to the root of a tree-like structure. This feature allows
you easily compare pressures losses between differing wells and also offers greater flexibility
when analyzing and designing wells and pipelines.
VFPi is backwards-compatible with VFP, in that it can read a VFP keyword data file and so set
up all the elements involved in a pressure traverse calculation. You may then graphically
examine the fluid properties of the wellstream as well as the tubing string through which it
flows. You can perform single pressure traverse calculations to study the variation of pressure,
gas velocity, temperature etc. along the length of the tubing. You can also perform a series of
pressure traverse calculations and so form VFP curves. Complete flexibility is afforded in
plotting these curves either as a family in a 2D graph or as a surface in a 3D graph.
As well as creating VFP tables, VFPi can read in and plot cross-sections from existing tables.
This facility enables you to make graphical comparisons between different VFP tables and
between calculated curves and table cross-sections. Again the cross-sections may be plotted in
2D or 3D. The 2D cross-sections can be graphically edited and the changes then applied to the
VFP table itself. You may superimpose well IPRs on 2D curves and cross-sections to provide
an estimate of flow rates at a given set of conditions.
VFPi offers you the choice of seven multi-phase flow correlations to calculate the pressure
traverse:
• Aziz, Govier and Fogarasi
• Orkiszewski
• Hagedorn and Brown
VFPi User Guide Overview 9

• Beggs and Brill
• Mukherjee and Brill
• Gray
• Petalas and Aziz
Different correlations may be used for different sections of tubing, enabling VFPi to handle
horizontal and undulating pipelines as well as vertical well bores and risers. The calculation can
include the effects of gas lift, a down-hole pump, a gas compressor and a surface choke.
Further features of VFPi include an enthalpy equation to calculate the temperature variation of
the fluid along the tubing, with the outlet temperature available as a calculated quantity in VFP
curves and VFP tables. There is also a facility to match calculated pressures with measured data
by tuning a family of “fitting factors” that alter the pressure gradients calculated by the multi-
phase flow correlations.
The current state of the data entered and generated within VFPi may be saved in a data keyword
file. The data may then be retrieved and the VFPi session continued at another time.
Figure 1.1 VFPi in action!
10 Overview VFPi User Guide

Features
Data storage
This facility allows you to save the current state of all data entered into VFPi to an external file
using data keywords (see "Keywords" on page 175). You may thus continue an interrupted VFPi
session by loading this file back into the program. This file will also store any VFP tables
currently held within the program. Note that only one data "snapshot" can be stored per file.
The keyword file stores the positions of all the panels that you opened during a VFPi session. If
you continue this session from this file, any panels opened which had previously been displayed
are positioned where you last left them.
Because the data is stored using ASCII keywords, the file is portable between all machines able
to run VFPi.
A keyword file named RECOVER.DAT is automatically created when VFPi periodically saves
the current data state of your session. In the event of a program crash, VFPi may be restarted
and your session continued from the last auto save point by loading the RECOVER.DAT file as
a normal keyword file. Note that the RECOVER.DAT file is deleted when a VFPi session is
ended normally.
Data tree
For VFPi to perform a pressure traverse calculation in a particular well or pipeline, the program
requires information about the PVT properties of the flowing fluid, the tubing through which
this fluid flows, and some control data such as the choice of multi-phase flow correlation.
Measured pressure data may also be available which can be used to tune the pressure traverse
calculation. All this data is managed in the hierarchical well data tree window and is grouped
together as belonging to a particular well. VFPi is able to use data from more than one well
within a single session of the program, with each well represented as a node connected to a root
in the data tree window.
Each well node may have up to four child nodes which represent Tubing, Fluid, Calculation
Control and Measured Pressure data (if available). Double-click on a child node to open up the
appropriate graphical module or panel to allow inspection or alteration of its data.
Data for a well may be entered by hand or read in from a keyword file, thus maintaining
compatibility with the batch VFP program and the fluid keyword data generated by the SIS
PVTi program. As well as reading complete keyword data files, a file may also be scanned for
keywords relevant only to a particular node type (tubing, black oil fluid or compositional fluid).
All other keywords in this file will be ignored. If any appropriate keywords are found, this data
then replaces that currently in VFPi. A use of this feature might be the storage of a pump
performance keyword in a separate file which can be read into Tubing nodes as and when the
pump is required. The data in each node may be reported to an external file either separately or
on a well-by-well basis.

Features
When performing pressure traverse calculations for a VFP table, VFP curve display, etc., the
tubing, fluid, calculation control and measured pressure data are taken from the currently-
selected nodes of the well hierarchy tree. Children from different wells may be selected and thus
(for example) the effects of differing fluids flowing through the same tubing can be quickly
investigated. New wells can be created in the hierarchy tree by copying some or all of the data
from an existing well. This allows versioning within VFPi.
Each node has an associated right mouse button popup menu which allows copying, deleting,
renaming, etc. Also a summary of the data can be displayed together with an area for the user
to enter notes about the node.
Node types are Tubing, Fluids, Calculation Control and Measured Pressures. Their respective
functions and features in the tree are outlined below.
Tubing
The tubing string is defined by supplying true vertical depths, roughnesses and diameters at
various lengths along the tubing. Both tubing and annular flow can be modelled, with the
different flow geometries specified in different sections of the same tubing if necessary. The
tubing trajectory, which may be vertical, deviated, horizontal or undulating, can be plotted as a
graph of true vertical depth against horizontal deviation. Any tubing devices currently specified
(gas lift, pump, compressor, bean, and local pressure drop) are shown on this plot.
• Gas lift can be modelled, with a single entry valve. You can specify whether or not the
injected gas is allowed to dissolve in under-saturated oil in the well bore, for pressure
traverse calculations in black oil mode.
• A pump can be located at a given position in the tubing. You must supply a pump
performance table (pump head versus flow rate) for each pump rating value; these tables
may be inspected graphically. The pump cuts off when the volume fraction of gas exceeds
a specified limit.
• A compressor can be located at a given position in a gas pipeline. You must supply a
compressor performance table (compression ratio versus flow rate) for each compressor
power value; these tables may be inspected graphically.
• A bean, or surface choke, can be included in the tubing to regulate the flow rate of the well.
Two choke models are available in VFPi: the Gilbert model and the Sachdeva model. The
Gilbert model assumes critical flow through the choke where upstream pressure is
independent of the downstream pressure. The Sachdeva choke model is able to
accommodate both critical and sub-critical two-phase flow through a restriction. Sub-
critical flow occurs for low flow rates or large choke diameters when the fluid velocity
through the restriction is less than the sonic velocity and thus the upstream pressure is
dependent on the downstream pressure. See "Sachdeva Choke Model" on page 273 for
more information.
• A local pressure drop as a function of flow rate or mixture velocity can be included at any
number of locations down the tubing.
Using data supplied in this section, the fluid temperature may be calculated in one of three ways:
• from a fixed fluid temperature-depth profile table
• from a linear fluid temperature-depth profile with a fixed inlet temperature and an outlet
temperature taken from a temperature versus flow rate table

Features
• from an enthalpy equation solved during the traverse which takes into account heat
exchange with the surrounding environment and the Joule-Thomson effect. The fixed
environmental temperature-depth profile must be supplied together with an overall heat
transfer coefficient between the tubing fluid and this environment. The transfer coefficient
may be entered directly as a function of tubing length, or it can be internally calculated from
a casing and annulus table or a series of concentric rings (of given thickness and thermal
conductivity) which separate the fluid in the tubing from the surrounding environment. The
casing table data may be plotted as an along-hole versus across-hole schematic of the
casing/annulus/rock.
Black oil fluids

When VFPi is in black oil mode, the fluid properties can be supplied as functions of pressure
and temperature via input data tables, or they can be calculated from built-in correlations. A
third option is a table/correlation hybrid, wherein a single data table is provided for the pressure
look-up, and the temperature dependence of the built-in correlation is used to convert values
from the table temperature to the fluid temperature. The built-in correlations for oil PVT
properties can be tuned to match data measured at bubble point, separator and reservoir
conditions.
In its black oil mode, VFPi is able to take account of oil drop-out and re-vaporization of a
condensate gas, if the appropriate wet gas PVT data are supplied. This calculation is analogous
to the treatment of solution gas dissolved in oil, and follows the black oil model employed by
ECLIPSE 100.
The fluid properties from both tables and correlations may be examined graphically. In the case
of oil and wet gas, plotting supervisor panels allow you to build up both saturated and
undersaturated curves.
The water-in-oil type emulsion viscosity may be calculated either using a flow weighted
average of the individual oil and water viscosities or using the curves from the work of Woelflin.
See "Black Oil Correlations" on page 105 for more information.
Compositional fluids
The bulk properties of the fluid can be obtained using a compositional treatment as an
alternative to the black oil model. This compositional option is based on a cubic equation of
state calculation for the phase equilibrium of the wellstream fluid, with Peng-Robinson,
Redlich-Kwong and Soave-Redlich-Kwong equations implemented. Thus given the
temperature, pressure, composition and overall flow of the fluid, the phase densities, viscosities,
volume flow rates and interphase surface tension can be found. These hydrocarbon properties
(together with those for water) are then passed into the existing multiphase flow correlations to
find the pressure drop along the tubing in a pressure traverse calculation.
When VFPi is in compositional mode, the composition of the wellstream fluid is required for
each pressure traverse calculation. You may enter directly a set of wellstream fluid
compositions. Alternatively, you may perform one of three built-in depletion experiment
simulations to estimate the likely reservoir phase compositions as the reservoir depletes to its
abandonment pressure. You may then form a set of wellstream fluid compositions by picking
likely wellstreams from a graphical display of the simulation results. A third alternative is to let
VFPi determine the wellstream composition from the depletion experiment simulation during
the pressure traverse using the current BHP value.
The component properties required for the compositional treatment of the fluid may either
initially be entered manually, or read from keywords that are compatible with ECLIPSE 300 and
the PVTi program. The data may be subsequently saved in a keyword file.

Features
Calculation control
Seven multi-phase flow correlations are available to calculate the pressure traverse:
• Aziz, Govier and Fogarasi
• Orkiszewski
• Hagedorn and Brown
• Beggs and Brill
• Mukherjee and Brill
• Gray
• Petalas and Aziz
Different correlations may be used for different sections of tubing.
The pressure gradients calculated using the multi-phase flow correlations may be altered using
fitting factors in order to improve the predictions of VFPi. These factors may be altered
manually, or calculated for a best fit to observed data using the Matching Pressure facility.
VFPi is able to check for flow velocities that may lead to tubing erosion or exceed the local sonic
velocity of the two-phase fluid.
VFPi may be instructed to ignore the acceleration pressure head during pressure traverse
calculations. This is useful when preparing VFP tables for the ECLIPSE 200 Multi-segment
Well Model, which calculates its own acceleration pressure loss to include the acceleration of
fluid entering the well bore through the perforations.
Measured pressures
This node allows you to specify a number of observed tubing pressures at particular tubing
lengths together with the flowing conditions at the time of measurement.
Calculations
Units system
VFPi is able to work in either field or metric units system.
Detailed pressure traverse

Individual pressure traverses may be examined in detail by plotting calculated values (pressure
by default) at each step along the tubing against tubing length. You may overlay plots within the
graphical display and so, for example, examine how the pressure profile along the tubing is
affected by changing the GOR value, or the roughness of the pipe wall, or selecting different
multi-phase fluid flow correlations for the traverse calculation. You may plot other traverse
results apart from pressure against tubing length, and so, for example, study fluid density and
velocity profiles.
If the fluid temperature is calculated by solving an enthalpy equation during the pressure
traverse, this section allows you to compare the fluid temperature with the surrounding
environment temperature along the length of the tubing.
You may generate a formatted file containing the detailed output of a traverse, which is similar
to a .DET file created by VFP.

Features
VFP curves
Within this module you may graphically examine VFP curves which have been formed from a
series of pressure traverse calculations or cross-sections taken from a VFP table. VFPi can hold
multiple VFP tables, and so you can graphically compare flow performance between different
tables as well as between table cross-sections and calculated curves. You may also estimate well
rates by imposing one or more of either a linear IPR, Vogel’s IPR or Fetkovich’s IPR on
calculated curves or table cross-sections of BHP versus flow rate.
A supervisor panel controls the calculation of a series of pressure traverses which are plotted in
the module main graph. By default, calculated BHP values are plotted against supplied flow
values. However you can change this to, for example, calculated THP values plotted against
supplied gas fraction values. Alternatively if VFPi is calculating the fluid temperature by
solving an enthalpy equation during the pressure traverse, you may plot outlet temperature in
place of BHP or THP. You can also plot a family of VFP curves and so, for example, examine
how BHP versus oil rate curves are affected by a range of GOR values at a given value of the
THP and WOR. A linear IPR may be incorporated into the pressure traverse calculation so that
BHP may be replaced by a reservoir pressure either as a supplied value in a curve formed from
a series of bottom-to-top traverses, or as a calculated value in a curve formed from a series of
top-to-bottom traverses.
Another supervisor panel allows you to plot cross-sections from VFP tables which have been
already read in, or calculated by VFPi. By default, tabular BHP values are plotted against
tabular flow values. The same flexibility in plotting calculated VFP curves is available for
plotting VFP table cross-sections. So, for example, you could examine how BHP versus gas rate
cross-sections are affected by a range of OGR values at a given value of the THP and WGR in
a gas production table. You are allowed to graphically alter the BHP values of a table cross-
section and then apply these changes back to the underlying VFP table.
Up to five different graphs of calculated curves and/or table cross-sections can be independently
generated and simultaneously displayed in separate areas of this graphical module. This feature
further enhances the ability to analyse all aspects of generated curves and VFP tables.
A family of VFP curves and/or table cross-sections may be viewed as a surface in a 3D viewer,
which has extensive facilities for zooming, rotating and probing one or more 3D surfaces.
VFP tables
VFPi can internally store both production VFP tables and injection VFP tables, together with
any user notes written about them. These tables can originate from external files, or they may
have been created in this current session, or they may have been loaded from a previous session.
VFP tables may be written to an external file as a data keyword in a format suitable for the
ECLIPSE or VIP simulators.
VFPi is able to extract multiple VFP tables from an external file by scanning for and interpreting
the keywords VFPPROD and VFPINJ. All other data in the file is ignored.
Production VFP tables can be checked for pairs of BHP versus Flow curves with different THP
values which cross (these curves having the same water fraction, gas fraction and ALQ values).
Such crossing curves will cause problems in ECLIPSE when wells operate in that region of the
table.
Production VFP tables may also be stabilized. This transformation replaces the unstable low
flow section of any ‘J’ shaped curves in the table with a horizontal line at the minimum BHP
value from the lowest flow value to the flow value at the minimum BHP. Please note that the
unstable low flow region in VFP tables is physically realistic and this option should be used with
caution as it will give misleading results from the ECLIPSE well model.

Features
VFP tables may be further altered by a facility to replace pressure values at ±1.0e10 (indicating
choked, abandoned or failed traverses) with a value of your choice.
VFP tables generated when the program is in compositional mode are suitable for use by the
compositional ECLIPSE 300 simulator; they are not compatible with the ECLIPSE 100/200
black oil simulator.
Matching pressures
One of the main areas of uncertainty in pressure traverse calculations lies in the multi-phase
flow correlations which supply the hydrostatic, friction loss and acceleration pressure gradients
given the local flowing conditions.
In an attempt to lessen this uncertainty when pressure data from flowing wells is available, the
pressure matching module allows you to perform a series of pressure traverse calculations
which automatically tune or regress "fitting factors" within these multi-phase flow correlations
to achieve a best fit to the set of supplied pressure measurements.
Command language
The command language allows VFPi to perform a series of tasks as dictated by a command
script file entered by the user. During playback of this file, the program is effectively running in
a batch mode; it expects and allows no user interaction.
The anticipated role of this feature is to enable you to create multiple, large VFP tables. With
VFPi running in its normal interactive mode, you would have to wait for the completion of VFP
table calculation before entering the data for the next table, etc. Using the command language,
however, the data for all the tables could be set up in advance and VFPi may be left running the
command script for as long as required.
Help system
The on-line help system is an integral part of the VFPi program. As well as explaining the role
and features of every major section in the program, it also provides a detailed description of the
function of each individual panel.
Throughout the help pages, appropriate links are provided to on-line versions of the technical
appendices at the back of this manual, should you wish to examine a particular aspect of VFPi
in more detail.
Contents and Index pages are provided to allow you to browse the features and functionality
offered by VFPi without the need to open the appropriate panel or graphical module and click
on the HELP button or menu item.

Features
Vertical flow performance tables
Vertical flow performance tables are a means of presenting information on the relationship
between the tubing head pressure and the bottom hole conditions of a well. This information is
used by the ECLIPSE simulators to perform calculations involving tubing head pressure. The
simulators interpolate these tables at the current flowing conditions of the well.
There are two types of vertical flow performance table:
1 Injector tables, which describe the performance of injection wells.
These are tables of bottom hole pressure versus injection rate
versus tubing head pressure.
2 Producer tables, which describe the performance of production wells.
These are tables of bottom hole pressure versus production rate

versus tubing head pressure
versus water fraction
versus gas fraction
versus artificial lift quantity.
You must choose the values of these variables so that they cover the expected range of
conditions in the reservoir simulation. The ECLIPSE simulators will extrapolate the tables
linearly if the conditions fall outside the span of the table, but this should be avoided as
large extrapolations can produce unrealistic results. The spacing of the value points for each
variable need not be constant. Obviously, the more value points there are, the greater will
be the accuracy of the interpolation, but the size of the table and the time required to
calculate it will increase.
In calculating a vertical flow performance table, VFPi determines the bottom hole pressure for
each combination of the flowing condition variables. In a producer table for example, if there
are 8 flow rate values, 3 tubing head pressure values, 2 water fraction values, 4 gas fraction
values and 2 artificial lift quantity values, the number of bottom hole pressure values will total
8 × 3 × 2 × 4 × 2 = 384 .
When calculating pressure traverses, VFPi can operate in a black oil or a compositional mode.
When in its black oil mode, VFPi uses a black oil model to determine the fluid properties in the
well bore. When in its compositional mode, VFPi uses an equation of state-based calculation to
determine the fluid properties of the wellstream, and the resultant VFP tables are intended for
use in the compositional ECLIPSE 300 simulator. Compositional VFP tables will not be
accepted by the black oil ECLIPSE 100/200 simulator. (Black oil VFP tables, however, can be
used by ECLIPSE 300.)
VFP tables can be generated with a choice of flowing condition variables (flow rate, water
fraction and gas fraction). The choice depends on whether VFPi is in its black oil or
compositional mode. The available options are:

Flow rate
Black oil: Surface flow rate of oil
Surface flow rate of water (for injection wells)
Surface flow rate of gas
Surface flow rate of liquid (oil + water).
Compositional: Wet gas volume rate,
that is the equivalent surface flow rate if all the hydrocarbon were an
ideal gas
Total molar rate.
Note that a negative flow rate is interpreted as flow in the opposite direction to that expected
given the current well type. Thus if the well has been designated a producer, a negative flow rate
would represent downhill flow.
Water fraction
Black oil: Surface water / oil ratio
Surface water / liquid ratio
Surface water / gas ratio
Compositional: Surface water / wet gas ratio
Water / total mole ratio
Gas fraction
Black oil: Surface gas-oil ratio
Surface gas-liquid ratio
Surface oil-gas ratio
Compositional: Mean molecular weight of wellstream fluid
Black oil mode

When VFPi is running in black oil mode, the choice of variables (summarized in Table 1.1)
enables the program to produce tables that are appropriate for oil wells or gas wells:
Table 1.1 Choice of variables
Oil or Liquid Gas

Water Fraction water - oil ratio water - gas ratio
water cut
Gas Fraction gas - oil ratio oil - gas ratio
gas - liquid ratio

Compositional mode
When VFPi is running in compositional mode, the restrictions are as follows.
• If the flow variable is wet gas volume rate, the water fraction must be the water to wet gas
ratio.
• If the flow variable is total molar rate, the water fraction must be the water to total mole
ratio.
It is anticipated that the flow variable would normally be the wet gas volume rate, with the total
molar rate only used for wells which are likely to water out (that is wet gas rate tending to zero).
In compositional mode the gas fraction variable is always the mean molecular weight of the
wellstream fluid. This variable selects the fluid to be used in the pressure traverse calculation
from a table of wellstream compositions versus mean molecular weight, or from the depletion
experiment results table, depending on the selected wellstream generation method. The
wellstream compositions table may either be supplied directly by the user or generated by VFPi
from the results of a depletion experiment, which estimates the compositions of the reservoir
phases (from which the wellstream must be formed) during the pressure depletion of the
reservoir.
Artificial lift quantity (ALQ)

The artificial lift quantity is an extra variable in the producer tables designed to account for the
application of gas lift, a pump, or a gas compressor. If gas lift is applied, then for black oil VFP
tables this quantity can be the injection rate of lift gas, or the ratio of injected gas to liquid
production, or the ratio of injected + produced gas to liquid production. For compositional VFP
tables, the gas lift variable is restricted to the injection rate of lift gas. If you intend to run the
ECLIPSE 200 Gas Lift Optimization facility, this expects the artificial lift quantity to be the
injection rate of lift gas.
If there is a pump or compressor, the artificial lift quantity refers to the pump rating or
compressor power. The quantity is only used to identify the required pump or compressor table
in the input data; its value is not used in any formula or correlation.
If there is no artificial lift, the quantity can be ignored. By default it will be set to zero.
For the 98A release of VFPi and beyond, the ALQ variable has been extended such that it may
act as a fifth variable in a production VFP table in a way not related to artificial lift devices. In
addition to its roles as discussed above, the ALQ variable has two other associations:
• The ALQ variable defined as the diameter of a choke or bean. This will allow ECLIPSE to
use the same VFP table while varying the choke size, to model the effect of an inflow
control device.
• The ALQ variable defined as the surface density of oil or gas. Thus a single VFP table may
now be constructed to cover a variety of either oil or gas surface densities. This facility can
be used by ECLIPSE to enable wellbore and network pressure losses to vary with the oil
API in API tracking runs and in situations where production from different PVT regions is
commingled in a surface network.

Getting Started
Chapter 2
Introduction
VFPi can be run on all major UNIX/Motif workstations and PCs running Windows. There is no
requirement for additional hardware, although a graphics accelerator card will improve the
performance of the 3D visualization facilities in VFPi. VFPi is installed in a default
configuration which is suitable for running the program immediately on the workstation console
or PC screen. It is, however, possible for you to customize VFPi more specifically to your
display requirements through the use of certain configuration files (see "Configuring VFPi" on
page 93).
Starting VFPi
VFPi can be started by typing @vfpi at the command prompt, or clicking on VFPi on the
ECLIPSE Launcher. VFPi will display three windows.
• A ribbon window across the top of the screen which contains several primary level menu
options giving you access to all the pressure traverse calculations available in VFPi.
• A Data Tree window on the left hand side of the screen that contains a hierarchical tree
representing all the well data currently held in VFPi. Via this tree you may set up tubing
descriptions, define the fluid properties, select the parameters which control the pressure
traverse calculations and enter any measured pressure data for your system.
• A log window across the bottom of the screen which displays information on the current
status of your session and any errors, warnings or messages that are deemed appropriate.
Entering data into VFPi

There are two ways to enter data into VFPi:
VFPi User Guide Getting Started 21

Introduction
• By hand. The major use of VFPi will be to produce VFP tables from input data describing
the pipeline and the flowing fluid. The tutorials in subsequent pages of this manual show
you how to enter this data.
• By reading a .DATA keyword file written from a previous VFPi session. To maintain
backwards compatibility with the now-superseded batch VFP program, VFPi can also read
a .DATA keyword file created for this program.
Saving VFPi data

VFPi saves its current data state to a .DATA keyword file. These keywords are based on those
used by the batch VFP program, but to accommodate the many new features in VFPi, both the
structure of this file and the number of keyword types has changed considerably. We do not
recommend that even experienced VFP users directly edit the keywords; please use VFPi to
view and alter the data held in these files.
The three types of information held in a .DATA keyword file are:
• Input data, namely tubing descriptions, definitions of fluid properties, calculation control
parameters and measured pressure data.
• Output data, namely any VFP tables created by VFPi, or read into the program. These tables
may also be written as ECLIPSE readable data keywords in .VFP files.
• The positions of all panels opened in your VFPi session up to the point of saving to this
.DATA keyword file. So, if you continue the session using this file, any panels previously
displayed are positioned where you last left them.
22 Getting Started VFPi User Guide

Introduction
Tutorials
Chapter 3
Introduction
The aim of this section is to guide you through most of the main functionality in the VFPi
program. These tutorials are primarily written to demonstrate the modelling and creation of VFP
tables for inclusion into ECLIPSE reservoir simulation software, rather to show use of all of the
available menu options. Some of the program options and functionality will not be explored by
the tutorials.
The first tutorial demonstrates the most basic functionality of the VFPi program, with
subsequent tutorials concentrating on increasingly complex areas of wellbore modelling
available in VFPi. Precise instructions are provided for each step of the tutorial, whilst input
data, graphical displays and output reports are reproduced within this document where
appropriate.
Note These tutorials are not meant to teach you the intricacies of vertical flow performance
modelling. They are intended to familiarize you with the facilities available within
VFPi.
Each tutorial is divided into a number of distinct sections intended to highlight a specific aspect
of the analysis process. To avoid repetition, later tutorials assume familiarity with some of the
procedures used in earlier tutorials, so it is strongly recommended that you work through them
in the order they are presented.
At all points in the tutorials, the on-line help system is available and provides a detailed
description of the contents and role of all panels and modules in VFPi.
Note It is assumed that VFPi is running.
VFPi User Guide Tutorials 23

Introduction
Available Tutorials
CPU Power • "Tutorial 1: Calculating a VFP table" on page 27.
Low Med High This tutorial demonstrates how to create a black oil production VFP table for input as a data
keyword into the ECLIPSE simulator. The minimal amount of data required for this
calculation, namely the tubing geometry, fluid temperature profile, and oil, water and gas
gravities will be entered by hand.
CPU Power • "Tutorial 2: Flow performance along deviated tubing" on page 35.
Low Med High This tutorial demonstrates how to calculate the pressure losses along both vertical and
deviated tubing, using a different flow correlation in each tubing section. The use of
artificial lift devices will then be introduced, with the effect on the pressure versus length
profile of a down hole pump examined graphically. Finally, the flexibility of the data tree
will be demonstrated by reading in a series of data files and using differing sets of tubing
data to examine how tubing diameter affects a well’s performance
CPU Power • "Tutorial 3: Inflow Performance Relationships and 3D Visualization" on page 55.
Low Med High This tutorial demonstrates how to predict well flowing rates by first constructing a series of
well performance or VFP curves and then superimposing Inflow Performance
Relationships (IPRs) upon them.
The tutorial then uses the 3D visualization facilities in VFPi to examine how the gas
fraction can affect the performance of the well.
CPU Power • "Tutorial 4: Matching measured pressure data" on page 63
Low Med High This tutorial demonstrates how VFPi can tune or regress fitting factors within these multi-
phase flow correlations to achieve a best fit to a set of supplied pressure measurements from
the flowing well.
CPU Power • "Tutorial 5: Manipulating VFP tables" on page 67.
Low Med High As well as calculating VFP tables, VFPi can also read in existing tables and display, for
example, BHP versus flow cross-sections from them. Once read in, VFPi offers a number
of facilities to alter the BHP values held in a VFP table, including resetting failed traverse
pressure values, stabilizing the table, and editing the BHP values in a table by graphically
altering tabular cross-sections. All of these facilities are demonstrated in this tutorial.
CPU Power • "Tutorial 6: Compositional Fluids and Calculated Fluid Temperatures" on page 75
Low Med High In this tutorial a compositional fluid model will be used in place of the black oil fluid model
as employed in all the other tutorials. With VFPi working in its compositional mode, the
VFP tables generated are suitable for use by the compositional ECLIPSE 300 simulator;
they are not compatible with the ECLIPSE 100/200 simulators.
This tutorial will also demonstrate how VFPi can calculate the temperature of the flowing
fluid by solving a heat balance equation between this fluid and an external surrounding
environment with a fixed temperature versus length profile. All the preceding tutorials have
relied on a user-supplied fixed temperature versus length profile being imposed on the
flowing fluid itself.
24 Tutorials VFPi User Guide

Available Tutorials
CPU Power • "Tutorial 7: Creating a VFP table to model choke pressure loss" on page 83
Low Med High

This tutorial demonstrates how to create a VFP table whose purpose is to model the
pressure loss across a bean or choke for a variety of flowing conditions. Such a table may
be used in the ECLIPSE 200 Multi-Segment Well model whereby the effects of a variable
choke at, say, the heel of a lateral may be modelled by assigning the pressure loss
calculation for the appropriate segment to be taken from this VFP table. The choke will be
placed in the middle of a short horizontal piece of smooth tubing. This will ensure that the
pressure losses will be dominated by the choke and not by the hydrostatic and frictional
effects of the fluid flow through the tubing. This tutorial also shows how to set the bean/
choke diameter as the ALQ variable in the VFP table.

Available Tutorials
Available Tutorials
Tutorial 1: Calculating a VFP table
Introduction
This tutorial demonstrates how to create a black oil production VFP table for input as a data
keyword into the ECLIPSE simulator. The minimal amount of data required for this calculation,
namely the tubing geometry, fluid temperature profile, and oil, water and gas gravities will be
entered by hand.
In this tutorial
The stages of the tutorial are as follows.
• "Manual data entry" on page 27.
• "Saving data to disk" on page 31.
• "Calculating VFP curves" on page 31.
• "Calculating VFP tables" on page 33.
Manual data entry

In this section you will define the tubing through which the wellbore fluid flows, the
temperature versus length profile of this fluid, and how its PVT properties are to be calculated.
1 Click with the right mouse button on the WELL node in the Data Tree panel.
a Select Rename Node from the drop down menu.
b Type WELL_W1 in the Well Node Naming panel.
c Click on OK.
2 Click with the right mouse button on the Tubing node for WELL_W1.
a Select Expand Node from the drop down menu.
The Tubing module is displayed.
3 Tubing: Element | Tube Data

a Enter the data as shown in Table 3.1.
It is not necessary to enter the roughness, tubing diameter or casing diameter for the
second row as these values are unchanged along the tubing.

Note A zero in the Casing diameter column and a non-zero value in the Tubing diameter
column instructs VFPi that the fluid flow is through the tubing and thus has a circular
cross-section. If a non-zero Casing diameter is supplied (larger than the tubing
diameter) then VFPi assumes that there is annular flow between the casing and the
tubing.
Table 3.1
Roughness Tubing dia. Casing dia. (in.)

Length (ft) TVD (ft)
(in.) (in.)
0 -150 0.0006 4 0
10150 10000
b Click on Apply & Plot.

A plot, similar to that shown in Figure 3.1, is displayed in the Tubing module.
Figure 3.1 Tubing module showing a simple, vertical length of tubing
4 Tubing: Element | Temperature...

This displays the Thermal Mode panel.
a Select Fixed Fluid Temperature Profile.
b Click on OK.
Enter temperature versus length data into the panel displayed.
c Enter the data as shown in Table 3.2
Table 3.2
Tubing Length (ft) Temperature (F)

0 100
10150 180
d Click on OK.
5 Right-click on the Fluids node for WELL_W1
a Select Expand Node from the pop-up menu.
The default fluid type is black oil.
6 Black Oil Fluid: Properties | Standard Conditions...
The default standard conditions are:
Standard Pressure = 14.7 psia
Standard Temperature = 60 F.
They are correct for this tutorial.
a Click on OK.

7 Black Oil Fluid Module: Properties | PVT Data....
a Select the Oil Properties page of the folder
b Enter the gravity value as shown in Table 3.3
Table 3.3
Oil Properties Gas Properties Water Properties

Oil Surface Density 50.02606 lb/ft^3
or Gravity 45 API
c Click on the Correlations radio button

d Select the Gas Properties page of the folder.
e Enter the gravity value as shown in Table 3.4.
Table 3.4

Gas Surface Density 0.053452 lb/ft^3
or Specific Gravity 0.7
f Click on the Correlations radio button

g Select the Water Properties page of the folder
h Enter the gravity value as shown in Table 3.5
Table 3.5

Water Surface Density 62.4 lb/ft^3
or Specific Gravity 1
i Click on OK.
VFPi will calculate the corresponding surface densities.
For this tutorial, allow VFPi to use in-built correlations to calculate the PVT properties of
oil, water and gas.
8 Black Oil Fluid: Properties | Surface Tensions...
For this tutorial, allow VFPi to use in-built correlations to calculate the surface tensions.
a Click on OK.
9 Right click on Calculation Control node for WELL_W1.
a Select Expand Node from the pop-up menu.
This displays the Control Data panel.

For this tutorial, the default multi-phase flow correlation is acceptable.
b Click on OK.
Saving data to disk

At this point you have entered enough data to start performing pressure traverse calculations.
However, before doing this, it is wise to save the tubing and fluid data to a file on disk.
1 VFPi: File | Save As...
a Enter the filename TESTDATA.DATA
Calculating VFP curves

In this section you will calculate a series of VFP curves and plot them in a graphical module.
These curves are not part of a VFP table, but their visualization is an important validation step
before calculating the table. They allow you to inspect the unstable region of the profile and also
to check for discontinuities and other unreasonable behavior.
1 VFPi: Calculations | Show VFP Curves | Calculated curve...
This displays the BHP versus Flow panel.
By default, VFPi uses the water to oil ratio (WOR) as the water fraction (WFr).
a Click on Change Variables.
This displays the Set VFP Curve axes and flowing condition variables panel.
b Select WCT: water to liquid ratio from the Water Fraction variable drop down menu
This changes the WFr to WCT.
Note This panel gives you the flexibility to choose to plot, for example, the calculated
pressure head against gas fraction (GFr) for a family of curves in water fraction (WFr).
c Click on OK.
d Enter the data as shown in Figure 3.2 into the Calculated: BHP versus Flow panel.

Figure 3.2 BHP versus Flow panel
e Click on Plot 2D.

A family of curves showing the variation of calculated BHP with Oil flow rate for a
family of three THP values, similar to those shown in Figure 3.3, is displayed.
These curves can be identified by their symbols in the Legend window of the VFP
Curves module.

Figure 3.3 VFP Curves module showing BHP versus Oil
Discussion
By plotting these curves before calculating the VFP table, you can ensure that the table itself
has enough values at low flow rates to model the shape accurately. This is important because
the negative gradient part of a curve at low rates is unstable and ECLIPSE will shut in a well
which flows at these rates. At higher flow rates the curve becomes linear and can be represented
by only a few points.
Calculating VFP tables

1 VFPi: Calculations | VFP Tables...

This displays the VFP Table Supervisor panel.
a Click on Create to display the VFP Table Data panel.
b Enter the data as shown in Figure 3.4.
Figure 3.4 VFP Table Data panel
c Click on Create.
This creates a VFP Table which is held internally within VFPi and shown as a
completed row in the main table of the VFP Table Supervisor panel.
d Close the VFP Table Data panel.
e Click on Write to File in the Supervisor panel.
f Enter the filename TESTDATA.VFP
g Click on OK
This writes the VFP table as a VFPPROD data keyword to this file.

Tutorial 2: Flow performance along deviated tubing
Introduction
This tutorial demonstrates how to calculate the pressure losses along both vertical and deviated
tubing, using a different flow correlation in each tubing section. The use of artificial lift devices
will then be introduced, with the effect on the pressure vs. length profile of a down-hole pump
examined graphically. The flexibility of the data tree will then be demonstrated by reading in a
series of data files and using differing sets of tubing data, to examine how tubing diameter
affects a well’s performance. Finally, VFPi will be used to plot THP vs. Flow curves for a series
of reservoir pressure values.
In this tutorial
• "Loading an existing dataset" on page 35.
• "Adding a section of deviated tubing" on page 35.
• "Modelling ALQ devices" on page 38.
• "Displaying pressure vs. length profiles" on page 43.
• "Deleting well data" on page 45.
• "Merging multiple files" on page 45.
• "Analyzing the effect of different tubing diameters" on page 46.
• "Reservoir Pressures in VFP Curve Formation" on page 51
Loading an existing dataset

1 VFPi: File | Load Keyword File.
h Load the file TESTDATA.DATA.
VFPi then asks whether it should add to or replace the existing wells with the new
wells.
i Click on Replace existing wells.
This dataset was saved from the previous tutorial and contains information on a vertical extent
of tubing together with oil, water and gas densities.
Adding a section of deviated tubing

This section shows how to add an extra piece of tubing to that currently defined in VFPi, alter
the temperature profile and, most importantly, set which multi-phase flow correlation is to be
used in this new deviated length of tubing
1 Right-click on the Tubing node for WELL_W1.
a Select Expand Node.

a Click in the last row of data.
b Click on Ctrl-N twice or enlarge the window by dragging its bottom edge down with
the mouse.
c VFPi inserts two new rows after the last row.
d Edit the data contained in the third and fourth row as shown in Table 3.6.
Table 3.6
Roughness Tubing dia. Casing dia.

(in.) (in.) (in.)
0 -150 0.0006 4 0
10150 10000
15000 14500
20000 18750
e Click on Apply & Plot

VFPi should display a plot of the deviated well similar toFigure 3.5.

Figure 3.5 Tubing module showing a deviated well
3 Tubing: Element | Temperature.

a Select Fixed fluid temperature profile.
b Click on OK.
c Edit the second row in the Temp vs. Length panel displayed as shown in Table 3.7.
Table 3.7

0 100
20000 180
d Click on OK.
4 Right-click on the Calculation Control node for WELL_W1.
a Select Expand Node.

This displays the Control Data panel for WELL_W1.
b Click in the second row of the Multi-phase Flow Correlation column.
c From the drop-down menu, select Beggs & Brill.
Note For non-vertical flow conditions, only the multi-phase flow correlations provided by
Petalas and Aziz, Beggs and Brill or Mukherjee and Brill should be used. For more
information, please look up “Multiphase Flow Correlations” in the on-line help.
d Enter 10150 in the second row of the Tubing Length column.

This defines the length from which the flow correlation acts.
The other values on the Control Data panel are correct for this tutorial.
e Click on OK.
5 VFPi: File | Save As
a Enter WELL_W1.DATA as the filename.
Modelling ALQ devices

There are three artificial lift enhancements that can be modelled as part of the pipeline being
studied: a pump and gas lift for oil wells, and a compressor for gas wells. You will now enter
the basic data for each type of lift device.
1 Tubing: Element | Artificial Lift....
a Set Active Device to Pump.
b Click on Examine Pump.
This displays the Pump Table SV (supervisor) panel.
c Enter a Tubing Length at Intake value of 12000 ft.
d Enter a Cut off Volume gas fraction of 0.5.

Note The pump will switch off once this gas fraction is locally exceeded - this simulates the
prevention of cavitation in the pumping system.
e Click on Add.
This displays a new pump table.
f Enter the data as shown in Table 3.8.
Table 3.8
Rating 20
Volume Flow Rate (bbl./day) Pump Head (ft)

0 2000
500 1500
1000 1000
3000 500
5000 0
g Click on OK.
h Apply and Close both the Pump Table SV and the ALQ Devices panels.
VFPi can only model one pump in the tubing or pipeline, but its performance at
different rating values can be modelled by adding a number of pump data tables with
different rating values. These performance curves may be inspected graphically by
clicking on Plot in the Pump Table SV panel.
2 Tubing: Element | Tube Data...
a Click on Apply & Plot.
The new pump should now be visible in the Tubing module, displayed as a small
triangle. See Figure 3.6.
b Click on OK.

Figure 3.6 Tubing module showing a deviated well with a pump
3 Tubing: Element | Artificial Lift...

a Select Gas Lift as the Active Device.
b Click on Examine Gas Lift.
c Into the Gaslift parameters panel displayed, enter:
d Length down tubing of Gas injection: 2000 ft
e Fraction of gas allowed to dissolve: 1
Note A gas dissolution fraction of 1.0 allows all the injected gas to dissolve in
undersaturated oil above the injection point, subject to the oil’s saturation limit. A
value of 0.0 prevents any dissolution of the gas.
f Click on OK.
g Apply and Close the ALQ Devices panel.

The new gas lift injector should now be visible in the Tubing module, shown as a small
cross. See Figure 3.7.
Figure 3.7 Tubing module showing a deviated well with a gas lift injector
b Click on OK.
a Select Compressor as the active device.
b Click on Examine Compressor.
c Enter a Tubing Length at Intake value of 1950 ft.
d Click on Add.

This displays a new compressor table in the Comp Table panel
e Enter the data shown in Table 3.9:
Table 3.9
Power value 1
Gas Flow Rate (Mscf/day)

0 5
1000 2.5
1500 1.3
2000 1.15
f Click on OK.
g Apply and Close both Comp Table SV and the ALQ Devices panels.
VFPi can only model one compressor in the tubing or pipeline, but its performance at different
powers can be modelled by adding a number of compressor data tables with different power
values. These performance curves may be inspected graphically by clicking on Plot in the Comp
Table SV panel.
The new compressor should now be visible in the Tubing module, displayed as a small
circle. See Figure 3.8.

Figure 3.8 Tubing module showing a deviated well with a compressor
• Click on OK.
Displaying pressure vs. length profiles

You will now calculate and plot how the pressure varies along the tubing from a given THP
value when the pump is first inactive and then active.
a Select Pump as the active device.
b Click on Apply.

2 VFPi: Calculations | Detailed Traverse...
a Enter the following data into the Detailed Transverse Data panel:
Flow: OIL 1000 stb/day

Pres: THP 100 psia
WFr: WOR 0
GFr: GOR 1 Mscf/stb
ALQ: PUMP 0
Traverse title: Pump Inactive
Note Setting the ALQ: PUMP to 0 switches off the pump
b Click on Calculate.
This should create a smooth pressure vs. length profile in the Detailed Traverse module
c Change the ALQ: PUMP field to 20 and enter Pump Active as the Traverse title.
This is the rating of the pump table entered in the previous section and the pump is now
activated.
d Click on Calculate.
A second profile should be added to the Detailed Traverse module which should look
similar to Figure 3.9.
The effect of the pump at 12000 ft is clearly seen, with all pressures below this point,
including the BHP, reduced in comparison to the traverse at the same flowing
conditions but without the pump.
e Click on Close.

Figure 3.9 Detailed Pressure Traverse module showing the effect of a pump on the pressure profile
Deleting well data

1 Right mouse click on WELL_W1 node in the Data Tree window and select Delete Node.
a Click on Continue Deletion in the prompt panel
This deletes the WELL_W1.
Merging multiple files

1 VFPi: File | Load Keyword File
a Load WELL_W1.DATA.

2 Right-click on the WELL_W1 node in the data tree.
a Select Rename Node from the drop-down menu.
b Rename the node WELL_W1_4INCH.
a Load W1_3INCH.DATA.
(The same as WELL_W1 but with a tubing diameter of 3 inches)
b Click on Add to existing wells.
4 Rename the node WELL_W1_3INCH.
a Load W1_5INCH.DATA.
(The same as WELL_W1 but with a tubing diameter of 5 inches)
b Click on Add to existing wells.
6 Rename the node WELL_W1_5INCH.
7 Delete the Fluids, Calculation Control and Measured Pressures nodes for
WELL_W1_3INCH and WELL_W1_5INCH by right mouse clicking and selecting
Delete Node.
Hint It is also possible to delete nodes by clicking with the right mouse button on the node
and selecting Delete Node from the drop-down menu.
At this stage, the Data Tree window should look similar toFigure 3.10.
Figure 3.10 Data Tree window
Analyzing the effect of different tubing diameters

1 Click on the WELL_W1_4INCH node in the data tree.
(This selects all the WELL_W1_4INCH data for use in calculations.)
a Enter the data as follows (Figure 3.11):

Figure 3.11 BHP vs. Flow panel
b Click on Plot 2D.

A plot of BHP vs. flow rate, similar to that shown in Figure 3.12, is displayed in the
VFP Curves module.

Figure 3.12 VFP Curves module showing BHP versus flow rate
3 Click on the Tubing node for WELL_W1_3INCH in the data tree.

This selects the tubing data from WELL_W1_3INCH for use in calculations. The Fluids,
Calculation Control and Measured Pressures data from WELL_W1_4INCH are still
selected.
4 Return to the BHP vs. Flow panel.
a Change the Curve Family Legend field to 3 INCH.
b Click on Plot 2D.
A plot of BHP vs. flow rate at the new tubing diameter, similar to that shown in Figure
3.13, is displayed in the VFP Curves module.

Figure 3.13 VFP Curves module showing BHP versus flow rate for 2 different tubing diameters
5 Click on the Tubing node for WELL_W1_5INCH in the data tree.

a Change the Curve Family Legend field to 5 INCH.
b Click on Plot 2D.
A plot of BHP vs. flow rate at the new tubing diameter, similar to that shown in Figure
3.14, is displayed in the VFP Curves module.

Figure 3.14 VFP Curves module showing BHP versus flow rate for 3 different tubing diameters
Discussion
Figure 3.14 shows how strongly the well’s performance depends on the diameter of the tubing,
especially at high flow rates where friction effects play a large part in the pressure difference
between the top and bottom of the tubing. At lower flow rates, an increasing difference between
the oil and gas velocities (known as the fluid slip) accounts for the BHP increasing as the flow
decreases. This behavior is also dependent on the diameter of the tubing and, as mentioned
before, is important because the well will shut in if it tries to flow in this negative gradient
unstable region.
Using the Data Tree to store different tubing data or even all the wells in a particular field, makes
comparison studies of well performances easy. You may also copy entire wells (via a right
mouse button menu option) and so version any changes made to the well (using the right mouse
button Notes option to record these changes).

Reservoir Pressures in VFP Curve Formation
When displaying calculated VFP curves, the BHP variable may be replaced by a reservoir
pressure. So, for example, THP may be plotted against flow rate for a series of reservoir pressure
values. In this mode the calculation for the unknown THP is split into two parts. First, for a
given flow rate, a BHP is calculated from the given reservoir pressure using a linear Inflow
Performance Relationship (IPR). Next, a bottom-to-top pressure traverse is performed from this
BHP to determine the THP. To investigate this facility follow the steps below:
1 Clear the VFP Curve Module by clicking on Remove Traverse Curves in the BHP vs.
Flow panel.
2 Click on Change Variables, and in the created panel
a Change the Calculated Variable to THP
b Change the Pressure Mode to Work with ResP instead of BHP.
The panel should now look as in Figure 3.15.
Figure 3.15 Using reservoir pressures in place of BHP
c Click on OK.
3 Enter the data in the redrawn Calculated: THP vs. Flow panel as shown in Figure 3.16.
Note Don’t forget to supply a non-zero Productivity Index value for the linear IPR linking
the BHP and reservoir pressure. Other forms of IPR are not currently available in this
facility.

Figure 3.16 THP vs. Flow panel
d Click on Plot2D to create a VFP curve similar to that shown in Figure 3.17. This curve
shows the effect of slip at low flow rates and friction at high flow rates as you have
seen earlier in this chapter. However it is upsidedown compared to the more usual BHP
vs. Flow VFP curve. Furthermore, for increasing flow values the BHP (used as the
starting point in the bottom to top pressure traverse for the THP) is decreasing as
demanded by the linear IPR for a constant reservoir pressure. To see this effect, try
changing variables such that VFPi again works with BHP values (and not reservoir
pressures) and then replot the VFP curve with the same parameters.

Figure 3.17 THP vs. Oil flow rate curves

Tutorial 3: Inflow Performance Relationships and 3D
Visualization
Introduction
This tutorial demonstrates how to predict well flowing rates by first constructing a series of well
performance or VFP curves and then superimposing Inflow Performance Relationships (IPRs)
upon them.
The tutorial then uses the 3D visualization facilities in VFPi to examine how the gas fraction
can affect the well’s performance.
In this tutorial
• "Entering tubing data" on page 55.
• "Entering fluid data" on page 56.
• "Entering calculation control data" on page 56.
• "Calculating well flow rates" on page 57.
• "Plotting 3D VFP curves" on page 60.
Entering tubing data

1 Rename WELL1 as WELL_W3.
2 Expand the Tubing node for WELL_W3.
Table 3.10
Roughness Tubing dia. Casing dia.

(in.) (in.) (in.)
0 0 0.0006 6 0
12000 12000
b Click on OK.
4 Tubing: Element | Temperature
a Select Fixed fluid temperature profile.
b Click on OK.

Tutorial 3: Inflow Performance Relationships and 3D Visualization
This displays the Temp vs. Length panel.
c Enter the data as shown in Table 3.11.
Table 3.11

0 160
12000 230
d Click on OK.
Entering fluid data

1 Expand the Fluid node for WELL_W3.
Hint You may find it quicker to expand a node by double clicking on it rather than selecting
the expand option from the pop up menu.
2 Black Oil Fluid: File | Read Fluid keywords from file...

a Change the filter from .DATA to .PVO at the top of the panel and click on Filter.
b Choose the file named FLUIDS.PVO.
This file was generated by the SIS PVTi program and contains a number of keywords
that, for the purposes of VFPi, fully describe the black oil fluid. All the PVT properties
and surface tension data is in tabular form: VFPi will automatically use these tables in
preference to its built-in correlations. You can view and edit this tabular data using the
Examine family of buttons in the Properties | PVT Data... and Properties |
Surface Tensions... panels.
3 Black Oil Fluid: File | Exit.
Entering calculation control data

1 Expand the Calculation Control node for WELL_W3.
a Click on the name in the Multi-phase Flow Correlation column and select Hagedorn
& Brown from the drop-down list.
Hint It is possible to examine and edit the data, which controls the calculation of the length
steps as the pressure traverse calculation proceeds along the tubing string. To do this
click on Create Steps and Limits Panel.
b Click on OK to accept the other default values.

Calculating well flow rates
A VFP curve relates how the BHP varies with a fluid’s flow rate through the tubing for a
particular THP. An Inflow Performance Relationship (IPR) relates how the flow rate into the
well varies with the difference between the reservoir pressure and the BHP. The intersection
between these two gives the rate at which a well can flow.
a Enter the data as shown in Figure 3.18.
Figure 3.18 BHP vs. Flow panel
2 Click on Plot 2D.

This should display a plot, similar to that shown in Figure 3.19.

Figure 3.19 VFP Curves module showing BHP vs. Oil for 3 different values of THP
3 Click on Close on the Calculated: BHP vs. Flow panel.

4 VFP Curves Module: IPRs | Linear IPR...
a Enter:
Reservoir Pressure 750 psia

Productivity Index 12 (stb/day)/psi
5 Click on Add New IPR

The data will appear as shown in Figure 3.20.

Figure 3.20 Linear IPR panel
The plot should now be similar to that in Figure 3.21.

Figure 3.21 VFP Curves showing Flow vs. BHP
The point where the IPR line intersects with a VFP curve indicates the calculated flow rate
for the well at that THP. Numerical values for this intersection point are shown in the IPR-
VFP Curve Intersections table.

Note If the IPR and the VFP curves do not cross then at these conditions the well would not
flow and a warning message is generated.
Further IPR lines may be added to this plot by first defining the IPR’s Reservoir
Pressure and Productivity Index and then clicking on Add New IPR. Each IPR will
have an index associated with it as shown in the descriptive line for the IPR in the
legend box of the VFP Curves Module. This index is also shown in the first column of
the IPR-VFP Curve Intersections table. Using this index and the VFP Curve Legend
column in the table, you can obtain the numerical intersection point of a particular IPR
with a particular VFP curve.
To avoid creating a graph that is confused by too many IPR lines, click on Replace
Last IPR in place of Add New IPR. This will not increase the number of IPRs shown,
but just alter the last one plotted.
6 Click on Close on the LINEAR IPR panel.
7 VFP Curves: IPRs | Vogel's Method...
A panel will open that allows you to plot one or more IPR curves based on Vogel’s equation.
This was originally designed for a solution gas drive field for flow below the bubble point.
Above the bubble point pressure VFPi uses a linear IPR.
a Click on Close.
Note Only one type of IPR calculation can be displayed at any one time.
8 VFP Curves: IPRs | Fetkovich's Method...

A panel will be created that allows you to plot one or more IPR curves based on Fetkovich’s
method. This IPR is a generalization of the back pressure equation for gas wells - it can also
be used for oil wells. The range of recommended exponents is given in the on-line Help
pages.
9 Close the VFP Curves Module.
Plotting 3D VFP curves

The 3D visualization facilities in VFPi enable you to better understand how the well
performance is dependent on the well flowing conditions. You can also more easily check for
inconsistencies in both calculated VFP curves and those taken directly from a VFP table.
a Click on Change Variables in the BHP vs. Flow panel displayed.
This displays the Set VFP Curve axes & flowing condition variables panel.
b Set the Family Variable to Gas Fraction.
c Set the Family Variable data from: to Min/Max range.
d Click on OK.

2 In the Calculated: BHP vs. Flow panel, enter the following data:
Number of Primary Variable (OIL) values: 20

from a minimum: 100 stb/day
to a maximum: 15000 stb/day
Number of Family Variable (GOR) values: 10
from a minimum: 0.5 Mscf/stb
to a maximum: 8 Mscf/stb
Single Variable values:
Pres: THP 400 psia
WFr: WOR 0
3 Click on Plot3D.
This should display a plot, similar to that shown in Figure 3.22.
Figure 3.22 3D VFP Curve Viewer

The surface shows that at low flow rates, increasing the GOR decreases the BHP. This is
because the weight and thus the hydrostatic pressure head of the combined oil and gas
mixture falls with the increasing fraction of gas present.
At high flow rates, although the BHP initially decreases with increasing GOR, it increases
again for the highest GORs. This is due to friction effects associated with the large fraction
of gas moving at high velocity.

Tutorial 4: Matching measured pressure data
Introduction
flow correlations which supply the hydrostatic, friction loss and acceleration pressure gradients,
given the local flowing conditions. These are mainly based on semi-empirical fits to water/air
flow along transparent, laboratory scale pipes. The uncertainties arise from applying these
laboratory results to oilfield pipelines and wellbores.
This tutorial demonstrates how VFPi can tune or regress fitting factors within these multi-phase
flow correlations to achieve a best fit to a set of supplied pressure measurements from the
flowing well.
In this tutorial
• "Entering pressure measurements" on page 63
• "Matching pressure measurements" on page 64.
Entering pressure measurements

1 VFPi: File | Load Keyword file
a Load the file MATCHED.DATA.
b Replace the existing wells.
2 Rename the node WELL_W1 as REALDATA.
3 Expand the Measured Pressure node for the well REALDATA.
a Click on Add.
b Enter the data for measurement 1 as shown in Table 3.12.
c Click on OK to accept it.
d Repeat for all 10 measurements

Hint The last entered values will be remembered in the data panel, so only the oil flow rate
and the tubing pressure (the shaded rows) need to be changed each time..
Table 3.12 Example pressure measurements
Measurement
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Number
Weight 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Flow: OIL 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1500 2000 4000 6000
Pres: THP 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
Water Fraction (WFr) 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1
Gas Fraction (GFr) 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
Tubing Pressure 205 202 190 137 130 138 152 176 442 710
Tubing Length 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000
e Click on Apply and then on Close.
Matching pressure measurements

In this section the first three fitting factors will be used to try and fit the observed data specified
above. A value of 1.0 means that the factor has no effect.
The friction factor alters the component of the pressure gradient due to friction effects caused
by the rough inner wall of the tubing.
The hydrostatic factor alters the contribution of the weight of fluid to the pressure gradient.
The slip factor adjusts the liquid/gas slippage as predicted by the flow correlation; a value of
zero corresponds to homogeneous, no-slip flow.
1 VFPi: Calculations | Match Pressures...
VFPi displays the Match Control panel. This panel allow you select which of the five fitting
factors are to be used in the regression calculation, their initial values, and the range over
which VFPi is permitted to vary them in its effort to fit the given pressure data.
Note The number of observations must be greater than or equal to the number of fit factors
to be varied. So, if only four data points have been entered, at least one of the five fit
factors would have to be fixed.
More information concerning the Match Control panel and the fitting factors themselves
can be found in the on-line Help.
a Enter the Variable/Fixed selection data as shown in Figure 3.23.
b Set the Hydrostatic, Slip, Gas Holdup and Mach Number factors to be fixed, with a
value of 1 for each, minimum and maximum values of each to 0 and 10 respectively,
and active status for each. Set the maximum number of iterations to 25, and the
regression target r.m.s. value to 5 psia.

Figure 3.23 Match Control Panel
c Click on Start Match.

VFPi will then perform a series of pressure traverses using the currently selected
tubing, fluid and calculation control nodes. In each iteration it will loop over all the
non-zero weighted observations and calculate the pressure given the supplied flowing
conditions. The r.m.s. difference between all the calculated and measured pressures is
then found and displayed. A regression technique is then used to vary the allowed fit
factors to minimize this r.m.s. value over a number of iterations.
The Friction fit factor value iterates to approximately 0.9, with a final r.m.s. error of
around 6 psia. Given the uncertainties in tubing roughnesses, this is an acceptable
result.
Note You may also manually set the value of the fit factors and check the r.m.s. difference
between the observed and calculated pressures by clicking on Show Match for Current
Fit Factors.
d Set the Value cell for Friction to 1.

e Set the Select cell for Friction to Fixed.
2 Set the Select cell for Hydrostatic to Variable.
a Set the minimum and maximum for Hydrostatic to 0.85 and 1.15 respectively.
b Click on Start Match.
The model iterates the Hydrostatic fit factor to a value of approximately 0.89 with a
final r.m.s. error of around 19 psia. This is a poor result if the fluid model is believed
to be accurate.

Note A hydrostatic fit factor which deviates far from unity indicates that the original fluid
densities are wrong, or the multi-phase flow correlation has not made an accurate gas/
oil slip calculation. In general you should be wary of fit factors differing greatly from
unity.
c Set the Value cell for Hydrostatic to 1.

d Set the Select cell for Hydrostatic to Fixed.
3 Set the Select cell for Slip to Variable.
a Click on Start Match.
The model iterates the Slip fit factor to a value of around 0.98 with a final r.m.s. error
of around 19.4 psia. This would indicate that varying the slip factor on its own is
insufficient to match this data.
b Set the Value cell for Slip to 1.
4 Set the Select cell for Friction to Variable.
a Click on Start Match.
The model regresses the Friction fit factor to 0.895 and the Slip fit factor to 1.17 with
a final r.m.s. error of around 1.7 psia.
b Click on Reset.
Repeating the match with the rms target at 0.1 psia, the model regresses the Friction fit
factor to 0.9 and the Slip fit factor to 1.2 with a final r.m.s. error of around 0.3 psia. It
failed to reach the target and stopped because no further improvements in the fit were
expected.
Note Setting too tight a target on the r.m.s. difference between calculated and observed
pressures is not advised, because of the inaccuracies in the flow correlations and the
inherent uncertainty in the numerically calculated pressure. Inaccuracies can be in the
order of several psia.

Tutorial 5: Manipulating VFP tables
Introduction
As well as calculating VFP tables, VFPi can also read in existing tables and, from them, display
BHP vs. flow cross-sections, for example. Once read in, VFPi offers a number of facilities to
alter the BHP values held in a VFP table, including resetting failed traverse pressure values,
stabilizing the table, and editing the BHP values in it by graphically altering tabular cross-
sections. All of these facilities are demonstrated in this tutorial.
In this tutorial
• "Reading an existing VFP table" on page 67.
• "Viewing and editing VFP table data" on page 67.
• "Stabilizing VFP table data" on page 71.
• "Saving the VFP table" on page 74.
Reading an existing VFP table

a Click on Read from file.
b Read the file named TESTW4.VFP.
Note The log window should show a series of messages, warning that some of the BHP
values in this table are set at 1.0e10. This value is used to indicate that the flow was
choked and the pressure traverse was terminated.
Note VFP tables created by the VFP program before the 94A release do not contain
information on the unit’s system of the data held in the table. This may also be the case
for VFP tables created by 3rd party programs. For such tables, VFPi cannot check
whether there is an inconsistency between table and program unit’s systems. If you
wish to read in such VFP tables, it is recommended that the correct unit’s system is set
in VFPi at the start of the session, as the program will assign it’s own system to any
read VFP table in which this is not defined.
Viewing and editing VFP table data

1 VFPi: Calculations | Show VFP Curves | Tabular curve...
a Click on Plot 2D.

The VFP Curves module should look similar to Figure 3.24. The two lowest THP
curves contain BHPs at 1.0e10 at higher flow rates - these values are not plotted.
Figure 3.24 VFP curves module showing BHP vs. oil for 5 different values of THP
Alternate
Graph
Windows
2 Double-click on the first alternate (small) graph window (shown in Figure 3.24.)
This should swap the contents of the main graph window with that of the alternate graph
window, which is currently empty.
3 Return to the VFP Table Supervisor panel.
a Click on Change 1.0e10 pressure values.
b Enter 2000 psia as the value in the field Change pressure values from +1.0e10 to
c Click on OK

Note We recommend changing the 1.0e10 pressures to a value slightly above the maximum
expected reservoir pressure. This should prevent the well conditions from entering the
super-sonic flow region without having a drastic effect on the well behavior around the
highest physically reasonable flow value points.
d Select Yes from the drop-down menu found in the Editable column.
e Click on Apply. You must apply the data in order to update VFPi.
f Click on Close.
a Click on Plot 2D.
The VFP Curves module should now look similar to Figure 3.25.
5 VFP Curves: Edit | Y edit

It is now possible to edit the points on the curves using the mouse.
a Drag down the nodes on the highest THP curve which form the bump in the middle of
this curve.
The word Edited is now shown in the Legend window next to the titles of each of the
modified curves.
You can undo any changes to the VFP table data by choosing VFP Curves: Edit | Undo
Graph Edit.
To undo a change made to a different curve, first select that curve in the Legend and then
choose VFP Curves: Edit | Undo Graph Edit.

6 VFP Curves: View | Zoom in
a Zoom into the lower end of the curves by dragging a zoom box around the data of
interest.
7 VFP Curves: Edit | Apply

a Click on Continue in the question box.
This updates the VFP table held within VFPi.
Stabilizing VFP table data

In Figure 3.27, the unstable region of the VFP curves at low flow rates is clearly seen at all THP
values. Although this effect is physically realistic, users often find it useful to run ECLIPSE
with a VFP table in which there are no unstable curves. The facility in VFPi to stabilize table
curves is demonstrated below.

a Click on Stability Transform.
This replaces the unstable low flow BHP values with a horizontal line from the lowest
flow value up to the flow value at minimum BHP.
b Enter Stable as the Output Table Name.
c Click on Transform.
The transformed data table will then appear in the VFP Table Supervisor.
a Ensure that Stable is the selected table.
b Click on Plot 2D.

Caution The stabilization option should be used with caution as it will give misleading
results for the ECLIPSE well model at low flow rates. Note that the WVFPEXP
keyword (see the ECLIPSE 100 reference manual) contains a switch that results
in the simulator shutting in any wells that operate in the stabilized region at the
end of the timestep. This prevents wells continuing to operate when physically
they cannot.

Saving the VFP table
The changes that have been made are reflected in the VFP table held within VFPi but have not
been saved to disk. As a general rule, please check that any manual edits are made consistently
to all the curves in the table.
1 Return to the VFP Table Supervisor.
a Click on Write to File.
b Enter STABLE.VFP as the filename.

Tutorial 6: Compositional Fluids and Calculated Fluid
Temperatures
Introduction
In this tutorial a compositional fluid model will be used, in place of the black oil fluid model
used in all the tutorials to date. With VFPi working in its compositional mode, the VFP tables
generated are suitable for use by the compositional ECLIPSE 300 simulator; they are not
compatible with the ECLIPSE 100/200 simulators.
This tutorial will also demonstrate how VFPi can calculate the temperature of the flowing fluid
by solving a heat balance equation between this fluid and an external surrounding environment
with a fixed temperature vs. length profile. Prior to this, all the tutorials have relied on a user-
supplied fixed temperature vs. length profile being imposed on the flowing fluid itself.
In this tutorial
• "Defining a fluid compositionally" on page 75.
• "Creating a compositional VFP Table" on page 77.
• "Thermal mode data" on page 78
• "Examining temperature vs. length profiles" on page 81.
Defining a fluid compositionally

1 VFPi: File | Load Keyword file
a Load the file TESTDATA.DATA.
This file was created as part of the tutorial, "Tutorial 1: Calculating a VFP table" on
page 27.
b Replace the existing wells.
2 Right click on the WELL_W1 node in the data tree.
a Select Copy Node from the drop-down menu.
b Name the copied well COMPOS.
3 Delete the fluid node from well COMPOS.
4 Right click on the well COMPOS.
a Select Add Fluid Node from the drop-down menu.
b Select Compositional as the fluid type.
By default, all fluid nodes hold a black oil description. Only when a new node is added
to a well is the choice of fluid description type offered.
5 Open this new fluid node.

Tutorial 6: Compositional Fluids and Calculated Fluid Temperatures
Note Note that the Compositional Fluid: Properties menu is quite different compared to
the Black Oil Fluid: Properties menu, with options to define the Equation of State,
the Component Properties, Wellstream Compositions, etc. For a full description of the
compositional model as implemented by VFPi please refer to "Compositional Fluid
Property Calculations" on page 125 and "Wellstream Compositions" on page 133.
6 Compositional Fluid: File | Read Fluid keywords from file...

a Change the file filter to All Files (*.*) as shown in Figure 3.29.
Figure 3.29 The File Browser
File Filter
b Choose the file named COMPOS.PVO.

This file was generated by the SIS PVTi program and contains a number of keywords
that, for the purposes of VFPi, fully describe the compositional fluid. These keywords
are the same as those read by the compositional ECLIPSE 300 simulator.
7 Compositional Fluid: Properties | Wellstream... | Specify directly...
VFPi will display a panel similar to that shown in Figure 3.30.
Figure 3.30 Wellstream compositions panel

The wellstream is the mixture of components that flows along the pipeline. It is
characterized by its mean molecular weight (MMW) which represents the distribution
of the components present in terms of mole fractions. The file COMPOS.PVO
contained the wellstream shown here, but VFPi can also estimate a range of wellstream
fluids from the results of a pressure depletion experiment performed on the reservoir
fluid about the wellbore. Please refer to "Wellstream Compositions" on page 133 for a
full description of this facility.
a Click on OK.
8 Compositional Fluid: File | Exit
No further work need be done on the fluid description.
Creating a compositional VFP Table

b Enter the data as shown in Figure 3.31.
Figure 3.31 VFP Table Data panel
c Click on Create

This creates a VFP table which is held internally within VFPi and shown as a
The flowing condition variables (except THP) for a compositional pressure traverse
differ from those used in a black oil case. The default variables are:
Flow: WGV refers to a Wet Gas Volume rate
which is the equivalent surface rate that
would occur if all the hydrocarbon were in
the gas phase and the gas was ideal.
Water fraction: WWR refers to a Water rate to Wet Gas
Volume rate ratio.
Gas fraction: MMW selects the flowing wellstream
composition. As there is only one is this
example, this value is defaulted.
d Click on Close.
e Click on Close.
Thermal mode data

To calculate the temperature of the flowing fluid, VFPi needs to know the thermal properties of
the material that separates the flowing fluid from the surrounding environment. This
surrounding environment has a fixed temperature profile. In this section, one of the three ways
of entering this thermal data will be demonstrated.
1 Open the tubing node of the COMPOS well.
a Select Calculated fluid temperature profile.
b Click on OK.
VFPi will display the Temperature Data panel. See Figure 3.32.

Figure 3.32 Temperature Data panel
The fixed external temperature profile is shown in the table at the top of the panel. A
choice is then presented of the three ways of entering the thermal properties data for
the tubing string.
c Select Use casing and annulus thermal description from panel.
d Click Examine Heat Transfer Data.
e Enter the data as shown in Table 3.13.
This table describes the extents and thermal conductivities of the metallic casings and
their immediate annuli which collectively form the tubing.
Table 3.13 COMPOS: Casing Table
Casing
Casing ID Casing OD Ann Cond Ann OD
Description Start (ft) Stop (ft) Cond (Btu/
(in.) (in.) (Btu/hr/F/ft) (in.)
hr/F/ft)
0 8000 4 5 10 1
0 7000 7 7.5 10 1
7000 8000 7 7.5 10 1 12
0 7000 12 13 10
8000 10150 4 5 10 1 7
f Click on Apply & Plot.

A cross-section of the casing and annulus structure of the tubing is shown in Figure
3.33. This is useful in validating a complex data table.

Figure 3.33 The Tubing module showing a casing cross-section
g Click on OK.
At this point VFPi internally calculates an overall heat transfer coefficient vs. length
profile along the tubing. This is used in subsequent pressure traverses when calculating
the temperature.
Note Only heat transfer by conduction is accounted for in this calculation.
h Click on OK in the Temperature Data panel.

3 Tubing: File | Exit.

Examining temperature vs. length profiles
1 VFPi: Calculations | Detailed Traverse...
Table 3.14
Flowing Conditions:
Flow: WGV 12000 Mscf/day
Pres: THP 300 psia
WFr: WWR 0 stb/Mscf
GFr: MMW 51.07888
Inlet 180 F
Temperature
Note The inlet temperature of the fluid for a production well is defaulted to the reservoir
temperature at the bottom of the wellbore.
2 Click on Items to Plot.

a On the Detailed Traverse View panel select the following:
b Plotting mode: Add to any existing curves
c Axes Orientation: Length plotted vertically
d Plot against Tubing Length
3 Check only boxes against:
a Fluid Temperature
b External Temperature
c Click on OK.
4 Click on Calculate.
VFPi displays the fluid temperature profile and the fixed surrounding environment
temperature profile. See Figure 3.34.

Figure 3.34 Temperature profiles for both the fluid and the surrounding environment
The difference between these two profiles depends on the overall heat transfer coefficient
between the fluid and environment, the fluid rate and the specific heat capacity of the fluid
(default values are used here).
The pressure traverse was performed using the compositional fluid description. VFPi can
also work in this thermal mode using a black oil fluid description.
5 Click on Close.

Tutorial 7: Creating a VFP table to model choke pressure
loss
Introduction
This tutorial demonstrates how to create a VFP table whose purpose is to model the pressure
loss across a bean or choke for a variety of flowing conditions. Such a table may be used in the
ECLIPSE 200 Multi-Segment Well model whereby the effects of a variable choke at, say, the
heel of a lateral may be modelled by assigning the pressure loss calculation for the appropriate
segment to be taken from this VFP table. The choke will be placed in the middle of a short
horizontal piece of smooth tubing. This will ensure that the pressure losses will be dominated
by the choke and not by the hydrostatic and frictional effects of the fluid flow through the
tubing. This tutorial also shows how to set the bean/choke diameter as the ALQ variable in the
VFP table. Please refer to "Sachdeva Choke Model" on page 273 while working through this
tutorial as it gives details on the Sachdeva choke model which is able to handle both critical and
sub-critical flow through the bean.
In this tutorial
The stages of the tutorial are as follows.
• "Entering tubing data and selecting bean model" on page 83
• "Entering fluid data" on page 85
• "Entering calculation control" on page 86
• "Calculating VFP tables" on page 86
• "Viewing VFP tables" on page 87
Entering tubing data and selecting bean model

In this section you will define the tubing through which the wellbore fluid flows, the choke
model which controls the pressure loss calculation for the bean, and the temperature vs. length
profile.
1 Click with the right mouse button on the WELL1 node in the Data Tree panel.
a Select Rename Node from the drop-down menu.
b Type BEAN SEGMENT in the Well Node Naming panel.
2 Double-click on Tubing node for Bean segment.
The Tubing module is displayed.

Tutorial 7: Creating a VFP table to model choke pressure loss
Table 3.15 BEAN SEGMENT: Tubing Section Data
Roughness Tubing dia Casing dia

(in.) (in.) (in.)
0 0 0.0006 4 0
1 0
It is not necessary to enter the roughness, tubing diameter or casing diameter for the
second row as these values have not changed.
b Click on OK.
4 Tubing: Element | Bean...
This displays the Bean parameters panel.
a Choose the Sachdeva model by clicking on the corresponding page of the folder.
b Enter the bean parameters as shown in Figure 3.35.
c Click on OK.
Figure 3.35 Bean parameters panel
Note To select a model, ensure that it is displayed as the front page of the folder when
clicking OK or Apply. Do not forget to click the Bean is Active tick box.

This displays the Thermal Mode panel.
a Select Fixed Fluid Temperature Profile.
b Click on OK.
c Enter the temperature versus length data as shown in Table 3.16.
Table 3.16 Temp vs. Length panel
Tubing length (ft) Temperature (F)

0 60
1 60
6 Click on OK.
Entering fluid data

1 Double-click on the Fluids node for Bean segment.
The default fluid type is black oil, so the Black Oil Fluid module is displayed.
2 Black Oil Fluid Module: Properties | PVT Data...
a Select the Oil Properties page of the folder
Table 3.17

Oil Surface Density 50.02606 lb/ft^3
or Gravity 45 API
3 Click on the Correlations radio button

a Select the Gas Properties page of the folder.
Table 3.18

Gas Surface Density 0.053452 lb/ft^3
or Specific Gravity 0.7

4 Click on the Correlations radio button
a Select the Water Properties page of the folder
Table 3.19

Water Surface Density 62.4 lb/ft^3
or Specific Gravity 1
5 Click on OK.
VFPi will calculate the corresponding surface densities.
Note The three pages of the folder have to be selected and filled in order to have a complete
set of parameters for the fluids properties.
For this tutorial, allow VFPi to use in-built correlations to calculate the PVT properties
of oil, water and gas
Entering calculation control

1 Double-click on the Calculation Control node for the Bean segment.
This displays the Control Data panel.
a Select Petalas & Aziz from the drop-down menu in the Multi-Phase Flow
Correlation column.
Note The aim of this tutorial is to model a bean using the Sachdeva choke model. Therefore,
the choice of multi-phase flow correlation is not important. Nevertheless, for non-
vertical flow, only the correlations provided by Beggs and Brill, Mukherjee and Brill
or Petalas and Aziz should be used.
b Click on OK.
Calculating VFP tables

1 VFPi: Calculations | VFP Tables
This displays the VFP Table Data panel which, by default has is no ALQ column.
To set the ALQ as a table variable:
b Click on Change Variables.

This displays the Set Flowing Condition Variables panel.
c From the Artificial lift variable drop-down menu, select Bean: diameter of bean or
choke.
d Click on OK.
e On the VFP Table Data panel, enter the Table Name choke and the other table data as
shown in Table 3.20.
Table 3.20
OIL (stb/day) THP (psia) WOR GOR (Mscf/stb) BEAN (64ths in)
100 200 0.5 2 8
300 350 16
500 500 24
700 650 32
900 40
1200 48
1500 56
2000 64
2500
f Leave the Problem Reporting field on Summarise after table calculation

g Click on Create.
This creates a VFP Table which is held internally within VFPi and shown as a
A warning message is posted explaining that the BHP will not vary with THP if the
flow through the bean is choked. This will cause problems with ECLIPSE if the VFP
table is used in a conventional way (that is not in the Multi-segment well model).
2 Click on OK.
Another warning is posted explaining that the Sachdeva choke model has generated VFP
curves that cross at high flow rate when plotted as a family in THP. The reason for this
behavior is described in "Sachdeva Choke Model" on page 273.
a Click on Remove crossing curves.
b Close the Table Data panel.
3 Close the Table supervisor panel.
Viewing VFP tables

1 VFPi: Calculations | Show VFP Curves | Tabular curve...
a Enter the data as shown in Figure 3.36.

Figure 3.36 Tabular:BHP vs. Flow panel
b Click on Plot 2D.

The curves displayed (Figure 3.37) show the behavior of the flow through bean
predicted by the Sachdeva model. Note that below a flow rate of 1500 stb/day, the
choke is behaving sub-critically and thus the BHP is dependent on THP. Above this
flow rate, the choke is critical and the curves merge with BHP independent of THP.

Figure 3.37 VFP curves module
Plot the BHP versus the Bean diameter.

c Click on one of the alternate graph windows above the main graph to move the main
graph into it.
d Click on Change Variables.
This displays the Set VFP Curve axes & flowing condition variables panel.
e Set the Primary Variable to Artificial Lift.
Note The ALQ is set to the Bean diameter. In this case, the ALQ is not a proper Artificial
Lift Quantity, but can be seen as a fifth variable in the flowing condition. Setting the
primary variable to Artificial Lift means here that the Bean Diameter is the primary
variable when plotting the BHP.
f Click on OK.
g Verify that the data is as shown in Figure 3.38

Figure 3.38 BHP vs. ALQ panel
h Click on Plot 2D.

This should display a plot similar to that shown in Figure 3.39.

Figure 3.39 VFP curves module
Decreasing the diameter of the bean leads to an increase in the BHP. At small values of
diameter, the flow through the bean is choked and the BHP is independent of the THP.
Please refer to "Sachdeva Choke Model" on page 267 for more details about the prediction
of the Sachdeva choke model.

Configuring VFPi
Appendix A
Introduction
The Configuration File (CONFIG.ECL) is the primary method of passing configuration data to
the ECLIPSE software programs. It may be used to configure several aspects of a system for
use with VFPi for example printers, and also as a means of passing other key data, such as
passwords. The master Configuration File is called CONFIG.ECL and resides in the ecl/
macros directory. However, VFPi actually reads a file called ECL.CFG, so the program
macros must copy the master Configuration File (CONFIG.ECL) into a file called ECL.CFG
in the current directory. An error will be recorded if the configuration file is not present, and the
program run may be terminated. On completion of the program run the program macro will
delete the local copy.
The auxiliary configuration files (ECL.CFA and ECL.CFU) are optional, and if present in the
local directory will be processed in the same way as the main configuration file. These files
allow information that is run or user dependent to be passed to VFPi without having to alter the
master configuration file.
ECL.CFU is a user specific configuration file, and should be stored in the user’s login directory.
If present in the users login directory, ECL.CFU will be copied, by the macro, to the local
working directory. Any entries in ECL.CFU will override those in ECL.CFG.
ECL.CFA is a local auxiliary configuration file which resides in the users working directory.
ECL.CFA will override ECL.CFU and ECL.CFG.
The configuration file is divided into several sections, declared using the word SECTION, most
of which will be specifically set for the type of installation required that is passwords, monitor
types, paths to various files. However, some of the sections allow the user to set the fonts etc.
to their own preference. These sections are: FRAMEWORK, FRAMEDRAW, and DISPLAY.
DISPLAY allows the menu fonts and panel colors to be more easily defined by the user.
Previously it was necessary to do this by making entries in the .Xdefaults file for each user. Now
the DISPLAY section allows different configuration settings for different Xterms on the
network. Individual users can now create their own color scheme and text sizes by putting an
ECL.CFU file in their home directory, which contains a DISPLAY section listing their
preferences and working terminal.
VFPi User Guide Configuring VFPi 93

Introduction
SECTION FRAMEWORK
The following keywords, assigned by their subsections, are currently available in FRAMEWORK:
SUBSECT WIDGETFONT
FONT Sets typeface used in panels.
STYLE Sets style used in panels.
SIZE Panel character size.
Hint If you are using a low resolution graphics card, some panels may be too large to fit on
the screen using the default settings. Reducing the WIDGETFONT size will result in
smaller panels.
SUBSECT TEXTFONT
FONT Sets typeface for Log Window.
STYLE Sets style used in Log Window.
SIZE Log Window character size.
SECTION DISPLAY
The following keywords, assigned by their subsections, are currently available in DISPLAY:
SUBSECT Insert DISPLAY variable, for example sg-avs:0.0

FONTLIST -*-helvetica-bold-r-normal-*-14-*-100-*-*-*-*-*
FOREGROUND black
BACKGROUND lightblue
SECTION FRAMEDRAW
The following keywords, assigned by their subsections, are currently available in FRAMEDRAW:
94 Configuring VFPi VFPi User Guide

Introduction
SUBSECT GS
HWFONT Tick mark font
HELVETICA
TIMES
SYSTEM
FIXED
• DEFAULT: HELVETICA
SWFONT Axis titles font
• TYPE: Integer (0-18)
• DEFAULT: 0
HWFONTSIZE1 Hardware font 1
• UNITS: Integer (6-30)
• DEFAULT: 12
HWFONTSIZE2 Hardware font 2
• DEFAULT: 12
SWFONTSIZE1 Software font 1
• DEFAULT: 12
SWFONTSIZE2 Software font 2
• DEFAULT: 12
SIZETOFIT Use software font if hardware font does not fit
TRUE
FALSE
• DEFAULT: FALSE
VFPi User Guide Configuring VFPi 95

Introduction
SUBSECT VG
SWCLIP Clipping flag
TRUE
FALSE
• DEFAULT: FALSE
SWMASK Masking flag
TRUE
FALSE
• DEFAULT: FALSE
HCPRESASP Keep aspect ratio on hard copy
TRUE
FALSE
• DEFAULT: FALSE
96 Configuring VFPi VFPi User Guide

Introduction
Calculating Pressure Traverse
Appendix B
Length step selection

The pressure traverse is calculated in steps from one end of the tubing to the other. Apart from
the initial step, the size of each length step is selected automatically to control the truncation
error. The truncation error here is defined simply as the difference between the calculated
pressure step and the pressure step obtained by extrapolating the previous length step with a
constant pressure gradient:
 ΔL ( i ) 
E = ΔP ( i – 1 )  ------------------- – ΔP i [EQ B.1]
 ΔL ( i – 1 )
where
E is the truncation error,

ΔL i is the size of the i’th length step, and
ΔP i is the pressure increment over the i’th length step.
The truncation error control restricts the length step while the pressure gradient is changing
rapidly, and allows it to expand when the gradient changes more slowly. A target value and an
upper limit for the truncation error can be set in the Steps and Limits panel. A limit can be
applied to the factor by which successive length steps are allowed to increase. In addition, over-
riding upper and lower limits for the length step size, and an upper limit for the pressure step,
can be set.
The length step size is also limited by the proximity of a tubing diameter change, a deviation
angle change, a multi-phase flow correlation change, a pump or compressor, a gas lift injection
valve, and of course the end of the tubing. If the allowable step size is large enough to reach all
the way to one of these points, it will do so. If it can reach over half the way, but not all the way,
then the step size will be chosen to reach half the way there.
The limiting constraint for each length step is indicated in the pressure traverse information
printed on the detailed output file, in the following form:
INIT - length set by the required initial length step size
VFPi User Guide Calculating Pressure Traverse 97

TTRG - length set by the target truncation error
MXLS - length limited by the maximum length step size
MXTR - length limited by the maximum truncation error
MXPR - length limited by the maximum pressure step
IFAC - length limited by the maximum increase factor
CONV - length reduced as previous attempt did not converge
DIAM - step ends at a change in diameter
GRAD - step ends at a change in depth gradient
CORL - step ends at a change in flow correlation
GLFT - step ends at the gas lift injection valve
PUMP - step ends at the pump
COMP - step ends at the compressor
BEAN - step ends at the bean
DELP - step ends at a local pressure drop facility
END - step ends at the top or bottom of the tubing
HALF - step goes half way to one of these points
98 Calculating Pressure Traverse VFPi User Guide

The pressure gradient calculation
The pressure increment ( ΔP psi) over each length step is the sum of the hydrostatic head, the
friction head and the acceleration head,
ΔP = ΔP h + ΔP f + ΔP a [EQ B.2]
The hydrostatic head

The hydrostatic head ( ΔPh psi) depends on the local density of the flowing mixture:
g
ΔP h = F 2 ⋅ ------------------ ⋅ DEN m ⋅ DSTEP [EQ B.3]
144 ⋅ g c
where
F2 is one of the fitting factors which can be set in the Control Data panel
g is the gravitational acceleration (32.2 ft/sec2)
gc is the conversion factor 32.2 lbm-ft/lbf-sec2
DENm is the density of the flowing mixture (lbm/ft3)
DSTEP is the depth increment over the length step (ft).
The mixture density depends on the local densities of the phases and the gas volume fraction:
DEN m = H g ⋅ DEN g + ( 1 – H g ) ⋅ DEN l [EQ B.4]
where
Hg is the gas volume fraction

DENg is the gas phase density (lbm/ft3)
DENl is the liquid phase density (lbm/ft3).
The gas volume fraction is determined from the multi-phase flow correlations. In the simple
case of homogeneous flow, where the gas and liquid flow with the same velocity (as in the mist
flow regime), the gas volume fraction is given by:
qg
H g = ---------------- [EQ B.5]
ql + qg
where
ql is the local volumetric flow rate of liquid (ft/sec)

qg is the local volumetric flow rate of gas (ft/sec).
But in general there is slippage between the gas and liquid phases. The slip velocity depends on
the properties and flow rates of the phases, and the multi-phase flow correlations take these
factors into account when computing the gas volume fraction.
The oil and water phases are treated as a combined liquid phase. With the exception of viscosity,
the properties of the liquid phase are calculated as flow-weighted averages of the corresponding
properties of the oil and water phases.

For example the liquid density is calculated as:
q o ⋅ DEN o + q w ⋅ DEN w
DENl = --------------------------------------------------------- [EQ B.6]
qo + qw
The friction head

The friction head is given by:
dP f
ΔP f = F 1 ⋅ -------- ⋅ LSTEP [EQ B.7]
dL
where
F1 is a fitting factor which can be set in the Control Data panel

dP f ⁄ dL is the friction pressure loss per unit length of tubing
LSTEP is the size of the length step.
The pressure loss gradient dPf ⁄ dL is determined from the multi-phase flow correlations. The
gradient is set negative if the well is an injector, to allow for the flow being in the opposite
direction to the flow in producers.
Acceleration pressure loss and choking

The acceleration head is given by:
DEN m ⋅ V m ⋅ ΔV m
ΔP a = – ------------------------------------------- [EQ B.8]
144 ⋅ g c
where
Vm is the flow velocity of the mixture

ΔV m is the change in the mixture flow velocity over the length step.
Instead of calculating this term directly, we follow the method used by Orkiszewski. Assuming
the acceleration head is significant only in the mist flow regime or in single-phase gas flow, the
gas law can be used to express the quantity as:
DEN m ⋅ V m ⋅ ΔV m W m ⋅ q g ⋅ ΔP
------------------------------------------- = – ------------------------------------
- [EQ B.9]
144 ⋅ g c 144 ⋅ g c ⋅ A ⋅ P
2
where
Wm is the mass flow rate of the mixture
A
2 is the square of the cross-sectional area of the tubing or annulus.
The total pressure loss is therefore given by:

ΔP h + ΔP f
ΔP = ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [EQ B.10]
2
1 – ( W m ⋅ q g ) ⁄ ( 144 ⋅ g c ⋅ A ⋅ P )
If the denominator is zero or negative the flow is choked. If this happens, the calculation is
abandoned and a warning message is written.

When the Orkiszewski correlation or the correlation of Aziz, Govier and Fogarasi is used, the
acceleration pressure loss is calculated only in single- phase gas flow or in the mist flow regime.
With the correlation of Hagedorn and Brown, it is calculated in single-phase gas flow or if mist
flow is predicted by Orkiszewski’s flow regime map. With the correlation of Beggs and Brill,
it is calculated in all flow regimes, but in general it can only be significant in high-velocity flow
with a substantial gas fraction. With Gray's correlation, which is designed for gas condensate
wells, the acceleration pressure loss is calculated in the single phase gas flow regime and the
two phase flow regime.
The acceleration pressure loss causes the flow to become choked when the mixture velocity
reaches the isothermal speed of sound in an ideal gas. This limitation, however, is not strict
enough when considering a two-phase mixture. Firstly, the acceleration pressure loss is only
applied in a limited number of flow regimes, and secondly, the speed of sound in a two-phase
mixture can be substantially less than that in single-phase gas. Use of the Sonic Checking option
in the Control Data panel imposes an additional check to ensure that the local mixture velocity
does not exceed the local speed of sound in the mixture. This is advisable when dealing with
very high flow velocities.
A switch in the Calculation Control panel may be used to instruct VFPi to ignore the
acceleration pressure head during pressure traverse calculations. This is useful when preparing
VFP tables for the ECLIPSE 200 Multi-segment Well Model, which calculates its own
acceleration pressure loss to include the acceleration of fluid entering the well bore through the
perforations.
Calculating the local pressure

The pressure gradient over the length step depends on the local fluid properties, which in turn
depend on the pressure. The pressure within each length step is set equal to the average of the
pressures at the beginning and the end of the step. Of course, the pressure at the end of the length
step is itself dependent on the pressure gradient. The pressure gradient is therefore calculated
iteratively within each length step. An initial guess for the pressure at the end of the length step
is provided by extrapolating the pressure gradient of the previous length step. The calculation
for ΔP is repeated until the change in its value over an iteration is less than the convergence
error tolerance. The convergence error tolerance, and the maximum number of iterations within
a length step, can be set in the Steps and Limits panel. If the pressure fails to converge within
the prescribed number of iterations, the calculation is repeated with a reduced length step size.

Artificial lift
The pressure traverse in the well bore is altered by the application of artificial lift. If gas lift is
used, the injected lift gas is included in the total gas flow rate downstream of the injection valve.
If the pressure at the injection valve is above the bubble point of the oil in the well bore, it is
conceivable that at least some of the injected lift gas will dissolve in the oil to increase its degree
of saturation. The user can perform sensitivity studies on this phenomenon by specifying the
fraction of the injected lift gas that can dissolve in under-saturated oil.
If a pump is present, a single pressure increment is applied at the pump location. The pressure
increment is calculated from the pump performance tables provided in the input data. These
tables relate the pump head (in feet or meters) to the volumetric flow rate of fluid through the
pump. If the volume fraction of gas within the pump exceeds a certain level, the pump rapidly
loses efficiency. The user can specify a cut-off value for the gas volume fraction in the pump,
above which the pump does not operate.
A gas compressor can be included in a pipeline where there is single-phase gas flow. The
pressure increment is calculated from the compressor tables provided in the input data. These
tables relate the compression ratio (outlet pressure / intake pressure) to the gas flow rate in the
pipeline at standard surface conditions.

Artificial lift
The multi-phase flow correlations
There is a choice of seven standard multi-phase flow correlations:
1 The correlation of Aziz, Govier and Fogarasi
• “Pressure Drop in Wells Producing Oil and Gas”, J. Cdn. Pet. Tech., July-Sept. 1972,
pp 38 - 48.
2 The correlation of Orkiszewski
• “Predicting Two-Phase Pressure Drops in Vertical Pipe”, J. Pet. Tech., June 1967, pp
829 - 838.
3 The correlation of Hagedorn and Brown
• “Experimental Study of Pressure Gradients Occurring During Continuous Two-Phase
Flow in Small Diameter vertical Conduits”, J. Pet. Tech., April 1965, pp 475 - 484.
This is in fact the modified version, as described by Brown and Beggs
• “The Technology of Artificial Lift Methods”, Vol. 1, PennWell Publishing Co., Tulsa,
1977.
4 The correlation of Beggs and Brill
• “A Study of Two-Phase Flow in Inclined Pipes”, J. Pet. Tech., May 1973, pp 607 - 617.
This is also the revised version, as described by Brown and Beggs, with linear flow regime
boundaries on a logarithmic scale.
5 The correlation of Mukherjee and Brill
• “Empirical Equations to Predict Flow Patterns in Two-Phase Inclined Flow”, Int. J.
Multiphase Flow, Vol. 11, No. 3, pp. 299-315, 1985.
This correlation is based on experimental data on inclined, horizontal and vertical
pipelines.
6 The correlation of Gray
• "Vertical Flow Correlation in Gas Wells", User manual for API 14B, Subsurface
Controlled Safety Valve Sizing Computer Program, Appendix B, January 1978 (2nd
edition).
This correlation is designed for gas-condensate wells and does not split the two-phase flow
into regimes.
7 The correlation of Petalas and Aziz
• “A Mechanistic Model for Stabilized Multiphase Flow in Pipes”, August, 1997,
Petroleum Engineering Department, Stanford University.
This correlation can be used for calculating two-phase flow pressure loss for both uphill and
downhill flow, and for all pipe geometries. The model has been validated against a database
of both laboratory and field measurements.
Different correlations may be used in different sections of the tubing. Thus for example in a
vertical well bore connected to a horizontal flow line, the correlation of Beggs and Brill can be
used for the horizontal section and the correlation of Orkiszewski (say) can be used for the
vertical section. The Petalas and Aziz correlation is recommended for near-horizontal sections
of pipe; the other correlations (except Beggs and Brill and Mukherjee and Brill) are strictly for
vertically upward flow.

Black Oil Correlations
Appendix C
Introduction
The fluid properties vary with the temperature and pressure in the tubing. In each length step,
the temperature is either interpolated from tabular input data or taken as the latest iterate from
a solved enthalpy balance equation (see "Heat Transfer Calculation" on page 141); the pressure
is taken as the latest iterate of the average pressure in the length step.
The fluid properties can be determined from the local conditions in the tubing in either of two
ways. The user can supply the properties in tabular form in the input data, or the properties can
be calculated by the program from built-in correlations. It is possible to mix these two options,
by supplying tables for some properties and leaving the remaining properties to be calculated
from the correlations.
The built-in correlations for the oil PVT properties can be tuned to fit data measured at bubble
point conditions, separator or tubing head conditions, and under-saturated reservoir conditions.
The tuning is performed with the aid of 7 tuning factors FO1, FO2,...., FO7. These are initially
all set to 1.0, but will be selectively re-set to match any data entered in the Oil PVT Correlation
Tuning panel. See the "Correlation Tuning" on page 119 for a description of how these factors
are calculated.
The built-in fluid property correlations are described below.
VFPi User Guide Black Oil Correlations 105

Introduction
Oil formation volume factor and solution gas-oil ratio
The solution gas-oil ratio of saturated oil (Rssat scf/stb) is calculated from Standing’s
correlation:
( 0.0125API – 0.00091T ) ( 1 ⁄ 0.83 )
10 P
R ssat = SPG g --------------------------------------------------------- [EQ C.1]
18 ⋅ FO 1
where:
SPGg is the gas specific gravity (relative to air)

P is the pressure in psia
API is the oil gravity in °API
T is the temperature in °F
FO1 is a property tuning factor (see above).
The API gravity of oil is related to its specific gravity relative to water ( SPGo ) by:
141.5
API = ------------- – 131.5 [EQ C.2]
SPG o
If the oil is saturated (producing GOR > Rssat), the formation volume factor (FVFo rbl/stb) is
calculated from the relation given by Frick:
1.175
FVF o = 0.972 ⋅ FO 2 + 0.000147 ⋅ FO 3 ⋅ F [EQ C.3]
where FO2 and FO3 are property tuning factors, and:
 SPG g 0.5
F = R ssat  ------------- + 1.25 ⋅ T [EQ C.4]
 SPG o
If the oil is under-saturated (producing GOR < Rssat), the bubble-point pressure (PBUB) is first
calculated as:
GOR 0.83
PBUB = 18 ⋅ FO 1 ⋅  -------------
( 0.00091T – 0.0125API )
 SPG 
⋅ 10 [EQ C.5]
g
where:
GOR is the producing gas-oil ratio in scf/stb.
The formation volume factor is obtained from a compressibility relationship:

FVF o = FVF ob exp [ C o ( PBUB – P ) ] [EQ C.6]
FVFob is the formation volume factor of saturated oil at the pressure PBUB.
The oil compressibility Co is obtained from the correlation of Vazquez and Beggs:
– 1433 + 5 ⋅ GOR + 17.2 ⋅ T – ( 1180 ⋅ SPGS g ) + 12.61 ⋅ API
C o = FO 4 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [EQ C.7]
5
10 P
106 Black Oil Correlations VFPi User Guide

where:
FO4 is a property tuning factor.

SPGSg is the gas gravity that would result from a separator at 100 psig.
Vazquez and Beggs provide a correction for other values of the separator pressure (PSEP psia):
PSEP
SPGS g = SPG g 1 + 5.912 ⋅ 10 SPG o ⋅ TSEP ⋅ log  -------------
–5
 114.7
[EQ C.8]
where:
TSEP is the separator temperature in °F.
VFPi applies this equation with PSEP and TSEP at standard surface conditions.

Oil viscosity
The viscosity of saturated oil (in cP) is obtained from the correlation of Beggs and Robinson,
as reported by Brown and Beggs. The viscosity of dead (gas-free) oil is first determined from
the equation:
x
VISC od = 10 – 1 [EQ C.9]
where:
y – 1.163
x = 10 T
y = 3.0324 – 0.02023API
This is transformed into the saturated oil viscosity (VISCo) by:

( FO 6 B )
VISC o = A ⋅ FO 5 ⋅ VISC od [EQ C.10]
where:
FO5 and FO6 are property tuning factors, and
– 0.515
A = 10.715 ( R s + 100 )
– 0.338
B = 5.44 ( R s + 150 )
If the oil is under-saturated, the viscosity of oil at the bubble point pressure (VISCob) is
calculated as given above, and then transformed using Standing’s fit to Beal’s curve for under-
saturated oil:
VISC o = VISC ob + X ( P – PBUB ) [EQ C.11]
where:
1.6 0.56
[ 2.4 ( VISC ob ) + 3.8 ( VISC ob ) ]
X = FO 7 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5
10
FO7 is a property tuning factor
Internally, the viscosity is required in units of lbm/ft-sec. The viscosity in cP is transformed into
these units by dividing by 1488.

Oil viscosity
Gas formation volume factor
The built-in correlations relate to the properties of dry gas. The program can take account of oil
drop-out and re-vaporization in gas condensate wells, but the PVT properties of wet gas must
be supplied in the input data tables.
The gas formation volume factor (FVFg rcf/scf) is related to the Z-factor by:
P surf ⋅ TR well
FVF g = Z ------------------------------- [EQ C.12]
P well ⋅ TR surf
where:
TR represents the temperature in degrees R (= T °F + 460), and

the subscripts “well” and “surf” relate to the local well bore conditions and
standard surface conditions respectively.
The Z-factor is calculated from the Hall-Yarborough correlation, as reported by Dake:

0.06125P r 2
Z = ------------------------- t ⋅ exp [ – 1.2 ( 1 – t ) ] [EQ C.13]
y
y is the “reduced density” which is calculated by Newton iteration from the relationship:
2  y + y 2 + y 3 – y 4
– 0.06125 P r t ⋅ exp [ – 1.2 ( 1 – t ) ] +  ------------------------------------ [EQ C.14]
 3 
(1 – y)
2 3 2 2 3 ( 2.18 + 2.82t )
– ( 14.76t – 9.76t + 4.58t )y + ( 90.7t – 242.2t + 42.4t )y = 0
where
Pr is the “pseudo reduced pressure”, P / Pcrit, and

t is the “reciprocal pseudo reduced temperature”, TRcrit / TR.
The values of the critical pressure and temperature are obtained from Katz’s curves for
miscellaneous or “California” gases, as reported by Standing:
2
P crit = 677 + 15 ⋅ SPG g – 37.5 ( SPG g ) [EQ C.15]
2
T crit = 168 + 325 ⋅ SPG g – 12.5 ( SPG g ) [EQ C.16]

Gas formation volume factor
Gas viscosity
The gas viscosity (VISCg cP) is calculated from the correlation of Lee et al.,
y
VISC g = 0.0001K ⋅ exp { x ( DLG ) } [EQ C.17]
where
DLG is the local density of the gas in g/cm3, and

1.5
( 9.4 + 0.02M ) ( TR )
K = -----------------------------------------------------
209 + 19M + TR
986
x = 3.5 +  --------- + 0.01M
 TR 
y = 2.4 – 0.2x
M is the molecular weight of the gas, which is calculated from the gas gravity:
M = 28.966 SPGg
The viscosity is transformed internally into units of lbm/ft-sec by dividing by 1488.

Gas viscosity
Water formation volume factor
The water formation volume factor (FVFw rb/stb) is calculated by assuming a compressibility
of 3x10–6 psi-1, and fitting thermal expansion coefficients to match approximately the
temperature dependence curves given by Frick for pure water,
–4 –7 2 –6
FVF w = ( 1 + 1.25x10 DT + 9.88x10 DT ) ( 1 – 3x10 DP )
where: [EQ C.18]
DT = T - Tsurf in °F and
DP = P - Psurf in psi.

Water formation volume factor
Water viscosity
The water viscosity (VISCw cP) is calculated from Beal’s correlation as reported by Brown and
Beggs:
–5 2
VISC w = exp [ 1.003 – 0.01479 ⋅ T + 1.982x10 T ] [EQ C.19]
The viscosity is transformed internally into units of lbm/ft-sec by dividing by 1488.

Water viscosity
Oil-gas interfacial tension
The oil-gas interfacial tension (STog dyne/cm) is calculated from the results given by Katz et al.,
DLO – DLG 4
STog = PARA  ------------------------------ [EQ C.20]
 M 
DLO and DLG represent the local densities of oil and gas in g/cm3
PARA is the parachor and

M is the molecular weight
which are set equal to the values 567 and 213 respectively that are given by Katz for crude oil.
The interfacial tension is transformed internally into units of lbm/sec2 by dividing by 453.5.

Water-gas interfacial tension
The water-gas interfacial tension (STwg dyne/cm) is obtained from a fit to the water-air data
provided by Kaye and Laby:
–3 –6 2
STwg = 72.75 ( 1 – 1.171x10 DT + 1.121x10 DT ) [EQ C.21]
where
DT = T - Tsurf in °F
The interfacial tension is transformed internally into units of lbm/sec2 by dividing by 453.5.

Water-gas interfacial tension
Local volumetric flow rates
The oil and gas production rates (Qo stb/day and Qg scf/day) are first transformed into the flow
rates of free oil and free gas (Qfo and Qfg) using the local value of the dissolved gas-oil ratio
(Rs) and, for wet gas, the local value of the vaporized oil-gas ratio (Rv). There are three possible
cases:
• If GOR ≤ R ssat , and there is no un-dissolved gas-lift gas, then all the gas is dissolved in the oil
Qfg = 0
Qfo = Qo
• If in gas-condensate wells OGR ≤ R vsat , then all the oil is vaporized in the gas
Qfg = Qg
Qfo = 0
• Otherwise, there is free oil and free gas present
Q fg = ( Q g – R s ⋅ Q o ) ⁄ ( 1 – R s ⋅ R v )
Q fo = ( Q o – R v ⋅ Q g ) ⁄ ( 1 – R s ⋅ R v )
The local volumetric flow rates of the phases (in ft3/sec) are then obtained:
–5
q o = 6.498x10 Q fo FVF o [EQ C.22]
–5
q w = 6.498x10 Q w FVF w [EQ C.23]
–5
q g = 1.157x10 Q fg FVF g [EQ C.24]

Local volumetric flow rates
Local phase densities
The local phase densities are
( DEN os + R s ⋅ DEN gs )
DENo = ------------------------------------------------------ [EQ C.25]
FVF o
( DEN ws )
DENw = ---------------------- [EQ C.26]
FVF w
( DEN gs + R v ⋅ DEN os )
DENg = ------------------------------------------------------ [EQ C.27]
FVF g
where:
DENos, DENws and DENgs are the phase densities at standard surface
conditions.

Local phase densities
Emulsion viscosity
The calculation based on Woelflin’s work, estimates the viscosity of a brine-in-oil type of
emulsion from a known clean-oil viscosity. Emulsions can be characterized as tight, medium,
or loose depending primarily upon the size of the brine globules and the conditions of agitation.
Tight emulsions are common when a well producing oil and water flows with a high gas-oil ratio
and is subjected to extreme conditions of agitation. A loose emulsion would commonly be found
in a pumping well where agitation is minimized.
When an emulsion forms, the viscosity of the emulsion can be many times greater than the
viscosity of either the dispersed or dispersing phases. The figure below shows how the ratio of
emulsion viscosity to oil viscosity varies with increasing brine percentage.
Figure C.1 Variation in viscosity of emulsions of crude oil and brine (after Woelflin)
tight emulsion medium emulsion loose emulsion
45
40
viscosity ratio (visc emulsion/visc clean oil)
35
30
25
20
15
10
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
percent brine in emulsion
Above a percentage of 60-70%, the emulsion inverts and brine becomes the continuous phase.
The viscosity of the emulsion then can be approximated by the brine viscosity. However, near
the inversion point, extremely high viscosities can be attained.

Emulsion viscosity
References
Beal, C.: The Viscosity of Air, Water, Natural Gas, Crude Oil and its Associated Gases at Oil-Field
Temperatures and Pressures, [Ref. 1]
Trans. AIME, Vol. 165, Page 94 - 115. 1946
Beggs, H. D., and Estimating the Viscosity of Crude Oil Systems, [Ref. 2]
Robinson, J. R.: J. Pet. Tech., Page 1140 - 1141, Sept. 1975.
Brown, K. E., and The Technology of Artificial Lift Methods, [Ref. 3]

Beggs, H. D.: Vol. 1, PennWell Publishing Co., Tulsa, 1977.
Dake, L. P.: Fundamentals of Reservoir Engineering, [Ref. 4]
Elsevier Scientific Publishing Co., Amsterdam, 1978.
Frick, T. C.: Petroleum Production Handbook, [Ref. 5]
Vol. 2, Millet the Printer Inc., Dallas, for the Society of Petroleum Engineers.
Hall, K. R., and How to Solve Equation of State for Z-Factors, [Ref. 6]
Yarborough, L.: The Oil and Gas Journal, Page 86 - 88, Feb. 18’th, 1974.
Katz, D. L., Surface Tension of Crude Oils Containing Dissolved Gases, [Ref. 7]
Monroe, R. R., and Pet. Tech., SPE Reprint Series, No. 15, “Phase Behavior”, Page 1624, Sept. 1943.
Trainer, R. P.:
Kaye, G. W. C., and Tables of Physical and Chemical Constants, [Ref. 8]

Laby, T. H.: Longman Inc., New York, 1973.
Lee, A. L., The Viscosity of Natural Gases, [Ref. 9]

Gonzalez, M. H., and J. Pet. Tech., Page 997 - 1000, Aug. 1966.
Eakin, B. E.:
Standing, M. B.: Volumetric and Phase Behavior of Oil Field Hydrocarbon Systems, [Ref. 10]
9th printing by Millet the Printer Inc., Dallas, for the Society of Petroleum Engineers, .1981
Vazquez, M., and Correlations for Fluid Physical Property Predictions, [Ref. 11]
Beggs, H. D.: J. Pet. Tech., Page 968 - 970, June 1980
Woelflin, W.: The Viscosity of Crude-Oil Emulsions, [Ref. 12]
Drill. and Prod. Prac., API , Page 148 , 1942

References
Correlation Tuning
Appendix D
Introduction
The built-in correlations for the oil PVT properties can be tuned to fit data measured at bubble
point conditions, under-saturated reservoir conditions and separator or tubing head conditions.
The tuning is performed with the aid of 7 tuning factors FO1, FO2,...., FO7. These are initially
all set to 1.0, but will be selectively re-set to match any data entered in the Oil PVT Correlation
Tuning panel.
The measured data and the equations used to calculate the tuning factors is described below.
VFPi User Guide Correlation Tuning 119

Introduction
Measured data
Properties at bubble point conditions at reservoir

temperature
1 TRES The reservoir temperature
• UNITS: °F (FIELD), or °C (METRIC)
2 RRES The dissolved gas-oil ratio (RS) in the reservoir
• UNITS: Mscf/stb (FIELD), or sm3/sm3 (METRIC)
3 PBUB The bubble point pressure of oil with RS=RRES at T=TRES
• UNITS: psia (FIELD), or barsa (METRIC)
4 BBUB The oil formation volume factor at TRES, RRES and PBUB (this item can be
defaulted if not available, unless BTOP or BRES is supplied)
• UNITS: rb/stb (FIELD), or rm3/sm3 (METRIC)
5 VBUB The oil viscosity at TRES, RRES and PBUB (this item can be defaulted if not
available, unless VTOP or VRES is supplied)
• UNITS: cP (FIELD), or cP (METRIC)
Properties of under-saturated oil at reservoir

conditions (optional)
1 PRES The reservoir pressure (PRES must be greater than PBUB)
2 BRES The oil formation volume factor at TRES, RRES and PRES (this item can be
defaulted if not available)
3 VRES The oil viscosity at TRES, RRES and PRES (this item can be defaulted if not
available)
Properties at tubing head or separator conditions

(optional)
1 TTOP The temperature at tubing head or separator conditions
• UNITS: °F (FIELD), or °C (METRIC)
2 PTOP The pressure at tubing head or separator conditions (PTOP must be less than PBUB)
120 Correlation Tuning VFPi User Guide

Measured data
3 BTOP The saturated oil formation volume factor at TTOP and PTOP (this item can be
defaulted if not available)
4 VTOP The saturated oil viscosity at TTOP and PTOP (this item can be defaulted if not
available)

Measured data
Calculating the tuning factors
The bubble point pressure tuning factor FO1

This is calculated using PBUB, from
RRES 0.83
PBUB = 18 ⋅ FO1 ⋅  ---------------
( 0.00091 ⋅ TRES – 0.0125 ⋅ API )
 SPG 
⋅ 10 [EQ D.1]
g
where:
PBUB is in psia
RRES is in scf/stb
TRES is in °F
API is the oil gravity in °API.
The saturated oil formation volume factor tuning

factors FO2 and FO3
These are calculated using BBUB and BTOP, from
1.175
BBUB = 0.972 ⋅ FO2 + 0.000147 ⋅ FO3 ⋅ F bub
1.175
[EQ D.2]
BTOP = 0.972 ⋅ FO2 + 0.000147 ⋅ FO3 ⋅ F top
where:
BBUB and BTOPare in rb/stb.
Fbub and Ftop refer to the parameter:
 SPG g 0.5
F = R ssat  ------------- + 1.25T [EQ D.3]
 SPG o
calculated at (TRES, PBUB) and (TTOP, PTOP) respectively,

where
Rssat is the solution GOR of saturated oil in scf/stb

SPGo is the oil specific gravity (relative to water)
T is the temperature in °F.
If BBUB is set but not BTOP, FO2 and FO3 are calculated from:
1.175
BBUB = 0.972 ⋅ FO2 + 0.000147 ⋅ FO2 ⋅ F bub
[EQ D.4]
FO3 = FO2

The under-saturated oil compressibility tuning
factor FO4
This is calculated using BBUB and BRES, from:
BRES = BBUBexp [ C o ( PBUB – PRES ) ]
( – 1433 + 5 ⋅ PRES + 17.2 ⋅ TRES – 1180 ⋅ SPGS g + 12.61 ⋅ API ) [EQ D.5]
C o = FO4 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5
10 PRES
where:
PBUB and PRES
are in psia
RRES is in scf/stb
TRES is in °F
SPGSg is the gas gravity from a separator at 100 psig
(the formula for this is given in [EQ C.8])
API is the oil gravity in °API.
The saturated oil viscosity tuning factors FO5 and

FO6
These are calculated using VBUB and VTOP, from
( FO6 ⋅ B bub )
VBUB = FO5 ⋅ A bub ⋅ VISC od
( FO6 ⋅ B top )
[EQ D.6]
VTOP = FO5 ⋅ A top ⋅ VISC od
where:
VBUB and VTOP are in cP.
Abub, Bbub, Atop and Btop refer to the parameters:
– 0.515
A = 10.715 ( R ssat + 100 )
– 0.338
B = 5.44 ( R ssat + 150 )
calculated at (TRES, PBUB) and (TTOP, PTOP) respectively,

with Rssat in scf/stb.
VISCod is the viscosity of dead oil, which is calculated as described in "Black Oil
Correlations" on page 105
If VBUB is set but not VTOP, FO5 and FO6 are calculated from:
B bub
VBUB = FO5 ⋅ A bub ⋅ ( VISC od )
[EQ D.7]
FO6 = 1.0

The under-saturated oil viscosity tuning factor
FO7
This is calculated using VBUB and VRES, from
VRES = VBUB + X ⋅ ( PRES – PBUB )
–5 1.6 0.56
[EQ D.8]
X = FO7 ⋅ 10 ⋅ ( 2.4 ⋅ VBUB + 3.8 ⋅ VBUB )
where
PBUB and PRES are in psia
VBUB is in cP.

Compositional Fluid Property
Calculations Appendix E
Introduction
If VFPi is run in compositional mode, the hydrocarbon fluid properties are found from a phase
equilibrium calculation performed on the wellstream fluid at the local temperature and pressure
of the pipe. This calculation is performed within the PVTLIB annex, as used by our PVTi
package, and provides the composition and molar volumes of the hydrocarbon phases present
together with the vapor mole fraction. For a detailed description of this calculation, the user is
referred to the technical appendices in either ECLIPSE 300 or PVTi program manuals.
In order to use the multiphase flow correlations for the pressure change along the pipe, the
density, volumetric flow rate and viscosity of oil and gas, together with the oil-gas surface
tension, are required. The calculation of these properties using the results of the phase
equilibrium calculation is described below.
VFPi User Guide Compositional Fluid Property Calculations 125

Introduction
Density
The density of oil (DENO) and gas (DENG) are found as follows:
WVAP
DENG = ----------------- [EQ E.1]
VVAP
WLIQ
DENO = --------------- [EQ E.2]
VLIQ
where:
WVAP is the weight of one mole of vapor
WLIQ is the weight of one mole of liquid
VVAP is the volume of one mole of vapor
VLIQ is the volume of one mole of liquid
The molar weights of liquid and vapor are found as follows:

WVAP =  ( SY(i)MW(i) ) [EQ E.3]
WLIQ =  ( SX(i)MW(i) ) [EQ E.4]
where:
SY(i) is the mole fraction of the ith component in the vapor

SX(i) is the mole fraction of the ith component in the liquid
MW(i) is the molecular weight of the ith component and
( ) denotes summation over all components.
126 Compositional Fluid Property Calculations VFPi User Guide

Density
Volumetric flow rate
The local volumetric flow rates for oil (FO) and gas (FG) are found using the hydrocarbon molar
rate (HMLR) in the well as follows:
FO = HMLR ( 1.0 – MFV )VLIQ [EQ E.5]
FG = HMLR ⋅ MFV ⋅ VVAP [EQ E.6]
where:
MFV is the vapor mole fraction
The hydrocarbon molar rate itself is determined from the flow rate specified in the FLOW
keyword, according to the definition of the flow variable:
If the flow variable is WGV (wet gas volume rate),
WGV
HMLR = ----------------- [EQ E.7]
VWET
where:
WGV is the wet gas volume rate
VWET is the volume of ideal gas at surface conditions
If the flow variable is TMR (total molar rate),

HMLR = TMR – WMLR [EQ E.8]
where:
TMR is the total fluid molar rate
WMLR is the water molar rate
and WMLR is found from:

WMLR = TMR ⋅ WTR [EQ E.9]
where:
WTR is the ratio of water molar rate to total molar rate, which is the water fraction variable
used in conjunction with the TMR flow variable.

Volumetric flow rate
Viscosity
The oil and gas viscosities are found from the Lohrenz, Bray and Clark correlation, which
uses the phase composition and molar volume in addition to component critical properties.
A calculation based on Woelflin’s work could be enabled which estimates the viscosity of a
brine-in-oil type of emulsion from a known clean-oil viscosity. For more information, refer to
"Black Oil Correlations" on page 105.

Viscosity
The surface tension between oil and gas may be found from the MacLeod-Sugden relationship
(as described in Reid, Prausnitz and Sherwood), which requires component parachors in
addition to the results of the phase equilibrium calculation. If the parachors have not been
entered and Oil-Gas surface tension tables are not specified, the component parachors are
estimated on the basis of component molecular weight, as in our PVTi package.
If Oil-Gas surface tension tables have been supplied by the user, the oil-gas surface tension is
found from these tables instead of using the MacLeod-Sugden relationship.

Water properties
The water properties are not provided by the phase equilibrium calculation. They are obtained
instead, as in the black oil case, either from user supplied tables or built-in correlations.
The surface volume flow rate of water (SFW), used in the calculation for the local volumetric
flow rate, is obtained from the compositional flowing condition variables as follows:
If the flow variable is WGV (wet gas volume rate),
SFW = WGV ⋅ WWR [EQ E.10]
where:
WGV = wet gas volume rate
WWR = water to wet gas volume ratio, which is the water fraction variable used in
conjunction with this flow variable.
If the flow variable is TMR (total molar rate),

WMSR
SFW = --------------------- [EQ E.11]
SDENW
where:
WMSR = water mass rate

SDENW = surface density of water.
WMSR is found from

WMSR = WMLR ⋅ MOLWW [EQ E.12]
where:
WMLR = water molar rate

MOLWW = molecular weight of water
and WMLR is found from

WMLR = TMR ⋅ WTR [EQ E.13]
where:
TMR = total molar rate

WTR = ratio of water molar rate to total molar rate, which is the water fraction variable used
in conjunction with the TMR flow variable.

Water properties
References
Lohrenz, J., BRAY, Calculating Viscosity of Reservoir fluids from their Composition, [Ref. 13]
B.G. and CLARK, J. Pet. Tech., 1171, Trans., AIME, 231, 1964
C.R.,
Reid, R.C., The Properties of Gases and Liquids, [Ref. 14]

Prausnitz, J.M. and McGraw-Hill Company, Third Edition, 1977.
Sherwood, T.K.,
Woelflin, W.: The Viscosity of Crude-Oil Emulsions, [Ref. 15]
Drill. and Prod. Prac., API 148, 1942

References
References
Wellstream Compositions
Appendix F
Introduction
When VFPi is run in compositional mode, the fluid properties are determined by performing a
phase equilibrium calculation on the wellstream fluid at the local pressure and temperature of
the pipe (see "Compositional Fluid Property Calculations" on page 125). This appendix
describes the three methods available to help the user specify a range of wellstream
compositions for the pressure traverse calculations.
VFPi User Guide Wellstream Compositions 133

Introduction
User specification
By selecting the “Specify directly” option of the Wellstream menu in the Compositional Fluid
Module, the user may enter directly the compositions of one or more wellstream fluids. VFPi
then calculates the mean molecular weight (MMW) of each fluid, and stores the fluid
compositions in an internal table ordered by increasing MMW. This table is known as the
“wellstream composition table”. When a MMW value is specified as the gas fraction for a
pressure traverse, a wellstream fluid composition with the required MMW is determined from
this table by interpolating the compositions linearly in MMW. If the specified MMW falls
outside the range of the internal table, an error message is issued and the pressure traverse
calculation is aborted.
134 Wellstream Compositions VFPi User Guide

User specification
Wellstreams from a depletion experiment
VFPi can estimate a range of wellstream fluids from the results of a pressure depletion
experiment performed on the reservoir fluid about the wellbore. By estimating the likely
reservoir phase compositions and using these to form wellstreams, it is hoped that pressure
traverses will be calculated for a range of fluids which spans those encountered in the ECLIPSE
300 simulation of the reservoir depletion.
The depletion experiment and the use of the resultant phase information to form wellstreams is
described below.
Pressure depletion experiments

The usual method of estimating the phase compositions of reservoir fluids during pressure
depletion is to simulate either a Constant Volume Depletion (CVD) or a Differential Liberation
(DL) experiment (Whitson and Torp). These mimic the behavior of gas condensate and black
oil reservoirs respectively. An alternative, simpler way of simulating pressure depletion is to
perform a Constant Composition Expansion (CCE) experiment. All three simulations require
the user to enter the reservoir temperature, its initial composition, the initial reservoir pressure
(which must be above the saturation pressure, to give a single-phase reservoir fluid), and the
abandonment pressure of the reservoir. The results of the depletion experiment are stored in an
internal table of liquid and vapor phase compositions vs. reservoir pressure. This table is known
as the “depletion experiment table”. The three types of depletion experiment are described
below:
CVD experiment
In the simulation of this experiment, the saturation pressure of the initial reservoir fluid is
determined and the molar volume at this pressure noted. The pressure is then dropped from its
saturation value in a number of stages (also specified by the user) to the abandonment pressure.
At each stage, the oil and gas composition is recorded and the volume occupied by the two-
phase fluid is calculated. An amount of gas is then withdrawn such that the fluid again occupies
the original saturation volume. This calculation is repeated at the next pressure stage with the
reduced amount of fluid. In this manner, the composition of the reservoir gas is thus
approximated.
DL experiment
In the simulation of this experiment, the saturation pressure of the initial reservoir fluid is again
determined. The pressure is then dropped from this value in a number of stages to the
abandonment pressure. At each stage the composition of the oil and gas present is noted, and all
the gas is then removed from the system. The remaining oil is then flashed at the next pressure
and the process repeated. The change in properties of the reservoir oil during depletion is thus
approximated.

CCE experiment
In this experiment no fluid is removed from the system. The pressure is reduced in stages to the
abandonment pressure, with the composition of the oil and gas at each stage being noted.
Although it is not necessary to calculate the saturation pressure of the reservoir fluid for this
experiment, the pressure depletion is started from this value. This is because the composition of
the single phase fluid does not vary with pressure above the saturation value.
If the saturation pressure calculation fails, then a CVD or DL simulation will be stopped. A CCE
simulation will still be performed however, with one stage at the initial pressure (giving the
undersaturated fluid composition) and the remaining stages spread within the two-phase region
of the reservoir fluid.
From the depletion experiment table, containing the liquid and vapor phase compositions vs.
reservoir pressure, VFPi plots a graph of pressure vs. MMW. Above the saturation pressure, the
MMW of the undersaturated fluid is constant. Below this pressure, liquid and vapor branches
appear and (initially at least) the vapor branch becomes lighter and the liquid branch becomes
heavier with decreasing pressure. At this point the user is invited to select fluids from this plot
which form the wellstream composition table. How these points are selected is, to some extent,
dependent on whether the reservoir fluid is predominantly a gas condensate or a volatile oil.
This is discussed below in the wellstream fluids sections. In common with a manually
constructed table (see above), wellstream fluid compositions for MMW values specified as gas
fraction flowing conditions are obtained by linearly interpolating this table in MMW.
It should be noted that the depletion experiment results do not take account of any fluid injection
into the reservoir. For example, with lean gas injection, it could be possible for the actual
wellstream fluid to have a mean molecular weight that is less than the lightest fluid obtained
from the depletion experiment. Lean gas injection may be taken into account by adding an extra
point to the beginning of the wellstream composition table, representing the composition of the
injected lean gas. For a wellstream composition table generated from a reservoir depletion
experiment, the lean gas composition can be manually specified. The lean gas must have a mean
molecular weight that is less than the lightest vapor obtained from the depletion experiment.
Wellstream fluids
Gas condensates
For a gas condensate it is assumed that the dropout liquid, formed at reservoir pressures below
the saturation pressure, does not significantly contribute to the wellstream fluid. Thus it is
suggested that the user concentrate wellstream selection from the vapor branch of the depletion
experiment. Note that by default VFPi picks three of the wellstream compositions at the lightest
reservoir vapor, the heaviest reservoir liquid, and the undersaturated fluid of the reservoir.
Volatile oils
In a volatile oil reservoir both the liquid and vapor phases may be mobile, and thus the
wellstream will consist of some combination of these. In order to cover as wide a range of
wellstream compositions as possible, it is suggested that the user picks wellstreams evenly
across both the liquid and vapor arms of the depletion experiment table. Note that by default
VFPi picks three of the wellstream compositions at the lightest reservoir vapor, the heaviest
reservoir liquid, and the undersaturated fluid of the reservoir.

Pressure dependent wellstream compositions
In the previous section, the depletion experiment results were used to determine the range of
reservoir fluids from which the wellstream may be formed, and an internal table constructed of
wellstreams and associated MMWs. The pressure information associated with the experiment
is thus not used. As a consequence, whenever the wellstream is a two-phase mixture, the
individual phase compositions remain constant. For a two-phase wellstream in a gas condensate
reservoir, the vapor phase composition will be that of the reservoir vapor at the saturation
pressure, and the liquid phase composition will be that of dropout oil at the abandonment
pressure. A two-phase wellstream in a volatile oil reservoir will be comprised of a mixture of
reservoir liquid and vapor at their saturation pressure compositions.
The third method for constructing wellstreams overcomes this limitation by taking account of
the pressure information in the depletion experiment table. Instead of constructing a wellstream
composition table, the vapor and liquid phase compositions are interpolated directly from the
depletion experiment table at a reservoir pressure equal to the BHP from the current pressure
traverse calculation. The phases are then mixed in the proportion required to give a fluid of the
specified MMW. The pressure dependent wellstream composition method is activated by
selecting the “Pressure dependent” option of the Wellstream menu in the Compositional Fluid
module. Below, we first discuss the relation between pressure, reservoir fluids and wellstream
composition before describing the method in more detail.
At a given pressure, the wellstream fluid is comprised of a combination of the reservoir liquid
and vapor phases at that pressure. This combination is uniquely determined by the MMW. It is
instructive to consider the behavior of the MMWs of the liquid and vapor as a function of
pressure for a volatile oil, as shown schematically in the figure below. When P > Psat, the MMW
of the single-phase liquid is constant. When P < Psat, the vapor phase appears and becomes
(initially, at least) progressively lighter at decreasing pressures as the liquid phase becomes
progressively heavier. At a reservoir pressure Pa, all possible wellstream compositions are
represented by the tie-line between the vapor and liquid branches. Specifically, the fluid with
mean molecular weight MMWa has a composition set by that mixture of vapor and liquid which
gives this mean molecular weight.

Figure F.2 Pressure variations in phase mean molecular weight during reservoir depletion
Undersaturated
Liquid
One Phase Region
Psat
Two Phase Region
A
PA Liquid Branch
Tie Line
Vapour
Branch
MMWV MMWA MMWL MMW

Given the phase compositions vs. pressure from the depletion experiment table, the wellstream
composition is obtained by interpolation at the start of each pressure traverse calculation. The
phase compositions depend on the BHP (assumed equivalent to the reservoir pressure), and the
user specified MMW defines the proportions of these phases within the wellstream fluid. In a
bottom-to-top pressure traverse, the BHP is already known. But in a top-to-bottom traverse, the
BHP is not known until the traverse has been completed, and thus the process has to be iterated
with successive traverse calculations until the BHP converges. Normally this takes at most just
three or four iterations.
If during the pressure traverse iterations the (BHP, MMW) point falls outside the two-phase
region, the wellstream composition is obtained from the point on the two-phase envelope at that
value of the MMW. Thus the MMW is honoured but not the reservoir pressure. This situation
would indicate that a wellstream fluid with the given MMW would not actually be encountered
at that reservoir pressure, in a pure depletion process, unless of course P > Psat and the MMW
corresponds to that of the undersaturated reservoir fluid.
Note The pressure dependent wellstreams option does not produce a wellstream
composition table, because wellstream compositions are effectively a function of two
variables - MMW and BHP.

The advantage that this option has over the methods based on a wellstream composition table is
that, by using the pressure information from the depletion experiment, it can model more
accurately the wellstreams produced in a pure reservoir depletion. The disadvantage of this
method is that, without a wellstream composition table, it lacks the flexibility of the other
methods to add wellstreams representing injected fluids.

References
Whitson, C.H. and Evaluating Constant Volume Depletion Data, [Ref. 16]
Torp, S.B., J. Pet. Tech., Page 610-620, March 1983.

References
Heat Transfer Calculation
Appendix G
Introduction
In order to determine the fluid properties during a pressure traverse calculation, both the fluid
temperature and pressure must be known. The fluid temperature along the tubing can either be
fixed by the user via an input table or it can be calculated during the traverse and thus take into
account heat exchange with the surrounding environment and the Joule-Thomson effect.
To calculate the fluid temperature during a pressure traverse along the tubing, an enthalpy
balance equation must be iteratively solved in conjunction with the momentum balance
equation for the fluid pressure. The enthalpy balance equation and its solution are described in
this appendix.
In the calculation of the heat exchange between the tubing fluid and the surrounding
environment, an overall heat transfer coefficient between the two must be supplied. This
coefficient may be entered directly as a function of tubing length. Alternatively the heat transfer
coefficient can be calculated from the conductivities of the casings and annuli which separate
the tubing fluid from the surrounding environment. This is also described in this appendix.
VFPi User Guide Heat Transfer Calculation 141

Introduction
Enthalpy balance equation and its solution
Following Alves and Brill and Beggs, the enthalpy balance equation is:
dh g sin θ v 1 dv U ⋅ π ⋅ d
= – ----- ⋅ ----------- – --- ⋅ --- ⋅ – ------------------- ⋅ ( T – T e ) [EQ G.1]
dL gc J gc J dL w
where:
h is the fluid enthalpy in Btu/lbm
L is the length along the tubing in ft
g is the gravitational acceleration (32.2 ft/sec2)
gc is the conversion factor (32.2 lbm-ft/lbf-sec2)
θ is the inclination angle from horizontal
J is the mechanical equivalent of heat (778 ft-lbf/Btu)
v is the fluid velocity in ft/sec
U is the steady state overall heat transfer coefficient in Btu/sec/°F/ft2
d is the tubing internal diameter in ft
T is the fluid temperature in °F
Te is the environment or surrounding temperature in °F
w is the mass flow rate in lbm/sec
The enthalpy gradient can be expressed in terms of the temperature and pressure gradients as
follows:
dh dT dp 144
= cp ⋅ – η ⋅ cp ⋅ ⋅ --------- [EQ G.2]
dL dL dL J
where:
p is the fluid pressure in psi
cp is the specific heat capacity at constant pressure in Btu/lbm/°F
η is the Joule-Thomson coefficient in °F-ft3/Btu
Substituting [EQ G.2] into [EQ G.1] and rearranging gives:

1
dT ---- 1 Φ
+ - ⋅ T = ----- ⋅ T e + ------------ [EQ G.3]
d L Lr Lr ρ ⋅ cp
where the relaxation distance, L r is given by:
w ⋅ cp
L r = ------------------- [EQ G.4]
U⋅π⋅d
and
ρ ⋅ η ⋅ c p dp ρ⋅g ρ ⋅ v dv
Φ = --------------------- ⋅ ⋅ 144 – ------------ ⋅ sin θ – ------------ ⋅ [EQ G.5]
J dL J ⋅ gc J ⋅ gc d L
If for a small segment of the tubing the surrounding temperature is a linear function of depth:
i
T e = T e + g e ⋅ L ⋅ sin θ [EQ G.6]
142 Heat Transfer Calculation VFPi User Guide

where:
ge is the environment temperature gradient in °F/ft
Te
i is the environment temperature before the length step L
and all non-temperature terms are assumed constant, [EQ G.3] can be integrated to give:
f f i i
T = T e + ( T – T e )exp ( – L ⁄ L r ) [EQ G.7]
Φ ⋅ Lr
– g e ⋅ L r ⋅ sin θ [ 1 – exp ( – L ⁄ L r ) ] + -------------- [ 1 – exp ( – L ⁄ L r ) ]
ρ ⋅ cp
where temperatures superscripted with an f denote values after the length step.
This equation, together with that for the pressure at the end of a length step (see "Calculating
Pressure Traverse" on page 97) is solved iteratively using averaged mid-step values for ρ , Lr,
cp and Φ . The convergence tolerances for the temperature and pressure in this iterative
calculation may be set in the Steps and Limits panel as generated from the Control Data
panel.
For two-phase flow, the heat capacity and Joule-Thomson coefficient are a mixture of the single
phase gas and liquid values as follows (Alves):
c p = ( w g ⋅ c pg + w L ⋅ c pL ) ⁄ w [EQ G.8]
1 wg T ∂z wL
η = – ------------- ⋅  ------ ⋅  – --- ⋅  + ------ [EQ G.9]
c p ⋅ w  ρ g  z ∂ T ρ L 
where:
C pg is the gas specific heat capacity in Btu/lbm/°F (supplied by user)
C pL is the liquid specific heat capacity in Btu/lbm/°F (supplied by user)
wg is the gas mass flow rate in lbm/sec
wL is the liquid mass flow rate in lbm/sec
ρg is the gas density in lbm/ft3

ρL is the liquid density in lbm/ft3
z is the gas compressibility factor (obtained from Brill and Beggs’ curve fitting
equations as modified by Standing)
The temperature stepping [EQ G.7] must be solved with the direction of fluid flow from a known
inlet temperature through the tubing to an unknown outlet temperature. This presents no
problems for a bottom-to-top production well traverse or a top-to-bottom injection well traverse
when the inlet pressure is given and the outlet pressure is to be calculated. When the required
pressure traverse is in the reverse direction to the fluid flow however and the outlet pressure is
given, then a series of traverses in the direction of the fluid flow must be performed to iterate
on to the known outlet pressure by varying the unknown inlet pressure.

Overall heat transfer coefficient
In [EQ G.7] the term which calculates the heat exchange between the tubing fluid and the
surrounding environment relies on an overall heat transfer coefficient between the two. This
coefficient may be entered directly as a function of tubing length. Alternatively, the user may
define a casing table or a series of concentric layers which separate the tubing fluid from the
surrounding environment. In either case, the heat transfer coefficient, U, is calculated from a
series of rings of known conductivity and thickness as follows (Brill and Beggs):
2 1
U = --- ⋅ ------------------------------------------ [EQ G.10]
d n  ln [ r jo ⁄ r ij ] 
j = 1
  -------------------------
k
j
-

where:
d is the tubing internal diameter in ft
k
j is the thermal conductivity of the jth ring in Btu/sec/ft/°F
ro
j is the outer radius of the jth ring in ft
ri
j is the inner radius of the jth ring in ft
n is the number of concentric rings
Note Note that this calculation assumes the tubing to be either wholly buried in rock or
completely exposed to air or water. If exposed to air or water, convection in the
surrounding medium is ignored. The tubing fluid flow is also assumed to be
sufficiently turbulent that the fluid temperature is uniform in cross-section.

Overall heat transfer coefficient
References
Alves, I.N., “A Unified Model for Predicting Flowing Temperature Distribution in Wellbores and
Alhanati, F.J.S. and Pipelines”, [Ref. 17]
Shoham, O. SPE Production Engineering, Page 363-367, November 1992.
Brill, J.P. and “Two-Phase Flow in Pipes”, [Ref. 18]

Beggs, H.D. University of Tulsa, December 1978.
Standing, M. B. “Volumetric and Phase Behavior of Oil Field Hydrocarbon Systems” [Ref. 19]
Society of Petroleum Engineers of AIME, Dallas, 1977.

References
References
Matching Observed Data
Appendix H
Introduction
flow correlations which supply the hydrostatic, friction loss and acceleration pressure gradients
given the local flowing conditions. These are mainly based on semi-empirical fits to water/air
flow along transparent, laboratory scale pipes. The uncertainties arise from applying these
laboratory results to oil field pipelines and wellbores. In an attempt to lessen this uncertainty,
the pressure matching module allows the user to performs a series of pressure traverse
calculations which automatically tune or regress “fitting factors” within these multi-phase flow
correlations to achieve a best fit to a set of supplied pressure measurements from flowing wells.
No attempt is made to alter other factors within the pressure traverse calculation such as tubing
data or any of the fluid properties during the regression calculation. This is because this data is
assumed to be well known in comparison to the multi-phase flow correlation uncertainties.
The observed data, multi-phase flow correlation fitting factors and the regression technique
itself are described in this Appendix.
VFPi User Guide Matching Observed Data 147

Introduction
Observed data
The observed data entered by the user takes the form of a series of pressure measurements at
known flowing conditions. These measurements may be a number of pressure values at
different lengths along the tubing for one particular set of oil rate, gas rate, water rate and THP
values. Alternatively, the pressure measurements may be a series of BHP values at differing oil
rate, gas rate, water rate and THP values. No limit is placed on the number of observations that
the user may enter.
Each observation has a weight associated with it, which by default is unity. If the user believes
a particular observation to be suspect, then its weight may be reduced, and thus it will have less
bearing in the regression calculation. If the weight is set to zero, this observation will be ignored
completely.
Observed data entered by the user may be saved to a Project keyword file.
148 Matching Observed Data VFPi User Guide

Observed data
Multi-phase flow correlation fitting factors
The variables changed by the regression technique to minimize the difference between the
observed and calculated pressure values are the five fitting factors which alter the results from
the multi-phase flow correlations.
Description of the five fitting factors

The first three factors alter components of the total pressure gradient and the slip as predicted
by the correlation. Their effect is uniform across flow regimes. In contrast, the last two factors
alter the total pressure gradient in a flow regime dependent manner. These latter factors are
designed to give the regression technique the flexibility to improve the fit to observed pressures
in (say) a high velocity, mist type flow regime without strongly altering the fit in a low velocity,
bubble type flow regime. Note that setting each fitting factor to unity removes their effect. In
detail, the five fitting factors are described as follows:
1 Factor multiplying the friction loss pressure gradient
2 Factor multiplying the hydrostatic pressure gradient
3 Weight factor for gas-liquid slip
• 0.0 corresponds to homogeneous flow without slip
• 1.0 corresponds to slip as derived from the flow correlation
4 Gas holdup factor
This fitting factor multiples the total pressure gradient by an amount that varies with the
local gas holdup:
dp dp
= ⋅ ( 1 + ( Fg – 1 ) ⋅ αg ) [EQ H.1]
dL dL
where
p is the fluid pressure
L is the length along the tubing
Fg is the fourth factor
αg is the Gas Holdup
5 Mach number factor

This fitting factor multiples the total pressure gradient by an amount that varies with the
Mach number:
dp dp
= ⋅ ( 1 + ( Fm – 1 ) ⋅ Mn ) [EQ H.2]
dL dL
where
Fm is the fifth factor
Mn is the Mach number

Fitting factor variation and status during
regression
When all five fitting factors are at their default value of unity, the results from the multi-phase
flow correlations are not changed. During the regression the fitting factors which have been set
as variable may move from unity to any value between their lower and upper bounds as set by
the user. A regression which results in one or more factors deviating wildly from unity should
be treated with caution and may indicate that the pressure traverse calculation data has not been
correctly set up or an inappropriate flow correlation has been chosen. An exception to this might
be the case where the tubing roughness is not well known: a significant variation in the friction
factor could then be acceptable.
During the regression VFPi may assign a fitting factor as redundant. This means that it does not
affect the results of any pressure traverse performed by the regression. An example of
redundancy would be the slip fitting factor when all the regression pressure traverses predict a
single phase flow regime throughout the tubing.

Regression technique
Regression steps and residuals
Provided that are at least as many observed pressures as there are variable fitting factors, a best
fit to the observed data is found by the regression algorithm progressing through a series of
steps. In each step, for every observed pressure value an appropriate pressure traverse is
performed and the difference in pressures, known as a residual, is formed as follows:
obs calc
ri = wi ⋅ ( pi – pi ) [EQ H.3]
where
ri is the residual for the ith observation

wi is the weight of the ith observation
obs
pi is the ith observed pressure value
calc
pi is the calculated pressure for the ith observation
The Root Mean Square for this step is then formed from all the residuals as follows:
N
1
rms = ---- ⋅
N i=1 ri ⋅ ri [EQ H.4]
where
N is the number of observations
This rms is reported at the end of each step as the algorithm tries to reach the set target value
by varying the fitting factors on the basis of the current residuals, their gradients and curvatures.
The rms target may not be reached because, for example, the maximum number of steps had
been reached, or no further improvement in the rms could be found by additional variations in
the fitting factors.
Regression algorithm
The regression algorithm itself is based on the Levenberg-Marquardt method (Denis and
Schnabel). This is a hybrid method which smoothly varies between a second order Newton type
minimization method and a first order steepest descent method. It combines the efficiency of a
second-order method near a solution with the robustness of a first order method far from a
solution.
This “pseudo” second order method has been constructed to ensure that it will always proceed
towards a genuine minimum. It should be noted however, that it may not in general find the
global minimum.

Regression technique
References
DENIS, J. E. and Numerical methods for unconstrained optimization and Nonlinear Equations, [Ref. 20]
SCHNABEL, R. B.: Prentice-Hall Inc., New Jersey, 1983.

References
Command Language
Appendix I
Introduction
The command language as implemented in VFPi allows the user to perform tasks within the
program as dictated by a command script file. During playback of this file, VFPi is effectively
running in a batch mode; it expects and allows no user interaction.
In its current state, the anticipated role of this feature is to enable the user to create multiple,
large VFP tables. With VFPi running in its normal interactive mode, the user would have to wait
for the completion of VFP table calculation before entering the data for the next table etc. Using
the command language however, the data for all the tables could be set up in advance and VFPi
may be left running the command script over night if necessary.
VFPi User Guide Command Language 153

Introduction
Using the command language
Command log file

By default, the basic tasks which an user must perform to create a VFP table are recorded as
commands in the file VFPI.CMD. This recording process may be turned off at any point in the
session using an option from the Commands menu in the ribbon window. The commands stored
thus far may also be played back, again using the appropriate option from the Commands menu.
Creating a command script file

The recommended steps for generating a command script file which can be played back to
construct VFP tables are as follows:
1 Take an existing VFPI.CMD log file from an interactive session generating a VFP table and
rename this file. The renaming is necessary because the VFPI.CMD file is overwritten for
each VFPi session and so any changes you make to this file (see next step) would be lost in
future sessions.
2 Using a text editor, modify the renamed file by altering existing commands and adding new
commands to generate and write out the required VFP tables.
3 One of the most important commands in a script is the “ReadKeyword” command which
takes as an argument any keyword. Such keywords will change the data state of VFPi and
thus allow a different table to be created. Note that this command can never be recorded in
a log file.
An example of script which will read a keyword data file, create a VFP table, then modify the
Gas Fraction flowing conditions (using the ReadKeyword command) and create another VFP
table is shown below.
ReadKeywordFile( File = “/usr/ecl/99a/vfpi/data/PTRAV.DATA” )

CreateVFPTable( Table = “PTRAV1” )
ReadKeyword( Keyword = “GFR &
GOR &
0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 /” )
CreateVFPTable( Table = “PTRAV2” )
Note Note the use of “&” as a continuation character in the argument of the ReadKeyword
command. Further examples of command scripts are provided at the end of this
appendix.
Silent running
When VFPi is playing a command script file, it is effectively in batch mode, with the log
window reporting its progress through the file’s set of commands. The user can perform no
further VFPi tasks until the script file commands have been completed.
154 Command Language VFPi User Guide

During this batch mode, message boxes are not displayed - effectively the button in this box is
automatically pushed. For question boxes, the left hand, default button is also automatically
pushed and again the box is not displayed. The limits on the number of warnings and errors
permitted during a pressure traverse calculation (see the Steps and Limits panel) still apply
even though the warnings and errors are only reported to the log window and not in a message
or question box. Should either of these limits be exceeded, then the corresponding VFP table
calculation will be abandoned.

Commands and keywords
Commands
The commands that are recognized in a script which can be played back are described below.
With the exception of the ReadKeyword and SelectWell commands, all of the below will
be recorded in the VFPI.CMD file when the appropriate task is performed interactively by the
user.
ReadKeywordFile (File = arg)

Reads a file containing keywords. The argument arg contains the name of the keyword file, and
optionally its directory path, in a quoted string.
WriteKeywordFile (File = arg)

Writes out the current data state of VFPi as a keyword file. The argument arg contains the name
of the keyword file, and optionally its directory path, in a quoted string.
SelectWell (WellNumber = arg)

Selects the well and all its children, whose data will then be used by subsequent pressure
traverse calculations. The well selected is determined by its number in the tree, counting from
zero at the top of the tree.
ReadKeyword (Keyword = arg)

Reads a particular VFPi keyword and overwrites the corresponding data in VFPi. The argument
arg contains the keyword and its data in a quoted string. Using the continuation character ‘&’,
the keyword data may be split over a number of lines and spaced out for readability. The
keyword data formats are described in "Keywords" on page 175.
CreateVFPTable (Table = arg)

Performs a series of pressure traverse calculations and constructs a VFP table using the
currently defined flowing conditions. This table is held internally within VFPi. The argument
arg contains the name of the table in a quoted string.
WriteVFPTable (TableName = arg1, FileName = arg2)

Writes out a named VFP table into an external file. The argument arg1 contains the name of the
table to be written in a quoted string and the argument arg2 contains the name of the external
file, and optionally its path, in a quoted string.

DoRegression (rmsTarget = arg1, iterLimit = arg2)
Performs a regression calculation that varies the inbuilt pressure traverse fitting factors (see
"Description of the five fitting factors" on page 149) to achieve a best fit to any measured
pressure data supplied for the current well (see "Fitting factor variation and status during
regression" on page 150). The rms target for this regression is supplied via argument arg1 and
the maximum number of iterations permitted in the regression is supplied via argument arg2.

Example command script 1
In the following script, a series of VFP tables are formed by making variations in the tubing
geometry, the oil fluid model and the flow correlations from a baseline defined by a keyword
data file. Each step in the script is described below:
1 Read in the baseline data set and create and write the baseline VFP table

CreateVFPTable( Table = “PTRAV_BASE” )
WriteVFPTable( TableName= “PTRAV_BASE”, &
FileName = “/usr/ecl/99a/vfpi/data/PTRAV_BASE.VFP”
)
2 Alter the tubing string geometry and create and write another VFP table
ReadKeyword( Keyword = “DEPTHS &

0 0 &
2000 0 &
6000 3000 &
10000 7000 /”)
CreateVFPTable( Table = “PTRAV_GEOM” )
WriteVFPTable( TableName= “PTRAV_GEOM”, &
FileName = “/usr/ecl/99a/vfpi/data/PTRAV_GEOM.VFP”
)
3 Reset the data back to the baseline by re-reading the original keyword file

4 Supply an oil PVT table which will be used in place of the internal correlations (no tables
were supplied in the keyword data set). Create and write a new VFP table.
ReadKeyword( Keyword = “OILPVT &

120 1.73E-5 6.3E-5 &
.002 13.7 1.026 2.1596 &
.05 198.6 1.046 1.6523 &
.1 353.0 1.068 1.3531 &
.15 494.2 1.091 1.1596 &
.2 627.5 1.114 1.0229 &
.25 755.1 1.139 0.9206 &
.3 878.5 1.163 0.8408 /&
150 2.15E-5 6.5E-5 &
.01 55.6 1.045 1.3663 &
.05 211.4 1.063 1.1345 &
.1 375.9 1.085 0.9547 &
.15 526.3 1.109 0.8354 &
.2 668.2 1.133 0.7493 &
.25 804.1 1.157 0.6837 &
.3 935.5 1.182 0.6317 &
.35 1063 1.208 0.5892 &
.4 1188 1.234 0.5538 / “ )
CreateVFPTable( Table = “PTRAV_OILT” )
WriteVFPTable( TableName= “PTRAV_OILT”, &
FileName = “/usr/ecl/99a/vfpi/data/PTRAV_OILT.VFP”
)
5 Reset the data back to the baseline by re-reading the original keyword file, that is return to
using correlations for the oil PVT properties.
6 Alter the flow correlations used and create and write a new VFP table
ReadKeyword( Keyword = “FLOWCORL &

0 ‘BEG’ &
2000 ‘HAG’/”)
CreateVFPTable( Table = “PTRAV_FLOW” )
WriteVFPTable( TableName= “PTRAV_FLOW”, &
FileName = “/usr/ecl/99a/vfpi/data/PTRAV_FLOW.VFP”
)

In this script, a series of VFP tables are formed after various regression calculations have been
performed to best fit the measured pressure data supplied for the well. Each step in the script is
described below:
1 Read in a VFPi data set for the well (that includes measured pressures and flowing
condition data for a VFP table calculation) and create and write the baseline VFP table
ReadKeywordFile( File = "C:\sim\vfpi\2004a\bin\MATCH.DATA" )

CreateVFPTable( Table = "Match" )
WriteVFPTable( TableName = "Match", &
FileName = "C:\sim\vfpi\2004a\bin\MATCH.VFP" )
2 Instruct VFPi to fit the measured data (to an rms of 5 psia) and then create a VFP table (now
using calibrated pressure traverses) and write this table to a file. Note that the final rms
value, the number of iterations taken and the fit factor values will be written out to the Log
Window after the regression.
DoRegression( rmsTarget = 5, iterLimit = 25 )

CreateVFPTable( Table = "Matched_1" )
WriteVFPTable( TableName = "Matched_1", &
FileName = "C:\sim\vfpi\2004a\bin\MATCHED_1.VFP" )
3 Reset the fit factor values and allow only the Friction and Hydrostatic factors to vary
(between 0 and 5).
ReadKeyword( Keyword = "FTFACTOR &

1.0 0.0 5.0 1 &
1.0 0.0 5.0 1 &
1.0 0.0 5.0 0 &
1.0 0.0 5.0 0 &
1.0 0.0 5.0 0 /" )
4 Repeat the regression (with a tighter rms target) and then create another VFP table (using
differently calibrated pressure traverses) and write this table out to a file.
DoRegression( rmsTarget = 1, iterLimit = 25 )

CreateVFPTable( Table = "Matched_2" )
WriteVFPTable( TableName = "Matched_2", &
FileName = "C:\sim\vfpi\2004a\bin\MATCHED_2.VFP" )

Production Table Format
Appendix J
Introduction
VFPi can generate a table of BHP values tabulated against the flowing condition variables
(FLO, THP, WFR, GFR and ALQ) for use by ECLIPSE simulators to perform well tubing head
pressure calculations for a production well. The table format is the same for both black oil and
compositional VFP tables, with only the flowing condition variables referring to different
quantities in each case.
Black oil tables have the following choices of flowing condition variables:
FLO = oil, liquid, or gas production rate
PRS = tubing head or bottom hole fixed pressure
WFR = water-oil ratio, water cut, or gas-water ratio
GFR = gas-oil ratio, gas-liquid ratio, or oil-gas ratio
ALQ = a fifth variable that can be used to incorporate an additional look-up parameter, such as
the level of artificial lift.
Compositional tables have the following choices of flowing condition variables:
FLO = wet gas volume, or total molar production rate

WFR = water - wet gas volume ratio, or water - total moles ratio
GFR = wellstream mean molecular weight
ALQ = a fifth variable that can be used to incorporate an additional look-up parameter, such as
the level of artificial lift.
The table is headed by the keyword VFPPROD and consists of the following records of data,
each record terminated with a slash (/).
Record 1
Basic data for table
VFPi User Guide Production Table Format 161

Introduction
1 Table number.
2 Bottom hole datum depth for table.
• UNITS: ft (FIELD) or m (METRIC).
3 Definition of first variable FLO (enclosed in inverted commas).
'OIL’ - oil production rate (black oil)

'LIQ' - liquid (oil + water) production rate (black oil)
'GAS' - gas production rate (black oil)
'WGV' - wet gas volume production rate (compositional)
‘TMR’ - total molar production rate (compositional)
4 Definition of the water fraction variable WFR

(enclosed in inverted commas).
'WOR' - water-oil ratio (black oil)

'WCT’ - water cut (water-liquid ratio) (black oil)
'WGR’ - water-gas ratio (black oil)
'WWR - water-wet gas volume ratio (compositional)
'WTR’ - water-total moles ratio (compositional)
5 Definition of the gas fraction variable GFR

'GOR' - gas-oil ratio (black oil)

'GLR' - gas-liquid ratio (black oil)
'OGR’ - oil-gas ratio (black oil)
'MMW' - wellstream mean molecular weight (compositional)
6 Definition of the fixed pressure values given in record 3

'THP' - tubing head pressure

'BHP' - bottom hole pressure
ECLIPSE simulators will only accept THP.

7 Definition of the artificial lift quantity
'GRAT' - lift gas injection rate

'IGLR' - injection gas-liquid ratio
'TGLR’ - total gas-liquid ratio
'PUMP' - pump rating
'COMP' - compressor power
'DENO' - surface density of oil
'DENG' - surface density of gas
'BEAN' - choke diameter
'' - no ALQ defined
8 Unit convention of the VFP table

162 Production Table Format VFPi User Guide

Introduction
'METRIC' or 'FIELD'
9 Definition of the tabulated quantity in the body of the table, records 7 onwards (enclosed
in inverted commas).

'TEMP' - outlet temperature
ECLIPSE simulators will only accept BHP.

Terminate this record with a slash (/).
Record 2
NFLO FLO (flow rate) values, in ascending order, terminated with a slash (/).
• UNITS: OIL : stb/day (FIELD) or sm3/day (METRIC)

LIQ : stb/day (FIELD) or sm3/day (METRIC)
GAS : Mscf/day (FIELD) or sm3/day (METRIC)
WGV : Mscf/day (FIELD) or sm3/day (METRIC)
TMR : lb-M/day (FIELD) or kg-M/day (METRIC)
Record 3
NPRS PRS (pressure) values, in ascending order, terminated with a slash (/).
• UNITS: psia (FIELD) or barsa (METRIC)
Record 4
NWFR WFR values, in ascending order, terminated with a slash (/).
• UNITS: WOR : stb/stb (FIELD) or sm3/sm3 (METRIC)

WCT : stb/stb (FIELD) or sm3/sm3 (METRIC)
WGR : stb/Mscf (FIELD) or sm3/sm3 (METRIC)
WWR : stb/Mscf (FIELD) or sm3/sm3 (METRIC)
WTR : Mol/Mol (FIELD) or Mol/Mol (METRIC)
Record 5
NGFR GFR values, in ascending order, terminated with a slash (/).
• UNITS: GOR : Mscf/stb (FIELD) or sm3/sm3 (METRIC)

GLR : Mscf/stb (FIELD) or sm3/sm3 (METRIC)
OGR : stb/Mscf (FIELD) or sm3/sm3 (METRIC)
MMW : dimensionless

Introduction
Record 6
NALQ ALQ values, in ascending order, terminated with a slash (/).
• UNITS: GRAT : Mscf/stb (FIELD) or sm3/sm3 (METRIC)

IGLR : Mscf/stb (FIELD) or sm3/sm3 (METRIC)
TGLR : Mscf/stb (FIELD) or sm3/sm3 (METRIC)
DENO : lb/ft3 (FIELD) or kg/m3 (METRIC)
DENG : lb/ft3 (FIELD) or kg/m3 (METRIC)
BEAN 1/64ths in (FIELD) or mm (METRIC)
otherwise not relevant.
The units for PUMP and COMP will depend on the definition of the
pump rating or compressor power used in the pump or compressor table.
Note that when running the ECLIPSE Gas Lift Optimization facility, the simulator assumes the
ALQ to be the lift gas injection rate (GRAT).
Record 7 to NPRS*NWFR*NGFR*NALQ + 6.
NPRS*NWFR*NGFR*NALQ successive records each containing the following items, and
each terminated with a slash (/).
1 NP (PRS value number)
2 NW (WFR value number)
3 NG (GFR value number)
4 NA (ALQ value number)
5 Calculated pressure at
• 1st FLO value
• NPth PRS value
• NWth WFR value
• NGth GFR value
• NAth ALQ value
6 Calculated pressure at
• 2nd FLO value
• NPth PRS value
• NWth WFR value
• NGth GFR value
• NAth ALQ value
:
:
:
NFLO+4

Introduction
Calculated pressure at
• last FLO value
• NPth PRS value
• NWth WFR value
• NGth GFR value
• NAth ALQ value
• UNITS: psia (FIELD) or barsa (METRIC).
Terminated with a slash (/).
All combinations of
NF = 1 to NFLO
NP = 1 to NPRS
NW = 1 to NWFR
NG = 1 to NGFR
NA = 1 to NALQ are covered.
If VFPi is running in compositional mode, the VFPCHECK keyword is appended to the end of
the table, containing the following data items
Item 1 Water density at standard conditions.

Item 2 Molecular weight of water.
Item 3 Standard pressure.
Item 4 Standard temperature.
Item 5 Units system.
Item 6 Number of components.
Items 1, 3 and 4 are in the units as defined by item 5. The information is read by ECLIPSE 300
to check that the table is consistent with the simulator’s data.
Notes
If during a pressure traverse calculation the well bore fluid exceeds the sonic velocity, the
corresponding calculated pressure value in the table is set to a value as defined in the Control
Data panel.
If during a pressure traverse calculation the well bore fluid becomes erosive by exceeding a gas
or liquid flow velocity limit set in the Control Data panel, the calculated pressure value in the
table may be set to a value also defined in this panel.
If during a pressure traverse the phase equilibrium cannot be found at some point in the pipe
(compositional mode only), the corresponding calculated pressure value in the table is set to -
1.0E10.

Introduction
Example
For a compositional run:
--VFP TABLE FOR PRODUCER, NFLO=5, NPRS=2, NWFR=1, NGFR=3, NALQ=1 --

VFPPROD
1 2.00000E+03 ‘WGV’ ‘WWR’ ‘MMW’ ‘THP’ ‘’ ‘METRIC’ ‘BHP’/ Basic
data for table
1.00000E+04 5.00000E+04 1.00000E+05 5.00000E+05
1.00000E+06/ 5
FLOW values
2.00000E+02 4.00000E+02/ 2
THP values
0.00000E+00/ 1
WFR value
2.10000E+01 3.00000E+01 6.00000E+01/ 3
GFR values
0.00000E+00/ 1
ALQ value
1 1 1 1 2.37414E+02 2.38597E+02 2.42123E+02 3.37644E+02
5.62134E+02
/
2 1 1 1 4.57105E+02 4.57874E+02 4.60147E+02 5.28035E+02
7.17119E+02
/
1 1 2 1 2.55000E+02 2.57184E+02 2.63824E+02 3.89321E+02
6.96654E+02
/
2 1 2 1 4.78840E+02 4.79979E+02 4.83334E+02 5.83639E+02
8.68273E+02
/
1 1 3 1 3.08733E+02 3.11688E+02 3.21873E+02 6.06055E+02
1.39561E+03
/
2 1 3 1 5.20151E+02 5.23297E+02 5.32321E+02 7.97721E+02
1.57188E+03
/
--DATA USED BY E300 TO CHECK VALIDITY OF VFP TABLE
VFPCHECK
1022.0000 18.0200 1.0132 15.5556 METRIC 16
/

Introduction
Injection Table Format
Appendix K
Introduction
VFPi can generate a table of BHP values tabulated against the flowing condition variables (FLO
and THP) for use by ECLIPSE simulators to perform well tubing head pressure calculations for
an injection well. The table format is the same for both black oil and compositional VFP tables,
with only the flowing condition variable FLO referring to different quantities in each case.
Black oil tables have the following choices of flowing condition variables:
FLO = oil, water, or gas injection rate
Compositional tables have the following choices of flowing condition variables:
FLO = wet gas volume, or total molar injection rate
The table is headed by the keyword VFPINJ and consists of the following records of data, each
record terminated with a slash (/).
Record 1
Basic data for table
1 Table number
2 Bottom hole datum depth for table.
• UNITS: ft (FIELD) or m (METRIC).
3 Definition of first variable FLO
'OIL' - oil injection rate (black oil)

'WAT' - water injection rate (black oil)
VFPi User Guide Injection Table Format 167

Introduction
'GAS' - gas injection rate (black oil)
'WGV' - wet gas volume injection rate (compositional)
'TMR' - total molar injection rate (compositional)
4 Definition of the fixed pressure values given in record 3

ECLIPSE will only accept THP.

5 Unit convention of the VFP table (enclosed in inverted commas).
'METRIC' or 'FIELD'
6 Definition of the tabulated quantity in the body of the table, records 4 onwards (enclosed
in inverted commas).

'TEMP' - outlet temperature pressure
ECLIPSE will only accept BHP.

Record 2
NFLO FLO (flow rate) values, in ascending order, terminated with a slash (/).
• UNITS: OIL stb/day (FIELD) or sm3/day (METRIC)

WAT stb/day (FIELD) or sm3/day (METRIC)
GAS Mscf/day (FIELD) or sm3/day (METRIC)
WGV Mscf/day (FIELD) or sm3/day (METRIC)
TMR lb-M/day (FIELD) or kg-M/day (METRIC)
Record 3
NPRS PRS (pressure) values, in ascending order, terminated with a slash (/).
• UNITS: psia (FIELD) or barsa (METRIC)
Record 4 to NPRS + 3.
NPRS successive records each containing the following items, and each terminated with a slash
(/).
1 NP (PRS value number)
2 Calculated pressure at 1st FLO value and NPth PRS value
168 Injection Table Format VFPi User Guide

Introduction
3 Calculated pressure at 2nd FLO value and NPth PRS value
:
:
:
NFLO+1
Calculated pressure at last FLO value and NPth PRS value.
• UNITS: psia (FIELD) or barsa (METRIC).
All combinations of
NF = 1 to NFLO
NP = 1 to NPRS are covered.
If VFPi is running in compositional mode the VFPCHECK keyword is appended to the end of
the table, containing the following data items
Item 1: Water density at standard conditions
Item 2: Molecular weight of water
Item 3: Standard pressure
Item 4: Standard temperature
Item 5: Units system
Item 6: Number of components.
Items 1, 3 and 4 are in the units as defined by item 5. The information is read by ECLIPSE 300
to check that the table is consistent with the simulator’s data.
Note
If during a pressure traverse calculation the well bore fluid exceeds the sonic velocity, the
corresponding calculated pressure value in the table is set to a value as defined in the Control
Data panel.
If during a pressure traverse calculation the phase equilibrium cannot be found at some point in
the pipe (compositional mode only), the corresponding calculated pressure value in the table is
set to -1.0E10.
VFPi User Guide Injection Table Format 169

Introduction
Example
VFP Table For Water Injector, NFLO=5, NPRS=1:
1 7.00000E+03 ‘WAT’ ’THP’ ‘FIELD’ ‘BHP’ /

1.00000E+00 3.00000E+02 7.00000E+02 1.00000E+03
2.00000E+03
/
1.00000E+03
/
1 4.03999E+03 4.03423E+03 4.01346E+03 3.98903E+03
3.85537E+03
/
170 Injection Table Format VFPi User Guide

Introduction
VIP Well Hydraulics Table
Appendix L
Introduction
VFPi is able to export a VFP table to an external file in the format that the VIP simulator expects
for a wellbore hydraulics table. This data follows a BHPTAB keyword for productions tables and
a BHITAB keyword for injection tables. Both black oil and compositional table may be exported
in this format within the limitations described below. For details of the table formats and the
flowing variables units in the FIELD and METRIC systems, please refer to the VIP manual.
VFPi is also able import existing VIP wellbore hydraulics tables from an external file for black
oil fluid tables - it is not however able to fully import compositional fluid tables because of the
difference in gas fractions used by VIP and VFPi (see below). Once a VIP hydraulics table has
been imported, the user may perform the same operations on this table as an internally
calculated table, or an ECLIPSE compatible imported keyword. So, for example, cross-sections
from an imported VIP wellbore hydraulics table may be viewed in 2D or 3D, the hydraulics
table may be graphically edited or it may be stabilized by removing the upturn in all BHP curves
at low flow values.
In the following sections of this appendix the main differences between ECLIPSE VFP tables
and VIP wellbore hydraulics tables are outlined.
VFPi User Guide VIP Well Hydraulics Table 171

Introduction
Black oil fluid tables
VFPi offers a greater choice in the allowed combinations of flow variable, gas fraction and
water fraction than VIP expects in the BHPTAB keyword data. If you are creating a table that
you expect to export in the VIP format, please limit your choice of combinations to those shown
in Table L.1:
Table L.1 Combinations of black oil fluid tables supported by VIP
Flow Gas Fraction Water Fraction

LIQ GLR WCUT
OIL GOR WCUT
GAS OGR WGR
There is also a difference in units used for gas fractions, water fractions, pressures and gas
injection rates between the two table types as outlined in Table L.2
Table L.2 Units used by ECLIPSE and VIP for black oil fluid tables
Simulator Field Metric

gas/liquid or gas/oil ECLIPSE Mscf/stb scm/scm
VIP scf/stb scm/scm
oil/gas ECLIPSE stb/Mscf scm/scm
VIP stb/MMscf scm/MMscm
water/gas ECLIPSE stb/Mscf scm/scm
VIP stb/MMscf scm/Mscm
pressure ECLIPSE psia bars
VIP psia kPa
gas injection rate ECLIPSE Mscf/day scm/day
VIP Mscf/day Mscm/day
VFPi will write out the keyword data in the units appropriate for the simulator.
172 VIP Well Hydraulics Table VFPi User Guide

Black oil fluid tables
Compositional fluid tables
VIP expects the flow variable to be a wet gas volume rate (that is the total hydrocarbon rate
converted to an ideal gas rate at standard conditions). The gas fraction is not the mean molecular
weight (MMW) of the wellstream, but an oil to gas ratio. VFPi converts between the two when
writing out a VIP wellbore hydraulics table by flashing the wellstream of a given MMW directly
to surface conditions to form an oil to gas ratio. Please note that this does not take into account
any separator effects.
If a compositional VIP table is read in from an external file, the OGR gas fractions are
interpreted as MMWs - no conversions can take place because the wellstream compositions
used to form the original table are not in general known.
VFPi User Guide VIP Well Hydraulics Table 173

174 VIP Well Hydraulics Table VFPi User Guide
Keywords
Appendix M
Structure of keyword file

VFPi stores its data state between session by means of a data keyword file. The keywords in this
file are based on those used by the batch program VFP, and for reasons of back compatibility
VFPi can read all the appropriate VFP keywords. In order to accommodate the new features in
VFPi however, the number of keyword types has increased compared to those used by VFP.
Furthermore, the structure of the keyword file has changed to reflect the multi-well aspects of
VFPi. There should be no need for the user to directly edit this file as all the keywords are
automatically created and written by VFPi when saving its data state. To alter any data, it is
strongly recommended that appropriate panel in VFPi is used to examine and change this data
rather than editing the keyword file and re-reading it.
The keyword file consists of a number of data sections, each of which is terminated by an END
keyword. These sections are described below:
• General data keywords
This sections holds the general program keywords together with the universal VFP table
calculation keywords, any VFP tables held internally in VFPi and the number of wells
specified in the data tree.
Then for each well, the following grouping occurs
• Well data keywords
The keywords in this compulsory section name the well, define which child nodes belong
to the well and hold any user notes associated with the well.
• Tubing keywords
If the well has a Tubing node, this section will be present.
• Black Oil Fluid keywords
If the well has a Black Oil Fluid node, this section will be present.
• Compositional Fluid keywords
If the well has a Compositional Fluid node, this section will be present.
VFPi User Guide Keywords 175

• Calculation Control data keywords
If the well has a Calculation Control node, this section will be present.
• Measured Pressure data keywords
If the well has a Measured Pressure node, this section will be present.
• Table Definition keywords
This section holds information of a VFP Table associated with the well
After the last section of the last well, an additional END keyword will be found which denotes
the end of the keyword data file.
In the remainder of this appendix is a brief description of the VFPi keywords in each section
listed alphabetically.
176 Keywords VFPi User Guide

General keywords
For a description of the VFPPROD and VFPINJ keywords, which contain the actual VFP table
data read by the ECLIPSE simulators, refer to "Production Table Format" on page 161 and
"Injection Table Format" on page 167.
• "METRIC" on page 178
• "PANELS" on page 179
• "PROJECT" on page 180
• "VFPTABLE" on page 181
• "WELLNUM" on page 182

General keywords
METRIC Declares metric unit convention
The keyword has no associated data. It sets the unit convention to the METRIC option. If this
keyword is not present in the input data, the unit convention will be the FIELD option.

METRIC
PANELS Panel positions
The keyword is followed by a number of lines of data, and describes the screen positions of all
the panel opened, or currently open at the point of saving VFPi’s data state to the keyword file.
The data is terminated by a slash (/).
Each line describes the position of a panel and consists of:
1 Unique name for the panel
2 X co-ordinate of the top left hand corner
3 Y co-ordinate of the top left hand corner
The co-ordinates are in screen pixels.

PANELS
PROJECT Project definition
The keyword is followed by data describing the project held in the keyword file. The first part
of the data consists of 6 lines terminated by a slash (/) denoting:
1 Project name
2 Author
3 Creation date
4 Last modified date
5 Version of VFPi that created or last modified this file
6 Integer form of version string
The second part of the data consists of a number of lines that contain the users description of the
project. This description (and the keyword as a whole) is terminated by a slash (/).

PROJECT
VFPTABLE Name and number of the VFP Table
This keyword is followed by a quoted string for the name of the VFP Table held internally and
a single integer for the number of this table. It is terminated by a slash (/).

VFPTABLE
WELLNUM Number of wells in data tree
This mandatory keyword is followed by a single integer for the number of wells in the
hierarchical data tree. It is terminated by a slash (/).

WELLNUM
VFP table calculation keywords
The following keywords are the VFP table calculations keywords.
• "ALQ" on page 184
• "FLOW" on page 185
• "GFR" on page 186
• "PRES" on page 187
• "TABNAME" on page 188
• "TABNUM" on page 189
• "WFR" on page 190

VFP table calculation keywords
ALQ Fifth variable
The ALQ is a fifth variable that can be used to incorporate an additional look-up parameter, such
as the level of artificial lift.
The keyword should be followed by:
First, a line containing the 3-character definition of the ALQ
GRAT injection rate of gas lift gas
IGLR injection gas-liquid ratio
TGLR total gas-liquid ratio
PUMP pump rating
COMP compressor power
BEAN choke diameter
DENO surface density of oil
DENG surface density of gas
followed on the subsequent line(s) by successive values of the ALQ, terminated with a slash (/).

ALQ
FLOW Flow rate values
First, a line containing the 3-character phase identifier
OIL surface flow rate of oil

WAT surface flow rate of water
GAS surface flow rate of gas
LIQ surface flow rate of liquid (oil + water)
WGV wet gas volume rate (compositional)
TMR total molar rate (compositional)
followed on the subsequent line(s) by successive values of the flow rate, terminated with a slash
(/).

FLOW
GFR Gas fraction values
First, a line containing the 3-character definition of the gas fraction
GOR gas-oil ratio at surface conditions
GLR gas-liquid ratio at surface conditions
OGR oil-gas ratio at surface conditions
MMW mean molecular weight of wellstream fluid (compositional)
followed on the subsequent line(s) by successive values of the gas fraction, terminated with a
slash (/).

GFR
PRES Tubing head or bottom hole pressures
First, a line containing the 3-character pressure variable identifier
THP the program will read the values of the tubing head pressure, and calculate the values of
the bottom hole pressure (a ‘top-to-bottom’ calculation)
BHP the program will read the values of the bottom hole pressure, and calculate the values of
the tubing head pressure (a ‘bottom-to-top’ calculation)
followed on the subsequent line(s) by successive values of the specified pressure, terminated
with a slash(/).

PRES
TABNAME VFP table name
The keyword is followed by a quoted string for the name of the universal VFP table. It is
terminated by a slash(/).

TABNAME
TABNUM VFP table number
The keyword is followed by a single integer for the number of the universal VFP table. It is
terminated by a slash(/).

TABNUM
WFR Water fraction values
First, a line containing the 3-character definition of the water fraction:
WOR water/oil ratio at surface conditions
WCT water/liquid ratio at surface conditions (water cut)
WGR water/gas ratio at surface conditions
WWR water/wet gas ratio at surface conditions (compositional)
WTR water/total mole ratio (compositional)
followed on the subsequent line(s) by successive values of the water fraction, terminated with
a slash (/).

WFR
Well keywords
The foillowing keywords apply to wells.
• "WELLFLAG" on page 192
• "WELLNAME" on page 193
• "WELLNODE" on page 194
• "WELLNOTE" on page 195

Well keywords
WELLFLAG Child nodes types
The keyword is followed by one line of data containing 2 integers that indicate the type of
Tubing node and the type of Fluid node. It is terminated by a slash (/). The integers refer to:
1 Tubing Node Type
• 0 = Injection well
• 1 = Production well
2 Fluid Node Type
• 0 = Compositional Fluid
• 1 = Black Oil Fluid

WELLFLAG
WELLNAME Name of well
The keyword is followed by a quoted string for the name of a well. It is terminated by a slash (/).

WELLNAME
WELLNODE Child nodes of well
The keyword is followed by one line of data containing 4 integers that indicate whether the four
types of child node for the well exist. It is terminated by a slash (/). The integers refer to:
1 Tubing Node (0 = node is absent)
2 Fluid Node (0 = node is absent)
3 Calculation Control Node (0 = node is absent)
4 Measured Pressures Node (0 = node is absent)

WELLNODE
WELLNOTE Well Description
The keyword is followed by 5 blocks of data containing the user entered descriptions for a well,
its Tubing node, Fluid node, Calculation Control node and Measured Pressure node. Each block
consists of a number of text lines and is terminated by a slash (/). The keyword as a whole is
finally terminated by an additional slash (/).

WELLNOTE
Tubing keywords
• "ANNULUS" on page 197
• "BEAN" on page 198
• "CASING" on page 199
• "CASEDESC" on page 200
• "COATING" on page 201
• "COMPTABL" on page 202
• "DELTAP" on page 203
• "DEPTHS" on page 204
• "DIAM" on page 205
• "GASLIFT" on page 206
• "GASLIFTC" on page 207
• "OHTC" on page 208
• "PUMP" on page 209
• "ROUGHNES" on page 210
• "TEMP" on page 211
• "TEMPTABL" on page 212
• "TUBCNTRL" on page 213

Tubing keywords
ANNULUS Fluid diameters vs. tubing length
The following are tubing keywords.
The keyword should be followed by a table of Tubing and Casing diameters vs. length,
terminated by a slash (/). For flow in the annulus formed between the tubing and the casing, the
tubing diameter is an external diameter. By setting this tubing diameter to zero, the flow
becomes circular in cross-section.
The table consists of three columns of data
1 Length down the tubing
2 Tubing diameter from this length on
3 Casing diameter from this length on

ANNULUS
BEAN Bean data
The keyword should be followed by 9 numbers, terminating with a slash (/).
General parameters concerning the choke
1 Length down tubing at bean
2 Bean size, S
Parameters for the Gilbert Model
3 The constant C. Default value = 435 (FIELD), or 1.942 (METRIC)
4 The constant N. Default value = 0.546 (FIELD and METRIC units)
5 The constant M. Default value = 1.89 (FIELD and METRIC units)
6 The constant A. Default value = 14.7 (FIELD), or 1.01 (METRIC)
Parameters for the Sachdeva Model
7 The heat capacity ratio Cp/Cv. Default value = 1.4 (FIELD and METRIC units)
8 The Discharge Coefficient. Default value = 0.85 (FIELD and METRIC units)
A value to determine the chosen model
9 Model Type
• 0 = Sachdeva
• 1 = Gilbert

BEAN
CASING Casing and annulus table
A casing table provides a thermal description of casings and annuli that separate the flowing
fluid from the surrounding environment, which has a fixed temperature vs. length profile. This
data is used when VFPi calculates the fluid temperature from an enthalpy balance equation
during a pressure traverse.
The table consists of number of row each terminated by a slash (/) and containing up to 7
numbers. The end of the keyword data is denoted by an additional slash (/). Each row contains
the following:
1 Length down tubing at start of casing
2 Length down tubing at end of casing
3 Inner diameter of casing
4 Outer diameter of casing
5 Thermal conductivity of casing
6 Thermal conductivity of annulus immediately outside casing (optional)
7 Outer diameter of annulus immediately outside casing (optional)

CASING
CASEDESC Casing and Annulus description
The first column of VFPi’s casing table allows the user to provide an optional textual description
for each casing. The keyword holds this data as number of lines each containing a string
terminated by a slash (/). The end of the keyword data is denoted by an additional slash (/).

CASEDESC
COATING Concentric ring thermal data
This keyword defines a series of concentric rings of given thicknesses and thermal
conductivities that separate the flowing fluid from the surrounding environment, which has a
fixed temperature vs. length profile. This data is used when VFPi calculates the fluid
temperature from an enthalpy balance equation during a pressure traverse.
The keyword is followed by a series tables which define a length of tubing with a constant
concentric ring description.
Each table consists of:
1 Length down tubing from which the description starts
then successive pairs of
2 Ring thickness (working outwards from centre)
3 Ring Thermal Conductivity
Each table must be terminated with a slash (/).

COATING
COMPTABL Gas compressor tables
The compressor option is designed for use in pipelines where there is single-phase gas flow.
Compressor behavior is described by a table of compression ratio vs. gas flow rate at standard
surface conditions, for each value of the compressor power.
The keyword should be followed first by one line of data containing a single number, then by a
compressor table for each power value. Each compressor table must be terminated with a slash
(/).
The single number denotes
1 Length down tubing at compressor intake
Each compressor table consists of:
1 Power value
then successive pairs of
1 Gas flow rate in pipeline, at standard surface conditions
2 Compression ratio (Outlet pressure / intake pressure)

COMPTABL
DELTAP Local pressure drop vs. flow rate tables
The pressure drop tables option is designed to allow a localized pressure drop, at any location
in the tubing, as a function of the surface flow rate or mixture velocity. This facility can be used
to model the pressure drop due to sub-critical flow through a choke.
The keyword should be followed by a number of blocks of data. Each block of data consists of
two single numbers followed by a table of pressure drop values vs. flow rate, and is terminated
with a slash (/).
The first two numbers denote:
1 Length down the tubing at which this pressure drop is located
2 Flow rate definition in the table
a flow rate is surface flow rate of oil
b flow rate is surface flow rate of water
c flow rate is surface flow rate of gas
d flow rate is surface flow rate of liquid
e flow rate is mixture velocity
Each table consists of successive pairs of:
3 Flow rate as defined above
4 Pressure drop at that flow rate

DELTAP
DEPTHS Depth vs. length down tubing table
The keyword should be followed by a table of depth vs. tubing length, terminated by a slash (/
). The tubing length is the overall length down the tubing from the surface.
The table consists of two columns of data:
2 True vertical depth at this length value
At least two sets of length and depth values are required. The first set corresponds to the end of
the tubing at the surface, and should have a tubing length value of zero. The final set must
correspond to the bottom hole depth of the well.
The length values must be in increasing order. The depth values need not increase
monotonically with length, however, as the tubing may follow the undulations of hilly terrain.
Between two successive length points, the depth is linearly interpolated, that is the tubing is
assumed to be straight between successive length points.

DEPTHS
DIAM Fluid diameter vs. tubing length
The keyword should be followed by a table of the tubing diameter vs. length, terminated by a
slash (/). The tubing diameter for circular cross-sectioned flow is an internal diameter.
The table consists of two columns of data
2 Tubing diameter from this length on.

DIAM
GASLIFT Black oil gas lift data
The keyword should be followed by one line of data containing 2 numbers, denoting:
1 Length down tubing at gas injection point
2 Fraction of the injected gas that is allowed to dissolve in under-saturated oil.
1.0 allows all the injected gas to dissolve in under-saturated oil above the injection
point, subject to the oil’s saturation limit.
0.0 prevents any of the injected gas from dissolving in under-saturated oil.
A number between 0.0 and 1.0 allows only part of the injected gas to re-saturate the oil.

GASLIFT
GASLIFTC Compositional gas lift data
1 Length down tubing at the injection point
2 The number of components (NCOMPS) in the injection fluid
3 The component mole fractions of the lift gas injection fluid
(that is NCOMPS values which sum to unity)
The data entry should be terminated by a slash (/).

GASLIFTC
OHTC Heat transfer coefficients
This keyword defines the overall heat transfer coefficient vs. tubing length profile for the
material that separates the flowing fluid from the surrounding environment, which has a fixed
temperature vs. length profile. This data is used when VFPi calculates the fluid temperature
from an enthalpy balance equation during a pressure traverse.
On each line after the keyword are successive pairs of:
1 Length down tubing from which the following coefficients applies
2 An overall heat transfer coefficient
The data entry should be terminated by a slash (/).

OHTC
PUMP Pump tables
The keyword should be followed first by one line of data containing 2 numbers, then by a pump
head table for each rating value. Each pump head table must be terminated with a slash (/).
The two numbers denote:
1 Length down tubing at pump intake
2 Volume fraction of gas at pump intake above which the pump cuts off.
The pump is assumed to operate according to its head vs. rate curve, as long as the local volume
fraction of gas does not exceed the cut-off value. Above this value, the pump does not function.
Each pump head table consists of:
1 Rating value
Then successive pairs of:
1 Volumetric flow rate through pump
2 Pump head

PUMP
ROUGHNES Tubing roughness
The keyword should be followed by a table of absolute tubing roughness vs. length down the
tubing, terminated by a slash (/).
2 Absolute tubing roughness from this length on.

ROUGHNES
TEMP Temperature vs. length down tubing
The keyword should be followed by a table of temperature vs. length, terminated by a slash (/).
2 Fluid temperature
If the user has selected the calculate fluid temperatures option, this keyword is used to store the
constant temperature profile of the surrounding environment.

TEMP
TEMPTABL Fluid outlet temperature vs. flow rate
This keyword defines a table of fluid temperature at the tubing outlet vs. flow rate. To calculate
the fluid temperature at any given length down the tubing, two interpolations are performed.
First the outlet temperature is determined for the particular flow rate, by interpolating the table
defined in this keyword. Secondly the temperature at the required tubing length is determined
by linearly interpolating the temperatures at the tubing inlet and outlet.
The keyword should be followed first by one line of data containing a single number, then by
an outlet temperature table. The table should be terminated by a slash (/). The single number
denotes:
1 Fluid temperature at tubing inlet
The table consists of two columns of data
1 Surface flow rate of the fluid defined in FLOW keyword
2 Fluid temperature at tubing outlet

TEMPTABL
TUBCNTRL Tubing control data
This keyword supplies the control settings for the tubing node. It is followed by 4 integers
terminated by a slash (/).
1 Bean on/off
• 0 = Bean is not active
• 1 = Bean is active
2 Active ALQ Device
• 0 = No ALQ device
• 1 = Pump
• 2 = Gas Lift
• 3 = Gas Compressor
3 Thermal mode
• 0 = Fixed temperature vs. length profile
• 1 = Fixed outlet temperature vs. flow profile
• 2 = Calculated fluid temperature
4 Heat transfer data source
• 0 = Overall Heat Transfer Coefficient table
• 1 = Concentric rings tables
• 2 = Casing and Annulus table

TUBCNTRL
Black oil fluid keywords
The following are black oil fluid keywords.
• "BOFCNTRL" on page 215
• "DENSITY" on page 216
• "DGASPVT" on page 217
• "EMLVSC" on page 218
• "OILPFIT" on page 219
• "OILPVT" on page 220
• "SHEATC" on page 221
• "STCOND" on page 222
• "STOG" on page 223
• "STWG" on page 224
• "WATPVT" on page 225
• "WGASPVT" on page 226

Black oil fluid keywords
BOFCNTRL Tubing control data
This keyword supplies the control settings for the black oil fluid node. It is followed by 5
integers terminated by a slash (/).
1 Table/correlation choice for oil PVT properties (0 = correlation)
2 Table/correlation choice for water PVT properties (0 = correlation)
3 Table/correlation choice for gas PVT properties
• 0 = dry gas correlation
• 1 = dry gas table
• 2 = wet gas table
4 Table/correlation choice for oil-gas surface tension (0 = correlation)
5 Table/correlation choice for water-gas surface tension
(0 = correlation).

BOFCNTRL
DENSITY Surface fluid densities
The keyword should be followed by one line of data terminated by a slash. The 3 data items
denote
1 Oil density at standard surface conditions
2 Water density at standard surface conditions
3 Gas density at standard surface conditions.
If VFPi is running in compositional mode, only the water density should be non-zero (the oil
and gas surface densities being calculated from the wellstream fluid composition).

DENSITY
DGASPVT Dry gas PVT tables
The keyword should be followed by successive tables of PVT properties for dry gas (that is gas
containing no vaporized oil), each terminated by a slash (/). Each table consists of:
First, one number denoting:
1 The temperature value
followed by 3 columns of data denoting:
1 The pressure
2 The gas formation volume factor
3 The gas viscosity

DGASPVT
EMLVSC Emulsion viscosity
This keyword should be followed by one line of data containing 2 integers used to enable/
disable the Woelflin calculation of emulsion viscosity and to select the type of emulsion. The
data entry should be terminated by a slash (/).
1 Calculation on/off
• 0 = Calculation is disabled
• 1 = Calculation is enabled
2 Type characterizing the emulsion
• 0 = Loose (minimal agitation)
• 1 = Medium
• 2 = Tight (extreme agitation)

EMLVSC
OILPFIT Oil PVT correlations tuning
This keyword may be used to tune the built-in correlations for oil PVT properties, to fit
measured data. The oil PVT correlations are summarized in "Black Oil Correlations" on
page 105. These contain 7 tuning factors, FO1, FO2,......, FO7, which are initially set to 1.0. Use
of the OILPFIT keyword causes some or all of the tuning factors to be reset to fit the specified
data.
The keyword should be followed by 3 lines of data, each terminated with a slash (/). The 3 lines
set the oil properties (formation volume factor and viscosity) at bubble point conditions, tubing
head or separator conditions, and under-saturated reservoir conditions respectively. Items may
be defaulted by setting them negative, or by terminating the line early with the slash. Lines 2
and 3 may be defaulted entirely, if data at their respective conditions are not available, by
entering just the slash terminator. If the data required to calculate a particular tuning factor have
not been entered, the factor will retain the value of 1.0.

OILPFIT
OILPVT Oil PVT properties table
The keyword should be followed by successive tables of oil PVT properties, each terminated by
a slash (/). Each table consists of:
First, one line of 3 numbers denoting:
2 The compressibility of undersaturated oil
3 The ‘viscosity factor’ (that is the derivative of viscosity with respect to pressure, divided
by the viscosity) of undersaturated oil
1 The dissolved gas-oil ratio (RS)
2 The bubble point pressure for this RS value
3 The oil formation volume factor at the bubble point
4 The oil viscosity at the bubble point

OILPVT
SHEATC Fluid specific heat capacities
The keyword should be followed by one line of data terminated by a slash (/). The 3 data items
denote
1 Specific heat capacity of oil
2 Specific heat capacity of gas
3 Specific heat capacity of water.

SHEATC
STCOND Standard surface conditions
The keyword should be followed by one line of data containing 2 numbers, terminated with a
slash (/). The numbers denote:
1 Standard surface temperature
2 Standard surface pressure.

STCOND
STOG Oil-gas interfacial tension tables
The keyword should be followed by successive tables of oil-gas interfacial tension, each
terminated by a slash (/). Each table consists of first, one number denoting:
followed by successive 2 columns of data denoting:
1 The pressure
2 The oil-gas interfacial tension.

STOG
STWG Water-gas interfacial tension tables
The keyword should be followed by successive tables of water-gas interfacial tension, each
terminated by a slash (/). Each table consists of:
followed by 2 successive columns of data denoting:
1 The pressure
2 The water-gas interfacial tension.

STWG
WATPVT Water PVT properties table
The keyword should be followed by a table of water PVT properties, terminated by a slash (/).
The table consists of 6 columns of data, denoting:
1 The temperature
2 A datum pressure
3 The water formation volume factor at the datum pressure
4 The water compressibility
5 The water viscosity at the datum pressure
6 The water ‘viscosity factor’ (that is the derivative of viscosity with respect to pressure,
divided by the viscosity).
The table must be terminated with a slash (/).

WATPVT
WGASPVT Wet gas PVT properties tables
The keyword should be followed by successive tables of PVT properties for wet gas (that is
condensate gas containing vaporized oil), each terminated by a slash (/). Each table consists of:
1 The pressure
2 The saturated vaporized oil-gas ratio (RV)
3 The saturated gas formation volume factor
4 The saturated gas viscosity
5 An under-saturated oil-gas ratio value
6 The corresponding under-saturated gas formation volume factor
7 The corresponding under-saturated gas viscosity.

WGASPVT
Compositional fluid keywords
The following keywords are compositional fluid keywords.
• "ACF" on page 228
• "BIC" on page 229
• "CNAMES" on page 230
• "EOS" on page 231
• "HYDRO" on page 232
• "MOLWW" on page 233
• "MW" on page 234
• "NCOMPS" on page 235
• "OMEGAA" on page 236
• "OMEGAB" on page 237
• "PARACHOR" on page 238
• "PCRIT" on page 239
• "PRCORR" on page 240
• "SSHIFT" on page 241
• "TCRIT" on page 242
• "VCRIT" on page 243
• "VCRITVIS" on page 244
• "ZCRIT" on page 245
• "ZCRITVIS" on page 246
• "ZDEPEXP" on page 247
• "ZLEANGAS" on page 248
• "ZWELINP" on page 249

Compositional fluid keywords
ACF Component acentric factors
This keyword associates an acentric factor with each of the NCOMPS components of the
compositional fluid. The keyword should be followed by one or more lines of data containing
in total NCOMPS real numbers. Each number should be delimited from its neighbor by a space
or a new line. The data entry should be terminated by a slash (/).

ACF
BIC Component binary interaction coefficients
This keyword defines the binary interaction coefficients between the NCOMPS components of
the compositional fluid. The keyword is followed by NCOMPS*(NCOMPS-1)/2 binary
interaction coefficient values arranged in lower triangular form. The data entry should be
The default value for a coefficient is zero, symmetry is used to specify values in the upper
triangular part of the format, and the self binary interaction coefficient is zero.

BIC
CNAMES Component names
This keyword associates a character string, used for reporting purposes only, with each of the
NCOMPS components of the compositional fluid. Each character string should be delimited from
its neighbor by a space or a new line. The data entry should be terminated by a slash (/).
The maximum string length is 72 characters, although a limit of 4 is suggested in deference to
program output formats. Strings need only be enclosed in single quotes if they contain blank
characters.

CNAMES
EOS Equation of state to be used
This keyword enables one of three possible equations of state to be chosen. The keyword should
be followed by a line containing a character argument terminated by a slash (/).
The possible options are:
PR Peng-Robinson
RK Redlich-Kwong
SRK Soave-Redlich-Kwong

EOS
HYDRO Hydrocarbon/ non-hydrocarbon
This keyword denotes each of the NCOMPS components as either hydrocarbon with an “H”, or
a non-hydrocarbon with an “N”. Thus the keyword should be followed by NCOMPS single-letter
characters and must be terminated with a slash (/). Multiple consecutive occurrences of the same
character can be represented as, say, 4*H.

HYDRO
MOLWW Molecular weight of water
The keyword should be followed by one line of data containing a number denoting the
molecular weight of water. The data entry should be terminated by a slash (/).

MOLWW
MW Component molecular weights
This keyword associates a mean molecular weight with each of the NCOMPS components of
the compositional fluid. The keyword should be followed by one or more lines of data
containing in total NCOMPS real numbers. Each number should be delimited from its neighbor
by a space or a new line. The data entry must be terminated by a slash (/).

MW
NCOMPS Number of components
The keyword should be followed by one line of data containing an integer which sets the
number of components in the compositional fluid. The data entry should be terminated by a
slash (/).

NCOMPS
OMEGAA OmegaA EOS coefficients
In the absence of this keyword VFPi uses default values for the omegaA equation of state
coefficient (see the PVTi or ECLIPSE 300 manual for further details). However should the user
wish to change these values, the OMEGAA keyword may be specified, which associates a
coefficient with each of the NCOMPS components of the compositional fluid.
The keyword should be followed by one or more lines of data containing in total NCOMPS real
numbers. Each number should be delimited from its neighbor by a space or a new line. The data
entry must be terminated by a slash (/).

OMEGAA
OMEGAB OmegaB EOS coefficients
In the absence of this keyword VFPi uses default values for the omegaB equation of state
coefficient (see the PVTi or ECLIPSE 300 manual for further details). However should the user
wish to change these values, the OMEGAB keyword may be specified, which associates a
coefficient with each of the NCOMPS components of the compositional fluid.
The keyword should be followed by one or more lines of data containing in total NCOMPS real
numbers. Each number should be delimited from its neighbor by a space or a new line. The data
entry must be terminated by a slash (/).

OMEGAB
PARACHOR Component critical parachors
This keyword associates a parachor with each of the NCOMPS components of the compositional
fluid. The keyword should be followed by one or more lines of data containing in total NCOMPS
real numbers. Each number should be delimited from its neighbor by a space or a new line. The
data entry must be terminated by a slash (/).
These values need only be entered if the surface tension between oil and gas is to be calculated
internally using the MacLeod and Sugden procedure, and not taken from a supplied STOG
table.

PARACHOR
PCRIT Component critical pressures
This keyword associates a critical pressure with each of the NCOMPS components of the
or a new line. The data entry must be terminated by a slash (/).

PCRIT
PRCORR Modified Peng-Robinson EOS
This keyword requests that a slightly modified form of the Peng-Robinson equation of state is
to be used. The keyword has no associated data, and is not terminated by a slash. It will have no
effect on equations of state other than the Peng-Robinson.

PRCORR
SSHIFT EOS shift parameters
This keyword associates a dimensionless volume shift parameter with each of the NCOMPS
components of the compositional fluid. The keyword should be followed by one or more lines
of data containing in total NCOMPS real numbers. Each number should be delimited from its
neighbor by a space or a new line. The data entry must be terminated by a slash (/).
The volume shift calculated from these parameters is applied equally to all equations of state.
Volumes are not shifted if this keyword is absent.

SSHIFT
TCRIT Component critical temperatures
This keyword associates a critical temperature with each of the NCOMPS components of the

TCRIT
VCRIT Component critical molar volumes
This keyword associates a critical molar volume with each of the NCOMPS components of the
If the ZCRIT keyword has previously been used to enter the critical compressibility factors,
then the critical molar volumes are calculated internally and the VCRIT keyword will be
ignored. Either the ZCRIT keyword or the VCRIT keyword must be entered.

VCRIT
VCRITVIS Component critical molar volumes for
viscosity calculations
This keyword associates a critical molar volume with each of the NCOMPS components of the
compositional fluid. This data will only be used in viscosity calculations and not in phase
equilibria calculations. The keyword should be followed by one or more lines of data containing
This keyword is optional (see ZCRITVIS keyword).
If the ZCRITVIS keyword has previously been used to enter the critical compressibility factors,
then the critical molar volumes are calculated internally and the VCRITVIS keyword will be
ignored.

VCRITVIS
ZCRIT Component critical compressibility factors
This keyword associates a critical compressibility factor with each of the NCOMPS components
of the compositional fluid. The keyword should be followed by one or more lines of data
containing in total NCOMPS real numbers. Each number should be delimited from its neighbor
by a space or a new line. The data entry must be terminated by a slash (/).

ZCRIT
ZCRITVIS Component critical compressibility factors
for viscosity calculations
This keyword associates a critical compressibility factor with each of the NCOMPS components
of the compositional fluid. This data will only be used in viscosity calculations and not in phase
equilibria calculations. The keyword should be followed by one or more lines of data containing
This keyword is optional (see VCRITVIS keyword).

ZCRITVIS
ZDEPEXP Reservoir depletion experiment
ZDEPEXP is used to define the reservoir pressure depletion experiment, which calculates the
reservoir phase compositions as a function of the pressure. This keyword has two records of
data, each terminated by a slash
(/).
The first data record is composed of the following items:
1 Experiment type:
CVD = constant volume depletion
DL = differential liberation
CCE = constant composition expansion
2 Reservoir temperature
3 Initial reservoir pressure
4 Abandonment reservoir pressure
5 Number of pressure stages.
The second data record consists of NCOMPS non-negative mole fractions which define the
composition of the initial reservoir fluid. These must sum to unity.

ZDEPEXP
ZLEANGAS Lean gas composition
This keyword allows the user to augment the wellstream composition table generated from a
depletion experiment with the composition of a lean gas that has been injected into the reservoir.
(See "Wellstream Compositions" on page 133.)
The keyword should be followed by the component mole fractions of the lean gas injected into
the reservoir (that is NCOMPS real numbers which sum to unity). The data entry should be

ZLEANGAS
ZWELINP Input of wellstream compositions
This keyword allows the user to enter directly the composition of the wellstream fluids. The
keyword should be followed one or more sets of such compositions. Each set should contain
NCOMPS non-negative mole fractions which sum to unity, and should be terminated by a slash
(/). The final set of compositions must be followed by a line containing just a slash (/).

ZWELINP
Calculation control keywords
The following keywords are calculation control keywords.
• "ACCHDCHK" on page 251
• "ERODEVEL" on page 252
• "FTFACTOR" on page 253
• "FLOWCORL" on page 254
• "ITLIMS" on page 255
• "ITPTRAV" on page 256
• "ORKPARAM" on page 257
• "MESSLIMS" on page 258
• "SONICPRS" on page 259
• "SONICVEL" on page 260
• "NEWSTEPS" on page 261

Calculation control keywords
ACCHDCHK Acceleration pressure head calculation
check
The keyword should be followed by a single integer. The data entry should be terminated by a
slash (/).
1 Calculation on/off
• 0 = Calculation is disabled
• 1 = Calculation is enabled

ACCHDCHK
ERODEVEL Erosion flow velocities
This keyword may optionally be used to set a limit on the liquid and gas flow velocities, which
represents the point at which the flow could start to cause erosion damage. If a VFP table is
being calculated for use in ECLIPSE simulators, the BHP value written to this table can
optionally be replaced with a user specified value chosen to prevent the well from operating at
these conditions.
The ERODEVEL keyword should be followed by a line containing up to 3 numbers, terminated
with a slash (/). The numbers denote:
1 The local liquid flow velocity in the well bore at which erosion damage may start
• DEFAULT: No erosion velocity limit applied to liquid phase
2 The local gas flow velocity in the well bore at which erosion damage may start
• DEFAULT: No erosion velocity limit applied to gas phase
3 The BHP value to be written to the VFP table to indicate that the erosion velocity limit has
been exceeded
• DEFAULT: Keep the BHP value that was calculated for these flowing conditions

ERODEVEL
FTFACTOR Data fitting parameters
The keyword should be followed by five lines of data each terminated by a slash(/). A final slash
(/) terminates the keyword data as a whole.
Each line contains a value, lower and upper bounds and the status (0 = Fixed, 1 = Variable) for
the following fitting factors:
1 Multiplier for friction loss gradient
2 Multiplier for hydrostatic pressure gradient
3 Weighting factor for gas-liquid slip.
0.0 - homogeneous flow, no slip
1.0 - slip as derived from multi-phase flow correlations
4 Gas holdup factor
5 Mach number factor
The bounds and status data for the fitting factors are used in the pressure matching module (see
"Matching Observed Data" on page 147).

FTFACTOR
FLOWCORL Multi-phase flow correlations
The keyword should be followed by a table of flow correlation identifier vs. length down the
tubing, terminated by a slash (/).
2 Identifier of flow correlation to be applied from this length onwards (enclosed in inverted
commas):
'AZIZ' = correlation of Aziz, Govier and Fogarasi

'ORK' = correlation of Orkiszewski
'HAG' = correlation of Hagedorn and Brown
'BEG' = correlation of Beggs and Brill
'MUK' = correlation of Mukherjee and Brill
'GRA' = correlation of Gray
'PAZ' = correlation of Petalas and Aziz
The identifiers can be abbreviated - only the first letter is significant.

FLOWCORL
ITLIMS Pressure step iteration limits
The keyword should be followed by one line of data containing 3 integers, denoting
1 Limit on number of iterations for the pressure step
2 Limit on number of iterations for the friction factor
3 Limit on number of iterations for the pseudo-reduced density in the correlation for the gas
Z-factor.

ITLIMS
ITPTRAV Pressure traverse iteration limits
Some calculations in VFPi require a number of pressure traverses to be performed in order to
iterate onto the unknown pressure. This keyword data controls the iteration procedure.
The keyword should be followed by one line of data containing an integer and a number,
denoting
1 Limit on number of pressure traverse iterations
• DEFAULT: 15
2 Pressure convergence tolerance
• DEFAULT: 1.0 psi (= 6.895e-2 bars)

ITPTRAV
ORKPARAM Orkiszewski water cut parameter
This keyword enables the user to specify the water cut at which the continuous liquid phase
changes from oil to water. This affects the liquid hold-up in the Slug Flow regime of
Orkiszewski’s correlation. Different sets of equations for calculating the parameter “delta” are
used depending on whether oil or water is the continuous liquid phase. Unfortunately, the
transition from one set of equations to the other is not continuous. Thus, there is a significant
change in the calculated pressure drop as the water cut increases across the value at which the
continuous liquid phase changes. The discontinuity is a feature of the published correlation; but
this keyword enables the discontinuity to be moved if it is causing erroneous results.
Orkiszewski did not provide any guidelines for placing the transition from oil to water as the
continuous liquid phase. By default the transition is made to occur when the local water cut
reaches 0.5.
The keyword should be followed by a line of data containing 1 number, terminated with a slash
(/).
The number should be between 0.0 and 1.0, and denotes:
The fraction of water in the volumetric flow of liquid at which the continuous liquid phase
changes from oil to water.

ORKPARAM
MESSLIMS Print and Stop message limits
The dialog box for a particular type of message will not be shown after its print limit has been
reached. If the stop limit for a particular type of message is reached, then the calculation of the
current VFP curve or VFP table will be stopped.
The keyword should be followed by one line of data, terminated with a slash (/), that contains 4
integers denoting:
1 Print limit for warning messages
2 Print limit for error messages
3 Stop limit for warning messages
4 Stop limit for error messages.

MESSLIMS
SONICPRS Reported pressure at supersonic flow
This keyword may be used to set the reported value of the calculated pressure (either BHP or
THP) if the flow in the tubing should become choked or supersonic.
The SONICPRS keyword should be followed by a line containing one item of data, terminated
with a slash (/):
1 The pressure to which the BHP or THP is set for supersonic flow.

SONICPRS
SONICVEL Sonic velocity checking option
This keyword may be used to turn on the sonic velocity checking option, which compares the
mixture velocity with the local speed of sound in the mixture. If the mixture velocity exceeds
the local speed of sound, the pressure traverse is terminated and a warning message is posted.
The SONICVEL keyword should be followed by a line containing one item of data, terminated
with a slash (/):
1 The specific heat ratio C p ⁄ C v of the gas phase.
This is used for calculating the speed of sound in the gas phase. For diatomic gases, it is 1.4.

SONICVEL
NEWSTEPS Length step control data
The keyword should be followed by one line of data containing 10 numbers, denoting
1 Initial length step
• DEFAULT: 20.0 ft (= 6.096 m)
2 Minimum allowed length step
• DEFAULT: 20.0 ft (= 6.096 m)
3 Maximum allowed length step
• DEFAULT: 500.0 ft (= 152.4 m)
4 Target truncation error
• DEFAULT: 5.0 psi (= 0.3447 bars)
5 Maximum allowed truncation error
6 Maximum allowed pressure step
7 Maximum allowed temperature step
• DEFAULT: 10.0 degF (= 5.555 degC)
8 Pressure convergence error tolerance
• DEFAULT: 0.1 psi (= 6.895e-3 bars)
9 Temperature convergence error tolerance
• DEFAULT: 0.1 degF (= 0.0555 degC)
10 Factor by which successive length steps can increase
• DEFAULT: 3.0

NEWSTEPS
Measured Pressure Data keyword
The following keyword is for measured pressure data.
• "OBSPRES" on page 263

Measured Pressure Data keyword
OBSPRES Pressure measurements
This keyword is followed by a series of tables which each define a pressure measurement used
in VFPi’s matching observed pressures option. The end of the set of tables is denoted with an
additional slash (/).
Each table consists of a line containing 5 integers denoting:
1 Flow variable type
• 0 = Oil
• 1 = Water
• 2 = Gas
• 3 = Liquid
• 4 = Wet gas volume rate (compositional)
• 5 = Total molar rate (compositional)
2 Pressure variable type
• 0 = THP
• 1 = BHP
3 Water Fraction variable type
• 0 = Water - Oil ratio
• 1 = Water - Liquid ratio
• 2 = Water - Gas ratio
• 3 = Water - Wet Gas ratio (compositional)
• 4 = Water - Total moles ratio (compositional)
4 Gas Fraction variable type
• 0 = Gas - Oil ratio
• 1 = Gas - Liquid ratio
• 2 = Oil - Gas ratio
• 3 = Mean Molecular Weight (compositional)
5 ALQ variable type
• 0 = None
• 1 = GRAT
• 2 = IGLR
• 3 = TGLR
• 4 = Pump
• 5 = Compressor
This data is terminated with a slash (/).
After this are 9 numbers on separate lines denoting:
1 Observation weight
2 Flow value

OBSPRES
3 Given pressure value
4 Water fraction value
5 Gas fraction value
6 Inlet temperature value
7 ALQ value
8 Measured pressure
9 Measurement length along tubing
This data is terminated with a slash (/).

OBSPRES
Petalas and Aziz Flow Model
Appendix N
Disclaimer
It is our understanding that in consideration of the name of Stanford University being mentioned
in this user guide, Stanford University will transfer free of charge all titles related to the Petalas
and Aziz mechanistic flow correlation code.
SIS confirms also that Stanford University makes no representations and/or warranties, express
or implied, in respect of the Petalas and Aziz mechanistic flow correlation code and SIS
assumes full liability and responsibility for any decisions or actions taken as a result of the use
of the Petalas and Aziz mechanistic flow correlation code by SIS.
VFPi User Guide Petalas and Aziz Flow Model 265

Disclaimer
Introduction
The aim of this appendix is the description of the “Petalas and Aziz” correlation available in
VFPi for the 98A release onwards. Evaluation of the pressure losses predicted from the
correlation is performed by VFPi making calls directly to code supplied by Stanford University.
The brief introductory discussion that follows is based on excerpts from the report by N. Petalas
and K. Aziz [Ref. 21]. In addition, all the analytical results that are presented here are based on
the mechanistic model described in this report.
Methods for analyzing the flow of mixtures containing gas and liquid phases have traditionally
been handled by empirical approaches, and more recently, through the use of mechanistic
models. Mechanistic models for multiphase flow calculations can improve the ability to predict
pressure drop and hold-up in pipes especially in situations that cannot easily be modelled in a
laboratory, and for which reliable empirical correlations are not available.
The Petalas and Aziz Mechanistic Model can be used for uphill and downhill flow, and for all
pipe geometries. It begins by assuming that a particular flow regime is present. By solving the
momentum balance equations for certain quantities that determine its characteristics, the
stability of the flow pattern is examined. If the chosen flow pattern is shown to be stable, the
procedure is terminated, the pressure drop and phase volume fractions being obtained directly
from the momentum balance equations. If the flow pattern cannot exist under the specified
conditions, a new flow pattern is assumed and the procedure is repeated until a stable flow
pattern is determined.
For most of the flow patterns considered, one or more empirical closure relationships are
required even when a mechanistic approach is used. When adequate, correlations available in
the literature were used. New empirical correlations have been developed for liquid/wall and
liquid/gas interfacial friction in stratified flow, and for the liquid fraction entrained and the
interfacial friction in annular-mist flow. For intermittent flow, a new correlation has been
developed for the distribution coefficient, C0, used in the determination of hold-up, as well as a
new simplified approach for determining the pressure gradient.
266 Petalas and Aziz Flow Model VFPi User Guide

Introduction
Model description
The Basic flow patterns considered in the Petalas and Aziz Mechanistic Model are listed below.
Equilibrium stratified flow

Stratified flow is characterized by a continuous liquid phase flowing in the lower portion of the
pipe with a continuous gas phase flowing in the upper portion. The interface between the liquid
and the gas phases may be smooth or there may be some waves. When the interface is smooth,
the flow pattern is designated as stratified smooth. As the gas flow rate is increased and waves
begin to form, the flow pattern is described as stratified wavy. Although the flow pattern
prediction method proposed in this model distinguishes between these two flow patterns, no
distinction between them is made when solving the momentum balance equations.
Annular mist flow

The approach of this pattern used in the Petalas and Aziz Mechanistic Model is based on the
work of Oliemans et al. , and Xiao et al. . The model is based on the assumption of a constant
film thickness and no slip between the liquid droplets in the gas core and the gas phase. It does
however account for the entrainment of the liquid in the gas core.
Intermittent flow
The intermittent flow used in the Petalas and Aziz Mechanistic Model includes the slug and
elongated bubble flow patterns. It is characterized by alternating slugs of liquid trailed by long
bubbles of gas. The liquid slug may contain dispersed bubbles and the gas bubbles have a liquid
film below them.
Dispersed bubble flow

The calculation of the liquid hold-up in dispersed bubble flow follows the procedure used for
the dispersed bubbles in the slug in intermittent flow.
Bubble flow
Bubble flow is encountered in steeply inclined pipes and is characterized by a continuous liquid
phase containing a dispersed phase of mostly spherical gas bubbles.
Froth flow
Froth flow represents a transition zone between dispersed bubble flow and annular-mist flow
and between slug flow and annular-mist. The approach used in the Petalas and Aziz Mechanistic
Model is to interpolate between the appropriate boundary regimes in order to determine the
transition values of the in situ liquid volume fraction and pressure drop. This involves a number
of iterative procedures in order to determine the superficial gas velocities at the dispersed
bubble, annular-mist and slug transitions to froth. Once the superficial gas velocity at each
transition is known, the volume fraction and pressure drop values at the transitions are
calculated and a log-log interpolation between these values is made for each quantity.

Model description
Model behavior
The model examines the stability of the flow pattern by solving the momentum balance
equations. If the flow pattern cannot exist under the specified conditions, a new flow pattern is
assumed and the procedure is repeated until a stable flow pattern is determined. By performing
these calculations over a range of gas and liquid flow rates, a Flow Pattern Map can be
constructed. Such a Flow Pattern Map is shown in Figure N.3 for an air/water system at
atmospheric conditions. VsL and VsG are the superficial velocities of liquid and gas respectively.
Figure N.3 Flow Pattern Map Air/water system at atmospheric conditions, 00 inclination
At each calculated point, other quantities can be derived which help the understanding of
Multiphase Flow. An important quantity is the frictional pressure loss in the pipe. This is plotted
for the same set of conditions used in the Flow Pattern Map above. The colors relating to the
flow pattern are also shown so that any discontinuities that arise from the flow pattern
transitions may better be observed.

Model behavior
Figure N.4 Fractional pressure gradient- Air/water system at atmospheric conditions, 00 inclination
Another important quantity in Multiphase Flow analysis is the Phase Volume Fraction. Below
is shown a surface plot of the Volume Fraction Liquid, that is, the in situ fraction of fluid in the
pipe that is liquid. This is sometimes referred to as the “Liquid Hold-up”.
Figure N.5 Volume fraction liquid- Air/water system at atmospheric conditions, 00 inclination

Model behavior
Conclusion
Petalas and Aziz Mechanistic Model is applicable to all pipe geometries and fluid properties.
The performance of the model over a wide range of conditions has been evaluated through the
use of three-dimensional surface plots. The results indicate that the model behaves well over all
conditions likely to be countered in practice, and that it exhibits generally smooth transitions
between flow patterns.
A large amount of data has been collected through the use of a Multiphase Flow Database
developed at Stanford University and comparisons of the mechanistic model’s predictions with
data extracted from this database have produced good results. These same data have been used
in evaluating the model’s predictive abilities relative to existing multiphase flow models:
• Xiao, Shoham and Brill (1990) ,
• Beggs and Brill (1973, revised 1977) ,
• Mukherjee and Brill (1985) [Ref. 25],
• Dukler, Wicks, and Cleveland (1964) [Ref. 26], and
• Homogeneous model.
This mechanistic model compares favorably with all of the above.

Conclusion
References
Petalas, N. and Aziz, A Mechanistic Model for Stabilized Multiphase Flow in Pipes, [Ref. 21]
K., Petroleum Engineering Department, Stanford University, August, 1997.
Oliemans, R.V.A., Pots, Modeling of Annular Dispersed Two-Phase Flow in Vertical Pipes, [Ref. 22]
B.F. and Trope, N., Int. J. Multiphase Flow, 12, No 5, Page 711-731 , 1986.
Xiao, J.J., Shoham, O. A Comprehensive Mechanistic Model for Two-Phase Flow in Pipelines, [Ref. 23]
and Brill, J.P., SPE 20631, 65th ATCandE of SPE, New Orleans, September 23rd-26th, 1990.
Beggs, H.D. and A Study of Two Phase Flow in Inclined Pipes, [Ref. 24]
Brill, J.P., Trans. of Pet. Soc. of AIME, 256 , Page 607, 1973.
Mukherjee, H. and Pressure Drop Correlations for Inclined Two-Phase Flow, [Ref. 25]
Brill, J.P., Trans. of AIME, J. of Energy Res. Tech., 107, Page 549-554, 1985.
Dukler, A.E., Frictional Pressure Drop in Two Phase Flow: A Comparison of Existing Correlations for
Wicks, M. and Pressure Loss and Holdup, [Ref. 26]
Cleveland, R.G., A.P.Ch.E.J., 10, Page 38, 1964.

References
References
Sachdeva Choke Model
Appendix O
Introduction
Chokes are used for a variety of reasons which include:
• controlling well flow rates,
• protection of surface equipment from slugging,
• providing sufficient back pressure to avoid formation damage from excessive drawdowns
and
• maintaining stable downstream pressures and damping large pressure fluctuations.
A wellhead choke or bean may be considered as a restriction in the pipe. Through such a
restriction there are two types of flow: critical and sub-critical. At critical flow, the velocity of
the fluid through the restriction reaches the sonic velocity of the two phase fluid and is thus at
a maximum for a given set of upstream conditions. For this flow, downstream changes cannot
affect the upstream conditions and so decreasing the downstream pressure will not alter the flow
rate or upstream pressure. On increasing the downstream pressure, there comes a point when the
fluid velocity drops below the sonic velocity and the flow rate begins to depend on the pressure
head across the restriction. The flow is now sub-critical.
The Sachdeva choke model develops a single equation for both critical and sub-critical flow
through the choke, with a second equation defining the boundary between these types of flow
in terms of the ratio of downstream to upstream pressures. It was validated against three sets of
experimental data and proved itself superior to a wide range of existing two-phase flow choke
models (Gilbert, Ros, Achong, Pileharvi, Ashford and Omana.)
VFPi User Guide Sachdeva Choke Model 273

Introduction
Model description
Assumptions
The model makes the following assumptions about the flow through the restriction:
• Flow is one-dimensional.
• No liquid-gas slip.
• Frictional losses are ignored.
• No mass transfer between liquid and gas phases.
• Liquid is incompressible.
• Gas expands adiabatically.
Critical and sub-critical flow rates

The model derives a single equation to relate the mass flux through the choke to the conditions
immediately upstream and downstream of the choke for both critical and sub-critical flow as
follows:
2 ( 1 – x1 ) ( 1 – y ) x1 ⋅ k 0.5
M g + M l = A c C d 2g c 144P 1 ρ m  ----------------------------------- + ------------------------- ⋅ ( 1 – y
(k – 1) ⁄ k 

)

where: [EQ O.1]
ρl ( k – 1 )ρ g1
Mg is the gas mass rate in lbm/sec

Ml is the liquid mass rate in lbm/sec
Ac is the choke area in ft2
Cd is the discharge coefficient
P1 is the upstream pressure in psia
x1 is the upstream gas mass fraction
ρ g1 is the upstream gas density lbm/ft3
ρl is the liquid density (upstream and downstream) lbm/ft3
k is the ratio of gas specific heats (Cp/Cv)
Cp is the gas specific heat capacity at constant pressure in Btu/lbm/°F
Cv is the gas specific heat capacity at constant volume in Btu/lbm/°F
y is a pressure ratio as discussed below
and the mixture density is given by

x1 ( 1 – x1 ) –1
ρ m = ----------------------- + -------------------
1⁄k
[EQ O.2]
ρ g1 ⋅ y ρl
The most important variable in these equations is ‘y’; it can take two forms:
1 For sub-critical flow, ‘y’ is set to ‘yActual’ which is the actual ratio of downstream to
upstream pressures ( = P 2 ⁄ P 1 ). It is through this term that the downstream pressure (P2) can
affect the upstream pressure (P1) for a fixed flow through the choke.
274 Sachdeva Choke Model VFPi User Guide

Model description
2 For critical flow, ‘y ‘is set to a critical pressure ratio, ‘yCrit’ which is only dependent on the
upstream conditions. This is the classic choked flow situation where variation in the
downstream pressure does not affect the upstream pressure.
The critical/sub-critical choice is made by comparing ‘yActual’ to ‘yCrit’:
• If y Actual ≤ yCrit , the flow is critical
• If y Actual > yCrit , the flow is sub-critical
‘yActual’ ( = P 2 ⁄ P1 ) can vary between 1.0 at which value there is no flow through the choke,
down towards 0.0 when there is a considerable mass flux through the choke (either P2 is very
small or P1 is very large).
Critical pressure ratio

The equation for the critical pressure ratio, ‘yCrit’ is:
k ⁄ (k – 1)
y Crit = [ N ⁄ D ] [EQ O.3]
with
k ( 1 – x 1 ) ⋅ ρ g1 ⋅ ( 1 – y )
N = ----------- + ---------------------------------------------------- [EQ O.4]
k–1 x1 ⋅ ρl
and
1⁄k 2
1⁄k
k n n ⋅ ( 1 – x 1 ) ⋅ ρ g1 ⋅ y Crit n ( 1 – x 1 ) ⋅ ρ g1 ⋅ y Crit
D = ----------- + --- + -------------------------------------------------------------- + --- ⋅ ------------------------------------------------------
- [EQ O.5]
k–1 2 x1 ⋅ ρl 2 x ⋅ρ 1 l
where the polytropic index, n, is given by

x1 ( Cp –Cv )
n = 1 + ------------------------------------------- [EQ O.6]
x 1 C v + ( 1 – x 1 )C l
and Cl is the liquid specific heat capacity in Btu/lbm/°F.

As mentioned above, the equation for the critical pressure ratio only has terms that are
dependent on conditions upstream of the choke (that is all subscript numbers are 1). The value
of ‘yCrit’ is usually around 0.6, but as the upstream pressure P1 increases and the amount of free
gas and thus x1 decreases, ‘yCrit’ drops and is at 0.0 when there is only liquid flowing into the
choke. This behavior of ‘yCrit’ causes the flow to change from critical back to sub-critical in a
gas/oil mixture as the upstream pressure increases towards the bubble point. In a single phase
liquid, the flow is always modelled as sub-critical.
Discharge coefficient
The discharge coefficient Cd is a final modifying factor in the flow equation and is in common
use in flow through restriction models. It is hoped that its use will absorb errors due to the
assumptions made while developing the model. A perfect model would thus have a coefficient
of 1.0. Sachdeva recommends a value of 0.85 if the flow is unrestricted immediately upstream
of the choke. If the choke is in a housing with an elbow immediately upstream, then a value of
0.75 is recommended.

Model description
Use of the model in VFPi
VFPi uses this model in a top-to-bottom pressure traverse calculation for a production well
where the downstream pressure (P2) and the mass flow rate through the choke are known, with
the unknown upstream pressure (P1) to be solved for. Both the mass flux equation and the ‘yCrit’
equation are implicit in the upstream pressure. These are solved iteratively in a residual
formulation, using a Newton-Rhapson scheme for ‘yCrit’ embedded inside a Secant/Regula
Falsi method for P1 itself.

Model description
Model behavior
The behavior of this model that is most relevant to its use in VFPi can best be seen in a plot of
upstream pressure vs. flow through the choke for a number of downstream pressures, for a
mixture of constant gas-oil ratio. This is shown schematically below and described on a region
by region basis.
Figure O.6 Critical and sub-critical choke behavior
Region 1
At low flow rates the sub-critical behavior of the choke is evident with the upstream pressure
value being dependent on the downstream pressure at a given flow rate.
Region 2
For higher flow rates all curves converge and the choke is now flowing critically.

Model behavior
Region 3
At even higher flow rates the curves diverge again and the choke becomes sub-critical again.
This unexpected behavior is due to the upstream free gas mass fraction becoming very small
and in consequence ‘yCrit’ drops rapidly. So even though ‘yActual’ is small (due to high upstream
pressure values at these high flows), it exceeds ‘yCrit’ and the flow becomes sub-critical.
Physically this may be interpreted as the sonic velocity in the two-phase mixture increasing as
it nears a single phase liquid state. The flow becomes sub-critical when the mixture velocity
drops below this increasing sonic velocity.
Region 4
Another region exists at yet higher flow rates. Here the upstream pressure is such that a single
phase liquid flows into the choke and so both the free gas mass fraction and ‘yCrit’ are zero. All
single phase liquid flows are sub-critical according to this model. This is in agreement with
Beggs’s Production Optimization book which states that the flow of liquid through a choke will
almost always be sub-critical because the sonic velocity in liquid is so large. Beggs also
provides an equation for the pressure head across the choke at this condition which agrees with
the simplified form of Sachdeva’s mass flux equation.
Region 3 revisited
A closer inspection of the curves in region 3 reveals that an increase in the downstream pressure
yields a decrease in the upstream pressure at a fixed flow rate. To understand this result in terms
of the model behavior, the residual as a function of the upstream pressure at a flow rate in this
region is considered. The solution upstream pressure is found when the residual crosses the axis,
that is it is zero. The following schematic shows this residual and ‘yActual’ for two values of
downstream pressure (P2) together with ‘yCrit’ plotted against the upstream pressure (P1).
To the left of the marked boundary, the residuals coincide because the flow is critical

Model behavior
Figure O.7 Choke solutions
and independent of P2. The ‘yActual’ curve for the higher P2 value exceeds the falling ‘yCrit’
curve first and thus the higher P2 residual becomes sub-critical and kinks upwards first and
crosses the axis at a lower P1 in comparison to the lower P2 residual curve. This is the reason
why the model predicts a negative dP2/dP1 in this region. This behavior will cause problems
with the ECLIPSE well model and VFPi gives the user the option of automatically contracting
all P1 values onto that is calculated at the highest P2 for all flow rates in this region.
Note that multiple solutions are possible for this residual shape - the iterative method should
always find the solution with the lowest P1. As the flow rate decreases, the residual curve moves
upwards and the critical/sub-critical kink moves above and away from the axis; the solution will
now be found in the critical region of the curve.

Model behavior
References
Sachdeva, R., Schmidt, Two-Phase Flow Through Chokes, [Ref. 27]
Z., Brill, J.P. and Blais, SPE 15657, 1986.
R.M.,
Beggs, H.D., Production Optimization, [Ref. 28]
OGCI Publications, Tulsa, Page 127, 1991.

References
History
Appendix P
New Facilities in 2004A
Batch Regression
The command ‘DoRegression’ has been introduced to allow VFPi to perform a regression to
match observed pressures (see "Matching Observed Data" on page 147) when in its batch mode
(see "Command Language" on page 153).
This new feature allows you to set up a command script that, for example, reads in a keyword
file (that includes some measured pressure data), perform a regression on the pressure traverse
fitting factors to achieve a best fit to this measured data and then create one or more VFP tables
using calibrated pressure traverses. This script may be extended to repeat this process for a
number of wells and VFPi instructed to run the script in batch mode overnight.
VFPi User Guide History 281

New Facilities in 2004A
New Developments for 99A release
Changes to Existing Features

Reading binary database files
VFPi is no longer able to read the binary database files created with the 96A version of the
program. This mechanism was superseded in the 97A release by a keyword based data file
system that resulted in smaller files, quicker file reading and writing and portability across
machines. Backwards compatibility for keyword data files created by all previous versions of
the program is maintained.
282 History VFPi User Guide

New Facilities
Petalas and Aziz mechanistic flow model
A seventh multi-phase flow correlation has been added to the suite of those already present in
VFPi. This correlation can be used for calculating two-phase flow pressure loss for both uphill
and downhill flow, and for all pipe geometries. The model has been validated against a database
of both laboratory and field measurements developed by Stanford University.
Sachdeva Choke model

A new choke or bean model based on the work of Sachdeva has been implemented which
determines the pressure loss due to two-phase flow through a restriction.
The Sachdeva choke model is able accommodate both critical and sub-critical two-phase flow
through a restriction. Sub-critical flow occurs for low flow rates or large choke diameters when
the fluid velocity through the restriction is less than the sonic velocity and thus the upstream
pressure is dependent on the downstream pressure. For higher flow rates or smaller choke
diameters, the flow becomes critical when the fluid velocity through the restriction reaches the
sonic velocity and thus the upstream pressure becomes independent of the downstream
pressure.
Emulsion viscosity calculation

The brine-in-oil type emulsion viscosity curves from the work of Woelflin have been
implemented as an option to be used instead of the default flow weighted average of the
individual oil and water viscosities. The emulsion viscosity can be many times greater than the
clean oil viscosity when the brine is a significant fraction of the total liquid phase.
Extensions to the ALQ variable

The ALQ variable has been extended such that it may now act as a fifth variable in a production
VFP table in a way not related to artificial lift devices. In addition to its previous role in
controlling pumps, compressors and gas injection, the ALQ variable now has two new
associations:
• The ALQ variable defined as the diameter of a choke or bean. This will allow ECLIPSE to
use the same VFP table while varying the choke size, to model the effect of an inflow
control device.
• The ALQ variable defined as the surface density of oil or gas. Thus a single VFP table may
now be constructed to cover a variety of either oil or gas surface densities. This facility will
be used by ECLIPSE to enable wellbore and network pressure losses to vary with the oil
API in API tracking runs and situations where production from different PVT regions is co-
mingled in a surface network.

Switchable acceleration pressure head
A switch has been added in the Calculation Control Panel to instruct VFPi to ignore the
acceleration pressure head during pressure traverse calculations. This is useful when preparing
VFP tables for the ECLIPSE 200 Multi-segment Well Model, which calculates its own
acceleration pressure loss to include the acceleration of fluid entering the well bore through the
perforations.
Negative flow rates

VFPi now interprets a negative flow rate as flow in the opposite direction to that expected given
the current well type. Thus if the well has been designated a producer, a negative flow rate
would represent downhill flow. This development allows the ECLIPSE 200 Multi-segment
Well Model to make use of a VFP table which is able to accommodate cross-flow.

VFP table definition storage
The flowing condition variables and their values used in the calculation of a VFP table are now
internally stored with the currently selected well node in the data tree. This facility is useful if
the user is dealing with many wells with the data entered into VFPi by reading a number of VFP
keyword data files- the section 5 data in each of these files is now stored in the appropriate well
node.
Well and VFP table names

Well names in the data tree and VFP table names may now contain embedded spaces.
Panel re-designs
Some panels layouts have been altered in an effort to reduce the amount of space taken by the
panel on the screen. For example, the PVT Data panel in the black oil fluids module now
consists of a folder containing three pages for the oil, gas and water phases in which the user
may set the fluid density and the PVT property calculation method.

New Facilities
Multiple well data
VFPi is now able to perform pressure traverse calculations using data from more than one well
within a single session of the program. This multiple well data is controlled and accessed from
a hierarchical tree window with each well represented as a node branching from a single root.
Each well node may have up to four children which represent Tubing, Fluid, Calculation
Control and Measured Pressure data (if available). Double clicking on a child node opens up the
appropriate graphical module or panel to allow inspection or alteration of its data.
Data for a well may be entered by hand or read in from a keyword file, thus maintaining
compatibility with the batch VFP program and the fluid keyword data generated by the SIS
PVTi program. The data state of all the wells may be saved and recalled using an extended
keyword file mechanism.
As well as reading complete keyword data files, a file may also be scanned for keywords
relevant only a particular node type (tubing, black oil fluid or compositional fluid). All other
keyword in this file will be ignored. If any appropriate keywords are found, this data then
replaces that currently in VFPi.
When performing pressure traverse calculations for a VFP table, VFP curve display etc., the
tubing, fluid, calculation control and measured pressure data are taken from the currently
selected nodes of the well hierarchy tree. Children from different wells may be selected and thus
(for example) the effects of differing fluids flowing through the same tubing can be quickly
investigated. New wells can be created in the hierarchy tree by copying some or all of the data
from an existing well. This allows versioning within VFPi.
Each node has an associated right mouse button popup menu which allows copying, deleting,
renaming etc. Also a summary of the data held in the can be displayed together with an area for
the user to enter notes about the node.
Input data from the Tubing, Fluid, Calculation Control and Measured Pressures nodes may be
reported to an external file either separately or on a well by well basis.
Three dimensional VFP curve viewer

VFPi has a 3D window allowing a view of one or more surfaces formed from a set of VFP
curves taken either from a VFP table or calculated using the selected Tubing and Fluid data. This
surface may be viewed as a wire line mesh or solid surface, with a Z-dependent color range (blue
to red) used to aid visualization. A common control panel is used for both 2D and 3D plotting,
with the same flexibility in choice of dependent variables offered. As well as the standard
facilities offered by the SIS 3D Viewer (zooming, rotating, viewing along a specified axis, etc.),
a left mouse button probe has been implemented. This allows currently displayed VFP surfaces
to be distinguished by a unique label shown in the viewer’s status bar. The X, Y, Z position of
the pick is also shown.

VFP table features
The BHP values in a VFP table may be modified by graphically altering points in a cross-section
formed from this table. A facility is provided to undo graphical changes before they are applied
to the VFP table itself.
VFPi offers a stabilization option for VFP tables. This replaces the unstable low flow section of
any ‘J’ shaped curves in a production table with a horizontal line at the minimum BHP value
from the lowest flow value to the flow value at minimum BHP.
The ±1.0e10 values in a VFP table (indicating choked, abandoned or failed pressure traverses)
can be replaced by a user defined value.
User notes can be associated with VFP tables. These are written/read as comment lines between
the VFPPROD/VFPINJ keyword and the first line of data when a VFP table is written to an
external file.
New IPR
VFPi’s suite of inflow performance relationships has been extended to include Fetkovich’s IPR.
This IPR may be used for gas or oil reservoirs.
Outlet temperature curves and tables

When VFPi calculates the fluid temperatures during a pressure traverse using an enthalpy
balance equation, the outlet temperature may be plotted as the dependent variable of a VFP
curve (BHP is the usual dependent variable). The effect of flow rate, water fraction, gas fraction,
pressure and ALQ on the calculated outlet temperature can thus be investigated.
VFP tables may be created with the calculated outlet temperature in place of BHP in the table
body. These can be manipulated by the program in the same way as standard pressure tables.
When written in keyword form to an external file, these temperature tables are distinguished by
the string ‘TEMP’ at the end of the 1strecord in the keyword.
PVT table-correlation hybrid

Because pressure traverse calculations are, in general, performed over a range of fluid
temperatures, 96A VFPi required that if tables are used for black oil fluid PVT properties, then
at least two such tables are supplied at differing temperatures. VFPi now only requires a single
table for oil and dry gas PVT properties and water-gas surface tension. VFPi’s in-built
correlations are used to convert tables values from the table temperature to the fluid
temperature.
Casing and annulus table for thermal data

A Casing and annulus table has been introduced as a third option for entering data required by
VFPi when calculating fluid temperatures during a pressure traverse using an enthalpy balance
equation. This table consists of a series of rows which define the thermal conductivity, inner and
outer diameters, and length extent of every well casing together with any surrounding annulus.
A visual inspection of this potentially complex table is also provided via a cross-sectional
schematic of the casing/annulus/rock.

Project files
For reasons of file size, speed of reading and writing and portability, VFPi now uses data
keywords to store the program state in an external file in preference to a binary database file as
used in the 96A release. Binary database files may still be read, but saving this data to a keyword
file straight away is recommended as this backwards compatibility facility for database files will
not be available in future releases. This change has resulted in a simplification of the menus in
VFPi’s ribbon window, with all file handling now controlled by options under the file menu.
Resizable panels
The data and control panels in VFPi may now be enlarged by grabbing a panel edge with the
mouse cursor and dragging outwards. This generally increases the spacing between panel
elements and if there are tables present, the number of rows (and, if appropriate, columns)
shown is increased. This feature is useful in creating blank rows at the bottom of the table for
data entry. If screen space is limited, the panel may be reduced in size again (to a minimum of
1 row shown) after the data entry.
Pressure traverse problem reporting

During a VFP table calculation, a choice of two mode of reporting warnings and errors is now
offered. The default mode does not interrupt the formatted table of pressure traverses performed
during the VFP table calculation with any warning or error messages. Such messages are stored
and summarized in the log window after the calculation has finished. The alternative mode, as
implemented in 96A VFPi, does allow warning and error messages to be printed in the log
window prior to the appropriate pressure traverse line.
Note Note that this mode selection does not affect the message and questions boxes
generated by VFPi during a pressure traverse that require a user response.

Index
Appendix Q
Depletion Experiment . . . 135

Numerics C DEPTHS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
Deviated Tubing . . . . . . . . 35
3D Visualization . . . . . . . . 55 CASEDESC . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
DGASPVT . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
CASING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
DIAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Choking Flow . . . . . . . . . 100
A CNAMES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
COATING. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
Acceleration Pressure Loss 100
Command E
ACCHDCHK . . . . . . . . . . . . 251 Log File . . . . . . . . . . 154
ECL.CFA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
ACF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228 Script File . . . . . . . . 154
ECL.CFG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
ALQ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Command Language
Example . . . . . . . . . 158 ECL.CFU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
ALQ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
Compositional EMLVSC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
ANNULUS . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
Fluid Properties . 75, 125 Enthalpy Balance . . . . . . 142
Artificial Lift . . . . . . . . . 102
Quantity . . . . . . . . . . 19 Compositional Mode . . . . . 19 EOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
COMPTABL . . . . . . . . . . . . 202 ERODEVEL . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
CONFIG.ECL . . . . . . . . . . . 93
B Configuration . . . . . . . . . . 93
BEAN. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
Correlation
Tuning . . . . . . . . . . . 119
F
Bg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
BIC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229 File
Command Log . . . . 154
Black Oil Mode. . . . . . . . . 18 D Command Script . . . 154
Bo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Data Fit Factors . . . . . . . . . . . 149
BOFCNTRL . . . . . . . . . . . . 215 Flow Correlations . . 149
Matching Observed Pressure147
Bw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111 Status . . . . . . . . . . . 150
DELTAP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Variation. . . . . . . . . 150
DENSITY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
FLOW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Density . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
VFPi User Guide Index 289

Flow Correlations. . . 103, 149 Phase Densities
Flow Rate L Local . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Local Volumetric115, 127 PRCORR. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
Length Step Selection . . . . 97
FLOWCORL . . . . . . . . . . . . 254 PRES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Formation Volume Factor Pressure
Gas . . . . . . . . . . . . .109 Depletion Experiments135
Oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . .106
Water . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
M Local . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Measured Data . . . . . . 63
Friction Head . . . . . . . . . .100 Matching Observed Data . 147 Pressure Gradient Calculation99
FTFACTOR . . . . . . . . . . . . 253 MESSLIMS . . . . . . . . . . . . 258 PROJECT . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
METRIC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178 Properties
Mode Compositional . . . . . 125
Black Oil. . . . . . . . . . 18 Water. . . . . . . . . . . . 130
G Compositional . . . . . . 19 PUMP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
Gas MOLWW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
Condensates . . . . . . .136 Multi-Phase Flow Correlations103, 149
Formation Volume Factor109
Viscosity . . . . . . . . . 110
MW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234
R
GASLIFT . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206 ReadKeyword. . . . . . . . . 156
GASLIFTC . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
GFR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
N ReadKeywordFile . . . . 156
Regression . . . . . .150 to 151
NCOMPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235 ROUGHNES . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
NEWSTEPS . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
H
Heat Transfer . . . . . . . . . .141 S
Coefficient . . . . . . . .144 O SHEATC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Help system . . . . . . . . . . . .16 OBSPRES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263 Silent Running. . . . . . . . . 154
HYDRO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232 OHTC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208 Solution Gas-Oil Ratio . . . 106
Hydrostatic Head . . . . . . . .99 Oil SONICPRS . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
Formation Volume Factor106
SONICVEL . . . . . . . . . . . . 260
Viscosity . . . . . . . . . 108
Volatile . . . . . . . . . . 136 SSHIFT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
I OILPFIT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219 Starting VFPi. . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Inflow Performance Relationships55 OILPVT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220 STCOND. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
Injection Table Format . . .167 OMEGAA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236 STOG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
Interfacial Tension OMEGAB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237 STWG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
Oil-Gas . . . . . . 113, 129 ORKPARAM . . . . . . . . . . . . 257 Surface Tension
Water-Gas . . . . . . . . 114 Oil-Gas . . . . . . 113, 129
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
IPRs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55 Water-Gas . . . . . . . . 114
ITLIMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
ITPTRAV . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
P T
PANELS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
Table
K PARACHOR . . . . . . . . . . . . 238 Injection Format . . . . 167
PCRIT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239 TABNAME . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
Keywords . . . . . . . . 156, 175
290 Index VFPi User Guide

TABNUM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189 VFP Table . . . . . . . 17, 27, 67 WELLNOTE . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
TCRIT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242 VFPTABLE . . . . . . . . . . . . 181 WELLNUM . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
TEMP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211 Viscosity . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128 Wellstream
TEMPTABL . . . . . . . . . . . . 212 Gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 Compositions . . . . . 133
Oil. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 Depletion Experiment 135
TUBCNTRL . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
Water. . . . . . . . . . . . 112 Fluids . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Tuning Pressure Dependent . 137
Volumetric Flow Rate115, 127
Bubble Pt Pressure . . 122
WFR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
Factors . . . . . . . . . . 122
Measured PVT Data . 120 WGASPVT . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
PVT Correlations . . . 119
Saturated Oil FVF . . 122
W WriteVFPTable . . . . . . 156
Saturated Oil Visc . . 123 Water

Under-saturated Oil Comp123 Formation Volume Factor111
Under-saturated Oil Visc124 Properties. . . . . . . . . 130 Z
Tutorials. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Viscosity . . . . . . . . . 112
ZCRIT . . . . . . . . . . .245 to 246
WATPVT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
ZDEPEXP . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
WELLFLAG . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
ZLEANGAS . . . . . . . . . . . . 248
V WELLNAME . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
ZWELINP . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
WELLNODE . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
VCRIT . . . . . . . . . . 243 to 244
VFPi User Guide Index 291

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ECLIPSE Pre- and Post-Processing Suite

ECLIPSE* reservoir simulation software

Trademarks & service marks

Chapter 1 - Overview ........................................................................................................................ 9

Chapter 2 - Getting Started ............................................................................................................ 21

Chapter 3 - Tutorials ....................................................................................................................... 23

Appendix A - Configuring VFPi ..................................................................................................... 93

Appendix B - Calculating Pressure Traverse ............................................................................... 97

Appendix C - Black Oil Correlations ........................................................................................... 105

Appendix D - Correlation Tuning................................................................................................. 119

VFPi User Guide 3

Appendix F - Wellstream Compositions ..................................................................................... 133

Appendix G - Heat Transfer Calculation .................................................................................... 141

Appendix H - Matching Observed Data....................................................................................... 147

Appendix I - Command Language............................................................................................... 153

Appendix J - Production Table Format ....................................................................................... 161

Appendix K - Injection Table Format........................................................................................... 167

Appendix L - VIP Well Hydraulics Table ..................................................................................... 171

Appendix M - Keywords ............................................................................................................... 175

4 VFPi User Guide

VFPi User Guide 5

Appendix N - Petalas and Aziz Flow Model ................................................................................ 265

Appendix O - Sachdeva Choke Model ........................................................................................ 273

Appendix P - History .................................................................................................................... 281

Appendix Q - Index ....................................................................................................................... 289

6 VFPi User Guide

VFPi User Guide 7

8 VFPi User Guide

Note Maintenance of this application is continuing until further notice.

VFPi User Guide Overview 9

10 Overview VFPi User Guide

VFPi User Guide Overview 11

12 Overview VFPi User Guide

Black oil fluids

VFPi User Guide Overview 13

Detailed pressure traverse

14 Overview VFPi User Guide

VFPi User Guide Overview 15

16 Overview VFPi User Guide

2 Producer tables, which describe the performance of production wells.

These are tables of bottom hole pressure versus production rate

VFPi User Guide Overview 17

Black oil mode

Table 1.1 Choice of variables

Oil or Liquid Gas

18 Overview VFPi User Guide

Artificial lift quantity (ALQ)

VFPi User Guide Overview 19

Entering data into VFPi

VFPi User Guide Getting Started 21

Saving VFPi data

22 Getting Started VFPi User Guide

Note It is assumed that VFPi is running.

VFPi User Guide Tutorials 23

24 Tutorials VFPi User Guide

Low Med High

VFPi User Guide Tutorials 25

Manual data entry

3 Tubing: Element | Tube Data