Interpretation of Prematurely Terminated Air‐Pressurized Slug Tests

Abstract

AbstractAir‐pressurized slug tests offer a means of estimating formation transmissivity and storativity without extensive downhole equipment and in situations where contact with formation fluids may pose a health concern. An air‐pressurized slug test, as discussed in this paper, consists of applying a constant pressure to the column of air in a well, monitoring the declining water level, and then releasing the air pressure and monitoring the recovering water level. If the maximum declining (or new equilibrium) water level is achieved for a constant applied air pressure, the slug‐test solution of Cooper et al. (1967) can be used to interpret the water‐level recovery data and estimate the formation properties. In low‐permeability terranes, the time required to achieve the equilibrium water level during the pressurized part of the test may be too long for practical purposes, and it may be necessary to terminate the applied air pressure prior to establishing a new equilibrium. To analyze data from such tests, a solution to the boundary‐value problem for the declining and recovering water level during an air‐pressurized slug test is developed for an arbitrary time‐dependent air pressure applied to the well. For the special case of applying a constant air pressure and then reducing it instantaneously to atmospheric pressure at a prescribed time, the general solution reduces to the superposition of the solution of Cooper et al. (1967) at two displaced times. Type curves are generated to estimate formation transmissivity and storativity from the recovering water level associated with prematurely terminated air‐pressurized slug tests. The application of the type curves is illustrated in tests conducted in wells completed in the Minnelusa and Madison aquifers near Rapid City and Spearfish, South Dakota.