Liquid loading in gas wells: experimental investigation of back pressure effects on the near-wellbore reservoir

A large-scale core-flooding experimental setup was designed and constructed to investigate the back pressure effects on transient flow through porous medium, and so mimic the physical process of liquid loading and reservoir response. Between initial and final steady-state flowing conditions, where inlet pressure was maintained at a constant level while initiating a transient pressure build up at the core sample end, an “U-shaped” temporal distribution of pore fluid pressure within the medium itself was observed, which is in direct contrast to the conventional reservoir pressure profile.