Response of a partially penetrating well in a heterogeneous aquifer: Integrated well-face flux vs. uniform well-face flux boundary conditions
Journal Article (Journal Article)
A two-dimensional integrated well-face flux (IWFF) model is developed for computing the draw-down at the well-face and around a fully or partially penetrating well with wellbore storage, situated in a layered confined aquifer. In this model, we calculate drawdown and well-face flux distributions by numerically solving a two-dimensional diffusion equation in cylindrical coordinates subject to appropriate initial and boundary conditions and to the well-face boundary constraint of an integrated well-face flux rather than the physically inconsistent uniform well-face flux boundary condition (the UWFF model). The differences between the IWFF and UWFF models in a partially penetrating well situated in a homogeneous isotropic aquifer are insignificant for wellbore drawdown (less than 3%) but are pronounced for the well-face flux. In fact, the latter strongly deviates from uniformity as the ratio of the screen length to the aquifer thickness decreases. For partially penetrating wells situated in multilayer aquifers, significant differences between the two models may arise, especially if the screen is not located in the most conductive layer. These differences depend on the hydraulic conductivity contrast of the adjacent layers. Consequently, the uniform well-face flux boundary condition should be used with extreme caution.
Full Text
Duke Authors
Cited Authors
- Ruud, NC; Kabala, ZJ
Published Date
- July 1, 1997
Published In
Volume / Issue
- 194 / 1-4
Start / End Page
- 76 - 94
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
- 0022-1694
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
- 10.1016/S0022-1694(96)03217-9
Citation Source
- Scopus