An apparatus for reducing the post-detonation pressure of a perforating
gun, the apparatus including a perforating gun carrying at least one
explosive charge, wherein when the explosive charge is detonated the
explosive charge produces a pressurized detonation gas, and a mechanism
for reducing the pressure of the detonation gas proximate the perforating
gun. The detonation gas pressure is desirably reduced in a time frame
sufficient to create a dynamic underbalance condition to facilitate a
surge flow of fluid from a reservoir into a wellbore. The pressure
reduction mechanism may include singularly or in combination a heat sink
to reduce the temperature of the detonation gas, a reactant to recombine
with the reactant gas and reduce the molar density of the detonation gas,
and a physical compression mechanism to utilize the waste energy of the
detonation gas to create work, simultaneously reducing the temperature of
the gas and the molar density of the detonation gas.