PETE 220 Reservoir Rock Properties Parlaktuna

PROPERTIES OF POROUS MEDIA CONTAINING MULTIPLE FLUID

SATURATIONS
Introduction
In the preceding chapters, the physical properties of reservoir rocks are defined in terms of
single fluid systems.
In petroleum reservoirs, two kinds of fluids are present (hydrocarbons and formation water)
and in many cases, three fluid phases (liquid HC, gaseous HC and formation water) are
involved.
The simultaneous existence of two or more fluids in a porous rock requires that terms such as:
- capillary pressure,
- relative permeability and
- wettability
are defined.
When only one fluid exists in the pore spaces, there is only one set of force to consider; the
attraction between the rock and the fluid (Adhesion).
When more than one fluid is present, there are at least three sets of attractive forces affecting
capillary pressures and wettability.
Wetting
The adhesion tension, which a function of the interfacial tension, determines which fluid will
preferentially wet the solid. A sketch is shown in Figure 1, where two liquids, oil and water
are in contact with a solid.

Figure 1 Equilibrium of forces at a water-oil-solid surface1.

The contact angle (theta) is measured through the denser liquid phase and ranges from 0 to
180.
If the contact angle is small, the denser phase will spread and tend to coat the surface. If the
contact angle is large, an outside force is required to cause the denser phase to spread over the
surface. The degree of spreading as affected by the contact angle of the system is shown in
Figure 2.
The angle theta is influenced by the tendency of one of the liquids in the immiscible pair to
spread on the pore wall surface in preference to the other.
The qualitative recognition of preferred spread is called a wettability preference and the fluid
which spreads more is said to be the wetting phase fluid. A list of typical fluid pairs of interest
in reservoir engineering is in Table 1 together with contact angle and interfacial tensions.

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Figure 2 Interfacial contact angles (a) Silica surface; (b) Calcite surface1.

Table 1 Typical fluid pairs of interest in reservoir engineering together with contact angle and
interfacial tensions.

WETTING NON-WETTING CONDITION THETA, , Dynes / cm

PHASE PHASE

Brine Oil Reservoir T & P 30 30

Brine Oil Lab. T & P 30 48
Brine Gas Lab. T & P 0 72
Brine Gas Reservoir T & P 0 50
Oil Gas Reservoir T & P 0 4
Gas Mercury Lab. T & P 140 480

Contact angle is the most universal measure of the wettability of surfaces.

Surface forces and capillary pressure

In dealing with multiphase systems, it is necessary to consider the effect of the forces acting at
the interface when two immiscible fluids are in contact.
When these two fluids are liquid and gas, the interface is normally referred to as the liquid
surface (when the fluid pair is liquid and gas, it is called Surface; when liquid-liquid, it is
called Interface).
It is well known that all molecules are attracted to one another in proportion to the product of
their masses and inversely as the square of the distance between them:
m1 m 2
Force
r2
An interfacial tension always exists between water and oil which are commonly found in
petroleum reservoirs.
Figure 3 shows the forces acting on the water molecules at the water-oil interface and inside
the water body. A molecule at the interface has force acting upon it from the oil lying
immediately above the interface and water molecules lying below the interface. A water
molecule which is remote from the interface is surrounded by other water molecules thus

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having a resulting net force (attractive) on the molecule of zero.

The resulting force is unbalanced and gives rise to interfacial tension.

.
Oil
interface
water

Figure 3 Forces acting on water molecules at the oil-water interface and inside the water body.
A certain amount of work is required to move a water molecule from within the body of the
fluid through the interface. This work is frequently referred to as the free surface energy of
the fluids.
Free surface energy, in ergs per square centimeter, may be defined as the work necessary to
create a unit area of new surface.
The interfacial tension, , is the force per unit length required to create a new surface.
The interfacial tension and surface tension are commonly expressed in dynes/cm, which is
numerically equal to the surface energy in ergs /cm.
Capillary pressure; may be defined as the pressure difference across a curved interface
between two immiscible fluids. Using the example of an oil droplet in a water environment
(Figure 4); Pc = Po-Pw

Figure 4 Pressure at an interface2.

The curvature of the interface suggests that the oil phase pressure Po is greater than the water
phase pressure Pw. The capillary pressure is defined as the difference between the two phase
pressures. By convention, the Pc is positive for unconfined immiscible fluid pairs. The curved
interface has two principal radii of curvature normal to each other; R1 and R2. It can be shown
that the capillary pressure can also be defined in terms of these radii and in terms of the
interfacial tension between the immiscible fluids, i.e.,

1 1
Pc .
1
R R 2
Consider the capillary tube immersed in a beaker of water

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where in oil is the other fluid (Figure 5).

Figure 5 Pressure relations in capillary tubes1.

Where;
Poa = pressure of oil at point a
Pob = pressure of oil at point b
Pwa = pressure of water at point a
Pwb = pressure of water at point b

If the beaker is large, the interface at A is plane interface and capillary pressure is zero.
Therefore, Poa= Pwa at the free water level in the beaker. The density of both the oil and the
water must be considered in deriving the pressure relationship at point B.

Pob= Poa ogh

Pwb= Pwa wgh

Thus
Pob- Pwb = [ w - o ] gh = Pc

Therefore, the capillary pressure must be in equilibrium with gravitational forces if the fluids
are in equilibrium and not flowing.
Let us now consider the liquid rise in the capillary tube above the height of the liquid in the
large vessel. This rise in height is due to the attractive forces between the tube and the liquid
and the small weight represented by the column of liquid in the tube. The adhesion tension is
the force tending to pull the liquid up the wall of the tube. The liquid will rise in the tube until
the total force acting to pull the liquid upward is balanced by the weight of the column of
liquid being supported in the tube.
Force up = Force down, or:

2.r.AT .r 2 .( w o ).g c .h

2.r. AT 2 AT
h
.r .( w o ).g c
2 r.g c .( w o )

Where AT represents adhesion tension, r the radius, h the height of the liquid column,

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density and gc the force of gravity.

Adhesion Tension is defined by:

AT so sw wo . cos

Therefore,
2. wo . cos wo
( w o ).g c .h Pc
r

2. wo . cos wo
Pc
r

Laboratory Measurements and Relationship with Reservoir Systems

Since
r.Pc
. cos
2

it follows that the capillary pressure measured in any given porous system using a particular
fluid pair will be related to that obtained with any other fluid pair merely by the ratio of the
terms, i.e., denoting fluid pairs as 1 and 2,

. cos (1)
Pc (1) Pc ( 2)
( . cos ) ( 2)

This relationship is used in conducting laboratory tests with fluids other than reservoir
condition fluids. The capillary pressure at the reservoir can be calculated from laboratory
capillary pressure when the interfacial tensions and contact angle between oil and brine water
in the reservoir (=26 dynes/cm) and gas and brine water (=72 dynes/cm) in the laboratory are
known.

. cos res
Pc ( res ) Pc (lab)
( . cos ) lab

5. Gas-Liquid Drainage Capillary Pressure Measurements

Air and brine are frequently used as the pseudo-reservoir fluids and the displacement is
affected by increasing air pressure in a series of discrete steps in water saturated core plugs
sitting on a semi-permeable porous diaphragm. As a result of an increase in pressure
(equivalent to Pc since Pc = Pair Pwater), the water saturation decreases and its value is
established by weighing the core plug. The non-wetting phase fluid finds it easier to enter the
largest pore spaces in the porous rock first, since for a given rock fluid system
1
Pc
r
The procedure for this technique is:
1- A portion of liquid in saturated cores is displaced at a particular press level by either
gas or displacing fluid,
2- Liquid saturations measured after equilibrium saturation has been reached,

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3- Repetition for several successive pressure levels.

6. Threshold Pressure
There will be a threshold pressure, Pct, for each pore radius which has to be overcome by the
applied pressure differential in order to move wetting phase fluid from the pore. The
relationship between applied pressure differential and saturation thus give a characterization
of the pore size distribution.
The laboratory test results may look like those shown below, Figure 3.6:

Figure 6 Laboratory measurements of drainage capillary pressure2.

For pressures greater than the minimum threshold pressure, a decreasing pore size is invaded
by the non-wetting phase fluid until irreducible wetting phase saturation, Swirr is reached and
no further increase in differential pressure causes further saturation change.
The region in the figure which is between Pct and Swirr is called the transition zone region. In
higher permeability reservoirs (above 500 md) the value of Pct may be undistinguished from
zero applied pressure.
The physical significance of threshold pressure may be appreciated by an analogy with
capillary rise of water in different bore glass tubes suspended in an open tray of water (Figure
7). Again, since Pc 1/r it will be observed that entry of the non-wetting phase should be most
difficult in the smallest bore tube (highest threshold pressure).
If the density of water is denoted by w:
Pct w .g.h

Pct ( 3) Pct ( 2 ) Pct (1)

The free water level in the tray provide a convenient datum location. The relationship between
height above free water level and capillary pressure is derived from consideration of gravity
and capillary pressure force equilibrium.
Using the free water level (FWL) as a datum and defined its position in the reservoir as the
place where oil phase pressure Po equals the water phase pressure Pw, then the FWL:

Po Pw = Pc (FWL)

In oil field units, P is in psi, H is in ft, is in lbm/cu ft and g/gc is unity. Then,

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Pc = H (w w) / 144

Thus, capillary pressure curve can be also interpreted as height versus saturation curve as
shown in Figure 8.

Figure 7 Capillary rise above free water level2.

Capillary Pressure Hysteresis
When wetting phase is increasing, the imbibition wetting phase threshold pressure is
sometimes called a capillary suction pressure. The hysteresis phenomenon gives rise to the
curve pair character given Figure 9 where curve D shows Drainage and curve I shows the
Imbibition process. The condition Pc = 0 in the imbibition direction effectively defines the
residual non-wetting phase saturation which is therefore a property of the particular rock pore
size system and should be recognized as such.
The experimental difficulties in determining the definition of the imbibition direction capillary
pressure curve combined with the difficulties of using the information in reservoir simulation
models has led to the assumption that for practical purposes capillary pressure hysteresis does
not exist. This is close to the truth in systems without strong wetting preference and with
essentially monosize pores and the magnitude of the difference may often be negligible in
comparison with viscous force pressure gradients.
Saturation Distributions in Reservoir Intervals
In real reservoir systems, it is expected that a number of rock types will be encountered. Each
unit can have its own capillary pressure characteristics and the static saturation distribution in
the reservoir will be a superposition of all units, as shown in Figures 10 and 11. In this
example, four sand units are connected only at a common aquifer, whose free water level is
denoted by FWL.

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Figure 8 Static water saturation distribution and definition of contacts and transition zone in a
homogeneous reservoir2.

Figure 9 Capillary pressure hysteresis2.

Figure 10 Observed WOC and their relationship with FWL in a layered reservoir with a
common aquifer2.

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Figure 11 Saturation discontinuities in a layered reservoir and an example of multiple

observed WOC, but a free water level2.
The sands are labeled 1-4 and have permeabilities as: k1 > k4 > k3 > k2 .
The observed water oil contact representing the effects of threshold entry pressure is
denoted WOC, water-oil-contact. Each sand has a capillary pressure curve, depth related to
saturation and different irreducible water saturations. A well penetrating all sands will log a
saturation profile as shown in Figure 11.
Correlation of Capillary Pressure Data from a Given Rock Type
The capillary pressure at a given saturation is a measure of the smallest pore throat being
entered by the non wetting phase at that point; suggesting that the curvature of the capillary
pressure curve is a function of the pore size distribution. The level of the curve is determined
by the mean pore size.
In an effort to separate the effects of pore size and pore size distribution, Leverett (1941)
proposed a non - dimensional form of the drainage pressure curve that should be independent
of the pore size.
2 cos
From our definition: Pc where r is a mean radius,
r
rPc
We may note that the grouping will be dimensionless. Since permeability has the
cos
dimensions of L2, then we can substitute k for r and maintain the dimensionless nature of
the group. Leverett in fact defined a dimensionless capillary pressure group in this way, with
k
exception that was preferred.

Since capillary pressure is a function of saturation than the dimensionless capillary pressure
term, J is also a function of saturation. Thus,

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Pc ( S w ) k
J (S w )
cos

This relationship (Figure 12) will apply as a correlating group for all measurements of
capillary pressure using different fluid systems, so long as the porous rocks have similar pore
geometries. The numerical constant and the tortuosity have been adsorbed into J in this
equation. The J function is independent of pore size as was intended, but is also independent
of the interfacial tension between the fluid pair used to measure Pc. Following the
establishment of the correlation from representative rock samples under laboratory conditions,
it is used to predict reservoir saturation distribution.

Figure 12 Leverett J-function correlation2.

A further correlating technique makes use of an observation that in a given rock type, capillary
pressure curves from samples of different permeability often form a family of curves (Figure
13).

Figure 13 Effect of permeability on capillary pressure in a given rock type2.

With this shape of curves, an approximate linearization can be made by plotting the logarithm
of capillary pressure against the logarithm of permeability as iso saturation lines (Figure

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14).

Figure 14 Correlation of capillary pressure with permeability in a given rock type2.

This enables easier interpretation and regeneration of particular capillary pressure saturation
relationship to predict reservoir saturation distribution. Those curves are often obtained for
sands where large permeability variations occur in a very narrow rang of porosities.
Relative Permeability
Definition: Relative permeability is a concept used to relate the absolute permeability of a
porous system to the effective permeability of a particular in the system when that fluid
occupies only a fraction of the total pore volume.
ke
kr
k abs
Where;
kr = relative permeability to the phase
ke= effective permeability of the phase
kabs= absolute permeability of the porous system (when one fluid is present)
Darcys law was considered to apply when that porous medium was fully saturated with a
homogeneous, single phase fluid. In petroleum reservoirs, however, the rocks are usually
saturated with two or more fluids, such as interstitial water, oil, and gas. It is necessary to
generalize Darcys law by introducing the concept of effective permeability to describe the
simultaneous flow of more than one fluid.
In the definition of effective permeability each fluid phase is considered to be completely
independent of the other fluids in the flow network. The fluids are considered immiscible so
that Darcys law can be applied to each phase individually. Thus, Darcys law can be restated
as:
k dP dz
U o , s o o o g c , oil
o ds ds
k g dPg dz
U g ,s g gc , gas
g ds ds

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k w dPw dz
U w, s w gc , water
w ds ds

Experimentation has established that effective permeability is a function of the prevailing

fluid saturation the rock wetting characteristics and, the geometry of the pores of the rock.
The effective permeability is stated as some numerical value at some given saturation
conditions:
ko(60,
13)

oi water
l

Effective permeability of medium to oil; 60% oil, 13% water and the rest gas (27%).

The determination of effective permeability of the reservoir rock to each of the fluid phases
must be made throughout the range of fluid saturations that will be encountered in order to use
this form of Darcys equation for all calculations of fluid flow within a hydrocarbon reservoir
(Figure 15). Effective permeabilities obtained from laboratory measurements conducted on a
core sample are usually normalized by the absolute permeability of the core sample. Thus,

ko kg k
k ro ; k rg ; k rw w
k abs k abs k abs

where k ro , k rw k rg are the relative permeabilities to oil, water , and gas, respectively.

In two phase systems, the relationships are expressed as functions of saturation as shown
where w refers to wetting and nw refers to non-wetting phases, respectively (Figure 16).

Figure 15 Representation of effective phase permeability2.

- Sw(max) occurs in a two phase system when the non-wetting phase reaches the residual
non-wetting phase saturation
- Sw(min) represents the irreducible wetting phase saturation.

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Figure 16 Representation of relative permeability2.

In oil-water systems, in particular, the relative permeability scale is after normalized by
representing relative permeability as effective permeability divided by permeability to non-
wetting phase at the minimum wetting phase saturation, i.e., (Figure 17)
k
k r e (Sw min)
k erw

In the gas-oil system, direction of displacement is particularly important as the process can
represent a drainage process (Figure 18), such as gas drive (gas displacing oil immiscibly) or
an imbibition process (Figure 19), such as movement of an oil zone or an aquifer into a
receding depleting gas capture.

Figure 17 Oil-water relative permeability (imbibition direction), k(ocw) = oil permeability at

connate water saturation2.
In gas-oil systems, the third phase, water, which in reality is always present in reservoir is
considered to stay at irreducible saturation and play no part in the displacement processes. The
effective permeabilities are correlated with total liquid saturation [ S(L) ] rather than gas
saturation. The relationship is based on:

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S L So S w 1 S g
In a system where gas saturation increases from zero (a liquid drainage process), it is
observed that gas does not flow until some critical gas saturation (Sgc) has been attained. This
is attributed to the physical process of the gas phase becoming continuous through the system
in order to flow. In liquid imbibition process (gas saturation decreasing from a maximum
initial value) the gas permeability goes to zero when the residual or trapped gas saturation
(Sgr) is reached.

Figure 18 and 19 Gas-oil relative permeability curves2.

References:
1. Amyx, J.W., Bass, D.M. Jr., Whiting, R.L., (1960) Petroleum Reservoir Engineering-
Physical Properties, McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York.
2. Archer, J.S., Wall, C.G., (1986) Petroleum Engineering Principles and Practice,
Graham & Trotman, Oxford.
3. Leverett, M.C., (1941) Capillary Behavior in Porous Solids, Trans AIME.

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