1.

ABSTRACT

The objective of the experiment is to determine the absolute permeability of

membrane samples using a liquid permeameter and to study the effect of pressure towards the
membrane samples. In this experiment, membrane samplesis tested with differential pressure
of 50, 60, and 70 psi. The results obtained from this experiment are 0.4316 Darcy for 50 psi,
0.6489 Darcy for 60 psi and 0.6571 psi for 70 psi.

2. INTRODUCTION

Permeability is a capability of a porous rock or sediment to permit the flow of fluids

through its pore spaces. The rock permeability is important because it control the directional
movement and the flow rate of the reservoir fluids in the formation. Permeability is based on
Darcys Law. Darcy developed a fluid flow equation that has since become one of the
standard mathematical tools of petroleum engineer. For a rock to act as a reservoir, it must
have two essential properties: porosity and permeability. Porosity is the ability of a rock to
hold hydrocarbon (act as storage) whereas permeability is the ability of fluids to pass through
a porous material. Porosity alone is not enough for a rock to be good reservoir. Thus it must
have permeability, where the pores are connected to each other so that the hydrocarbon can
flow through the reservoir rock to the trap where the hydrocarbons will accumulate. The
original work on permeability was carried out by Henry Darcy in 1856, thus creating Darcys
equation. Darcys equation defining permeability is linked to laminar flow in porous media,
and it is not valid for turbulent flow. The unit for permeability is the Darcy. This is defined as
the permeability that allows a fluid of 1 centipoise (cP) viscosity to flow at a velocity of 1
cm/s for a pressure drop of 1 atm/cm. Because of most reservoirs have permeabilities much
less than a Darcy, milidarcy (md) is commonly used. Average permeability in reservoirs is
commonly in the range of 5 to 500 md. Permeability is generally referred to by the letter K.

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 3. OBJECTIVES

In this experiment, the objectives are:

1. To determine the absolute permeability of mediums (membrane samples)

using a liquid permeameter.
2. To study the effect of different pressure towards the mediums (membrane
samples).

4. THEORY

This experiment is about determining the permeability of porous

media using liquid parameter and to compare the average permeability.
Firstly, permeability is a property of the porous medium that measures the
capacity and ability of the formation to transmit fluids. The rock
permeability, k, is a very important rock property because it controls the
directional movement and the flow rate of the reservoir fluids in the
formation. Darcy equation that defines permeability in terms of
measurable quantities is called Darcys Law. Darcy developed a fluid flow
equation that has since become one of the standard mathematical tools of
the petroleum engineer.

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The fluid flow through a cylindrical tube is can be expressed by the
Poiseuilles equation, where it is the simplification to the Navier-Strokes
equation for the particular geometry, laminar flow and uncompressible
fluids.

r 4 ( PiPo )
Q=
8 L

where:

cm3 m3
Q: the flow rate ( s s

R: is the radius of the tube (m or cm)

Po : the outlet fluid pressure (dynes/ cm 2 or Pa)

Pi : the inlet fluid pressure (dynes/ cm 2 or Pa)

: the viscosity of fluid (centipoise or Pa.s)

L: the length of the tube (cm or m)

The permeability should be measure in presence of fluid

therefore gas and liquid could be used. If a gas is used as the working
liquid, at low flow rates correction is needed, whereas in case of liquid no
correction is needed. Liquid, in our case water, is pumped through the
sample at various flow rates and pressure drop is recorded.The
permeability can be calculated using Darcy formula and straight-line
developed.

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In 1856, a French engineer Henry Darcy discover the Darcys Law to show
the flow of groundwater through a granular media or others fluids through
permeable substance. Darcys Law can be expressed as :

kA (PiPo )
Q=
L

Where,

cm3 m3
Q: the flow rate ( s s

R: is the radius of the tube (m or cm)

Po : the outlet fluid pressure (dynes/ cm 2 or Pa)

Pi : the inlet fluid pressure (dynes/ cm 2 or Pa)

: the viscosity of fluid (centipoise or Pa.s)

L: the length of the tube (cm or m)

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k: the permeability of the sample ( Darcy or m

2 2
A: the area of the sample ( cm m

The dimensions of permeability can be established by

substituting the units of the other in the equation.

Darcy [D] = q[cm3/s] [cp] L[cm] / [atm] A[cm2]

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 5. MATERIAL AND APPARATUS

APPARATUS

Nitrogen
tank Computer
and Printer
Distilled Chamber
water

Beaker

Core
Sample

Tool used
to tighten
the

Figure 5.1: Liquid Permeameter (LP 101-A)

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MATERIALS

1. Distilled water
2. Nitrogen Gas supply

6. PROCEDURE

1. A flat core sample was prepared.

2. The liquid fill hose attached to the sample chamber lid is

disconnected. The lid is unscrewed and removed. The spacing insert
and adapter plated are taken out.

3. The O-ring was checked for dryness.

4. The thickness of the core sample was measured accurately.

5. The sample is then places slowly into the sample chamber.

6. The auto test is set to the designated pressure and the sequence is
started.

7. The test result was observed and analysed by using CapWin

software.

8. The height of the liquid, time, pressure and flow rates are displayed
as the data collected during the test.

9. All the data are recorded. Above steps are repeated by changing the
pressure of 50, 60 and 70 psi.

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 7. RESULT

Sample thickness : 0.400 cm

Sample diameter : 3.000 cm

Fluid used : Water

Fluid viscosity : 1.000 CP

Differential Pressure, psi Average Darcy Permeability Constant

50 0.4316

60 0.6489

70 0.6571

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 8. DISCUSSION

In this experiment, the objectives are to determine the permeability of porous media
using liquid parameter and to compare the average permeability of the tested core sample for
differential pressures. Firstly, the permeability is used to measure the ability of rock to allow
fluid to pass through it. The fluid cannot flow through it when it have low permeability while
when high permeability , the fluid allow to flow through it. This experiment used sample
thickness of 0.4cm,the fluid used is water and fluid viscosity, is 1 cp. The permeability of
the rock can be affected by pressure different so the pressure set are 50 psi,60 psi and 70 psi
for this experiment.

The experiments started with prepared a flat core sample, the liquid fill hose attached
to the sample chamber lid was removed and after ensure the o- ring was dry. Next the sample
was placed into the sample chamber before its placed into the chamber and the auto test was
started. All the data are recorded. Based on this experiment, the value of permeability for 50
psi is 0.4316 mD , for 60 psi is 0.6489 mD and 70 psi is 0.6571 mD.

The permeability of rock can be calculated using Darcys Law. Besides the pressure,
the size of pore and connected pore grain also affected the permeability. When the amount
pore size smaller, the permeability is lower. While, when the core sample contain larger
amount of connected pore, the permeability of the core will be higher.

When the pressure at 70 psi, the permeability should be higher compare to 50 psi and
60 psi because the pressure is sufficient enough for the water to flow through the rock. By
using all the data recorded, the type of rock can be identified. The type of rock used is
sandstone but if referred at range of permeability for sandstone, the data recorded have some
error so the range value are not same with the range value for permeability of sandstone
which state range of permeability is 1 to 10. Lastly, 0.1 to 5 is the range for low permeability
reservoir. The core sample has potential to be poor reservoir for hydrocarbon in petroleum
system.

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 9. CONCLUSION

As the conclusion, it can be said that the permeability of rock is depending on the
pressure drop and on connected pore grain in the core sample and the size of the pore. The
higher the pressure, the higher the permeability due to enough pressure required to run the
water through the sample. This sandstone is categorized as much fined sand than the other
type of rocks. It also has grey in colour. A good reservoir rocks is the one that has high
permeability and porosity to accumulate and drain oil in economical quantities. The quality of
a reservoir is defined by its hydrocarbon storage capacity as well.

The hydrocarbon storage capacity is characterized by the effective porosity and the
size of the reservoir, whereas the deliverability is a function of the permeability. Effective
porosity is the volume percentage of interconnected pores in a rock. The remaining space in
the rock is occupied by the framework or matrix of the rock and, if present, nonconnected
pore space. Common porosity types in sandstone and carbonate rocks. The relationship also
varies with formation and rock type. When the porosity is increased, it will accompanied by
increasing the permeability.

From the experiment, if the result gives a low pressure, mean free path distance is
large enough so that no water molecules will collide against the walls during some small
periods of time. This effect reduces the friction loss at the wall increasing the ease with the
water flows through the spaces. This same effect occurs in the porous space of rock and as
consequence measured permeability appear to be higher than it really is.

10. RECOMMANDATION

1. Make sure that sample rock have smooth surface to ease the procedure of tightening
the chamber lid.

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2. The experiment can be repeated several time for every core sample to get more
accurate result and to get the average value of permeability.

3. Make sure that distilled water always more than half of the beaker when running the
experiment.

4. Recognize the type of rock before the experiment to prevent from getting low or no
permeability. For this experiment, the rock used was sandstone type.

11. REFERENCES

1. N. H. Richard. (2014). Flow through pores. Retrieved 17th November 2016, from
http://www.slb.com/resources/oilfield_review/~/media/Files/resources/oilfield_review
/ors14/aut14/define_perm.ashx.
2. Tiab, D., & Donaldson, E. C. (2011). Petrophysics: theory and practice of measuring
reservoir rock and fluid transport properties. Gulf professional publishing.
3. C. Peach J. Chen, X. Yang, Q. Duan, & C. Peach. (2015). Integrated measurements of
permeability, effective porosity, and specific storage of core samples using water as
the pore fluid. [Thesis]. International Journal of Rock Mechanic and Mining Science.
79, 56-62. Retrieved 17th November 2016 from www.elsevier.com/locate/ijrmms
4. R. H. Mills & N. Hearn, (1990). Simple Permeameter for water or gas flow. [Thesis].
Department of Civil Engineering. Cement and Concreter Research. Vol 21. Pp. 257-
261.
5. J. Spearl& J. Trckova, (2008). Permeability and Porosity of Rocks and their
relationship based on laboratory testing. Institute of rock structure and mechanics.
ActaGeogyn. Geomater. Vol 5, No 1 (149).
6. Permeability and Darcy law. https://www.slideshare.net/parthhjoshi/darcys-law-
15277923
7. Relative permeability and capillary pressure (Petrowiki)
petrowiki.org/Relative_permeability_and_capillary_pressure.

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12. APPENDICES

Printer

Gas supply

Part of permeater used

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Permeability test app

0- ring

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