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WATERRESISTIVITYandWATERSALINITY
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METHODS

FORMATIONWATERRESISTIVITYBASICS
Mostmethodsforcomputingwatersaturationrequireknowledgeof
formationwaterresistivityattheformationtemperature,soitisa
necessaryevilalongourstepbysteppathtofindouthowmuchoiland
gasisintheground.

Sodiumchloridemakesupthemajorityofthedissolvedsolidsin
hydrocarbonreservoirs,butnumerousothercompoundsmaybepresent.
Whensaltsdissolve,theybreakdownintotheirions,suchasNa,Cl,Mg,
SO4,K,Ca,andmanyothers.Purewaterhasnearinfiniteresistivityitis
theseionsthatmakewaterconductive.

Waterresistivitydecreaseswithincreasedsalinity,andforagivensalinity,waterresistivityalsodecreaseswith
increasedtemperature.Atanygiventemperature,thereisamaximumsalinitythatcanbeachieved,abovewhich
saltcrystalswillbegintoprecipitate.Innongeothermalreservoirs,thislimitisbetween225,000and325,000
partspermillion(ppm)totaldissolvedsolids(TDS).

Producedwatersamplescanbeanalyzedinthelaboratoryfortheirchemicalcompositionandwaterresistivity.
Lessaccuratewaterresistivityvaluescanbemeasuredatthewellsiteorcansometimesbederivedfromwelllog
data.Inallcases,manipulationoftheRWvaluestoaccountfortemperaturewillprobablybeneeded.Conversion
betweensalinityandresistivityandviceversaiscommonlyneeded.Andofcoursesomemethodforestimating
formationandsurfacetemperatureswillberequired.

Thispagedevelopsthemathtohandleallthesecriticalfactors,afterfirstlookingatthehowlabdataispresented
tousinthewateranalysisreports.

LABORATORYWATERANALYSISREPORTS
Drillstemtestorproducedwaterrecoveriesinyourwell,orfromnearbywells,areanalyzedforchemicalcontent
andwaterresistivityinthelaboratory.Asampleanalysisisshownbelow.

Thechemicalanalysisisrecordedinmilligramsperkilogram(mg/kg),ormilligramsperliter(mg/l).

Wateranalysisreportfromadrillstemtestrecovery,showingchemicalanalysis,calculatedandmeasuredwater
resistivity,andStiffdiagramofchemicalanalysis.

EQUIVALENTNaClWATERSALINITYFROMWATERANALYSIS
Theresistivityofawatersamplecanbecalculatedfromitschemicalanalysis.Todothis,anequivalentNaCl
concentrationmustbedeterminedbasedontheionicactivityofeachion.
 Enterchartwithtotalsolidsconcentrationofthesampleinppm(mg/kg)tofindweightingfactorsforeachion
present.Theconcentrationofeachionismultipliedbyitsweightingfactor,andtheproductsforallionsare
summedtoobtainequivalentNaClconcentration.

Themathisprettysimple:
1:TDS=SUM(IONI)
2:WSe=SUM(IONi*FACTRi)

WHERE:
TDS=totaldissolvedsolids(ppm)
IONi=ionconcentrationofithcomponent(ppm)
FACTRi=multiplierfactorforithcomponent(ppm)
WSe=equivalentNaClconcentration(ppm)

NUMERICALEXAMPLE:
Assumeformationwatersampleanalysis
460ppmCa,
1400ppmSO4
19,000ppmNaplusCl.

Totaldissolvedsolidsconcentration
TDS=460+1400+19,000=20,860ppm
Enteringthechartwiththistotalsolidsconcentration
Camultiplier=0.81
SO4multiplier=0.45
Na+CLmultiplier=1.00
EquivalentNaClconcentration=4600.81+14000.45+19,0001.0=20,000ppm.

WATERSALINITYFROMCHLORIDECONTENT
SometimessalinityisreportedatthewellsiteinppmChloridesinsteadofppmNaClequivalent.
6:WSa=Ccl*1.645

WHERE:
Ccl=watersalinity(ppmCl)
WSa=watersalinity(ppmNaCl)

COMMENTS:
Usethisrelationshipwhenchloridecontentofthewatersampleisknown.UsuallyClcontentisderivedatthe
wellsitefromadrillstemtestrecovery.Itisusefulasafirstapproximationuntilthewatersampleisanalyzed
moreaccuratelyatalaboratory.TherelationshipisforpureNaClsolutionsandthefactormaybehigherorlower
ifotherionsarepresent.

NUMERICALEXAMPLE:
1.Chlorideconcentrationtosalinity.
WS=11,600ppmCl*1.645=19,000ppmNaCl

WATERRESISTIVITYFROMSALINITYATANYTEMPERATURE
Crain'sModelisusedtoconvertalabmeasuredsalinitytoaformationwaterresistivity(RW)atanyspecific
temperature(FT)indegreesFahrenheit.TheresultisabbreviatedasRW@FTthroughoutthisHandbook.Youcan
useequation5toconvertasalinitytoanyarbitrarytemperature,forexample75For77F(roughly25C)tofindthe
resistivityatlaboratoryconditions.
1:FT=SUFT+(BHTSUFT)/BHTDEP*DEPTH
2:IFLOGUNITS$="METRIC"
3:THENFT1=9/5*FT+32
4:OTHERWISEFT1=FT
5:RW@FT=(400000/FT1/WS)^0.88

InvertthisequationtosolveforWSgivenRWataaspecifictemperatureFT1.
6:WS=400000/FT1/((RW@ET)^1.14)

WHERE:
BHT=bottomholetemperature(degreesFahrenheitorCelcius)
BHTDEP=depthatwhichBHTwasmeasured(feetormeters)
DEPTH=midpointdepthofreservoir(feetormeters)
FT=formationtemperature(degreesFahrenheitorCelcius)
FT1=formationtemperature(degreesFahrenheit)
RW@FT=waterresistivityatformationtemperatures(ohmm)
SUFT=surfacetemperature(degreesFahrenheitorCelcius)
WS=watersalinity(ppmNcCl)

COMMENTS:
UsethisrelationifsalinityisknownfromlaboratorymeasurementstoobtainRWfromlabdataatany
temperature.

NUMERICALEXAMPLE:
1.Salinitytowaterresistivity.
RW@FT=(400000/102'F/20,000ppm)^0.88=0.238ohmm@102'F
(roundedtothreesignificantdigits)

2.Waterresistivitytosalinity.
WS=400,000/102'F/((0.250ohmm)^1.14)=19,000ppmNaCl
(roundedtothreesignificantdigits)

WATERRESISTIVITYFROMSALINITYATLABTEMPERATURE
ThesemodelsgenerateRWatlaboratorytemperatureof75For25C.
1.Crain'sMethod(1974)
1:RW@75F=(400000/75/WS)^0.88

2.BatemanandKonenMethod(1977)
2:RW@75F=0.0123+(3647.5/WS^0.955)

3.Kennedy'sMethod(2015)
3:RW@75F=1/(24.308530.0364*(0.1*WS29.46515957)0.02922*(0.1*WS29.46515957)^2)

COMMENTS:
Forallpracticalpurposes,thethreemodelsgivethesameRWvalue(seeGraph1below).Thereareminor
differencesabove150,000ppmNaClwhichcanonlybeseenwhenwaterresistivityisconvertedtowater
conductivity(seeGraph2below).

Theeffectonwatersaturation(SW%)isnotverysignificant(+/0.5%SWatlowSW,+/2%SWathighSW,at
200,000ppmNaCl).

The10significantdigitsusedintheKennedyequationgiveafalsesenseofaccuracythatisnotwarranted.
 Graph1:RwModelsRedline=Crain,Blackline=BatemanandKonen,Blueline=Kennedy

Graph2:CwModelsRedline=Crain,Blackline=BatemanandKonen,Blueline=Kennedy.
Thedifferencesabove150,000ppmNaClhavelittleimpactonwatersaturation.

NUMERICALEXAMPLE:

RWFROMWATERCATALOGS
Watercataloguespublishedbyyourlocalwellloggingsocietyorsimilarcataloguescreatedbysearchingin
housedatabasesareanecessarytoolforwellloganalysis.Asampleisshownbelow.

AsampleofRWdatafromawaterresistivitycatalog,dataistabulatedandalso
postedonamap,andisbasedonastandardtemperatureof25degreesCelcius(77degreesFahrenheit).

Waterresistivityvaluesinacatalogarerecordedatastandard
temperature,usually75For77F(25C).Sincewaterresistivityvaries
inverselywithtemperature,thecatalogvaluesmustbetransformedto
anewvaluerepresentingwaterresistivityatformationtemperature
(RW@FT)seenextSection.

Tousedatafromawatercatalogue,itisusuallynecessarytodoa
littlefiltering.NearlyeverythingthatcangowrongwillraisetheRW
valuerecordedinthecatalogue.Usuallytheminimumvaluefrom
nearbyoffsetwellsisthebestchoice.Itmaybeusefultogatherall
thevaluesforthereservoirforaradiusof3to6miles(5to10Km)
andprepareahistogram.Onthehistogram,findthepointthat
representsthelowerdecile(10%ofthedatavaluesarelessthanthis
value).Taketheaverageofthedatainthisdecile.Youmaywantto
eliminateobvious"impossible"valuesbeforeyoumakethe
histogram.

Thefollowingrelationshipsareneededtomanipulatewaterresistivity
datapriortocalculationsofwatersaturation.
1.ArpsMethod(1953)
1:FT=SUFT+(BHTSUFT)/BHTDEP*DEPTH
2:KT1=6.8forEnglishunitsKT1=21.5forMetricunits
3:RW@FT=RW@TRW*(TRW+KT1)/(FT+KT1)
4:RMF@FT=RMF@TRW*(TRW+KT1)/(FT+KT1)
5:RMC@FT=RMC@STRW+(TRW*KT1)/(FT+KT1)
WHERE:
SUFT=surfacetemperaturefortemperaturegradient(degreesFahrenheitorCelcius)
BHT=bottomholetemperature(degreesFahrenheitorCelcius)
BHTDEP=depthatwhichBHTwasmeasured(feetormeters)
DEPTH=midpointdepthofreservoir(feetormeters)
FT=formationtemperature(degreesFahrenheitorCelcius)
RMC@FT=mudcakeresistivityatformationtemperature(ohmm)
RMC@TRW=mudcakeresistivityatsurfacetemperature(ohmm)
RMF@FT=mudfiltrateresistivityatformationtemperature(ohmm)
RMF@TRW=mudfiltrateresistivityatsurfacetemperature(ohmm)
RW@FT=waterresistivityatformationtemperatures(ohmm)
RW@TRW=waterresistivityatsurfacetemperature(ohmm)
TRW=temperatureatwhichwaterwasmeasured(degreesFahrenheitorCelcius)

2.HilchieModel(1984)ALLtemperaturesinFahrenheit.
6:KT1=10^(0.340396*log(RW@TRW)+0.641427)
7:FT1=SUFT+(BHTSUFT)/BHTDEP*DEPTH
8:RW@FT=RW@TRW*(TRW+KT1)/(FT1+KT1)
9:RMF@FT=RMF@TRW*(TRW+KT1)/(FT1+KT1)
10:RMC@FT=RMC@STRW+(TRW*KT1)/(FT1+KT1)

WHERE:
FT1=formationtemperature(degreesFahrenheitONLY)

COMMENTS:
UsetheserelationswhenRW@TRWisknownfrommeasureddata.Thistransformationcanbemadeonthechart
below.TheHilchiemodelaccountsfortheslightcurvatureatlowandhightemperaturesonthechart,butArps
modelisquitesufficientforpracticalpetrophysics.

NUMERICALEXAMPLE:
1.Waterresistivityatformationtemperature.
Englishunitsexample:
RW@FT=(0.32ohmm@77'F)*(77+6.8)/(102+6.8)=0.25ohm@102'F

Metricunitsexample:
RW@FT=(0.32ohmm@25'C)*(25+21.5)/(39+21.5)=0.25ohmm@39'C

SchlumbergerChartGEN9:WaterresistivityTemperatureSalinityrelationships
SchlumbergerChartGEN9:WaterresistivityTemperatureSalinityrelationships

ESTIMATINGSURFACEANDFORMATIONTEMPERATURES
Temperaturemeasurementsspecifictoyourareaofinterestaregoingtosparseandyouwillhavetodosome
searchingforusefuldata.Themapbelowgivesagoodideaofwhattouseforsurfacetemperature(SUFT).
Temperatureversusdepthdatafromlogheadingscanbeplottedtoestimateabestfittemperaturegradientline.
Itdoesn'thavetobeastraightline.Seerepresentativegraphsbelow.Inareaswithsparsedata,usethe
temperaturegradientmapssuppliedbelow.

MeanAnnualSurfaceTemperatureMapforNorthAmericadegreesF
The40degFcontourfollowsroughlyalongtheUSCanadaborderexceptalongthecoastlines.
Contourintervalis5degF.
TypicalDepthTemperatureprofiles.CreateyourownbybestfitofBHTvsBHTDEPfromdataonlog
headingsorDSTreports.

TemperaturegradientforUSAdegreesCelciusper1000meters,
NorthAmericanHeatFloeMap(3MB)LegibleLegendforNAMap
 Temperatureat5000metersforAustralia

RWFROMAWATERZONE
BackcalculationofRW@FTfromlogdatainaclean(nonshaly)zoneusuallycalledtheRwamethod,orthe
waterzone(RoorR0)methodiscommonlyusedwhenobviouswaterzonesexistnearthezoneofinterest.

RW@FT_3Waterresistivityfromwaterzone
Thefollowingalgorithmisusedtobackcalculatewaterresistivityfromaknownwaterzone.
1:RW@FT=(PHIt^M)*RESD/A
2:RMF@FT=(PHIt^M)*RESS/A
3:RMC@FT=2.0*RMF@FT

WHERE:
A=tortuosityexponent(unitless)
M=cementationexponent(unitless)
PHIt=totalporosityfoundbyloganalysis(fractional)
RESD=deepestresistivitylogreading(ohmm)
RESS=shallowestresistivitylogreading(ohmm)
RMC@FT=mudcakeresistivityatformationtemperature(ohmm)
RMF@FT=mudfiltrateresistivityatformationtemperature(ohmm)
RW@FT=waterresistivityatformationtemperatures(ohmm)

COMMENTS:
UsethisrelationshipifnomeasuredvaluesofRWareavailableandonlyifdatafromacleanwaterzonecanbe
found.Anomographicsolutionisgivenbelow.

ThismethodisoftencalledtheRwamethod

Porosityshouldbegreaterthan0.06.

Notethatresultsareattheformationtemperature.Tocomparethesevaluestocatalogvaluesat25degrees
Celcius,usethetemperaturetransformationfromthepreviousalgorithmorthenomographbelow.
 Waterresistivityfromwaterzonedata(RwaMethod)

NUMERICALEXAMPLE:
1.Assumedataforwaterzone
SandASandBSandCSandD
RESD60400.30.5
PHIt0.330.140.300.11
A=0.62
M=2.15
RW@FT0.890.940.0360.007

Sample:
RW@FT=Rwa=(0.33^2.15)*6.0/0.62=0.89

TheRW@FTvaluesrepresentthefirstapproximationtoavalueofwaterresistivityforeachofthefourzones.The
valueforSandDisnotveryrealistic,andabetteronewillbefoundlaterwhenwelookatshalecorrections.

RWFROMSPLOG
CalculationfromknowledgeoftheSPvalueinacleanzonehasbeenatraditionalmethodforfindingRW.It
worksbestincleanwaterbearingzones,buttheRwaorR0methodwouldbebetterinthiscase.Shalecontent
andhydrocarboncontentreducetheSPvalueandcauseRWtotoohigh,givingverypessimisticsaturation
results.
1:FT=SUFT+(BHTSUFT)/BHTDEP*DEPTH
2:IFLOGUNITS$="METRIC"
3:THENFT1=9/5*FT+32
4:OTHERWISEFT1=FT
5:KSP=60+0.122*FT1
6:RSP=10^(SSP/KSP)
7:IFRMF@FT>0.1
8:THENRMFE=0.85*RMF@FT
9:IFRMF@FT<=0.1
10:THENRMFE=(146*RMF@FT5)/(337*RMF@FT+77)
11:RWE=RMFE/RSP
12:IFRWE>0.12
13:THENRW@FT=(0.5810^(0.69*RWE0.24))
14:IFRWE<=0.12
15:THENRW@FT=(77*RWE+5)/(146337*RWE)
WHERE:
BHT=bottomholetemperature(degreesFahrenheitorCelcius)
BHTDEP=depthatwhichBHTwasmeasured(feetormeters)
DEPTH=midpointdepthofreservoir(feetormeters)
FT1=formationtemperature(degreesFahrenheit)
KSP=temperaturefactor(degreesFahrenheit)
RSP=RWE/RMFE(fractional)
RMFE=equivalentmudfiltrateresistivity(ohmm)
RMF@FT=mudfiltrateresistivityatformationtemperature(ohmm)
RWE=equivalentwaterresistivity(ohmm)
RW@FT=waterresistivityatformationtemperatures(ohmm)
SSP=staticSPreadingincleanzone(ohmm)
SUFT=surfacetemperature(degreesFahrenheitorCelcius)

COMMENTS:
ThisalgorithmshouldonlybeusedIFtheSPloghassufficientcharacter,thezoneofinterestisacleanwater
bearingsandstone,andtheresultisreasonableforthearea.UsecautionsincemanySPlogsarenotcalibrated,
andRMForRWcanbemeasuredcarelessly.

Solutionoftheseformulaecanbedoneonthetwochartsbelow.AnExcelmacroforRWfromSP,publishedby
SPWLA,islocatedHERE.

NomographsforRWfromSP

NUMERICALEXAMPLE:
1.DataforSandC:
SUFT=25degreesC
BHT=65degreesC
BHTDEP=2225m
DEPTH=1000m
RMF=0.75@25degreesC
SP=90mv

FT=25+(6525)/2225*1000=43degreesC
FT1=9/5*43+32=109degreesF
RMF@FT=0.75*(25+21.5)/(43+21.5)=0.54
KSP=60+0.122*109=73.3
RSP=10^(90/73.3)=16.9
RMFE=0.85*0.54=0.46
RWE=0.46/16.9=0.027
RW@FT=(77*0.027+5)/(146337*0.027)=0.051

SELECTIONOFRWFROMVARIOUSSOURCES
Waterresistivitydatacanbesparseoroverwhelming,dependingonwhereyouareworkingatthemoment.The
usualsourcesinorderofpreferenceare:

1.Producedwaterfromthezonebeinganalyzedinthesamewellornearbyoffsetwells,analyzedforRwinthe
lab.

2.Drillstemtestorperftestwaterfromthezonebeinganalyzedinthesamewellornearbyoffsetwells,analyzed
forRwinthelab.Thetestshouldproduceatleast1000ft(300m)ofwaterbeforeusingthedata,topreventmud
filtratecontaminationfromcausingerrors.Thesampleshouldbefromthebottomofthetest.

3.ProducedorDSTwaterfromanearbyzoneinthesamegeologichorizon(donotcrosserosionalboundaries),
analyzedasabove.

4.Watercataloguesproducedbylocalwelllogsocietiesorgovernmentagencies.

5.Backcalculatedfromlogdataincleanwaterbearingzoneinthesamewellornearbyoffsetwell(RwaorRo
method).

6.Backcalculatedfromnearbywaterbearingzoneinsamegeologichorizon.

7.CalculatedfromSPincleanwaterbearingzoneinsameornearbyzoneinsamewellornearbyoffsetwell.

8.Ifnowaterhaseverbeenproducedinthearea,backcalculatedfromalaboratorymeasuredorassumed
PHIxSWproduct.

9.Localruleofthumbforwaterresistivityversusdepthorversusgeologichorizon.

Donotuse:

1.WaterfromaDSTorperftestthatrecoveredmostlyfiltratewater(checkwaterchemistry)orrecoveredonlya
smallamountofwater.

2.SPorRwainashalyzone.

3.SPorRwainahydrocarbonbearingzone.

4.SPinacarbonateorevaporitesequence.

5.SPinalowporosityzone.

"META/RW"SPREADSHEETWaterResistivityCalculations
ThisspreadsheetcalculatesRWatformationtemperatureusing5differentmethods.

CalculateRWatformationtemperature.MetricandEnglishUnits

Sampleof"META/RW"forcalculatingwaterresistivityfromvariousmethods.

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