PROPERTIESOFOIL

&NATURALGAS
Chapter2
Oilproperties
Propertiesofcrudeoilandnaturalgasarefundamentalfor
designingandanalyzingoilandgasproductionsystemsin
petroleumengineering.
Oilpropertiesinclude:
solutiongasoilratio(GOR)
density
formationvolumefactor
viscosity
compressibility.
SolutionGasOilRatio(GOR)
Volumeofgasthatcanbedissolvedinunitvolumeofoilin
reservoircondition.(SCF/STB)
GORremainsconstantwhenP>Pb(bubblepointpressure).
ItdecreasesaspressuredecreasewhenP<Pb.
ItcanbemeasuredinPVTlaboratoriesorcanbeestimated
byexperimentalcorrelations.
GORcontd
Onewidelyusedcorrelationtoestimateitis:
where
g
andAPIaredefinedinthelattersections,andpand
tarepressureandtemperatureinpsiaandF,respectively.
SolutionGORisusedfor:
1 volumetricOil&Gascalculation.
2 toestimateotherpropertiesoffluidlikedensity.
3 initialGORcanbeanindicatorofreservoirfluidtype.
Density
Densityofoilisdefinedasthemassofoilperunitvolume,
orlbm/ft
3
.
Sincethereisdissolvedgasinoil,oildensityisafunctionof
pressure.
Densitycontd
Thedensityofoilatstandardcondition(stocktankoil)is
evaluatedbyAPIgravity.Therelationshipbetweenthedensity
ofstocktankoilandAPIgravityisgiventhroughthefollowing
relations:
Densitycontd
LikesolutionGOR,densitycanbeestimatedbyexperimental
correlations.
OnewellknowncorrelationisAhmedcorrelation:
FormationVolumeFactor(Bo)
Boisdefinedas:volumeofoilinreservoirovervolumeofoil
insurface(reservoirbarrel/StandardTankBarrel)(rb/STB).
Boisalwaysgreaterthan1because:inreservoirconditionoil
candissolvemoregasthaninstandardcondition.
WhenP>Pb,Bodecreasesslowlyaspressureincreases.
WhenP<Pb,Bodecreasesaspressuredecreases.
Bocontd
Bocanbecalculatedbyexperimentalcorrelationslike:
Viscosity()
Viscosityistheresistanceoffluidtoflow.
Waterviscosityis1cpinstandardcondition.
Viscosityisusedfor:
wellinflowcalculations.
pressuredropcalculations.
effectivemobilityinmultiphaseflow.
Viscositycanbecalculatedbyexperimentalcorrelations.
Standingscorrelationfordeadoil:
Viscositycontd
Standingscorrelationforsaturatedoilis:
Standingscorrelationforundersaturatedoilis:
Oilcompressibility
Isdefinedas:unitvolumeschangeasaresponsetothe
pressure
OilcompressibilityismeasuredfromPVTlaboratoriesandis
usedfor:
1 wellinflowperformancecalculations.
2 reservoirsimulation.
Problem2.1
Calculatetheviscosityofoilforanygivensectionwithits
relateddata:
a) GOR=550scf/STB,P=4000psia,T=120F,Pb=2200psia,
Oilspecificgravity=0.85andGasspecificgravity=0.76.
b) P=1500psia,T=120F,Pb=2200psia,Oilspecificgravity=0.9
andGasspecificgravity=0.79.
GasProperties
Gaspropertiescanbecalculatebytheoreticalmethodsbeside
experimentalcorrelationsorPVTlaboratorymeasurement.
Propertiesthatwillbediscussedare:
1 Gasspecificgravity
2 Gaspseudocriticaltemperature&pressure
3 Gasviscosity
4 Gascompressibilityfactor
5 Gasdensity
6 Gasformationvolumefactor
7 Gascompressibility
Gasspecificgravity
Specificgravitygasisdefinedastheratiooftheapparent
molecularweightofthegastothatofair.
Themolecularweightofairisusuallytakenasequalto28.97
(79%nitrogenand21%oxygen).
Where:MWaistheapparentmolecularweightofgas,which
canbecalculatedonthebasisofgascomposition.
Pseudocriticalproperties
Thegascriticalpropertiesdeterminedinsuchawayarecalled
pseudocriticalproperties.Gaspseudocriticalpressure(
p
pc
)andpseudocriticaltemperature(T
pc
)are,respectively,
expressedas:
Ifthecompositionisnotknown,criticalpropertiescanbe
calculatebycorrelationslike(Ppcinpsia,TpcinR):
Pseudocriticalpropertiescontd
Correctionsforimpuritiesinsourgasesarealwaysnecessary.
ThecorrectionscanbemadeusingWichertandAziz
correctionexpressedasfollows:
Pseudocriticalpropertiescontd
Ahmedcorrelationisalsousedtocalculatepseudoproperties
withimpurities:
pseudoreducedpressureandtemperaturedefinedas:
Viscosity
Dynamicviscosity(mg)incentipoises(cp)isusuallyusedin
petroleumengineering.
Kinematicviscosity(
g
)isrelatedtothedynamicviscosity
throughdensity(
g
):
Directmeasurementsofgasviscosityarepreferredforanew
gas.Ifgascompositionandviscositiesofgascomponentsare
known,themixingrulecanbeusedtodeterminetheviscosity
ofthegasmixture:
Viscositycontd
Theatmosphericpressureviscosity(
1
)canbeexpressedas:
Viscositycontd
GascompressibilityFactor(z)
Gascompressibilityfactorisalsocalleddeviationfactoror
zfactor.
Brill&BeggscorrelationcanbeusedtocalculateZfactor:
Gasdensity
Becausegasiscompressible,itsdensitydependsonpressure
andtemperature.Gasdensitycanbecalculatedfromgaslaw
forrealgaswithgoodaccuracy:
wheremismassofgasand
g
isgasdensity.Takingair
molecularweight29andresults:
(lbm/ft
3
)
Formationvolumefactorofgas(Bg)
Gasformationvolumefactorisdefinedastheratioofgas
volumeatreservoirconditiontothegasvolumeatstandard
condition,thatis:
(ft
3
/scf).
Anotherwaytoexpressthisparameteristousegasexpansion
factordefined,in(scf/ft
3
),as:
Bgisusedinmodelinggaswellinflowperformance
relationship(IPR)
Gascompressibility
Likeoil,compressibilityfactorforgasisdefinedunitvolumes
changeasaresponsetopressure:
Andfinally:
Problem2.2
Asourgaswithspecificgravity=0.7has2%CarbonDioxide,
0.2%Nitrogenand5%HydrogenSulfide.Whatisits
expansionfactor(E)?.(P=3000psia&T=100F).
Reference
PetroleumProductionEngineering,AcomputerAssisted
Approach;BoyunGuo,WilliamC.Lyons,AliGhalambor;
ElsevierScience&TechnologyBooks;2007.