Empirical Capillary Pressure Relative Permeability Correlation By

James H. Schneider Consulting Reservoir Engineer P.O. Box 316 Poteet, Texas 78065-0316 Email: jhschneider@jhschneider.com Copyright 2003

Empirical Capillary Pressure Relative Permeability Correlation

When performing reservoir simulations capillary pressure data is rarely available and capillary pressure is one of the important variables in obtaining a history match especially when primary water production is present in the model study area. Other uses of capillary pressures is the data gives us the ability to predict the distance to the gas/water or the oil/water contact and to develop an relative permeability correlations. Hawkins, Luffel and Harris came up with an interesting capillary pressure correlation which appears to be reasonably accurate which is based on Water Saturation, Porosity and Permeability. The following equations are the ones that are necessary to compute the mercury capillary pressure: Pd = 937.8 / (ka0.3406) Fg = [ ln(5.21ka0.1254/)]2 / 2.303 Log PC = - Fg / ln(1-SW) + log Pd Where: ka = Air permeability, md PC = Mercury capillary pressure, psi Pd = Mercury displacement pressure, psi SW = Water Saturation, fraction = Porosity, % Example Calculations: Where : ka = 105 md = 26.7 % Pd = 937.8 / [( 1050.3406 )27.6 ] = 7.1975 Fg = [ ln(5.21(1050.1254)/27.6)]2 / 2.303 = 0.4792 Log PC = - 0.4792/ ln(1-SW) + log(7.195) = - 0.4792/ ln(1-SW) + 0.8572 PC = 10 - 0.4792/ ln(1-SW) + 0.8572

Or SW = 1 e[--Fg/log( Pc/Pd )] = 1 e[--0.47925log( Pc/7.1975)]

Pc, psi 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 100 140 160 180 200

Sw 0.9651 0.6603 0.5384 0.4745 0.4341 0.4057 0.3843 0.3676 0.3425 0.3105 0.2994 0.2902 0.2824

Converting Mercury/Air Capillary Data To Oil Water System Example: Mercury/air(Hg/a): = 480 dynes/cm = 140 (cos 140 = -.766) cos = 370 Oil/water(o/w): = 25 dynes/cm (range is typically 15 35) = 30 (cos 30 = 0.866) (range is typically 0 160) depending on wettability cos = 21.65 Po/w = PHg/a[(o/w cos o/w) / (Hg/a cos Hg/a)] Po/w = PHg/a [(21.65) / (370)] = 0.059PHg/a The following table and graph shows the resultant values using the previous equation: PHg/a Sw 0.9651 0.6603 0.5384 0.4745 0.4341 0.4057 0.3843 0.3676 0.3425 0.3105 0.2994 0.2902 0.2824 psi Po/w psi
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 100 140 160 180 200 0.59 1.18 1.77 2.36 2.95 3.54 4.13 4.72 5.90 8.26 9.44 10.62 11.80

Height Above Free-Water To calculate the height above the free water level the following equation is used: h = (Po/w or Pg/w)/[.433(w - h)] where: h = Height above free water level, ft. Po/w = oil/water capillary pressure, psi Pg/w = gas/water capillary pressure, psi w = Formation water density, g/ml h = Formation hydrocarbon density, g/ml Example: In this example we will use a gas/water system.

Mercury/air(Hg/a): = 480 dynes/cm = 140 (cos 140 = -.766) cos = 370

Gas/water(o/w): = 50 dynes/cm (range is typically 35 70) = 0 (cos 0 = 1.000) (usually assumed 0) depending on wettability cos = 50 Pg/w = PHg/a[(o/w cos o/w) / (Hg/a cos Hg/a)] Pg/w = PHg/a [(50) / (370)] = 0.135PHg/a The following table shows the resultant values using the previous equation: PHg/a Sw 0.9651 0.6603 0.5384 0.4745 0.4341 0.4057 0.3843 0.3676 0.3425 0.3105 0.2994 0.2902 0.2824 Using the following values w = 1.10 g/ml h = 0.24 g/ml Then h = (Pg/w)/[.433(1.10 0.24)] = (Pg/w)/(0.372) = 2.688Pg/w psi Pg/w psi
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 100 140 160 180 200 1.35 2.70 4.05 5.40 6.75 8.10 9.45 10.80 13.50 18.90 21.60 24.30 27.00

The following table and graph shows the resultant values using the previous equation:

PHg/a Sw 0.9651 0.6603 0.5384 0.4745 0.4341 0.4057 0.3843 0.3676 0.3425 0.3105 0.2994 0.2902 0.2824

psi Pg/w psi

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 100 140 160 180 200 1.35 2.70 4.05 5.40 6.75 8.10 9.45 10.80 13.50 18.90 21.60 24.30 27.00

h, ft 3.60 7.20 10.81 14.41 18.01 21.61 25.21 28.81 36.02 50.43 57.63 64.83 72.04

Height Above Free-Water Porosity = 26.70% , Permeability =105md

80.00 70.00 60.00 50.00

h, feet

40.00 30.00 20.00 10.00 0.00 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 Sw, Water Saturation

Relative Permeability From Capillary Pressure Curves

The computational technique most widely used in calculating relative permeability from capillary pressure curves is based on the Brooks and Corey Equations. These equations are:

krw = [Sw*]( (2 + 3) / ) and krnw = [1-Sw*]2 [1-Sw* ( (2 + ) / )] where Sw* = (Sw Swr) / (1 Swr) krw = wetting phase relative permeability krnw = non-wetting phase relative permeability = lithology factor obtained from capillary pressure data Brooks and Corey observed that a log-log plot of Sw* against PC results in a straight line with a slope - which is characteristic of the pore volume structure. Pe , the pore entry pressure is obtained from the intercept at Sw* = 1. The equation is defined as the following: Sw* = (Pe/PC) Or Sw* = (PC/Pe)-

The following example shows this correlation:

Swir =

0.195

PHg/a Sw 0.9651 0.6603 0.5384 0.4745 0.4341 0.4057 0.3843 0.3676 0.3425 0.3105 0.2994 0.2902 0.2824

psi
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 100 140 160 180 200

Sw* 0.9566 0.5780 0.4266 0.3472 0.2970 0.2617 0.2352 0.2144 0.1832 0.1435 0.1297 0.1183 0.1086

Determine Lambda

1000

100
Pc. psi

10

y = 9.3284x 2 R = 0.9999

-1.3887

1 0.10
Sw*, (Sw-Swir)/(1-Swir)

1.00

In this example Swir was varied until the best straight line was generated, this seems to be the best estimate of the Swir. The slope of the line was determined to be 1.3887 and = 1.3887. For the residual oil saturation ( Sorw ) a good estimate is obtained at the point were PC = 1 psi. In this example the Sorw was estimated to be 0.25. Gas-Oil-Water Relative Permeability System The oil-water relationship can be defined with the following equations based on the Brooks and Corey Equations: krw = [Sw*]( (2 + 3) / ) For Sw<Swr krw =0.0

and kro = [1-Swo*]2 [1-Swo* ( (2 + ) / )] where Sw* = (Sw Swr) / (1 Swr) Swo* = (Sw Swr) / (1 Swr - Sor) Sw = water saturation Swr = irreducible water saturation Sor = residual oil saturation to water krw = water phase relative permeability kro = oil phase relative permeability = lithology factor obtained from capillary pressure data Example: For Sw<Swr (kro =1) and Sw>1-Sor (kro =0)

Swir =

0.195 Sor = 1.3887

0.25

=
Sw 0.000 0.100 0.195 0.300 0.400 0.500 0.600 0.700 0.750 0.900 1.000

kro
1.000000 0.646108 0.362695 0.155823 0.039186 0.001670 0.000000

krw

0.000000 0.000118 0.002303 0.013442 0.047349 0.126136 0.191821 0.554900 1.000000

Oil-Water Relative Permeability

1.0 1.0

0.6

0.6

0.4

0.4

0.2

0.2

0.0 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 Sw, Water Saturation

0.0

The gas-oil relationship can be defined with the following equations: kro = [Swo*]( (2 + 3) / ) and krg = [1-Swg*]2 [1-Swg* ( (2 + ) / )] where

Krw,Water Relative Permeability

0.8 Kro, Oil Relative Permeability

0.8

Swo* = (SL Sor - Swr) / (1 Sor - Swr) Swg* = (SL Swr) / (1 Swr Sgc) SL = Swr+So Swr = irreducible water saturation So = oil saturation Sor = residual oil saturation to water kro = oil phase relative permeability krg = gas phase relative permeability = lithology factor obtained from capillary pressure data Example:

Swir =

0.195 Sor = 1.3887 Sgc =

0.25 0.02 kro 0.000000 0.000023 0.003000 0.028982 0.129111 0.394080 0.478013 1.000000

=
So 0.000 0.250 0.300 0.400 0.500 0.600 0.700 0.720 0.805

SL
0.195 0.445 0.495 0.595 0.695 0.795 0.895 0.915 1.000

krg
1.000000 0.436013 0.345214 0.194121 0.087966 0.026714 0.002860 0.001304 0.000000

Gas-Oil Relative Permeability

1.0 1.0

Krg, Gas Relative Permeability

0.8

0.8 Kro,Oil Relative Permeability

0.6

0.6

0.4

0.4

0.2

0.2

0.0 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 Fraction Total Saturation

0.0

Gas-Water Relative Permeability System The oil-water relationship can be defined with the following equations based on the Brooks and Corey Equations: krw = [Sw*]( (2 + 3) / ) and krg = [1-Swg*]2 [1-Swg* ( (2 + ) / )] where Sw* = (Sw Swr) / (1 Swr) Swg* = (Sw Swr) / (1 Swr Sgr) Sw = water saturation Swr = irreducible water saturation Sor = residual gas saturation to water krw = water phase relative permeability krg = gas phase relative permeability = lithology factor obtained from capillary pressure data Example: For Sw<Swr (krg =1) and Sw>1-Sgr (kro =0) For Sw<Swr krw =0.0

Swir =

0.195Sgr = 1.3887

0.24

=
Sw 0.000 0.100 0.195 0.300 0.400 0.500 0.600 0.700 0.760 0.900 1.000

krg
1.000000 0.651941 0.371777 0.164720 0.044606 0.002702 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000

krw

0.000000 0.000118 0.002303 0.013442 0.047349 0.126136 0.207650 0.554900 1.000000

Gas-Water Relative Permeability

1.0 1.0

0.6

0.6

0.4

0.4

0.2

0.2

0.0 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 Sw, Water Saturation

0.0

Sgr can be estimated from a set of empirical relationships. Narr-Henderson proposed the following Sgr correlation for consolidated sands: Sgr = 0.5Sgi Where Sgr = residual gas saturation Sgi = initial gas saturation Agarwal obtained the following correlations: Consolidated Sands Sgr = A1Sgi + A2Sgi2

Krw,Water Relative Permeability

Krg, Gas Relative Permeability

0.8

0.8

Where Sgr = residual gas saturation, % Sgi = initial gas saturation, % A1 = 0.80841168 A2 =-0.63869116x10-2 Unconsolidated Sand Sgr = A1Sgi + A2Sgi + A3 + A4 Where Sgr = residual gas saturation, % Sgi = initial gas saturation, % = Porosity, % A1 = -0.51255987 A2 =-0.26097212x10-1 A3 = -0.26769575 A4 = 0.14796539x102

Limestone Sgr = A1 + A2logk + A3Sgi + A4 Where Sgr = residual gas saturation, % Sgi = initial gas saturation, % = Porosity, % k = permeability, md A1 = -0.53482234 A2 = 0.33555165x10 A3 = 0.15458573 A4 = 0.14403977x102

Conclusions
When measured data is limited empirical correlations can provide a reasonable estimate.

References
Joseph M. Hawkins, Donald L.Luffel and Thomas G. Harris, Capillary pressure model predicts distance to gas/water, oil/water contact, Oil & Gas Journal, Jan 18 1993, pp3943 Dan Smith, How to predict down-dip water level, World Oil, May 1993, pp 85-88 Naar, J. and Henderson, J.H., An Imbibition Model Its Application to Flow Behavior and The Prediction of Oil Recovery, SPE J., June 1961 p61. Agarwal, R.G., Unsteady State Performance of Water Drive Gas Reservoirs, Ph.D. Dissertation, Texas A&M University, May 1967 Brooks, R.H. and Corey, A.T., Hydraulic Properties of Porous Media., Hydrology Papers, No. 3, Colorado State University, Ft. Collins, Colo., 1964. Brooks, R.H. and Corey, A.T., Properties of porous media affecting fluid flow, J. Irrig. Drain. Div6, p61, 1966