Capillary and Buoyancy Forces in Reservoirs

and the relationship to water saturation

2016

Steven Low, GPE-SIS, Nov 2016 (vers.2)

Contents

1. Definition

2. Capillary pressure

3. Buoyancy pressure

4. Interaction between Capillary and Buoyancy pressure

5. Example in English Units and in metric units

6. Relationship to Saturation Height Modeling and Rock Types

Definition

When hydrocarbons migrate into a trap, the buoyancy forces exerted by the lighter fluid (oil or gas) will
push the heavier water sideways and downwards. However, some water remains, held in place by
capillary forces. Remaining water saturation in the reservoir becomes a function of the balance
between buoyancy and capillary forces.
Capillary Pressure Pore Volume

• Reservoirs might be described as a matrix of pore volumes Pore Throat

connected by tubes of varying diameters (capillaries). with radius ‘r’
• The Young-Laplace equation describes the capillary pressure
difference across the interface between two static fluids due to the
phenomenon of surface tension. The form of the equation relates to
the shape of the surface. In the case of a tube, it takes the form:

2𝛾𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃
𝑃𝑐 =
𝑟
Where:
𝛾 = Interfacial tension between the static fluids
cosθ = Contact angle between the wetting fluid and the surface of the tube
r = radius of the capillary tube Decreasing Pore Throat Radius
 Buoyancy
Pressure
Buoyancy Pressure

• Immiscible fluids in in a reservoir segregate according to their

densities, the lightest floating to the top and the heaviest sinking to
the bottom. Pressure
• If the fluids were in a container (ie a tank) a sharp flat interface gradient
would be observed. for oil

• The equation for buoyancy pressure is given by:

Free Water Level
𝑃b = (ρ𝑤 − ρ𝑜)gh
Hydrostatic
gradient
Where: for water
ρw and ρo are the water and hydrocarbon specific gravities
g = gravitational constant
Pressure
h = height above the Free Water Level
 Decreasing Pore Throat Radius

Interaction between Buoyancy

Pressure
Capillarity and Buoyancy
• The balance between capillary and buoyancy
forces in a reservoir can be represented by
Jurin’s law where Pc = Pb such that: SW
Pressure
2𝛾𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 gradient
ℎ=
𝛥ρ𝑔𝑟 OWC for oil

Where:
h = height above Free Water Level (FWL)
𝛾 = Interfacial tension between the static fluids
Cosθ = Contact angle
𝛥ρ is the difference between water and hydrocarbon
specific gravities
g = gravitational constant
r = radius of the capillary tube
FWL
The first oil appears at the Oil Water Hydrostatic
Contact, which indicates sufficient buoyancy
pressure to overcome the capillary pressure gradient
of the largest pore throat in the formation. for water
This is known as the entry pressure (Pce).
As the buoyancy pressure increases with
Water height above the Free water Level, the oil
phase displaces water from pore volumes Pressure
Saturation connected through increasingly smaller pore
throats. This is reflected by the decreasing
water saturation.
 Example in English Units
For a water filled 2 mm glass tube capillary, in air at sea level, what is the height of the Air/Water contact above the FWL

γ ≈ 72.8 dyne/cm or (gm/s2) = 72.8 * 0.002205 lb/s2 {Surface tension between air and water}
θ ≈ 20 deg = 0.35 rad
𝛥ρ ≈ 1 gm / cm3 = 0.4335 psi/ft or (lb/ftˑin2)
1 𝑔𝑚 2.54 𝑐𝑚 12 𝑖𝑛 6.542 𝑐𝑚2 1 𝑙𝑏 𝑝𝑠𝑖 𝑎𝑡𝑚
[as: ˑ ˑ ˑ ˑ = 0.4335 (𝑜𝑟 0.0968 )]
𝑐𝑚3 1 𝑖𝑛 1 𝑓𝑡 1 𝑖𝑛2 453.59 𝑔 𝑓𝑡 𝑚

g = 9.8 m /s2 = 32.144 ft/s2= 385.73 in/s2

r = 0.0393 in
In a simplified format it can be written as:
𝑙𝑏
2∗72.8∗.002205( 2 ) cos 0.35 𝑟𝑎𝑑 𝑃 (𝑝𝑠𝑖)
ℎ= 𝑙𝑏
𝑠
𝑖𝑛
= 0.04587 ft = 1.4 cm ℎ (𝑓𝑡) = 𝑔
0.4335 385.73 0.0393(𝑖𝑛൰ 0.4335(𝑝𝑠 𝑖 Τ𝑓 𝑡) ∗ 𝛥𝜌 (𝑖𝑛 )
𝑓𝑡.𝑖𝑛2 𝑠2
𝑐𝑚3

*Note that the units reduce to Pressure in lb/in2 (or psi)

 Example in Metric Units
For a water filled 2 mm glass tube capillary, in air at sea level, what is the height of the Air/Water contact above the FWL

γ = 0.0728 J/m2 or (Kg/s2) In a simplified format it can be written as:

θ = 20 deg = 0.35 rad 𝑃 (𝑝𝑎𝑠𝑐𝑎𝑙)
ℎ (m) =
𝑝𝑎𝑠𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑔
𝛥ρ = 1000 Kg / m3 9806 ∗ 𝛥𝜌 𝑖𝑛
𝑚 𝑐𝑚3
g = 9.8 m /s2
Additional Conversion:
r = 0.001 m (for 2mm wide tube)
𝑃 (𝑏𝑎𝑟)
ℎ (m) = 𝑚 𝑔
0.09806 /100 ∗ 𝛥𝜌(𝑖𝑛 )
𝐾𝑔 𝑠2 𝑐𝑚 3
2∗0.0728 ( 2 ) cos 0.35 𝑟𝑎𝑑
ℎ= 𝑠
𝐾𝑔 𝑚 = 1.4x10-2 m = 1.4 cm
1000 9.8 𝑟(𝑚ቁ
𝑚3 𝑠2

*Note: Pascal = N/m2 or Kg/m·s2 or 10-5 bar

Relation to Rock Types and Saturation Height Modeling
• In the pore matrix example, the saturation vs HAFWL is controlled by the pore
throat diameters rather than the pore volumes.
• Porosity is dominated by pore volumes while permeability is dominated by pore
throats.
• In certain cases (especially clastics) it might be assumed that there is a direct
correlation between Pore Volume size and Pore throat size and therefore
between porosity and permeability.
• In this case, a saturation-height model that is a function of porosity could describe
the saturation distribution for the whole pore matrix.

Permeability
A consistent relationship between pore
volume and pore throat size might result in a
consistent relationship between porosity and
permeability.

0 40
Porosity
Relation to Rock Types and Saturation Height Modeling
• In other cases (many carbonates), there may be no direct correlation between
pore volume and pore throat size (PTR).
• In this case there may be a wide range of permeability (or PTR) for a given
porosity.
• A saturation-height model that is a function of permeability may still describe the
saturation distribution for the whole pore matrix however, the relationship between
saturation and porosity is much more complex.

Permeability
Variations in the relationship between pore
volume can be seen by the distribution of
data in the permeability – porosity crossplot.

0 40
Porosity
Relation to Rock Types and Saturation Height Modeling
• If the saturation-height model is to be described by a simple behavior, or as a
function of porosity (lacking knowledge of permeability distribution), it becomes
necessary to classify the pore matrix into subgroups of consistent PTR (typically
this refers to the dominant PTR which controls flow).
• This is one of the fundamental ideas behind subgrouping into Rock Types in order
to improve control of properties such as initial fluid saturation through the static
model.

Permeability
Subgrouping by ‘dominant’ pore throat size
typically results in a consistent relationship
between porosity and permeability.

0 40
Porosity
Summary

• Initial Saturation in a reservoir at a give height above Free Water Level is a function of capillarity and buoyancy
pressure.
• Care needs to be taken that units are consistent when applying Pressure to Height conversions.
• Saturation-Height models are often described as functions of petrophysical parameters such as porosity,
permeability or both. Suitability of each model for a pore matrix depends on variations in the relationship between
pore volume and pore throat sizes.
• In most cases, subgrouping of the pore matrix into rock types is required.
• Above the transition zone, irreducible water (Swirr) rather than capillary forces dominate the reservoir saturation.
Swirr depends on the micro pore structure as well as other parameters such as wettability and may not correlate to
either porosity or permeability. Normally correlations of Swirr by Rock Type are investigated.