PETROLEUM ENGINEERING HANDBOOK
Fig. 26.30—Laboratory layout for performlng routine core analysis
and
water saturation,
oil saturation,
gas saturation,
water volume, cm3,
pore volume, cm3, and
oil volume, cm 3.
The other method of determining fluid saturation is by
extraction with a solvent. Extraction may be accom-
plished by a modified ASTM distillation method or a
centrifuge method. In the standard distillation test, the
core is placed such that a vapor of either toluene, pen-
tane, octane, or naphtha rises through the core. This
process leaches out the oil and water in the core. The
water and extracting fluid are condensed and collected in
a graduated receiving tube. The water settles to the bot-
tom of the receiving tube because of its greater density,
and the extracting fluid refluxes over the core and into
the main heating vessel. The process is continued until
no more water is collected in the receiving tube. The
water saturation may be determined directly by
The oil saturation is an indirect determination. The oil
saturation as a fraction of PV is given by
where
= weight of wet core, g,
= weight of dry core, g,
= weight of water, g,
= PV, cm 3 , and
= density of oil, g/cm 3.
The gas saturation is obtained in the same manner as the
Another method of determining water saturation is to
use a centrifuge. A solvent is injected into the centrifuge
just off center. Because of centrifugal force, it is thrown
to the outer radii and forced to pass through the core
sample. The outflow fluid is trapped and the quantity of
water in the core is determined. The use of the centrifuge
provides a very rapid method because of the high forces
that can be applied. In both extraction methods, at the
same time that the water content is determined, the core
is cleaned in preparation for the other measurements
such as porosity and permeability.
There is another procedure for saturation determina-
tion that is used in conjunction with either of the extrac-
tion methods. The core as received from the well is
placed in a modified mercury porosimeter in which the
BV and gas volume are measured. The volume of water
is determined by one of the extraction methods. The
fluid saturations can be calculated from these data.
In connection with all procedures for determination of
fluid content, a value of PV must be established in order
that fluid saturations may be expressed as percent of PV.
Any of the porosity procedures previously described may
be used. Also, the BV and gas volume determined from
the mercury porosimeter may be combined with the oil
and water volumes obtained from the retort to calculate
PV, porosity, and fluid saturations.
Porosity, permeability, and fluid-saturation determina-
tions are the measurements commonly reported in
routine core analysis. A laboratory equipped for such
determinations is shown in Fig. 26.30.
Interstitial Water Saturations
Essentially, three methods are available to the reservoir
engineer for the determination of interstitial water satura-
tions. These methods are (1) determination from cores
cut with oil-based muds, (2) determination from
capillary-pressure data, and (3) calculation from electric-
log analysis (see Chap. 49).
Oil-Based Mud. The obtaining of water saturations by
using oil-based muds has been discussed. A correlation
between water saturation and air permeability for cores
obtained with oil-based muds is shown in Fig. 26.31. 29