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 Porosity
 Definition:

Porosity is a measure of storage capacity of a reservoir. It is defined

as the ratio of the pore volume to bulk volume, and is may be
expressed as either a percent or a fraction. In equation form

where; Vp Vb  Vg
  
Vb Vb
Ф is rock porosity, fraction

Vp is the pore volume of the rock

Vb is the bulk volume

Vg is the grain volume

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Note: According to this definition, the porosity of porous materials
could have any value, but the porosity of most sedimentary rocks is
generally lower than 50%.

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 Types of Porosity
There are two distinct types of porosity

1. Absolute porosity:

The absolute porosity is defined as the ratio of the total pore space in
the rock to that of the bulk volume.

The absolute porosity is generally expressed mathematically by the

following relationships:

total pore volume bulk volume - grain volu me

a  a 
bulk volume bulk volume

where; фa is absolute porosity 5

2. Effective Porosity:

The effective porosity is the percentage of interconnected pore space

with respect to bulk volume, or

interconnected pore volume


bulk volume

where ф = effective porosity

The effective porosity is the value that is used in all reservoir

engineering calculations because it represents the interconnected pore
space that contains the recoverable hydrocarbon fluids.
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• If the porosity of a rock sample was determined by saturating the
rock sample 100% with a fluid of known density and then
determining, by weighing, the increased weight due to the saturating
fluid, this would yield an effective porosity measurement because the
saturating fluid could enter only the interconnected pore spaces.

• On the other hand, if the rock sample was crushed with a mortar and
pestle to determine the actual volume of the solids in the core
sample, then an absolute porosity measurement would result because
the identity of any isolated pores would be lost in the crushing
process.
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One important application of the effective porosity is its use in
determining the original hydrocarbon volume in place. Consider a
reservoir with an areal extent of A acres and an average thickness of h
feet. The total bulk volume of the reservoir can be determined from the
following expressions:

Bulk volume = 43560 A h; ft3 or Bulk volume = 7758 A h; bbl

where A = areal extent, acres

h = average thickness, ft

The reservoir pore volume PV can then be determined by

PV= 43560 A h ф; ft3 or PV= 7758 A h ф; bbl 8

 EXAMPLE

A clean and dry core sample weighing 425 g was 100% saturated with a
1.07 specific gravity (g) brine. The new weight is 453 g. The core sample
is 12 cm long and 4 cm in diameter. Calculate the porosity of the rock
sample.
 SOLUTION
The bulk volume of the core sample is:
D 2   42
Vb  L 12  150.80cm 3
4 4
The pore volume is:
Wsat  Wdry 453  425
Vp    26.17cm 3
 1.07 1
Vp 26.17
Porosity of the core is:     0.173 or 17.3%
Vb 150.80 9
Porosity may be classified according to the mode of origin as original
or induced.

1. Primary or Original Porosity: It is that developed in the

deposition of the material

For example: The intergranular porosity of sandstones and the

intercrystalline and oolitic porosity of some limestones

2. Secondary or Induced Porosity: It is that developed by some

geologic process subsequent to deposition of the rock.

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Example: Fracture development as found in shales and limestones
and by the slugs or solution cavities commonly found in
limestones.

Note: Rocks having original porosity are more uniform in their

characteristics than those in which a large part of the porosity is
included.

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 The porosities of petroleum reservoirs range from 5% to 40% but
most frequently are between 10% and 20%. The factors
governing the magnitude of porosity in clastic sediments are:

a) Uniformity of grain size: Uniformity or sorting is the gradation

of grains. If small particles of silt or clay are mixed with larger
sand grains, the effective (intercommunicating) porosity will be
considerably reduced. These reservoirs are referred to as dirty or
shaly.
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 Sorting depends on at least four major factors:

1. Size range of material,

2. Type of deposition,

3. Current characteristics, and

4. The duration of the sedimentary process.

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b) Degree of Cementation or Consolidation:

• The highly cemented sandstones have low porosities, whereas the soft,
unconsolidated rocks have high porosities.

• Cementation takes place both at the time of lithification and during

rock alteration by circulating ground water.
• Cementing materials include: calcium
carbonate, magnesium carbonate, iron
carbonate, iron sulfides, limonite, hematite,
dolomite calcium sulphate, clays, and many
other materials including any combination
of these materials. 14
c) Amount of compaction during and after deposition:

• Compaction tends to lose voids and squeeze fluid out to bring the
mineral particles close together, especially the finer-grained
sedimentary rocks.

• This expulsion of fluids by compaction at an increased temperature

is the basic mechanism for primary migration of petroleum from the
source to reservoir rocks.

• Whereas compaction is an important lithifying process in

claystones, shales, and fine-grained carbonate rocks, it is negligible
in closely packed sandstones or conglomerates.
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• Generally, porosity is lower in deeper, older rocks, but exceptions
to this basic trend are common. Many carbonate rocks show little
evidence of physical compaction.

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d) Methods of Packing:

 With increasing overburden pressure, poorly sorted angular sand

grains show a progressive change from random packing to a closer
packing. Some crushing and plastic deformation of the sand particles
occur.

 Porosity is affected by three major micro-structural parameters.

These are grain size, grain packing, particle shape, and the
distribution of grain sizes. However, the initial porosity is rarely that
found in real rocks, as these have subsequently been affected by
secondary controls on porosity such as compaction and geochemical
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diagenetic processes.
1. Grain Packing:

The theoretical porosities for various grain packing arrangements can

be calculated. The theoretical maximum porosity for a cubic packed
rock made of spherical grains of a uniform size is 0.4764, and is
independent of grain size. The maximum porosity of other packing
arrangements is shown in following Table and Figure.

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 Packing Maximum Porosity (fractional)

Random ≥ 0.399 (dependent on grain size)

Cubic 0.476
Hexagonal 0.395
Orthorhombic 0.395
Rhombohedral 0.26
Tetragonal 0.302
Triclinic 0.26

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 The calculations of these ideal porosities is relatively simple. For
example, taking the cubic arrangement of identical spheres of
radius r occupying a cubic unit cell of length L, as shown in the
following Figure, the following calculation is possible.

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The bulk volume of the cell

Vbulk  L3

and the number of spheres in the cell

n L  2r  3

Hence the volume of the matrix

Vmatrix 
4nr  L
3
   3

4nr  L 

3 3

3 2 r 3 6

The porosity can now be calculated as


 6   1     0.4764
L3  L
3

L3 6
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