1.

Describe the following rock properties:

a. Permeability,
b. Relative permeability, Calculate and describe aforementioned parameters in series and
parallel connection

ANSWERS
 Permeability:
The permeability of a rock is a measure of the ease with which fluids can flow through a rock.
This depends on how well the pore spaces within that rock are interconnected.

Good Permeability Poor Permeability

Permeability is a measure of the ability of a porous material to transmit fluid under a potential
gradient.
The unit for permeability (k) is darcy named after a French scientist, Henry Philibert Gaspard
Darcy who investigated flow of water through filter beds in 1856.
1 Darcy = 0.987 x 10−12 𝑚2
 The general darcy’s equation is:

 1 darcy is defined as the permeability that will permit a fluid of 1 centipoise viscosity to flow
at a rate of 1 cubic centimeter per second through a cross sectional area of 1 square
centimeter when the pressure gradient is 1 atmosphere per centimeter.
There are four conditions that are required for this equation to be valid:
i. Laminar flow.
ii. No accumulation.
iii. Single-phase liquid flow.
iv. The porous media is not reactive with the flowing fluid.
 Plot of Q/A against dP/dL should yield a single straight line as shown below where the
slope = k/μ = fluid mobility

 Permeability in series connection

It should be noted that for series flow, each of these layers or blocks has a different differential
pressure and the summation of these is equal to the total or overall differential pressure of the
entire flow system. Additionally, the total flow rate is also equal to the individual flow rates:

∆P = ∆P1 + ∆P2 + ∆Pn

QμLi QμL1 QμL2 QμLn
= + +
kA k1 A k2A knA
Li L1 L2 Ln
= + +
k k1 k 2 k n
Hence, Permeability in series connection is

∑i=n
i=1 ( Li )
k=
Li
∑i=n
i=1 k )
(
i
 Permeability in Parallel connection
It should be noted that for Parallel flow, each of these layers or blocks has a different flow rate
and the summation of these is equal to the total or overall flow rate of the entire flow system.
Additionally, the total differential pressure is also equal to the individual flow rates:

i=n

Q = ∑ Q i = Q1 + Q 2 + Q n
i=1
i=n
∆P ∆P ∆P ∆P
k ∑ Ai = k1 A1 + k 2 A2 + k n An
μL μL μL μL
i=1

k ∑ A i = ∑ k i Ai
Hence, Permeability in Parallel connection is
∑ 𝑘 𝑖 𝐴𝑖 ∑ 𝑘𝑖 ℎ𝑖
𝑘= ∑ 𝐴𝑖
Or ∑ ℎ𝑖
 Permeability Measurement:
• Permeability of core sample can be measured by liquid permeameter and gas
permeameter.
 Liquid permeameter:
• Non-reactive liquid (paraffin oil) is forced to flow through a core sample in a core holder.
• A flow rate is measured, and permeability is calculated using general Darcy equation.
 Gas permeameter:
• Non-reactive gas (typically helium) is used in the measurement of permeability.
• The gas is flow through the sample, and the flow rate of gas is measured.
Figure below illustrates the schematic diagram of the Hassler-type permeability measurement
under steady state flow conditions.

The permeability is calculated using following modified form of Darcy equation which takes into
account the gas compressibility during flow.

Where:
Q = gas flowrate (cm3/sec)
k g = gas permeability (darcy)
 A = cross section area (cm2)
μ = fluid viscosity (cp)
P1 = inlet pressure (atm)
P2 = outlet pressure (atm)
Pa = atmospheric pressure (atm)
L = length (cm)
• Permeability of most reservoirs range between 5 and 1000 millidarcy but productions
have been achieved in reservoirs with low permeability range such as 0.1 mD.
• Reservoir quality can expressed in the following table
Permeability Reservoir Quality
0 – 10 mD Poor
1-10 mD Fairy
10-100 mD Good
100-1000 mD Very good

 Relative permeability:
Relative permeability measurements are made routinely on core samples, to define the relative
amounts of fluids that will flow through the rocks when more than one fluid phase is flowing.
 MATHEMATICAL EXPRESSIONS FOR RELATIVE PERMEABILITY:
Relative permeability can either be reported as percentage or fraction (more common) and are
usually expressed by the ratio of effective permeability to absolute permeability, Thus, relative
permeability are the result of normalizing effective permeability values by absolute permeability:

Where,
k r is the relative permeability (dimensionless)
k e is the effective permeability (mD or D)
 More Definitions are:
ko
k ro =
ka
kw
k rw =
ka
kg
k rg =
ka

Where:
o, w, g = oil, water, gas
k r = relative permeability
k = permeability to a specific fluid, o, w, or g
𝑘𝑎 = theoretical “air” permeability
References:
i. Fundamentals Of Petroleum Engineering, ROCK AND FLUID PROPERTIES by Mohd
Fauzi Hamid and Wan Rosli Wan Sulaiman
ii. Petroleum Reservoir Rock and Fluid Properties, second edition 2013 by Abhijit Y.
Dandekar
iii. Petrophysics MSc Course Notes, Permeability By Dr. Paul Glover
iv. Reservoir Engineering Handbook, FOURTH EDITION 2010, By TAREK AHMED