Pme 111 - L1-2 - Dmim

PME 111 Reservoir Rock and Fluid Properties
L ECTURES 1-2
Course Outline and Introduction of Core Analysis
Course Instructor
Dr. Mohammad Islam Miah
Associate Professor, Dept. of PME, CUET
1
Course Outline
Part I (DMIM)
▪ Reservoir Rock Properties
Core Analysis: Introduction to coring system and core handling, Objectives of core analysis,
Routine and Special core analysis techniques; Rock compressibility, Physical properties, and
Acoustic properties. (1 Week)
Porosity and Fluid saturation: Types of porosity, Factors affecting porosity, Pore size
distribution, Methods of determining porosity; Distribution of fluid saturation in a reservoir,
Fluid saturation types, Laboratory measurement. Saturation averaging, Factors affecting fluid
saturation determination. (2 Weeks)
Permeability: Types of permeability, Factors affecting permeability, Horizontal and Vertical
permeability, Two-phase relative permeability, Models of Porosity-permeability relationship,
Klinkenberg effect, Laboratory and in situ methods of determining permeability/ relative
permeability, and flowchart. (2 Weeks)
Fluid Flow through Rock: Rock fluid interactions –Wettability, imbibition and drainage,
Capillary pressure, Measurement of capillary pressure, Darcy’s equation, Application of
Darcy’s equation and Carmen-Kozeny equation. (2 Weeks)
Copyright PME 111 @Dr. Mohammad Islam Miah, Associate Professor, Dept. of PME, CUET. E-mail: islam.m@cuet.ac.bd 2
Introduction to Coring and Core Handling
▪ Coring System
• Coring is one method of collecting rock and sediment samples for geological and Reservoir Engg research.
• Fundamental coring methods are classified into major 2 types: conventional coring and sidewall coring.
• Conventional method is applied at the time of drilling and thus named bottom hole coring.
• Following drilling, sidewall coring is used.
Conventional Coring System Sidewall Coring System
i. Conventional Core Barrel i. Percussion sidewall coring.

ii. Heavy-Duty Conventional Core Barrels ii. Rotary sidewall coring
iii. Core Barrel Liners
iv. Disposable Inner Core Barrels
v. Coring High Angle or Horizontal Well
• Conventional coring is a process of extracting samples from bottom-hole formations that has been
established for a long time.
• In the petroleum industry, this is still the most often used approach.
• Conventional coring is a rotating coring process in which the inner tube/barrel containing the core
sample is retrieved along with the outer tube assembly to the surface via a conventional trip.
• A conventional core barrel consists of: ✓ An inner barrel.
✓ An outer barrel.
✓ A core catcher.
✓ A vent or pressure relief valve.
• The main advantage of conventional coring is that it can produce a big diameter core with a
diameter of five inches or more and length of 60ft to 90ft in a single operation. Without removing
the complete drill string from the hole, the core cannot be recovered.
• As a result, traditional coring takes a long time and is therefore expensive.
• Sidewall coring is a technique that is employed in zones where conventional core recovery
was less than predicted or when cores were not collected as drilling continued.
• It is a economical coring method for rough evaluations since it is less expensive than
conventional coring and can coring numerous zones.
• Typically, a tool run can take 50 core samples in a single run.
• The major drawbacks of sidewall coring are that the recovered cores are small in sizes
(usually maximum 1½ in. diameter and 3½ in. length);
• They have been subjected to significant mud invasion and formation damage while coring.
Objectives of Core Analysis
• The laboratory examination of the core sample extracted from the core barrel/core analysis.
• Core analysis is thought to provide the most accurate insight into the well's properties.
• Understanding the qualities of a reservoir rock such as porosity, permeability, and wettability,
requires an analysis of the reservoir rock and formation.
• Geologists and engineers use core analysis to learn more about the condition of a wellbore and
its potential for productivity.
• Every coring operation aims to acquire data that will lead to more effective and efficient
hydrocarbon (H/C) extraction.
i. Rock type, Pore type.
• Geologic Objectives:
ii. Depositional environment.
iii. Mineralogy and Geological maps.
iv. Orientation of the fractures.
Objectives of Core Analysis
• Petrophysical and Reservoir Engineering Perspectives
▪ Porosity/ permeability correlation.
▪ Relative permeability.
▪ Capillary pressure data.
▪ Electrical properties.
▪ Core gamma log.
▪ Grain density.
▪ Mineralogy.
▪ Fluid saturations.
▪ Enhanced oil recovery studies.
Core Sample Preparations
• Core samples must be appropriately processed and prepared before they can be evaluated
utilizing advanced scientific equipment and instruments.
• Following steps are considered as core sample preparation phase:
i. Core Cutting, Plugging, Trimming and Mounting
ii. Core Cleaning
iii. Core Drying
iv. Sample Preservation
▪ For core analysis to provide meaningful data, due regard must be given to the ways in
which rock properties can change both during the coring procedure (downhole), core
preservation, and subsequent laboratory treatment.
Routine Core Analysis (RCA)
• Routine (basic or conventional) core analysis typically involves fluid saturation
measurements and petrophysical measurements on dry plugs and samples at ambient or
laboratory conditions.
• The goal of routine core analysis is to provide only the most fundamental properties.
• Following fundamental rock properties measurement involves routine core analysis:
1. Grain density and Porosity.

2. Permeability.
3. Fluid saturation.
▪ The difference between routine core analysis and special core analysis is that routine core
analysis is carried out on a regular basis.
Routine Core Analysis (RCA)
• Routine porosity data are generally reliable, being little affected by interactions between
minerals and reservoir fluids. Correction for overburden loading is usually all that is required.
• RCA data is cheap, and often form the great majority of the dataset representing reservoir
core data.
Figure 1: A schematic diagram of common

RCAL measurements.
Special Core Analysis (SCAL)
• Special core analysis (SCAL or SPCAN) is a laboratory process used in the petroleum
industry to conduct flow studies on core plugs collected from a reservoir.
• In order to acquire a better knowledge of individual well and overall reservoir performance, SCAL
data is used in conjunction with log and well test data.
• SCAL measurements are more expensive and are often only performed on a small number of samples
or when a challenging strategic reservoir management choice needs to be made.
• Special core analysis differs from "regular (RCAL) or conventional (CCAL) core analysis" in that it
includes additional tests, such as measurements of two-phase flow characteristics, electrical
properties, wettability and capillary pressure.
• Porosity and single phase gas or liquid permeabilities are measured at overburden loadings so that the
room condition data can be corrected.
Special Core Analysis (SCAL)-Cont’d
• Special core analysis (SCAL or SPCAN) is a laboratory process used in the petroleum
industry to conduct flow studies on core plugs collected from a reservoir.
• Electrical properties are measured at Fig. 2: SCAL
formation brine saturations of unity and
less than unity, to obtain the
cementation exponent, resistivity index,
and excess conductivity of samples.
• These are used to provide data for
interpretation of down-hole logs
Home Task/Self Study
1. Illustrate and explain the core sample preparation and preservation.
2. Distinguish between SCAL and RCAL of reservoir rocks.
To be continued ………………………………
13

Pme 111 - L1-2 - Dmim

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Pme 111 - L1-2 - Dmim

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

PME 111 Reservoir Rock and Fluid Properties

Course Outline and Introduction of Core Analysis

Conventional Coring System Sidewall Coring System

i. Conventional Core Barrel i. Percussion sidewall coring.

1. Grain density and Porosity.

Figure 1: A schematic diagram of common

1. Illustrate and explain the core sample preparation and preservation.

2. Distinguish between SCAL and RCAL of reservoir rocks.

You might also like