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RELATIVE PERMEABILITY

Relative permeability is the ratio of the effective permeability of a fluid at a given saturation to
some base permeability. •Base permeability is typically defined as –absolute permeability
(Ka), –air permeability (Kair), or effective permeability to non-wetting phase at irreducible
wetting phase saturation, for example Ko @ Sw = SWir. Because the definition of base
permeability varies, the definition used must always be confirmed before applying relative
permeability data •noted along with tables and figures presenting relative permeability data.

Relative permeability curves in water wet and oil wet reservoirs

MEASURING RELATIVE PERMEABILITY


– Stage 1: Preparation for drainage -• core saturated with wetting phase.

– Stage 2: Irreducible wetting phase (drainage) -


•inject non-wetting phase until steady state, measure saturation, –no wetting phase will be
produced after steady state.
– Stages 3-6: Inject wetting phase

• Stage 3: (A) Wetting phase has not yet


reached outflow face, –only nonwetting phase
produced at outflow face.

• Stage 4: (B) Wetting phase just reaches


outflow face, called breakthrough, –wetting
phase will be produced at outflow face.

• Stage 5: (C) As injection of wetting phase


continues, production of nonwetting phase
decreases (unsteady state). –Important to take
many data points during this decrease
(»cummulative nonwetting phase
produced »and production rate for both
phases).

Stage 6: (D) Eventually, no more nonwetting


phase is produced, allowing residual
nonwetting phase saturation to be determined.

Assumptions:
• immiscible displacement
• incompressible fluids
• linear, 1-D flow
• capillary pressure neglected

Analysis Procedure:
Determine average saturation and

•cumulative nonwetting phase production,


– Determine relative permeability ratio from
fractional flow (production rate measured at
outflow face):
4: Qtotal = Qwet + Qnonwet
5: Fwet = Qwet / Qtotal

Relative permeability ratio Fwet is related to


relative permeability by the equation:
6: Fwet = 1 / (1 + (Kr_nonwet / Kr_wet)
* (MUwet / MUnonwet))

It is obvious from the above that one of


Kr_nonwet or Kr_wet must be determined
independently in order to find the other, using
Fwet. This is done with correlation equations
based on capillary pressure curves.

The process starts with calculation of


effective water saturation (not to be confused
with any form of water saturation from log analysis).

7: So* = So / (1 - Swi)
8: Sw* = (Sw - Swi) / (1 - Swi)
9: Sg* = Sg / (1 - Swi)

Various authors have proposed a variety of relative permeability relationships based on the
rock type. Eor example Pirson propsed:
10: Kr_wetting = (Sw*)^0.5 * (Sw)^3
11: Kr_nonwettimg = (1 - ((Sw - Swi) / (1 - Swi - Snw)))^2 for imbibition
12: Kr_nonwetting = (1 - Sw*) * (1 - (Sw*)^0.25 * (Sw)^0.5)^0.5 for drainage

Pretty messy but so is the math for the lab method.

RELATIVE PERMEABILITY EXAMPLE


RELATIVE PERMEABILITY FROM MICRO CT SCANS
Relative permeability is a dimensionless measure of the permeability of a fluid phase as it
flows through porous rock in the presence of another fluid phase. Relative permeability is
calculated as follows:

If a single fluid is present in a rock, its relative permeability is 1.0. Relative permeability allows
comparison of the different abilities of fluids to flow in the presence of each other, since the
presence of more than one fluid generally inhibits flow.

Key parameters that affect relative permeability include:

 The pore-space geometry (the distribution of large and small conduits and their sizes)
 Viscosity of the fluids
 Wettability of the mineral surface, and
 The surface tension between the fluid phases and between each fluid phase and the
minerals.

These parameters define the wetting (or contact) angles, which are formed at an interface
between fluid and mineral. A wetting angle is larger than 90 degrees if the fluid is wetting and
smaller than 90 degrees if the fluid is non-wetting.

The slow multiphase viscous flow needed for relative permeability estimates is simulated using
the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM). LBM mathematically mimics the equations of multiphase
viscous flow by treating the fluid as a set of particles with certain interaction rules between the
particles belonging to the same fluid, different fluids, and the fluids and pore walls. LBM
directly simulates static and dynamic configurations of the contacts between the fluid phases
and the pore walls by taking into account surface tension and contact angles. It allows for the
estimation of irreducible water and hydrocarbon saturations Source: www.ingrainrocks.com.

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