Conversion Factors

for
Oilfield Units
 Need for Unit Conversions
Petroleum Engineers must be able to work with various unit
systems
International scope of industry
Unit systems used varies geographically
Team members may not all be located in same geographical location
Joint ventures between companies
Particular units may be required at your location
Legislated units for reporting and regulatory compliance
Company protocol
 Oilfield Units
Oilfield units are non-coherent
Newtons 2nd Law (F=ma)
SI: Force (Newton) is a derived unit to make equation coherent
USCS: Mass (slugs) is a derived unit to make equation coherent
AES, Oilfield Units: A unit conversion constant required (F=ma/gc )
Darcys Law
Darcy units: Permeability is a derived unit to make equation coherent
SI: coherent (permeability unit is m2 )
Oilfield Units: A unit conversion constant is required
The constant may include geometry terms (integrated form)
For gas flow, the constant may include standard temperature and pressure, even for
Darcy and SI units

q C k d
vs
A ds
 Learning Objectives
Deriving unit conversion constants
Given
A physical relationship expressed as an equation, using coherent units or with a
correct conversion constant supplied
and appropriate unit conversion factors between unit systems
Find
The required unit conversion constant (including its units) to express the
equation in a different unit system

Correctly apply Darcy Equations for incompressible fluid and real

gas, using oilfield units
See handout, Darcy Equations
Note definitions of standard temperature and pressure for the Real Gas cases
 Darcys Law - Darcy Units
Linear (1-D) flow of an incompressible fluid

q
kA
p
L
where,
q cm3/s
k darcies
A cm2
p atm
cp
L cm

The Darcy a derived unit of permeability, defined to make this equation

coherent (in Darcy units)
 Darcys Law - Oilfield Units
Linear (1-D) flow of an incompressible fluid

q
CkA
p
L
where,
q bbl/D
k millidarcies
A ft2
p psia
cp
L ft

The approach demonstrated will be to convert each term back to Darcy units,
restoring the coherent equation, then collecting the conversion factors to
obtain the oilfield unit constant, C
 Darcys Law - Oilfield Units
q [cm3/s] = q [bbl/D] 5.61458 [ft3/bbl] (30.48)3 [cm3/ft3] (1/86400) [D/s]
= 1.84013 [(cm3/s)/(bbl/D)] q [bbl/D]

k [d] = k [md] (1/1000) [d/md]

A [cm2] = A [ft2] (30.48)2 [cm2/ft2]

p [atm] = p [psia] (1/14.6959) [atm/psia]

L [cm] = L [ft] 30.48 [cm/ft]

k[md] 0.001[d/md ] A[ft 2 ] 929.03[cm 2 /ft 2 ]

q[bbl/D] 1.84013[(c m /s)/(bbl/D )]
3

[cp] L[ft] 30.48[cm/f t]

p[psia] 0.068046[atm/psia]
 Darcys Law - Oilfield Units
Collecting the constants and canceling

0.001127 k[md] A[ft 2 ]

q[bbl/D] p[psia]
[cp] L[ft]

The unit of the constant is defined from the above equation

[bbl/D] [cp] [ft]
C 0.0011271
[md][ft 2 ][psia]

We were able to cancel leaving the units of C as shown above because,

[cm3 /s] [cp] [cm]
1[d] 1
[cm 2 ][atm]
 Static Pressure Gradient - SI Units
Static pressure gradient of a fluid

dp g dh

where,
p Pa = N/m2 = (kgm/s2)/(m2) = kg/(ms2)
kg/m3
g 9.80665 m/s2
h m

Coherent for SI units

 Static Pressure Gradient - Oilfield Units
Static pressure gradient of a fluid

g
dp dh
D
where,
p psi = lbf/in2
lbm/ft3
g 32.174 ft/s2
h ft
Static Pressure Gradient - Oilfield Units
p [Pa] = p [psi] 6894.757[Pa/psi]

[kg/m3] = [lbm/ft3] 16.01846 [kg/m3)/(lbm/ft3)]

h [m] = h [ft] 0.3048 [m/ft]

dp[psi] 6894.757[Pa/psi] [lb m /ft 3 ] 16.01846[(kg/m 3 )/(lb m /ft 3 )]

g[ft/s2] 0.3048[m/f t]
dh[ft] 0.3048[m/f t]

Because the constant D is on the bottom, collect terms on left and cancel using
definition of Pascal [Pa]
D=4633.06 [(lbm /ft3)(ft/s2)(ft)/(psia)]

Alternate derivation from dimensional homogeneity (self study)

D=(144 [in2/ft2]) (32.174[(lbmft)/(lbfs2)])
OR
D=4633.06 [(in2/ft2)(lbmft)/(lbfs2)])
 Handout - Darcy Equations
Darcy Equations for Real Gas
For pseudopressure, m(p), the unit conversion constant, C, is the
same as for p2 equation (Constant (z g))
(p12 p22 )
Replaced by m(p 1 ) m(p 2 )
z g

A single term of the equation is replaced with the term in brackets having the
same units and meaning:

Term 2p p
p1
dp
2 z
g

Note that in oilfield units, m(p) has units of [psia2/cp]

Note the constant, C, includes the 1/2 from integration