Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Fall 2010
Written by
Copyright 2010
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 – Introduction
Chapter 3 - Permeability
3.1 Factors Affecting Permeability ...............................................3.1
3.2.1 Klinkenberg effect
3.2.2 Overburden pressure
3.2.3 Reactive Fluids
3.2 Darcy’s Law ............................................................................3.12
3.3 Porosity – Permeability Relationships....................................3.17
3.4 Distribution of Rock Properties ...............................................3.22
3.5 Measurement ...........................................................................3.36
References
CHAPTER 1 – Introduction
The objectives of this course are to develop an understanding of the basic physical
characteristics of porous media and the fluids contained therein, to understand and
appreciate the mechanisms that drive fluid flow in porous media and to apply this
knowledge to some of the more complex problems of fluid flow through porous media.
The first segment of this course investigates structures and properties involved in the
flow of fluids in porous media. Building on these physical properties, the next segment
involves static properties of fluids. For example, saturation, capillary pressure and
relative permeability are included in the description of fluid flow. In essence these topics
fall into the category of petrophysics.
Petrophysics is the study of the properties of reservoir rocks and their relationship
to the contained fluids. [Craft & Hawkins, 1959] Fundamental properties such as the
void space in a porous media, porosity, or the ability for the media to transmit fluids,
permeability, provide the foundations for reservoir engineering calculations. Further,
multiphase flow phenomena such as relative permeability and capillary pressure form the
basis for displacement of oil or gas by enhanced recovery processes.
It should be easily recognized that geology plays an intimate role in the
understanding of rock properties. The deposition, burial and subsequent diagenesis of
sediments forms the framework for interconnected pore spaces. For example, porosity
can develop through the degree of sorting of grain size during deposition or by
dissolution along fractures or molds during diagenesis. The migration of fluids into a
reservoir is related to the trapping mechanism and source rock.
The third and final segment of this course expands to the physical and
mathematical theory of flow. Beginning with the fundamental principles of fluid flow as
described by Darcy’s Law and conservation laws, governing differential equations are
developed for single-phase, steady state and transient flow regimes in one- and two-
dimensions. And last, applying the multiphase flow phenomena described above,
solutions to the immiscible displacement problem will be presented.
The outcome of this course is students will obtain the foundations of fluid flow in
porous media to apply in future endeavors.