Republic of Iraq
Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research جمهورية العراق
Kerbala University وزارة التعليم العالي والبحث العلمي
جامعة كربالء
Engineering faculty
كلية الهندسة
Petroleum Department
هندسة النفط
علي ناصر رحيم
المرحلة الثالثة – الدراسة
الصباحية
المشرف
تحسين حميد خليف.د.م.ا
حوراء عادل.أ
Thursday, December 23 2021
Liquid Permeability
Reservoir Engineering Lab.
1
Topics
Introduction
Objective and Aim
Tools and Apparatus
Procedure
Calculations
Discussion
References
2
Introduction
Permeability is a fundamental reservoir property and is extremely important
for the reservoir engineers to determine during exploration of a well. Testing
under laboratory conditions are tough and requires vigilance and control of
many aspects.
As a result of this, the permeability needs to be measured at different
conditions when variables are changed to obtain an understanding how it
changes due to change of different parameters.
It is also important to determine the permeability in the laminar regime as
the turbulent regime can create problems around the wellbore.
Therefore it is necessary to find the boundaries between the two flow regimes
by performing the core flooding experiments.
The fundamental law of fluid motion in porous media is Darcy’s Law. The
mathematical expression developed in 1856 states that the velocity of a
homogenous fluid in a porous medium is proportional to the pressure
gradient and inversely proportional to the fluid viscosity.
[1]
Mathematically this can be expressed as:
𝑘𝐴𝑑𝑝
q= −
μ 𝑑𝐿
where q is the flow rate in cc/min and A is the cross section area of flow in
cm2.
In this equation, μ and dp/dL are fluid viscosity in cp and gradient of pressure
loss in atm/cm, respectively.
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Objective and Aim
To establish the coefficient of permeability or hydrologic conductance
[2]
of water (vertically) through an undisturbed water saturated sample.
4
Tools and Apparatus [3]
The PERL-200 manual Permeameter is designed to function with Brine or
water, but it is not compatible to be used with other fluids. Use of oil or
solvents may result in damage to the measurement tube and other components.
Permeability analysis is carried out to measure the effective permeability of the
cement cores with the varying percentages of bitumen as additive. Operating
pressure of 25 psi was used. Brine was used as the recommended injection liquid
for the liquid Permeameter Requirements .
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Procedure [4]
1. The sample should be cleaned using the Dean-Stark toluene apparatus.
2. Fill the system using clean demineralized de-aerated water preventing
ex. algae built up inside the system.
3. The sample holder is without sample; the venting pin is opened.
4. Check the burettes; they have to be free of enclosed air between little
heads of water.
5. An anti-bacterial addition can be added to the water e.g. Aqua-Stabil
(supplied by GmbH).
6. The saturated sample are placed in the sample container filled with a
constant head of water.
7. As soon as there is enclosed air, open the ball valve of the burette and
play with the main valve (by quick opening and closing).
8. Be sure the hand pump and sample holder are correctly connected to
the apparatus
9. The hand pump has two positions; ‘IN’ and ‘OUT’. To switch between
these two positions, the serrated front has to be turned.
10. The ‘OUT’-position is used to pressurize the sealing ALWAYS
AFTER placement of the sample holder around the core ring.
11. The sample holder is placed over the core ring and is tight fixed
around de sample ring by an inflatable rubber seal.
12. The water filled burette is selected and it is emptied trough the
sample using the falling head method, so the water will flow through the
sample with a certain speed per unit time.
13. Before starting the measurements, the sample container has to be
filled until the overflow starts to work
14. A triple time measurement during falling head is used to calculate
the permeability (k) according to Darcy’s law.
6
Calculations
𝑄𝑀𝐿
K=−
A𝚫𝐏
Where,
K = liquid permeability )Darcie or md)
μ = viscosity of saturating liquid (Cp)
Q = liquid flow rate (ml/s)
L = length of right cylinder porous medium (cm)
A = cross sectional area of cylinder (cm2)
P = pressure differential across cylinder (Atm)
ΔP Duration Volume Flow Flow
psi Δt of liquid rate rate
sec collected Cc/sec Cc/sec
ml
Calculation Sheet
q/A Δp/L k
Result:
The Liquid Permeability of Given Core Sample is ….….md
WL = Worg – Wdry
7 Wo = WL – Ww
Discussion
Q1. Why we used Nitrogen in this expermient?
Ans.
To put pressure on the liquid to ease its leaching into the sample.
Q2. What factors affect permeability?
Ans.
Size of Soil Particle.
Specific Surface Area of Particles.
Shape of Soil Particle.
Void Ratio.
Soil Structure.
Degree of Saturation.
Water Properties.
Temperature.
Q3. What kind of samples or plugs should be used using this method?
Ans.
The method is suitable for fine-grained samples, especially silt and clay
which should be fully saturated.
Suitable for soils with water permeability smaller than 1x10-³ cm/s (like fine
sand; silt; sandy clay). Indicative; more than 10% (mass percentage) of the
soil particles needs to have a diameter smaller than 0,063 mm.
Q4. What type of permeability was measured using this method?
Ans.
Effective permeability; because one single fluid used (water – brine) which
passed through only connected channels and pores.
8
Q5. How can we estimate the degree of saturation?
Ans.
The degree of saturation obtained can be estimated by comparing the
volumetric water content with the total porosity calculated from the bulk and
s
particle densities.
Q6. How to prevent damage of the inflatable seal?
Ans.
By not connecting the hand pump directly to sample holder or pressurizing
the inflatable seal without installed core ring
Q7. How to prevent damage caused by overpressure?
Ans.
An overpressure valve is used.
Q8. Why sample holder and mesh are produced of stainless steel
completely?
Ans.
So no corrosion will take place in case of salty or contaminated samples.
Q9. How to remove enclosed air in the column of the burette?
Ans.
Fill the burette to above the enclosed air and open/close the ball valve of the
burette until enclosed air is disappeared.
9
References
[1]. Peter Keusch. "Acid-Catalyzed Esterification". University of Regensburg.
[2]. "Dean–Stark Apparatus"
[3]. "A convenient method for the determination of water in petroleum and other organic
emulsions"
[4]. W. G. Ernst, Earth Materials ( Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 1969 ), Chapter 6.
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