PERMEABILITY

Permeability

Definition (ABW, Ref: API 27)

permeability is a property of the porous
medium and is a measure of the capacity of the
medium to transmit fluids
permeability is the fluid conductance
capacity of a rock, or its the a measure of the
ease with which the rock will permit the
passage of fluids.

Reservoir Rocks and Fluid properties

Permeability
Permeability

theory

Permeability is an INTENSIVE property of a porous

medium (e.g. reservoir rock)

Reservoir Rocks and Fluid

properties

Permeability
Permeability which will permit flow of one centipoise fluid to
flow at linear velocity of one cm per second under a
pressure gradient of one atmosphere per centimetre.

Reservoir Rocks and Fluid properties

Permeability

Three types of permeability

Absolute permeability - the permeability of a porous medium

with only one fluid present (single-phase flow).

When two or more fluids are present permeability of the rock to

a flowing fluid is called effective permeability (ko, kg, kw).

Relative permeability is the ratio of absolute and effective

permeabilities kro=ko/k, krg=kg/k, krw=kw/k.

Reservoir Rocks and Fluid properties

Permeability

A French hydrologist named Darcy did the first work on

permeability. He was concerned about flow of water through filters.
He found that flow rate Q, is proportional to area of flow A,h, and
1/L. This is expressed mathematically as flows:

h1 h2
Q KA
L

Darcys K was determined to be a combination of

k, permeability of the sand pack (porous medium, e.g.

reservoir rock)

K is a constant of proportionality

, viscosity of the liquid

K constant may be written as;

k
K

Reservoir Rocks and Fluid properties

permeability

Alternatively, eqn.1; can also be expressed in terms of the

pressure gradient dp over a section dL as;

dp
Q KA
dL
Where dp = hg

3
4

dp is the diff. b/w the upstream & downstream pressures

h the diff. b/w the upstream and downstream hydraulic
gradients
fluid density
g is the acceleration due to gravity (9.81 m/sec2)

Reservoir Rocks and Fluid

properties

Permeability theory
Darcys
Apparatus for
Determining
Permeability
h1 h2
L
Q A
Q

A
h1-h2

(Sand Pack Length) L

Q volumetric flow rate

A cross sectional area
L length of the porous medium
h1 & h2 hydraulic head at inlet and outlet

Reservoir Rocks and Fluid properties

h1
h2

Extension of Darcys Equation

Darcy did not consider the fluid viscosity.

Restricted to a medium with 100% saturated by water

Other researchers discovered that Q is inversely proportional to

viscosity.

Reservoir Rocks and Fluid properties

Extension of Darcys Equation

Assumptions Used in Darcy Equation:

1.

Steady state flow, under laminar regime i.e. Qin = Qout

2.

Viscous flow - rate of flow directly proportional to pressure

gradient

3.

The flowing fluid is incompressible.

4.

Porous media 100% saturated with fluid which flowed

5.

Fluid and porous media not reacting

Reservoir Rocks and Fluid properties

Extension of Darcys Equation

Darcys Law can be extended to other fluids, if K is expressed as

a ratio of /, where is the viscosity of a given fluid and the
permeability of the porous medium.

Eqn. 3 can be written to account for viscosity as;

Q=-

k
A

dp
dL

Eqn.5 can be integrated b/w the limits of length from 0 to L and

pressure from P1(upstream) to P2 (downstream), for a fluid flow
case.

Reservoir Rocks and Fluid properties

Extension of Darcys Equation

Therefore,
Q L
k p2
dL

dp

0
A
p1
Q
L 0 k
A

p
1

KA
p1 p2
Q
L

Q
or

KAP
L

7
8

Hence, the original equation of Darcy was modified to account for

viscosity as follows:
KA

p1 p2

Reservoir Rocks and Fluid properties

Sources for Permeability

Determination

Permeability is determined by:

Core analysis

Well test analysis (flow testing)

RFT (repeat formation tester) provides small well tests

Production data
production logging measures fluid flow into well

Log data
MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) logs calibrated via core analysis

Reservoir Rocks and Fluid properties

Factors affecting the magnitude of permeability

Shape and size of pore system

Sorting

Cementation

Fracturing and solution

Lithology or rock type

Reservoir Rocks and Fluid properties

Units of permeability

Two sets of units are generally used

engineering: Darcy units and Oil-field units

For the purpose of the mathematical derivations, a system

of units commonly referred to as Darcy units are used.
These units are:
Vs = cm/sec; = cP; = gm/cc
K = Darcy; g = cm/sec2; dp/ds = atm/cm

in

reservoir

For application to field data of the various mathematical

expressions, the second system of units called the practical
oil-field units are used.

Reservoir Rocks and Fluid properties

Units of Permeability

From dimensional analysis, the dimension for K is [L] 2.

We could use ft2, ins2, or cm2 for measure of permeability, but
these units are all too large to be applied in porous media.

So Darcy unit is used and recommended , but in many cases the

millidarcy (mD)

1 Darcy = 1000 miliDarcy

1 Darcy ~ 10-8 sm2 (10-6 mm2)
1 miliDarcy ~ 10-11 sm2 (10-9 mm2)

Reservoir Rocks and Fluid properties

Darcys Law - Darcy Units

Linear (1-D) flow of an incompressible fluid

kA
p
q
L
where,

q
k
A
p

cm3/s
darcies
cm2
atm
cp
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

CkA
p
q
L
where,

q
k
A
p

bbl/D
millidarcies
ft2
psia
cp
ft

Common Oil Field Units

Quantity

Symbo Dimensio
l
n

Oilfield
Units

SI Units

Mass

Ibm

Kg

Moles

Ibmol

Kmol

Force

ML/t2

Ibf

Length

ft

Area

L2

acres

m2

Volume-liquids

L3

bbl

m3

Volume-gases

L3

ft3

m3

Pressure

m/Lt2

psi

kPa

Temperature

Flow rate-liquids

L3/t

bbl/d

m3/d

Flow rate -gases

L3/t

Ft3/d

m3/d

Viscosity

m/Lt

cP

mpa.s

Permeability

L2

md

m2

Reservoir Rocks and Fluid properties

Uses of Permeability

Permeability is an important parameter that controls the reservoir

performance. Its importance is reflected by the number of
available techniques typically used to estimate it.

These different techniques provide formation permeability that

represents different averaging volumes.

The quality of the reservoir, as it relates to permeability can be

classified as follows

< 10 md fair
10 100 High
100 1000

Very High

>1000 Exceptional

This scale changes with time, for example 30 years ago k< 50 was
considered poor.
Reservoir Rocks and Fluid properties

Definition of a Darcy

What is 1 Darcy?

A porous medium has a permeability of one Darcy, when a

single-phase fluid of one centipoises viscosity, that
completely fills the voids of the medium will flow through it,
under conditions of viscous flow (also known as laminar
flow), at a rate of one cubic centimeter cross sectional area,
and under a pressure or equivalent hydraulic gradient of one
atmosphere per centimeter.

Reservoir Rocks and Fluid properties

Permeability

Important Characteristics that must be considered in the

reservoir:

Types of fluids in the reservoir

Flow regimes

Reservoir geometry

Number of fluid flowing in the reservoir

Reservoir Rocks and Fluid properties

Permeability

Types of Fluids

Incompressible fluids

Slightly compressible fluids

Compressible fluids

Flow Regimes

Steady state flow

Unsteady state flow

Pseudosteady state flow

Reservoir Rocks and Fluid properties

Permeability

Reservoir Geometry

Linear flow

Radial flow

spherical and hemispherical flow

Number of fluid flowing

Single phase flow

Two phase flow

Three phase or multiple phase flow

Reservoir Rocks and Fluid properties

 Types of Fluids
Incompressible fluids
Slightly compressible fluids
Compressible fluids

Reservoir Rocks and Fluid properties

Permeability

Flow Regimes

Steady state flow

Unsteady state flow

Pseudosteady state flow

Reservoir Rocks and Fluid

properties

 Reservoir Geometry
Linear flow
Radial flow
spherical and hemispherical flow

Reservoir Rocks and Fluid properties

Assumptions Used in Darcy

Equation

Steady state flow, i.e. Qin = Qout

Viscous or Laminar flow: the particles flow in parallel paths

Rock is 100% saturated with one fluid

Fluid does not react with the; this a problem with shalysand (interstitial particles)

The formation is homogeneous and isotropic: same

porosity, same permeability and same fluid properties

Reservoir Rocks and Fluid properties

Horizontal, Linear, Liquid System

Generalized form of Darcys Law

The generalized Darcys law is given by the following equation:

k dp

ds

Vs = Q/A and dp/ds = dp/dx, hence

Q
Separating the variables and
integrating gives the following eqn.:

KA dp

dx

Note that P1>P2

Reservoir Rocks and Fluid properties

 Fluid not compressed (no density

change with pressure)
Steady flow (mass in = mass out)

In horizontal flow (Linear):

dz
dP dP
0,

ds
ds
dx

Q
k dP
g dz

vs

*106
A
ds 1.0135 ds

k dP
vx
dx
Q
k dP

A
dx
Q
k
dx dP
A

Q L
k P2
dx dP

0
A
P1
Q
k
k
L 0 P2 P1 P1 P2
A

kA P1 P2
Q

Flow Potential
The generalized form of Darcys Law includes pressure and gravity
terms to account for horizontal or non-horizontal flow

qs
k
vs

dp g dz
ds c ds

The gravity term has dimension of pressure / length

Flow potential includes both pressure and gravity terms,
simplifying Darcys Law

q
k d
vs

A
ds

= p - gZ/c; Z+; Z is elevation measured from a datum

has dimension of pressure

Reservoir Rocks and Fluid properties

Flow Potential

The gravitational conversion constant, c, is needed to

convert the gravity term to units of pressure gradient
[pressure/length]

A clear way to determine the sign of the gravity term (+ or

-) is to consider the static case. If no fluid is flowing, then
there is no potential gradient (potential is constant), while
pressure changes with elevation, due to fluid density
(dp=(g/c)dZ).

Reservoir Rocks and Fluid properties

Reservoir Rocks and Fluid properties

Reservoir Rocks and Fluid properties

Radial Flow System

Fluid not compressed

Steady flow (stream mass was constant)

re
rw

Pwf

Pe
r

re 1
Pe
Q
k
dr

PdP
2h rw r
Pw
Q
e
ln r rrew k P P
Pw
2h

re
Q
k
Pe Pw
ln

2h
rw

2hk

Pe

Pw
re
ln
rw

Horizontal, Radial, and Liquid System

Q = flow rate, m3/sec

K = permeability, m2
h = thickness, m
Pe = pressure drainage radius, N/m2
Pwf = flowing pressure, N/m2

= fluid viscosity, N/m2

re = drainage radius, m
rw = the well-bore radius, m

Reservoir Rocks and Fluid properties

Linear, Parallel Flow

Permeability varies across several
horizontal layers (k1,k2,k3)
Discrete changes in permeability

h h1 h 2 h 3 h i

Same pressure drop for each layer

p1 - p2 p p1 p 2 p3

Total
is summation
q flow
q rate
q
q
q of flow rate for all layers
1

kpermeability
wh
Average
results
q
p ; A
win
hcorrect total flow rate
L

 Substituting,

kwh
k1 w h1
k2 w h2
k3 w h3
q
p
p
p
p
L
L
L
L
Rearranging,

hi

Average permeability reflects flow capacity of all layers

Serial Flow
Permeability varies across several
vertical layers (k1,k2,k3)
Discrete changes in permeability

L L1 L 2 L3 Li

Same flow rate passes through each layer

q q1 q 2 q 3

Total
is summation of pressure
p1 pressure
p 2 pdrop
pi drop across
1 p 2 p 3
layers

Average permeability results in correct total pressure drop

Linear, Serial Flow

Substituting,

q L
q L1 q L 2
q L3
p1 - p 2

k w h k1 w h k 2 w h k 3 w h
L
k
Li
k
i

If k1>k2>k3, then
Linear pressure profile in each layer

p1

Rearranging,

p2

Radial, Parallel Flow

Permeability varies across several
(3) horizontal layers (k1,k2,k3)
Discrete changes in permeability

h h1 h 2 h 3 h i

Same pressure drop for each layer

pe - p w p p1 p 2 p3

Total
is summation
q flow
q rate
q
q
q of flow rate for all layers
1

2 k results
h
Average permeability
in correct total flow rate
q
p
ln(re /rw )

Radial, Serial Flow

Substituting (rw=r1, r2 ,re=r3),

q ln(re /rw ) q ln(r2 /rw ) q ln(re /r2 )

pe - p w

2 k h
2 k1 h
2 k 2 h
Rearranging,

ln(re /rw )
k
(ln(ri 1/ri )

ki
All Layers

Permeability
It is necessary to determine an average value of permeability.
Three common types of computed averages are as follows:

i) arithmetic average
ii) harmonic average
ii) geometric average
Selection of the averaging technique should be based primarily on
the geometry of the flow system.

Reservoir Rocks and Fluid properties

Averaging Permeability
Parallel Flow
Arithmetic Average

h1

k1
k2

h2

kA

kh

i i
i

h3

k3

Reservoir Rocks and Fluid properties

Averaging Permeability
Series Flow

Harmonic Average

k1

L1

k2 k3

L2

kH

L /k
i

L3

Reservoir Rocks and Fluid properties

Averaging Permeability
Random Flow

Geometric Average

h1

h2

h3

kG k1 k 2 k3 .......

1
hi

Reservoir Rocks and Fluid properties

Interaction between porosity & permeability

Reservoir Rocks and Fluid properties