Workshop

on
Hydrocarbon Phase Behavior
and
PVT Analysis

July 14-16, 2011

Day-1 Thursday July 14- WS on Hydrocarbon Phase Behaviour& PVT Analysis

July 14-16,2011

Workshop Overview
Day 1:

Importance of PVT
Hydrocarbon Phase Behavior
PVT Models & Equation of State

Day 2:

Hydrocarbon Fluid Sampling

Sample Analysis Techniques
PVT Laboratory

Day 3

Day-1 Thursday July 14- Workshop Overview

PVT
Lab Work

3Days Workshop

July 14-16,2011

Importance of PVT (1)

Where we saw while studying?

FVF (Bo, Bg, Bw)

Bubble point (dew point)
GOR (CGR)
etc

and where in practical life?

Fluid (phases, mixture density, viscosity,
etc)
Separation (optimal operating condition,
etc)
Day-1 Thursday July 14- Importance of PVT
Tech.Session-1
July 14-16,2011
etc

Importance of PVT (2)

It is an essential concept in all phase of an

oil and gas field :
Reservoir (reserves, material balance
calculations, etc)
Fluid flow (in reservoir, while drilling, during
production, in processing facilities, etc)
etc

PVT concept is knowing hydrocarbon fluid

properties at different P&T conditions
Essential component to this concept is
hydrocarbon phase behavior
Day-1 Thursday July 14- Importance of PVT

Tech.Session-1

July 14-16,2011

Hydrocarbon Phase Behavior: Basics

HC #1
HC #1: HC#2
50:50

HC #2

Day-1 Thursday July 14- Hydrocarbon Phase Behaviour

Tech.Session-1

July 14-16,2011

Hydrocarbon Phase
Envelope
1
2

'G a s '

Le a n G a s
C o n d e n s a te

G a s C o n d e n s a te

C r it i c a l F lu id

V o la tile O il

B la c k O il

P re s s u re

4
L iq u id

G as
4

L IQ U ID
C O M P R E S S IO N

2 -P H A S E R E G IO N
Wet G as
D ry G a s

G AS
C O M P R E S S IO N
1
V

Te m p e r a tu r e
P h a s e E n v e lo p e ( B u b b le & D e w P o in t C u r v e s )
'Q u a lit y ' L in e s (C o n s ta n t P h a s e V o lu m e F ra c tio n )
P, T P a t h o f P ro d u c in g F lu id

Day-1 Thursday July 14- Hydrocarbon Phase Behaviour

Tech.Session-1

July 14-16,2011

Phase Envelope Terminology

Critical Point (CP): Pressure and temperature

above which two phases cannot be distinguished
Cricondenbar (Pcc): highest pressure where two
phases coexist in equilibrium at any temperature
Cricondentherm (Tcc): highest temperature
where two phases coexist in equilibrium at any
pressure
For pure substance Pcc=Tcc=CP
Day-1 Thursday July 14- Hydrocarbon Phase Behaviour

Path A to B at T1< Tc shows expected

condensation (forming of more liquid) as
pressure increases
Path C to D at T2>Tc but < Tcc shows
unexpected vaporization (forming of more
vapors) as pressure increases from C to D
This contrary to expected behavior is
termed as Retrograde
Tech.Session-1

July 14-16,2011

Phase Envelope Usage: Reservoir Type

Day-1 Thursday July 14- Hydrocarbon Phase Behaviour

Tech.Session-1

July 14-16,2011

Reservoir Type: Crude Oil

P H A S E E N V E LO P E

(T , P )
r e s

r e s

P re s s u r e

Low Shrinkage ( an Ordinary Oil)

Mainly heavy non volatile components
(C7+ > 30%)
Reservoir Temp quite far away from CP
Iso-volume (quality) lines evenly
spaced
Black oil material balance equation
valid
Initial GOR < 2000 Scf / Stb
API < 40(> 0.8 g /cm)
FVF (Bo) < 2 Rbbl / Stb
Shrinkage < 50%
NOT always black! (brown, green)
Day-1 Thursday July 14- Hydrocarbon Phase Behaviour

Te m p e r a t u r e

Tech.Session-1

July 14-16,2011

Reservoir Type: Volatile Oil

High Shrinkage (Near Critical Oil)

Fewer Heavy Components ( C7+ 30% ~
12.5%). More Volatile / Intermediate
components
Reservoir Temperature near CP
Quality lines not evenly spaced
Large shrinkage just within a 100 psi
below Psat
Black oil material balance equation not
valid due to the wet gas release
Initial GOR < 2000 ~ 3000 Scf / Stb (>
below Psat)
API > 40 - Increases rapidly below Psat
Colour : Brown, Orange, Green
FVF (Bo) > 2 Rbbl / Stb
Shrinkage > 50%
Day-1 Thursday July 14- Hydrocarbon Phase Behaviour

P H A S E E N V E LO P E
(T , P )
r e s

re s

Te m p e r a tu r e

Tech.Session-1

July 14-16,2011

Reservoir Type: Gas Condensate

P H A S E E N V E LO P E

(T , p
re s

re s

)
L iq u id V o lu m e ( % )

20

P re s s u re

Dew Point Pressure >2500 psi

Few Heavy Components (C7+ < 12.5%).
More Volatile / Intermediate
components
Low Tc; Tc < Tres < Tcct
Retrograde Condensation is formed
Revaporised at lower pressures (in a
constant mass environment)
Initial GOR < 3000 ~ 15000 Scf / Stb
API > 40 - Increases rapidly below Psat
Colour : Brown, Orange, Green (even
Black)
Dew Point Pressure
Shrinkage > 50%
Condensate 35% within reservoir,
sometimes not mobile

Te m p e r a tu r e

16

12
8
4
0

Reservoir Type: Wet Gas

Small amount of Volatile / Intermediate

components (C7+ < 1%)
Mainly Light components (C1 to C4)
Very Low Tc; Tres > Tcct
No liquid is formed at reservoir
temperature regardless of pressure.
Liquid is formed at surface due to
condensation (reduction in temperature)
Very high initial GOR > 50000 Scf / Stb and
remains constant
Condensate API: Same as GC but API does
not change
Colour: Clear
Dew Point Pressure (not present at Tres)
Shrinkage > 50%
Day-1 Thursday July 14- Hydrocarbon Phase Behaviour

3Days Workshop

July 14-16,2011

Reservoir Type: Dry Gas

Mainly Light components
(C1 to C4)
Very Low Tc; Tres > Tcct
No liquid is formed at
reservoir temperature
regardless of pressure.
No liquid is formed at
separator temperature
regardless of pressure.
May contain water
Day-1 Thursday July 14- Hydrocarbon Phase Behaviour

Tech.Session-1

July 14-16,2011

Phase Envelope Usage: System Conditions

Maintain reservoir pressure away from envelop:

reservoir within envelop suggests gas cap or
condensate loss
Maintain surface conditions based on phase envelope
to manage two phase in producing system
Process design requires knowing how envelop
behaves at low P&T, and how it changes with time

Phase Envelope Usage: Overall

G A S

P ro d u c in g
F lu id
P

(a )

S e p a ra te
P h a se s
G A S

(b )
(c )
(d )

(d )

(d )

(d )

(a )

S E P A R A TO R

O IL
G A S

(b )
(c )

(c )
(c )

C HO KE

(a )

(c )
(b )

O IL
S TO C K
TA N K

O IL

W E LLB O R E

(b )

(a )

(a )

R E S E R V O IR

Tech.Session-1

PVT Models

Phase behavior physics is mathematically

represented by PVT Models
Such models give PVT properties of
hydrocarbon mixture
PVT models can be any of the following:
a mathematically simplified Black Oil (BO)model
a calculation intensive Compositional (Equation of
State: EOS) model
something in between: PVT properties from BO,
and
tracking
byofEOS
Day-1phase
Thursday July 14PVT Models & Equation
State
Tech.Session-2
July 14-16,2011

Black Oil (BO) Model

Day-1 Thursday July 14- PVT Models & Equation of State

P H A S E E N V E LO P E
(T , P )
r e s

r e s

P re s s u r e

Assumes stock tank oil and total separator

gas fully represent reservoir fluid
Reservoir gas (or released gas)does not give
liquid at surface
Surface gas from oil has same properties as
reservoir gas
Stock tank oil and surface gas has unchanging
properties with reservoir depletion
It is applicable to API<35, GOR < 750, or
reservoir producing above BP over most of its
productive life
It is not for volatile oil or gas-condensate
However, it is equally valid for dry or wet gas
Traditional BO properties are Rs, Bo and Bg;
viscosity and density can be also be estimated

Te m p e r a t u r e

Tech. Session-2

July 14-16,2011

BO Correlations Overview
BO PVT models are based on correlations
which are based on certain set of
experiments done on a certain set of fluids
Hence, BO correlations depend upon the
data set, quality of test and the match.
Therefore, none of BO correlations is
universally applicable to all fluids at all
conditions
Still it is preferred due to its simplicity of
inputs and straightforward calculations.
Day-1 Thursday July 14- PVT Models & Equation of State

Tech.Session-2 July 14-16,2011

BO Correlation Example
Z-factor chart from experiments
by Standing & Katz in 1942
To digitally represent it, a
number of best-fit correlations
developed; best ones are
Hall & Yarborough (1973)
Dranchuck et al (1975)

To include effect of higher HC

and NHC, some additional
correlations are in use.
Most accurate, though least
straightforward, approach is EoS
Day-1 Thursday July 14- PVT Models & Equation of State

Tech.Session-2

July 14-16,2011

 Inputs:

BO Calculations

Separated Gas Gravity

Separated Oil/condensate gravity
Separator GOR/CGR
All three should be consistent (at one set of separator
conditions)

Since one available BO correlations may work

better than other, additional inputs required to
select/tune BO model:
PVT report from labs for range of P&T
PVT tables from tuned EoS model

Above data sets should be from a single-stage

flash, as BO models are based on such data
Day-1 Thursday July 14- PVT Models & Equation of State

Tech.Session-2

July 14-16,2011

BO Correlation Ranges
PVT Property

Standing

Lasater

VazquezBeggs

Glas

PetroskyFarshad

Macary

(Pb) Bubble-point
Pressure (psia)

130 7000

48 5780

15 6055

165 7142

1574 6523

1200 4600

(Bo) Bubble-Point
Oil FVF (rb/stb)

1.024 2.15

N/A

1.028 2.226

1.087 2.588

1.1178 1.622

1.2 2.0

(GOR or Rs) Gas/Oil

Ratio (scf/stb)

20 1425

3 2905

0.0 2199

90 2637

217 1406

200 1200

Reservoir
Temperature (F)

100 258

82 272

75 294

80 280

114 288

180 290

Stock Tank Oil

Gravity (API)

16.5 63.8

17.9 51.1

15.3 59.5

22.3 48.1

16.3 45.0

25 40

Gas Specific Gravity

(air = 1)

0.59 0.95

0.574 1.22

0.511 1.351

0.65 1.276

0.5781 0.85

0.7 1.0

Separator Pressure
(psia)

265 465

15 605

60 565

415

N/A

N/A

Separator
Temperature (F)

100

36 - 106

76 150

125

N/A

N/A

Day-1 Thursday July 14- PVT Models & Equation of State

Tech.Session-2

July 14-16,2011

Black Oil Correlations: Notes of Caution (1)

BP is key parameter used in
BO models, hence its best
to get it from lab data.
Otherwise, if BP is estimated
from one correlation, same
should be used to get Rs, Bo,
etc, for consistency
Still, it may not match reality
over entire operating P&T
range.
This effect onset of free gas,
and its volumecritical for
fluid flow in reservoir/tubing.

Courtesy: Well Completion Design by J

Bellarby

Courtesy: 1999
JCPT

BO Correlations: Notes of Caution (2)

Viscosity is important flow property, its
correlation should be used with caution:

Courtesy: Well Completion Design by J

Bellarby

affected by dead-oil viscosity and Rs estimate

Also, gas viscosity is not measured in lab but
only correlatio- based values are reported

Suggested BO approach is:

if no PVT data available, use regionally tested correlations (Glaso for North
Sea)
if one-point PVT data available, use it to select the best correlation and stick
to same set over entire P&T range
if a table of PVT data available, regress to select best PVT correlation (min
tuning) for entire P&T range

For gas-condensate or volatile oil, modified BO approach is

used to account for changing gas/oil gravities with depletion
Day-1 Thursday July 14- PVT Models & Equation of State

3Days Workshop

July 14-16,2011

Compositional Model (EoS)

Inaccuracies associated with BO approach are due to

not defining liquid and vapor phases correctly.
Compositional model, on the other hand:
defines reservoir fluid by composition, rather than by surface
gas and oil
estimates liquid and vapor from phase equilibrium from
Equation of State (EoS), rather than from empirical correlations
estimates PVT properties for abovephases, rather than using a
different BO equation for different PVTs

In its simplest form, EoS is PV=nRT for ideal gas, and

for real gas it is represented as cubic equations such as:
Soave-Redlich-Kwong (SRK)
Peng-Robinson (PR)
etc.
Day-1 Thursday July 14- PVT Models & Equation of State

3Days Workshop

July 14-16,2011

EoS: Notes of Caution (1)

Despite sound basis, EoS still needs to be tuned to the

actual data before using it to get a reliable set of
properties:
DP or BP pressure may be off by 10%
Phase densities off by 5%
Compositions by several mole percents

This is mainly due to incorrect fraction and/or

properties of pseudo components (C7+, etc),
inadequate BIC, or incorrect overall composition
A number of ways are available to improve EoS
predictions
Day-1 Thursday July 14- PVT Models & Equation of State

Tech.Session-2

July 14-16,2011

EoS: Notes of Caution (2)

EoS tuning parameters (Omega A & B) are adjusted to

improve overall match
To match a specific PVT properties different
parameters are adjusted
BICs of pseudo component are changed to match BP or DP
pressures
Pseudo components are some times split in 3-5 pseudo
components to improve phase equilibrium (more pseudo
gives more parameters to play with to improve match)
Pseudo components Pc & Tc for changes to improve, liquid
drop-out, phase PVT match (z-factor, etc)
Pseudo components Vc is changed to match measured
phase viscosities (however, 5 to10% error in measured
dataDay-1,
is ThursdayJ
expected)
uly 14- PVT Laboratory. at PED
Tech.Session-2
July 14-16,2011