Porosity Permeability Relationships

Permeability and porosity trends for various rock types

[CoreLab,1983]
Porosity Permeability Relationships
Influence of grain size on the relationship
between porosity and permeability
[Tiab & Donaldson, 1996]
Porosity Permeability Relationships
Darcys Law (1856) empirical observations of flow to obtain
permeability

Slichter (1899) theoretical analysis of fluid flow in packed
uniform spheres

Kozeny (1927),Carmen (1939) capillary tube model
Porosity Permeability Relationships
Capillary Tube Model
Define porosity

Where r is radius of the capillary tube,
n
t
is number of tubes/ unit area

Define permeability


Porosity-permeability relationship
t t |
2
r n
t
=
t
t
=
8
4
r
t
n
k
t
|
8
2
r
k =
Porosity Permeability Relationships
Example
For cubic packing shown, find | and k.

Number of tubes per unit area: 4 tubes/(4r)
2

Porosity


Tortuosity


Permeability


r
4
2
*
2
4
1 t
t | = = r
r
1
2
L
a
L
=
|
|
.
|

\
|
= t
32 ) 1 ( 8
*
4 8
2 2 2
r r r
k
t t
t
|
= = =
Carmen Kozeny Equation







Where
Kz, Kozeny constant-shape factor to
account for variability in shape
and length









Porosity Permeability Relationships
Define specific surface area

S
pv
specific surface area per unit
pore volume
S
pv
= 2/r (for cylindrical pore shape)

S
bv
- unit bulk volume

S
gv
- unit grain volume





pv
S
gv
S
pv
S
bv
S
|
|
.
|

\
|

=
=
|
|
|
1
*
2
pv
S
z
k
k
|
=
2
L
a
L
|
|
.
|

\
|
= t
t
|
8
2
r
k =
S
pv
= 2/r
Carmen Kozeny Equation



Tortuosity, t



k
o
is a shape factor
= 2 for circular
= 1.78 for square








Porosity Permeability Relationships
2
L
a
L
|
|
.
|

\
|
= t
2
pv
S
z
k
k
|
=
Carmen Kozeny Equation







Where
Kz, Kozeny constant-shape factor to
account for variability in shape
and length









t
|
8
2
r
k =
S
pv
= 2/r
t *
o z
k k =
Porosity Permeability Relationships
Example: spherical particles with diameter, d
p
( ) t |
|
2
1 72
2 3

=
p
d
k
2
pv
S
z
k
k
|
=
??
Distribution of Rock Properties
Porosity Distribution
Expected porosity histogram
[Amyx,et at., 1960]
Distribution of Rock Properties
Porosity Distribution
Actual porosity histogram
[NBU42W-29, North Burbank Field]
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28
Porosity , %
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
Distribution of Rock Properties
Permeability Distribution
Expected Skewed normal and log normal histograms for permeability
[Craig,1971]
Distribution of Rock Properties
Permeability Distribution
Actual permeability histogram
[NBU42W-29, North Burbank Field]
0
5
10
15
20
25
0.01 0.10 1.00 10.00 100.00 1,000.00
f
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y

Permeability, md
Distribution of Rock Properties
Permeability Variation

Dykstra-Parsons Coefficient
Characterization of reservoir heterogeneity by permeability variation
[Willhite, 1986]
50
k
1 . 84
k
50
k
V

=
Distribution of Rock Properties
Permeability Variation

Example of log normal permeability
distribution [Willhite, 1986]
Distribution of Rock Properties
Permeability Variation

Actual Dykstra-Parsons probability plot
[NBU42W-29, North Burbank Field]
y = 578.37e
-4.647x

R = 0.9917
0.001
0.010
0.100
1.000
10.000
100.000
1000.000
10000.000
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
k
,
m
d

probability of samples with permeability >
Flow units
Distribution of Rock Properties
Flow capacity vs storage capacity distribution
[Craig, 1971]
Permeability Variation

Lorenz Coefficient
ADCA Area
ABCA Area
k
L =
Distribution of Rock Properties
Permeability Variation

Lorenz Coefficient
643 . 0 =
=
ADCA Area
ABCA Area
L
k
Actual Lorenz plot
[NBU42W-29, North Burbank Field]
y = -3.8012x
4
+ 10.572x
3
- 11.01x
2
+ 5.2476x - 0.0146
R = 0.9991
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
F
r
a
c
t
i
o
n

o
f

t
o
t
a
l

F
l
o
w

C
a
p
a
c
i
t
y

Fraction of total Volume
Flow Capacity Distribution
Distribution of Rock Properties

d
e
p
t
h

arranged un-arranged
Schematic of statistical
approach of arranging data in
comparison to true reservoir
data, which is not ordered.
Drawback of statistical approaches

Sequential ordering of data





reliance only on permeability variations for estimating flow
in layers. Does not account for:
phase mobility, pressure gradient, Swirr and the k/| ratio
Distribution of Rock Properties
Hydraulic Flow Unit
unique units with similar
petrophysical properties that
affect flow.
Hydraulic quality of a rock is
controlled by pore geometry
It is the distinction of rock units with
similar pore attributes, which leads to
the separation of units into similar
hydraulic units.
not equivalent to a geologic unit. The
definition of geologic units or facies
are not necessarily the same as the
definition of a flow unit.



HFU1
HFU2
HFU3
HFU4
Schematic illustrating the concept of flow units.
Distribution of Rock Properties
Start with CK equation


Take the log

where the Reservoir quality index (RQI)
is given by,

the Flow Zone Indicator (FZI) is,


and the pore-to-grain volume ratio
is expressed as
Plot of RQI vs |
r
for East Texas Well
[Amaefule, et al.,1993]
) log( ) log( ) log( FZI
r
RQI + = |
|

} {
0314 . 0 } {
md k
m RQI =
z
k
gv
S
FZI
1
=
|
|
|

=
1
r
|
|
|
.
|

\
|
|
|
.
|

\
|

=
gv
S
o
k
k
t |
|
|
1
1
Distribution of Rock Properties
HFU
[NBU42W-29, North Burbank Field]
0.010
0.100
1.000
10.000
0.010 0.100 1.000
R
Q
I

Porosity Ratio
0.010
0.100
1.000
10.000
0.010 0.100 1.000
R
Q
I

Porosity Ratio
4.0
2.6

1.8



0.5
FZI
Distribution of Rock Properties
y = 578.37e
-4.647x

R = 0.9917
0.001
0.010
0.100
1.000
10.000
100.000
1000.000
10000.000
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
k
,
m
d

probability of samples with permeability >
Flow units
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28
F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y

Porosity, %
FZI4
FZI3
FZI2
FZI1
k = 6E+06|
6.9644

R
2
= 0.9014
1E-03
1E-02
1E-01
1E+00
1E+01
1E+02
1E+03
1E+04
0.00 0.10 0.20 0.30 0.40
p
e
r
m
e
a
b
i
l
i
t
y

porosity
0.010
0.100
1.000
10.000
0.010 0.100 1.000
R
Q
I

Porosity Ratio
4.0
2.6

1.8

0.5
FZI