Module Code: EAX_4_272

Title: Reservoir Fluid Properties

Modular weight: 10

Examination weighting: 70 %

Prerequisite modules: MENG01C02.

Reassessment: No restrictions.
Internal Examiner/Module Leader: Dr/ Ramadan Emara
Semester taught: Two
Key words:

phase fluid behavior, reservoir fluid characteristics.

Date of latest revision:

2/10/2015

Dr.Ramadan Emara

[PTRL04C02]
Reservoir Fluid Properties
Aims
The aim of this module is to introduce students to the
various properties of petroleum reservoir fluids, where
certain fundamental concepts form the foundation on
which petroleum engineering is based. In this module
fluid phase behaviour in single and multi-component
systems and reservoir fluid characteristics are
presented.
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Content
behaviour of gases;
phase behaviour of liquids;
qualitative phase behaviour of hydrocarbon
systems;
quantitative phase behaviour;
reservoir fluid characteristics;
applications of reservoir fluid characteristics;
PVT analysis.

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Reading List
E.J. Burcik, "Properties of Petroleum Reservoir
Fluids", IHRDC, ISBN: 0934634009 (1979)
McCain Jr., William D., "The properties of
Petroleum Fluids", Pennwell Publishing , ISBN:
0878143351 (1973)
Abhijit T Dandekar, "Petroleum Reservoir Rock
and Fluid Properties", Taylor and Francis, ISBN:
9780849330438 (2006)

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Chapter 1

Introduction To Petroleum
Reservoir Fluids

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Reservoir is a subsurface, porous, permeable rock

body in which oil and/or gas has accumulated.
Most reservoir rocks are limestones, dolomites,
sandstones, or a combination.

Sandstone
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Limestone
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Dolomite
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In the typical oil reservoir, gas, oil, and water become

vertically segregated because of their different
densities. Gas, the lightest, occupies the upper part
of the reservoir rocks; water, the lower part; and oil,
the intermediate section.

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Petroleum is a substance occurring naturally in the

earth in solid, liquid, or gaseous state and composed
mainly of mixtures of chemical compounds of carbon and
hydrogen, with or without other nonmetallic elements
such as sulphur, oxygen, and nitrogen.

Solid

Sulphur
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Liquid

Oxygen
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Gas

Nitrogen
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Petroleum Chemistry
The branch of chemistry that deals with petroleum is
called organic chemistry because it involves the
chemistry of compounds of carbon and is connected to
living organisms that make up the two major sources of
organic material, petroleum and coal, from which
organic compounds are obtained.
Both these compounds are products of decayed plants
and animals and are prominently considered in the
organic theory of the formation of petroleum.
Organic chemicals is usually named on the basis of a
system developed by the International Union of Pure
and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC).
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 According to IUPAC, hydrocarbons are

classified into the following categories as
shown in the following slide, most of which
describe series (known as homologous series)
of compounds having a common basic
characteristic or structure, and differing only
in the number of structural carbon atoms (and
hence molecular weight).

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Aliphatics

Alkanes
(Paraffins)
CnH2n+2

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Alkenes
CnH2n

Aromatics
(arenes)
Alkynes
CnH2n-2

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Cycloaliphatics
(Naphthenes)
CnH2n

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Alkanes (paraffins)
This particular series of hydrocarbons has a general
formula, CnH2n+2, where n denotes the number of
carbon atoms.
The alkanes are named through the combination of a
prefix (signifying the number of carbon atoms) and a
suffix that ends with "-ane."
Compounds belonging to this series are sometimes
called saturated hydrocarbons because the carbon
atoms are attached to as many hydrogen atoms as
possible, that is, the carbon atoms are saturated with
hydrogen. However, they are commonly known as
paraffins in the petroleum industry.
Examples of well-known alkanes or paraffins are given in
the following Table.
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The structural formulas for methane (smallest

hydrocarbon found in reservoir fluids). ethane and
propane are shown in the following Figure.

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 However, as the carbon number increases, carbon atoms

may be connected in continuous chains or as branches
with more than two carbon atoms linked together. the
following Figure in the next slide shows this connection
for pentane having carbon number five.
Continuous chain hydrocarbons are known as normal
hydrocarbon and a prefix "normal" or simply "n" is
attached to the name.
The prefix "iso-" is used for substances with two methyl
groups (CH3) attached to carbon atoms at the end of an
otherwise straight chain.
The prefix "neo-" denotes three methyl groups attached
to carbon atoms at the end of a chain.
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 The number of possible structures increases with the

number of carbon atoms in the molecule. For example,
decane (carbon number 10) has 75 such configurations.
These configurations are called structural isomers or, simply,
isomers, meaning they have the same molecular formula,
C4H10 or C5H12, but different arrangements of atoms.
In spite of the molecular weight remains the same, certain
physical properties are different. For example, n-butane has
a boiling point of 31.1F, but iso-butane boils at 10.9F.
At normal pressure and temperature conditions, when
carbon numbers range from 1 to 4, the resulting
compounds are gases; while carbon numbers that range
from 5 to 17 are mainly liquids. Carbon numbers higher
than 17 have a solid appearance.
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Standard Condition

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Physical Properties of Alkanes

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Alkenes (olefins)
This family of hydrocarbons is also called olefins and is
commonly known by that name in the petroleum and
petrochemical industries.
The general formula for olefins is CnH2n,. Common
examples of alkenes or olefins include ethylene and
propylene.
The presence of olefins in naturally occurring
hydrocarbons is usually a rare occurrence. On the other
hand", olefins are actually produced in petrochemical
complexes based on the feedstock, usually composed
of light alkanes.

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Alkynes
The general formula for alkynes is CnH2n-2. Common
examples of alkynes include substances such as
acetylene.
Similar to alkenes, alkynes are also rarely found in
naturally occurring hydrocarbons and are usually
produced in petrochemical plants that use lighter
hydrocarbons as feedstock.

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Cycloaliphatics (naphthenes)
In many hydrocarbon compounds, carbon atoms are
arranged in rings instead of chains, as seen in the case
of normal alkanes. These types of compounds are
called cyclic compounds and include cycloalkanes and
cycloalkenes.
Cycloalkanes or cycloparaffins are commonly known in
the petroleum industry as naphthenes.
The general formula is given by CnH2n. Common
examples of naphthenes include cyclopentane and
cyclohexane and have structures as shown in the
following Figure.

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Aromatics
This class of hydrocarbons is also called arenes. the
name aromatics comes from the fact that many
compounds belonging to this class have very pleasant
odors. However, these compounds are generally very
toxic and some are carcinogenic.
Benzene, having the chemical formula C6H6, is one of
the most commonly known aromatic compounds,
characterized by the six carbon atoms arranged in a
hexagonal ring structure, known as the benzene ring.
The six hydrogen atoms are associated with each
carbon, as shown in the benzene ring structure in the
following Figure.
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Nonhydrocarbon in Reservoir Fluids

Reservoir gases and oils also contain certain
nonhydrocarbon components.
Commonly found
nonhydrocarbon components include nitrogen (N2),
carbon dioxide (CO2), and hydrogen sulfide (H2S).

Carbon dioxide
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hydrogen sulfide
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Nitrogen
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The Solid Components Of Petroleum

All activities in the oil and gas industry, upstream
(production),
midstream
(transportation),
and
downstream (refining), are frequently affected by the
solid components of petroleum.
The solid components of petroleum are sometimes
referred to as unique phases and include gas hydrates,
waxes and asphaltenes.

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Gas Hydrates
These are defined as solid, semistable compounds that
are basically light hydrocarbon molecules (e.g.,
methane or ethane) occupying the geometric lattices
of water molecules and having snow-like appearances.
For example, natural gas hydrates are usually formed
whenever natural gas, water, and appropriate
temperature and pressure conditions exist.

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Waxes
Waxes can be defined as solids deposited from crude
oils when cooled below a certain temperature. The
deposited solids are called waxes and are generally
composed of heavy paraffins (e.g. n-hexadecane and
higher).

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Asphaltenes
Asphaltenes is characterized as organic materials
consisting of aromatic and naphthenic ring
compounds containing nitrogen, sulfur, and
oxygen molecules.
The asphaltene fraction of a crude oil is defined
as the organic part of the oil that is not soluble in
normal alkane solvents such as pentane or
heptane.

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Classification Of Reservoir Gases And Oils

Compositional analysis of reservoir gases is readily
obtained by techniques such as gas chromatography
and low-temperature distillation.
For physical classification of reservoir gases, gas
gravity is frequently used as a characterization
parameter.
Gas gravity is defined as the ratio of gas density and
air density at the same pressure and temperature
conditions.

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Chemical Classification of Reservoir Oils

The chemical classification of reservoir oils is not as simple
as gases because the size range of molecules can be huge.
For instance, the smallest molecule is methane, CH4, with a
molecular weight of 16 (12 carbon atoms and 4 hydrogen
atoms), while the largest molecules can have molecular
weights as high as 10,000.
Therefore, instead of identifying each and every component
in reservoir oils, which is practically impossible anyway, the
average chemical analysis of oils includes paraffinsisoparaffins-aromatics-naphthenes-olefins (PIANO) or PONA
analysis, and in the latter case all paraffins are combined
while other groups remain as they are. However, considering
the rarity of olefins in reservoir oils and the lumping of all
the paraffins, chemical analysis is simplified or reduced to
only the determination of paraffins, naphthenes, and
aromatics, known as PNA analysis.
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Physical Classification of Crude Oils

reservoir oils are classified according to various
physical properties that include specific gravity, color,
sulfur content, odor, and viscosity. Among these
various physical properties, the most important is
specific gravity.
The specific gravity of a crude oil (or any liquid) is
defined as the ratio of the density of the oil and the
density of water at specified pressure and
temperature conditions.

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 The petroleum industry also uses another gravity

scale known as API (American Petroleum Institute)
gravity, defined as

where API is the API gravity and o the specific gravity

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