Relative Permeability of Petroleum Reservoirs: Mehdi Honarpour

RelativePermeability
of
PetroleumReservoirs
Authors
Mehdi Honarpour
AssociateProfessorof PetroleumEngineering
Departmentof PetroleumEngineering
Montana College of Mineral Scienceand Technology
Butte, Montana
Leonard Koederitz A. Herbert Harvey

Professorof PetroleumEngineering Chairman
Departmentof PetroleumEngineering Departmentof PetroleumEngineering
University of Missouri University of Missouri
Rolla. Missouri Rolla, Missouri
@frc')
CRC Press,Inc.
Boca Raton, Florida
PREFACE
In 1856 Henry P. Darcy determinedthat the rate of flow of water through a sand filter
could be describedby the equation
h , - h .
q- : K A L
where q representsthe rate at which water flows downward through a vertical sand pack
with cross-sectional areaA and length L; the terms h, and h, representhydrostaticheadsat
the inlet and outlet, respectively,of the sandfilter, and K is a constant.Darcy's experiments
were confined to the flow of water through sand packs which were 1007osaturatedwith
water.
Later investigatorsdeterminedthat Darcy's law could be modified to describethe flow
of fluids other than water, and that the proportionalityconstantK could be replacedby k/
p, where k is a property of the porous material (permeability)and p is a property of the
fluid (viscosity).With this modification,Darcy's law may be written in a more generalform
AS
k dz dPl
u ' : * Ll-P g o s - d s l
where
S Distancein direction of flow, which is taken as positive

v Volume of flux acrossa unit areaof the porousmedium in unit time along
flow path S
Z Vertical coordinate,which is taken as positivedownward
p Density of the fluid
g
D
Gravitationalacceleration
dP Pressuregradientalong S at the point to which v. refers
dS
The volumetric flux v. may be further defined as q/A, where q is the volumetric flow rate
and A is the averagecross-sectional areaperpendicularto the lines of flow.
It can be shown that the permeabilityterm which appearsin Darcy's law has units of
length squared.A porousmaterialhas a permeabilityof I D when a single-phasefluid with
''J.: ntJtCnali\ a viscosityof I cP completelysaturatesthe pore spaceof the medium and will flow through
, t --.:.,'nrhlc cl'lirfl
it under viscous flow at the rate of I cm3/sec/cm2 cross-sectionalarea under a pressure
Ir - :..F)n\lbilit\
gradientof 1 atm/cm. It is important to note the requirementthat the flowing fluid must
completelysaturatethe porousmedium. Sincethis conditionis seldommet in a hydrocarbon
l 5 .\l'lllcn c()n5enl reservoir,it is evident that further modificationof Darcy's law is neededif the law is to be
appliedto the flow of fluids in an oil or gas reservoir.
A more useful form of Darcy's law can be obtained if we assurnethat a rock which
r . - .
I
containsmore than one fluid has an effective permeabilityto each fluid phaseand that the
effectivepermeabilityto each fluid is a function of its percentagesaturation.The effective
permeabilityof a rock to a fluid with which it is 1007.osaturatedis equal to the absolute
permeabilityof the rock. Effective permeabilityto each fluid phase is consideredto be
independentof the other fluid phasesand the phasesare consideredto be immiscible.
If we define relativepermeabilityas the ratio of effectivepermeabilityto absoluteperme-
ability, Darcy's law may be restatedfor a system which containsthree fluid phasesas
tirllows:
Vo.:T(0.,*K-*)
Dr. lfcL
V*.:*(o-'13-t) lhc \ltntrna
.{r(arrnl hrr
Vo,:H(o-r#-k) r\rfi.Rr{le
tnLlt.rs
I
t>
nl rstn :
Note that k,,,'
where the subscriptso, g, and w representoil, gas' and water, respectively' rrrluhng drc
saturations
k.", and k,* arethe relativepermeabilitiesto the threefluid phasesat the respective h t-;xrlrr Ti
of the phaseswithin the rock'
a hydrocarbon
Darcy's law is the basis for almost all calculationsof fluid flow within lrrya I
use the law, it is necessary to determine the relative permeability of
reservoir. In order to \lrsr.n.R.i
made throughout
the reservoirrock to each of the fluid phases;this determinationmust be R.{1. [}r }ri
that will be encountered. The problems involved in measuring (-}rrrrrrr.n r I
the rangeof fluid saturations
permeability have been studied by many investigators. A summary
and predictingrelative rcrtr rrltcrj t
of the major resultsof this research is presented in the following chapters'
f- lldrr
.rl e Fb t)
qrtYln\ll Erjt
n (tlr.run
DcFtur r
THE AUTHORS
Dr. Mehdi "Matt" Honarpour is an associateprofessorof petroleumengineeringat

the MontanaCollege of Mineral Scienceand Technology,Butte, Montana. Dr. Honarpour
obtainedhis B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in petroleumengineeringfrom the Universityof Mis-
souri-Rolla.He has authoredmany publicationsin the areaof reservoirengineeringand core
analysis.Dr. Honarpourhas worked as reservoirengineer,researchengineer,consultant,
and teacherfor the past 15 years. He is a member of severalprofessionalorganizations,
ltr.' .. \r,tc thlt k..,. including the Societyof PetroleumEngineersof AIME, the honorarysocietyof Sigma Xi,
re.}.. : r'.. .sturations Pi Epsilon Tau and Phi Kappa Phi.
" ., hrJrttarbon
Iri:' Leonard F. Koederitz is a Professorof PetroleumEngineeringat the University of
of
tt: . - :.o.':-tlrcahilitl H erecei vedB .S .,M.S ., andP h.D .degrees
M i s s o u ri -R o l l a. fromtheU ni vers it yofM issour i-
' .'.ic throughout previouslyservedas Department
I h\ Rolla. Dr. Koederitz has worked for Atlantic-Richfield and
!\. . :.: tn lllt'a\uring Chairman at Rolla. He has authored or co-authored severaltechnical publicationsand two
-: '\ ruilflrof)'
[r--:: texts related to reservoir engineering.
Plc:.
A. Herbert Harvey receivedB.S. and M.S. degreesfrom Colorado School of Mines
and a Ph.D. degree from the University of Oklahoma. He has authoredor co-authored
numeroustechnicalpublicationson topicsrelatedto the productionof petroleum.Dr. Harvey
is Chairman of both the Missouri Oil and Gas Council and the PetroleumEngineering
Departmentat the University of Missouri-Rolla.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authorswish to acknowledgethe Societyof PetroleumEngineersand the American ctf,

PetroleumInstitutefor grantingpermissionto usetheir publications.Specialthanksare due rh
J. Josephof Flopetrol Johnstonand A. Manjnath of ReservoirInc. for their contributions t
and reviews throughoutthe writing of this book. n
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
n.j thc Anrerican
Chapter I
l i : : : . , n k .a r e d u e I
Measurement of Rock Relative Permeability .
rr: - 'ntributions I
I. Introduction.. .
il. Steady-StateMethods.. . 1
A. Penn-StateMethod I
B. Single-SampleDynamic Method 2
C. StationaryFluid Methods 4
D. HasslerMethod. 4
E. Hafford Method 5
F. DispersedFeed Method . 5
III. Unsteady-StateMethods 6
IV. Capillary PressureMethods 8
V. Centrifuge Methods 9
VI. Calculation from Field Data . 10
R e f e r e n c e.s. . . t2
Chapter 2
Two-PhaseRelative Permeability ...... 15
I. Introduction... .......15
II. Rapoportand Leas .. ' 15
III. Gates,Lietz,andFulcher... .....16
IV. F a t t ,D y k s t r a ,a n d B u r d i n e . ...... 16
V. W y l l i e, S prangl er,and Gardner. . . . . . ' . 19
VI. T i m m e rman,C orey,and Johnson . . . . . . 20
VII. Wahl, Torcaso, and Wyllie 27
VIII. Brooks and Corey . . . .27
XIIX. Wyllie, Gardner,and Torcaso. . . .... . .29
X. L a n d ,W y l l i e , R o s e ,P i r s o n ,a n d B o a t m a n . . . ...... 30
XI. Knopp, Honarpouret al., and Hirasaki . . . . . .37
References..... ........41
Chapter 3
Factors Affecting Two-Phase Relative Permeability .... 45
I. Introduction... .......45
il. Two-PhaseRelativePermeabilityCurves ....45
n. Effe c t sof S aturati on S tates . . . . . . 49
IV. Effectsof Rock Properties .... ... 50
V. D e fi n iti onand C ausesof W ettabi l i ty. . . . . . . . . 54
VI. DeterminationofWettability.... .......58
A. ContactAngle Method ... 58
B. ImbibitionMethod. .......60
C. B u r e a uo f M i n e sM e t h o d .......63
D. C a p i l l a r i m e t rM
i ce t h o d . . . ......63
E. FractionalSurfaceAreaMethod.. ....64
F. D y e A d s o r p t i o nM e t h o d ' ...... .64
G. D r o p T e s tM e t h o d . . .. ...64
H. M e t h o d so f B o b e ke t a l . ........64
I. MagneticRelaxationMethod ...64
J. ResidualSaturationMethods .. .65
K. P e r m e a b i l iM t ye t h o d. . . . ....... 65
L. Co n n a teW a te r-P e rm e a b i l iM tye th od ....... 66
M. Re l a ti v ePe rme a b i l i ty M e th o d.... .... 66
N. Re l a ti v eP e rm e a b i l i ty Su mma ti o nMethod ........61
O. Re l a ti v eP e rm e a b i l i ty R a ti oMe thod ........67
P. W a t e r f l o o dM e t h o d ....... 68
a. CapillaryPressureMethod .... . 68
R. Re s i s ti v i tyIn d e x M e th o d ... . ... 68 Tbc I
VII. FactorsInfluencing Wettability Evaluation .. . 68 hr crth
VIII. Wettability Influenceon MultiphaseFlow . . .72 r3th\ rrl
IX. E f f e c t so f S a t u r a t i oHni s t o r y . . . . ......'74 c{ehlr.

X. Effectsof OverburdenPressure.. ... ' .. 78 \,ilUt-3ll
K ) ( I . E f f ec t sof Po ro s i tya n d P e rm e a b i l i ty ... ......79 irlurltl
XII. Effectsof Temperature. . .. .82 thc crr
XIII. Effects of InterfacialTension and Density . . .82 Itrf ft\
X I V . E f f e c t so f V i s c o s i t y. . . .;.... . .. ' ' 83 thc Ha
XV. Effectsof Initial Wetting-Phase Saturation ... 89 ln tt

XVI. Effects of an Immobile Third Phase . '. 90 thc tc.
XVII. Effects of Other Factors . . .92 drrqlg
References..... ..-.....97 urcfrr|
fa nx
Chapter 4
Three-PhaseRelative Permeability ... f 03
I. Introduction... ......103
il. DrainageRelativePermeability... ..'.104 A.h
A. Leverettand Lewis ... ' . . 104 Tht
B. Corey, Rathjens,Henderson,and Wyllie .. 105 d'er
C. Reid. .. 107 a d '
D. Snell. .. l0g Frgun
E. Donaldsonand Dean .. . . I l0 nrun
F. Sarem .......113 alrr P
G. S a r a fa n d F a t t ..... I 15 Thc t
H. WyllieandGardner... .'ll5 r alCr
m. I m bibit io nR e l a ti v eP e rm e a b i l i ty ... ...117 Ftrst
A. Caudle,slobod,andBrownscombe .......117 .r hrs
B. N a a ra n dW y g a l . . . . . ....I 17 L-Tth
C. Land. .. 120 rltc\

D. SchneiderandOwens.... .....123 rlctcn
E. Spronsen .'..123 rnU\\
IV. ProbabilityModels . .123 ktt t
V. E x per im e n ta l C o n fi rm a ti o n .....126 rrcrg
U\ / I . Labor at o ry Ap p a ra tu s ... ..127 tlr .i
VII. PracticalConsiderationsfor LaboratoryTests .... ' 132 Th
VIII. ComparisonofModels ...'133 than
References""' """'134 TTE:N
a. flt
Appendix Itr lfi'
Symbols. ....... 137 rnarl

ln ci
r-all,
thYl.
6-i Chapter I
66
66 MEASUREMENT OF ROCK RELATIVE PERMEABILITY
6-
6-
6,\
I. INTRODUCTION
hs
h\
The relative peffneability of a rock to each fluid phasecan be measuredin a core sample
"unsteady-state"methods.In the steady-state
6\
-: by either "steady-state" or method, a fixed
--l
ratio of fluids is forced through the test sampleuntil saturationand pressureequilibria are
established.Numerous techniqueshave been successfullyemployed to obtain a uniform
saturation.The primary concern in designingthe experimentis to eliminate or reducethe
saturationgradientwhich is causedby capillary pressureeffectsat the outflow boundaryof
the core. Steady-state methodsare preferredto unsteady-state methodsby someinvestigators
for rocks of intermediatewettability,' althoughsomedifficulty hasbeenreportedin applying
the Hasslersteady-state method to this type of rock.2
ln the capillary pressuremethod,only the nonwettingphaseis injectedinto the core during
the test. This fluid displacesthe wetting phaseand the saturationsof both fluids change
throughout the test. Unsteady-statetechniquesare now employed for most laboratory meas-
urementsof relative permeability.3 Some of the more commonly used laboratory methods
for measuringrelative perrneability are describedbelow.
II. STEADY-STATEMETHODS
A. Penn-State Method
This steady-statemethod for measuringrelative perrneability was designedby Morse et
al.a and later modified by Osobaet aI.,5 Hendersonand Yuster,6Caudleet a1.,7and Geffen
et al.8 The version of the apparatuswhich was describedby Geffen et al., is illustrated by
Figure l. In order to reduce end effects due to capillary forces, the sample to be tested is
mounted between two rock sampleswhich are similar to the test sample. This arrangement
also promotes thorough mixing of the two fluid phasesbefore they enter the test sample.
The laboratory procedure is begun by saturatingthe sample with one fluid phase (such as
water) and adjustingthe flow rate of this phasethrough the sampleuntil a predetermined
pressuregradientis obtained.Injection of a secondphase(such as a gas) is then begun at
a low rate and flow of the first phaseis reducedslightly so that the pressuredifferential
acrossthe systemremainsconstant.After an equilibriumconditionis reached,the two flow
rates are recordedand the percentagesaturationof each phasewithin the test sample is
determinedby removing the test samplefrom the assernblyand weighing it. This procedure
introducesa possible sourceof experimentalerror, since a small amount of fluid may be
lost becauseof gas expansionand evaporation.One authorityrecommendsthat the core be
wgighedunder oil, eliminating the problem of obtainingthe sameamountof liquid film on
the surfaceof the core for each weighing.3
The estimationof water saturationby measuringelectric resistivityis a fasterprocedure
than weighing the core. However, the accuracyof saturationsobtained by a resistivity
measurementis questionable,sinceresistivitycan be influencedby fluid distributionas well
as fluid saturations.The four-electrodeassemblywhich is illustratedby Figure I was used
to investigatewater saturationdistributionand to determinewhen flow equilibriumhas been
attained.Other methodswhich have been used for in situ determinationof fluid saturation
in cores include measurementof electric capacitance,nuclearmagneticresonance,neutron
.le scattering,X-ray absorption,gamma-rayabsorption,volumetric balance,vacuum distilla-
tion, and microwavetechniques.
RelativePermeabilin of PetroleumReservoirs
El-ectrodes Inlet
Outl-et Differential Pressure Inlet

Taps
FIGURE l. Three-sectioncore assembly.8
After fluid saturationin the core has been determined,the Penn-Stateapparatusis reas-
sembled,a new equilibrium condition is establishedat a higher flow rate for the second
phase, and fluid saturationsare determinedas previously described.This procedureis re-
peated sequentially at higher saturationsof the second phase until the complete relative
permeability curve has been established.
The Penn-Statemethod can be used to measurerelative permeability at either increasing
or decreasingsaturationsof the wetting phaseand it can be applied to both liquid-liquid and
gas-liquid systems.The direction of saturationchangeused in the laboratoryshould cor- tL* tl
respondto field conditions. Good capillary contactbetweenthe test sampleand the adjacent
downstream core is essential for accurate measurementsand temperaturemust be held
constantduring the test. The time required for a test to reach an equilibrium condition may
be I day or more.3
rEC
B. Single-Sample Dynamic Method
This technique for steady-statemeasurementof relative permeability was developedby
Richardsonet al.,e Josendalet al.,ro and Loomis and Crowell.ttThe apparatusand exper-
imental procedure differ from those used with the Penn-Statetechnique primarily in the
handling of end effects. Rather than using a test samplemountedbetweentwo core samples I rr rrl
(as illustrated by Figure 1), the two fluid phasesare injectedsimultaneouslythrough a single
core. End effects are minimized by using relatively high flow rates, so the region of high
wetting-phasesaturationat the outlet faceof the core is small. The theorywhich was presented
by Richardson et al. for describing the saturationdistribution within the core may be de-
veloped as follows. From Darcy's law, the flow of two phasesthrough a horizontallinear kir
systemcan be describedby the equations F .
rfi
-d P* , : Q*, F*,dL
(l) cFr
k*, A g : f
rdt
and
tqr
ll er
Q.i ^Fr" dL
- d,nP n : = Q) G
f,F:
where the subscriptswt and n denotethe wetting and nonwettingphases,respectively.From 5X
the definition of capillary pressure,P", it follows that
1.0
\o
\.o
> {-i- ^ -o-

/
o
a Theoretical saturation gradient
fnf low face 1>
0
5 10 15 20 25
lel -. . ICsr-
J ii- *i'trDd Distance from Outflow Face, cffi

CE'.i-:; ir [C-
plcir :Jtrtr\r' FIGURE 2. Comparison of saturationgradientsat low flow rate.e
3T .:'.:t.t.tIlS dP.:dP.-dP*, (3)

id .-;:J end
I ri,'-..J r-trf- These three equationsmay be combined to obtain
'
J li. ; .,.: .ric rll
qP.
nr-' \' hcld : /Q*, Fr,*,_ 9"U=\ / o (4)
tr\. : - mJ\ dL \ k* , kn //
where dP"/dL is the capillary pressuregradient within the core. Since
lc.l. ,i*-J b) dP. : dP. ds*, (s)

! -::- C\F'r-f- dL dS*, dL
D..r:. ' rn thC
Cr':;..:::lplCr
it is evident that
BJ.-,,.:l'l!ls'
I
f3h
" : nrsh
dS*,
: A |\ /Q*, Fr*, - Q"p.\ (6)
Jil. l-: s'ntcrj dL k* L" /op.rus*
! n-:. re' Jc-
iz.-'. a(rr Richardson et al. concluded from experimentalevidence that the nonwetting phase sat-
uration at the dischargeend of the core was at the equilibrium value, (i.e., the saturation
at which the phase becomes mobile). With this boundary condition, Equation 6 can be
, l t integrated graphically to yield the distribution of wetting phase saturationthroughout the
core. If the flow rate is sufficiently high, the calculation indicates that this saturation is
virtually constant from the inlet face to a region a few centimetersfrom the outlet. Within
this region the wetting phasesaturationincreasesto the equilibriumvalue at the outlet face.
Both calculations and experimental evidence show that the region of high wetting-phase
a
r _ l
saturationat the discharge end of the core is larger at low flow rates than at high rates.
Figure 2 illustrates the saturationdistribution for a low flow rate and Figure 3 shows the
distribution at a higher rate.
Ftt', c.r From
Relative Permeability of Petroleum Reservoirs
1.0
\ 't o
I -o-o- -o--o-- :- -- : - J
t
o Theoretical saturation gradient
a
I n fr o wr a c " a>l
o 5 10 15 20 25
Distance from Outflow Face, ctrl
FIGURE 3. Comparison of saturationgradients at high flow rate.e
Although the flow rate must be high enoughto control capillary pressureeffects at
the
dischargeend of the core, excessiveratesmust be avoided. Problemswhich can occur
at
very high rates include nonlaminarflow.
ns:ii
C. Stationary Fluid Methods tu t'br
Leas et al.12describeda techniquefor measuringpermeabilityto gaswith the liquid phase cr';rd crl
held stationarywithin the core by capillary forces. Very low gur flo* ratesmust be used, n .trlf!
so the liquid is not displacedduring the test. This techniquewas modified slightly by Osoba fl:e rc
et al.,s who held the liquid phasestationarywithin the core by meansof barrierswhich were ;rrbt
permeableto gas but not to the liquid. Rapoportand Leasr3employeda similar technique lrl tw.l.
using semipermeablebarrierswhich held the gas phasestationarywhile allowing the liquid Ilr l{rr
phaseto flow. Corey et al.ra extendedthe stationaryfluid methodto a three-phar.ryri.. r
4rS
by using barrierswhich were permeableto water but impermeableto oil and gas. Osobaet
al. observed that relative permeability to gas determinedby the stationary liquid method LT
was in good agreementwith values measuredby other techniquesfor some of the cases TLr r
which were examined. However, they found that relative permeability to gas determinedby rqSl
the stationary liquid technique was generally lower than by other methodsin the region of r&s rl
equilibrium gas saturation. This situation resulted in an equilibrium gas saturation value *&r
which was higher than obtained by the other methods used (Penn-Siate,Single-Sample
Dynamic, and Hassler). Saraf and McCaffery consider the stationaryfluid methods to be
bFr
hfrl
unrealistic, since all mobile fluids are not permitted to flow simultaneouslyduring the test.2 G F r
df
D. Hassler Method r f E
This is a steady-statemethod for relative permeability measurementwhich was described Hild
by Hasslerrsin 1944. The technique was later studied and modified by Gates and Lietz,16 rbd
Brownscombeet ?1.," Osoba et al.,s and Josendalet al.ro The laboratory apparatusis
illustrated by Figure 4. Semipermeablemembranesare installed at each end of the Hassler
t-q
test assembly.Thesemembraneskeep the two fluid phasesseparatedat the inlet and outlet
lbr
of the core, but allow both phasesto flow simultaneouslythrough the core. The pressure
H
FLOWMETER
C:'- .'. -:l lhc
l.-. ..--l.rl FIGURE 4. Two-phase relative permeability apparatus.r5
in each fluid phaseis measuredseparatelythrough a semipermeable barrier. By adjusting

the flow rate of the nonwettingphase,the pressuregradientsin the two phasescan be made
I . - la_r\' equal, equalizingthe capillary pressuresat the inlet and outlet of the core. This procedure
B-. --i,'.j. is designedto provide a uniform saturationthroughoutthe length of the core, even at low
li . -, ' \v\3 flow rates, and thus eliminate the capillary end effect. The techniqueworks well under
Jl *' .- ACrC conditionswhere the porousmedium is stronglywet by one of the fluids, but somedifficulty
l&' - . -:.rquc has been reported in using the procedureunder conditionsof intermediatewettability.2'r8
"
'h- - :q;rJ The Hasslermethod is not widely used at this time, since the data can be obtainedmore
ft -.. ....ii'n'l rapidly with other laboratorytechniques.
. .h: Cl
3a.
-,crlxrJ E. Hafford Method
lqL. :
I o: :-i .jr\e\ This steady-statetechnique was describedby Richardsonet al.e In this method the non-
brc:-- :cri br wetting phase is injected directly into the sample and the wetting phaseis injected through
drc ';;.,\i trf a disc which is impermeableto the nonwetting phase.The central portion of the semiperme-
h: : r alue able disc is isolated from the remainder of the disc by a small metal sleeve, as illustrated
br . rimple by Figure 5. The central portion of the disc is used to measurethe pressurein the wetting
tst:n i. lrr h fluid at the inlet of the sample. The nonwetting fluid is injected directly into the sample and
lin5 :-.c tcrt : its pressureis measuredthrough a standardpressuretap machined into the Lucite@sur-
rounding the sample. The pressuredifference betweenthe wetting and the nonwetting fluid
is a measureof the capillary pressurein the sample at the inflow end. The design of the
Ia- .1c...'nhed Hafford apparatusfacilitates investigationof boundary effects at the influx end of the core.
^
I an; l-rc'tz. The outflow boundary effect is minimized by using a high flow rate.
aF:'-::.1tu\ls
J ti^..tl{e..ler F. Dispersed Feed Method
lct -,-: 'xrtlc't This is a steady-statemethod for measuringrelative permeability which was designedby
Th. :-i;..urc' Richardsonet al.e The techniqueis similar to the Hafford and single-sampledynamic meth-
RelativePermeabilin of PetroleumReservoirs
GAS
I
G A S P R E S S U R EG A U G E
rtl
.r[I
t
'.lt
PRESSURE
PRESSURE
GAS METER
Sn
OIL BURETTE I
FIGURE 5.
. t
Hafford relative permeability apparatus.e
!|t
ods. In the dispersedfeed method, the wetting fluid enters the test sample by first passing
through a dispersingsection, which is made of a porous material similar to the test sample.
This material does not contain a device for measuringthe input pressureof the wetting phase
as does the Hafford apparatus.The dispersingsectiondistributesthe wetting fluid so that it
entersthe test samplemore or less uniformly over the inlet face. The nonwettingphaseis
introduced into radial grooves which are machined into the outlet face of the dispersing
section,at thejunction betweenthe dispersingmaterialand the testsample.Pressuregradients
used for the tests are high enough so the boundary effect at the outlet face of the core is
not significant.
III. UNSiuoo"-STATEMETHoDS
Unsteady-staterelative permeability measurementscan be made more rapidly than steady-
state measurements,but the mathematicalanalysisof the unsteady-stateprocedureis more
difficult. The theory developed by Buckley and Leverettre and extended by Welge2ois
generally used for the measurementof relative permeabilityunder unsteady-stateconditions.
The mathematicalbasis for interpretationof the test data may be summarizedas follows:
Leverett2rcombined Darcy's law with a definition of capillary pressurein differential form
to obtain
'*;h(*-eApsino)
f*z (71
r + In.&
k* Fo
where f*, is the fraction water in the outlet stream;q, is the superficialvelocity of total fluid
leaving the core; 0 is the angle between direction x and horizontal; and Ap is the density
7
difference between displacing and displaced fluids. For the case of horizontal flow and
negligible capillary pressure,Welge2oshowed that Equation 7 implies
llE 3 ^ - G S*.u, - S*z : f.r, Q* ( 8)
wherethe subscript2 denotesthe outlet end of the core, S*.ouis the averagewater saturation;
and Q* is the cumulativewater injected,measuredin pore volumes.SinceQ* and S*.,ucan
be measuredexperimentally,f", (fraction oil in the outlet stream)can be determinedfrom
the slope of a plot of Q* as a function of S*,ou.By definition
l,z:q,,/(q,,*q*) (e)
By combining this equationwith Darcy's law, it can be shown that
I
f,,r: ' tlOt
I1.,/K..,
t *
tr/.,*
Since p" and pw are known, the relative permeability ratio k.o/k.* can be determinedfrom
Equation 10. A similar expressioncan be derived for the caseof gas displacingoil.
The work of Welge was extendedby Johnsonet a1.22 to obtain a technique (sometimes
calledthe JBN method) for calculatingindividual phaserelativepermeabilitiesfrom unsteady-
state test data. The equationswhich were derived are
lf.'.' ::..rfiS
I tc. -:-::iic
fc:'
bt*
-
- llrr<'
-,-:l :l
'' j\'
k.. :
.(#)
/,(a
f,,,
(Il)
lrr- :\
and
le .: .:t":.to!
Er -::,i.cfilr
J :-- -,:c r\ k.o: ltoo,,, (12)
t.z ttr.
where I,, the ?elative injectivity, is defined as
injectivity
I t--- -:.'iJr - I,:
- :a\re initial injectivity (l 3 )
il.1::
f \\ -"ac,' r\ (q*,/Ap)
- i:::()n\
I . (q*,/Ap) at start of injection
'
| .. . l t r r Ar
br:: :. ltrfln A graphical technique for solving Equations 1l and 12 is illustrated in Reference L3..
Relationships describing relative permeabilities in a gas-oil system may be obtained by
replacingthe subscript"w" with "g" in EquationslI,12, and 13.
In designingexperimentsto determinerelative permeabilityby the unsteady-statemethod,
it is necessarvthat:
r l
l. The pressuregradientbe large enoughto minimize capillary pressureeffects.

2. The pressuredifferential across the core be sufficiently small compared with total
tOt : ::l ilurd operatingpressureso that compressibilityeffects are insignificant.
b ::.c Jcnsrtr 3. The core be homogeneous.
4. The driving force and fluid propertiesbe held constantduring the test.2
Relative Permeabilin of Petroleum Reservoirs
Laboratory equipment is available for making the unsteady-statemeasurementsunder sim- tmcl

ulated reservoirconditions.2a #r},
In addition to the JBN method, several alternative techniquesfor determining relative r;ra;
permeabilityfrom unsteady-state test data have been proposed.Saraf and McCaffery2de- t &-.rsri
veloped a procedurefor obtainingrelative permeabilitycurves from two parametersdeter- kr6
mined by least squaresfit of oil recovery and pressuredata. The technique is believed to rlrn I
be superior to the JBN method for heterogeneouscarbonatecores. Jones and Roszelle25
developed a graphical technique for evaluation of individual phase relative permeabilities
from displacementexperimentaldata which are linearly scalable.Chavent et al. described
a method for determining two-phaserelative permeability and capillary pressurefrom two
sets of displacementexperiments,one set conductedat a high flow rate and the other at a
rate representativeof reservoir conditions. The theory of Welge was extendedby Sarem to
describerelative permeabilitiesin a systemcontainingthree fluid phases.Sarememployed
a simplifying assumptionthat the relative permeabilityto each phasedependsonly on its
own saturation,and the validity of this assumption(particularlywith respectto the oil phase)
has beenquestioned.2
Unsteady-staterelative permeability measurementsare frequently used to determine the
ratios k*/ko, ks/k", and kr/k*. The ratio k*/k" is usedto predict the performanceof reservoirs
which are produced by waterflood or natural water drive; kr/k" is employed to estimatethe fr*
production which will be obtained from recovery processeswhere oil is displacedby gas, d * b
such as gas injection or solution gas drive. An important use of the ratio k*/k* is in the lr
prediction of performanceof natural gas storagewells, where gas is injectedinto an aquifier. A't|
The ratios k*/ko, kg/ko,and kr/k* are usually measuredin a systemwhich containsonly the iltr
two fluids for which the relative permeability ratio is to be determined. It is believed that
the connatewater in the reservoirmay have an influenceon kg/k.,,expeciallyin sandstones
which contain hydratableclay minerals and in low permeabilityrock. For these types of
reservoirsit may be advisableto measurek*/k.,in cores which contain an immobile water
saturation.2a
IV. CAPILLARYPRESSURE
METHODS
The techniqueswhich are usedfor calculatingrelative permeabilityfrom capillary pressure

data were developedfor drainagesituations,where a nonwettingphase(gas) displacesa
wetting phase(oil or water). Thereforeuse of the techniquesis generallylimited to gas-oil
or gas-watersystems,where the reservoiris producedby a drainageprocess.Although it
is possibleto calculaterelativepermeabilitiesin a water-oil systemfrom capillary pressure
data, accuracyof this techniqueis uncertain;the displacementof oil by water in a water-
wet rock is an imbibition processrather than a drainageprocess.
Although capillary pressuretechniquesarenot usuallythe preferredmethodsfor generating h
relative permeability data, the methodsare useful for obtaining gas-oil or gas-waterrelative h
permeabilitieswhen rock samplesare too small for flow testsbut large enough for mercury
injection. The techniquesare also useful in rock which has such low permeability that flow
testsare impractical and for instanceswhere capillary pressuredata have been measuredbut
a sampleof the rock is not availablefor measuringrelative permeability. Another use which
has been suggestedfor the capillary pressuretechniquesis in estimating kr/k" ratios for
retrogradegas condensatereservoirs, where oil saturationincreasesas pressuredecreases,
with an initial oil saturationwhich may be as low as zero. The capillary pressuremethods
are recommendedfor this situation becausethe conventionalunsteady-statetest is not de-
signed for very low oil saturations.
Data obtainedby mercury injection are customarilyused when relative permeabilityis
estimatedby the capillary pressuretechnique.The core is evacuatedand mercury(which is
9
B uLJr'l rllTl- the nonwettingphase)is injectedin measuredincrementsat increasingpressures.Approx-

imately 20 datapoints are obtainedin a typical laboratorytestdesignedto yield the complete
Dlnj:i..rllrc' capillarypressurecurve, which is requiredfor calculatingrelativepermeabilityby the meth-
-'.
f -:l l- Jc- ods describedbelow.
-.
flc" - .:ilCr- Severalinvestigatorshave developedequationsfor estimatingrelative permeabilityfrom
J i*-..:cicJ to capillary pressuredata. Purcell2epresentedthe equations
d R .zcllc':'
fs*i
3fi:.;:îlllts'r dS/pi
rl --.-:rhcd
l,
k.*, : (l4)
fE
" 'l'.
l\Atr fl
"'-': r[ r dS/Pi
lr t
f'. :.::;::l ltr
and
!n " ':' ",cJ
- '
J r ::\
h' .'-.:.i'' I' ds/p!
JSo i
k.n*,: (l 5 )
fl
lrc'-' c ihc
- dS/pi
Ol '- -J--.,'tr\
J,
f6: '" -r. tilc where the subscriptswt and nwt denotethe wetting and nonwettingphases,respectively,
-..
Xc": !1.. and n has a value of 2.0. Fatt and Dykstra3odevelopedsimilar equationswith n equal to
A. : thc 3.0.
Da- -:* - iilc't A slightly different result is obtainedby combiningthe equationsdevelopedby Burdine3l
;tr.. :..r thc with the work of Purcell.2eThe resultsare
br -,--llr.rl
l. ...,:.it.
-'r-\,r'
r (l6)
D'- . *- : l J l
b r . : ': ; ..u rc (l7)

; ., .:--'\ J
)
bJ' --:.-rrll
.1 " '- rr
where S, is the total liquid saturation.
b r - , '- i -,rc
f i- .. ^ :iS[- V. CENTRIFUGEMETHODS
-
!l :; J:rilng Centrifuge techniquesfor measuringrelative permeability involve monitoring liquids pro-
illl'-;.-rllrc' duced from rock sampleswhich were initially saturateduniformly with one or two phases.
" i':.un
lft": Liquids are collectedin transparenttubesconnectedto the rock sampleholdersand production
lq :-:l !ltr$ is monitored throughout the test. Mathematicaltechniquesfor deriving relative permeability
ts.:. -:'.'J hut data from these measurementsare describedin References26, 27, and 28.
tf -r-' u hrch Although the centrifugemethodshave not beenwidely used,they do offer someadvantages
t t:ltrr: lt)r over alternativetechniques.The centrifuge methodsare substantiallyfaster than the steady-
E .le. :t'a:s. statetechniquesand they apparentlyare not subjectto the viscousfingering problems which
Drc ::.cthtrJr sometimesinterfere with the unsteady-statemeasurements.On the other hand, the centrifuge
!l :. :,'t de- methods are subject to capillary end effect problems and they do not provide a means for
determining relative permeability to the invading phase.
I t r K ' - : ^ . . 1 1r\s O'Mera and Lease28describean automatedcentrifuge which employs a photodiodearray
''i lr;h is
;:\ in conjunction with a microcomputerto image and identify liquids producedduring the test.
t0 Relative Permeabiliy of Petroleum Reservoirs
CAMER
CENTRIFUGE
COMPUTER
SrmrLrlr
o o
z U'
IJJ
tr
LIQUID PRODUCTION LIJ o
o o
o
uJ J
LIJ
: rtts:rt r.
o-
a) \&trt
or fra g,
;rrrrrrhrr
rrrr-l t.-r
CONTROLLER
TROBE
SPEEDDISK Thll. tu
SPEED SET POINT
FIGURE 6. Automated centrifuge system.28 Thc n

:Rr!tn
Stroboscopiclights are located below the rotating tubes and movement of fluid interfaces lr*rj nr
is monitored by the transmitted light. Fluid collection tubes are square in cross section,
since a cylindrical tube would act as a lens and concentratethe light in a narrow band along
the major axis of the tube. A schematicdiagram of the apparatusis shown by Figure 6.
VI. CALCULATION FROM FIELD DATA .E! E

h F'fr'
It is possibleto calculaterelative permeability ratios directly from field data.23Inmaking if rttl t
the computation it is necessaryto recognize that part of the gas which is produced at the :u-bil
surface was dissolved within the liquid phasein the reservoir. Thus; tr r*l
(producedgas) : (free gas) * (solutiongas) (18)
If we consider the flow of free gas in the reservoir, Darcy's law for a radial system may
be written trt
I tru:
kh P.- P -w
:3rr
9g.fr""
: ?.09-E-e (l9) FFr
FrB, ln (r./r*)
lr}-rr
f$lrI1
hor I
Fcr
- lst'
ll
FIGURE 7. Calculation of gas-oil relative permeability values from production data.
Similarly, the rate of oil flow in the same system is
(20)
where r* is the well radius and r" is the radius of the external boundary of the area drained
by the well. B" and B, are the oil and gas formation volume factors, respectively.The ratio
of free gas to oil is obtained by dividing Equation 19 by Equation 20. lt we expressRo,
cumulative gas/oil ratio and R,, solution gasioil ratio, in terms of standardcubic foot per
stock tank barrel, Equation l8 implies
R o : s . 6 t s l ube* ' * * . (2t)

Ko ltrs
Thus, the relative permeability ratio is given by
k" _ ( R o- R . ) & - ! !
(22)
ko 5.615 B. F.
The oil saturationwhich correspondsto this relative permeabilityratio may be determined

from a material balance. If we assumethere is no water influx, no water production, no
l|i
'':J:1Jac\ fluid injection, and no gas cap, the materialbalanceequationmay be written
!n-.. \e\ll()n.
I ^-:lJ rltr0S S.: (t- too,) s*) (23)
I F ..,:l 6
*,t-
where minor effects such as changein reservoirpore volume have been assumednegligible.
In Equation 23 the symbol N denotesinitial stock tank barrelsof oil in place; No is number
l: 1' :::rltng of stock tank barrels of oil produced;and B", is the ratio of the oil volume at initial reservoir
Dd--.- :l the conditions to oil volume at standardconditions.
If total liquid saturationin the reservoir is expressedas
l\r s,:s*+(r-s*)(\}) (*) (24)
| :', .t::t tx?)

then the relative permeability curve may be obtainedby plotting kr/k" from Equation 22 as
a function of S,- from Equation 24. Figure 7 illustrates a convenientformat for tabulating
the data. The curve is preparedby plotting column 9 as a flnction of column 6 on semilog
rl9t paper, with k/k" on the logarithmicscale.The techniqueis useful even if only a few high-
liquid-saturation data points can be plotted. These kr/k" values can be used to verify the
accuracyof relative permeability predicted by empirical or laboratory techniques.
Poor agreementbetween relative permeability determined from production data and from
laboratory experiments is not uncommon. The causesof these discrepanciesmay include
the following:
t2 Relative Permeability of Petroleum Reservoirs
l. The core on which relative permeability is measuredmay not be representativeof the tl Johr
reservoir in regard to such factors as fluid distributions, secondaryporosity, etc. plar'cn
l_1 Crid
2. The techniquecustomarily used to compute relative permeability from field data does
Clrfi..
not allow for the pressureand saturationgradientswhich are presentin the reservoir, l l SFr.-t
nor does it allow for the fact that wells may be producing from several strata which :.i Jcrl
are at various stagesof depletion. .lr.plr
3. The usual techniquefor calculating relative permeability from field data assumesthat lo Slo5.i
rc.hfu,
Ro at any pressureis constant throughout the oil zone. This assumptioncan lead to
UrS
computational errors if gravitational effects within the reservoir are significant. SPL T
l r O'llG
When relative permeability to water is computed from field data, a common source of acotn:
elror is the production of water from some source other than the hydrocarbon reservoir. Frerr,
These possible sourcesof extraneouswater include casing leaks, fracturesthat extend from -\ h
tlF*:
the hydrocarbon zone into an aquifer, etc. I r Frt- |
Bra
-l_
lv
REFERENCES
l. Gorinik, B. and Roebuck, J. F., Formation Evaluation through Extensive Use of Core Analysis, Core
L a b o r a t o r i e sI,n c . , D a l l a s ,T e x . , 1 9 7 9 .
2. Saraf, D. N. and McCaffery, F. G., Two- and Three-Phase RelativePermeabilities: a Review, Petroleum
Recovery InstituteReport #81-8, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, 1982.
3. Mungan, N., PetroleumConsultantsLtd., personalcommunication,1982.
4. Morse, R. A., Terwilliger, P. L., and Yuster, S. T., Relative permeabilitymeasurementson small
s a m p l e s ,O i l G a s J . , 4 6 , 1 0 9 , 1 9 4 7 .
5. Osoba, J. S., Richardson, J. G., Kerver, J. K., Hafford, J. A., and Blair, P. M., Laboratoryrelative
permeabilitymeasurements, Trans. AIME, 192, 47, 1951.
6 . H e n d e r s o n ,J . H . a n d Y u s t e r , S . T . , R e l a t i v ep e r m e a b i l i t ys t u d y , W o r l dO i l , 3 , 1 3 9 , 1 9 4 8 .
7. Caudle, B. H., Slobod, R. L., and Brownscombe, E. R. W., Further developmentsin the laboratory
determinationof relative permeability,Trans. AIME, 192, 145, 1951.
8. Geffen, T. M., Owens, W. W., Parrish, D. R., and Morse, R. A., Experimentalinvestigationof factors
affecting laboratory relative permeability Teasurements,Trans. AIME, 192, 99, 1951.
9. Richardson, J. G., Kerver, J. K., Hafford, J. A., and Osoba, J. S., Laboratorydeterminationof relative
permeability,Trans. AIME, 195, 187, 1952.
10. Josendal, V. A., Sandiford, B. B., and Wilson, J. W., Improved multiphaseflow studiesemploying
radioactive tracers, Trans. AIME, 195, 65, 1952.
I l. Loomis, A. G. and Crowell, D. C., RelativePermeabilityStudies:Gas-Oil and Water-Oil Systems,U.S.
Bureau of Mines Bulletin BarHeuillr, Okla., 1962,599.
12. Leas, W. J., Jenks, L. H., and Russell, Charles D., Relativepermeabilityto gas, Trans. AIME, 189,
65,r 9s 0.
13. Rapoport, L. A. and Leas, W. J., Relative permeabilityto liquid in liquid-gassystems,Trans. AIME,
1 9 2 ,9 3 , l 9 5 l .
14. Corey, A. T., Rathjens, C. H., Henderson, J. H., and Wyllie, M. R. J., Three-phaserelativeperme-
a b i l i t y , J . P e t . T e c h n o l . ,N o v . , 6 3 , 1 9 5 6 .
1 5 . H a s s l e r , G . L . , U . S . P a t e n t2 , 3 4 5 , 9 3 5 , 1 9 4 4 .
16. Gates, J. I. and Leitz, W. T., Relative permeabilitiesof California coresby the capillary-pressuremethod,
Drilling and Production Practices, American Petroleum Institute, Washington, D.C. 1950, 285.
17. Brownscombe, E. R., Slobod, R. L., and Caudle, B. H., Laboratory determination of relative perrne-
a b i l i t y ,O i l G a s J . , 4 8 , 9 8 , 1 9 5 0 .
18. Rose, W., Some problemsin applying the Hasslerrelativepermeabilitymethod,J. Pet. Technol.,8, I l6l,
1980.
19. Buckley, S. E. and Leverett, M. C., Mechanismof fluid displacementin sands,Trans. AIME, 146,107,
1942.
20. Welge'H.J.rAsimplifiedmethodforcomputingrecoverybygasorwaterdrive,Trans.A|ME , 5,91,
19
1952.
21. Leverett, M. C., Capillary behaviorin poroussolids, Trans. AIME, 142, 152, 1941.
13
nl.rl:r c ()i thg 22. Johnson, E. F., Bossler, D. P., and Naumann, V. O., Calculationof relative permeabilityfrom dis-
placementexperiments,Trans. AIME, 216,310, 1959.
brt\ . ila
23. Crichlow, H. B., Ed., Modern ReservoirEngineering- A SimulationApproaclr, Prentice-Hall,Englewood
bli ;.'l.r Jtres
Cliffs, 1977, chap. 7.
dlc' :l.cn .tir. 24. SpecialCore Analysis, Core Laboratories,Inc., Dallas, 1976.
I .i:-:l-: lr [1gI 25. Jones, S. C. and Roszelle, W. O., Graphical techniquesfor determining relative permeability from
displacementexperiments,J. Pet. Technol., 5, 807, 1978.
26. Slobod, R. L., Chambers, A., and Prehn, W. L., Use of centrifugefor determiningconnate water,
tE..-::tC. thal
residualoil, and capillary pressurecurvesof small core samples,Trans. AIME, 192, 127, 1952.
D .-:i' .c.rJ to
27 . Yan Spronsen, E., Three-phaserelative permeabilitymeasurements using the CentrifugeMethod, Paper
lll.. -: l SPE/DOE 10688presentedat the Third Joint Symposium,Tulsa, Okla., 1982.
28. O'Mera, D. J., Jr. and Lease, W. O., Multiphaserelativepermeabilitymeasurements using an automated
I|r. . -:.c tli centrifuge,PaperSPE 12128presentedat the SPE 58th Annual TechnicalConferenceand Exhibition, San
:-'-<'I\t)lf. Francisco.1983.
Fn
29. Purcell, W. R., Capillarypressures - their measurement usingmercuryand the calculationof permeability
I c\:r-.J lrr)m
therefrom, Trans. AIME, 186, 39. 1949.
30. Fatt, I. and Dyksta, H.,,Relative permeabilitystudies,Trans. AIME, 192,41, 1951.
31. Burdine, N. T., RelativePermeabilityCalculationsfrom Pore Size DistributionData, Trans. AIME, lg8,
7t,1953.
r l
lE-
F.
lr-
X'r
| :',
I.
Er
ls
It
! lt-
JI
F'-'. ";:h,rJ.
[:.'
It : .. j'rTnC-
rf- . . l f .l .
tv: :^ l()7.
Nt!: -i.91.
l5
Chapter 2
TWO-PHASE RELATIVE PERMEABILITY
I. INTRODUCTION
Direct experimentalmeasurementto determinerelative permeabilityof porous rock has

long been recordedin petroleumrelatedliterature.However, empirical methodsfor deter-
mining relative permeabilityare becomingmore widely used, particularlywith the advent
of digital reservoirsimulators.The generalshapeof the relative permeabilitycurves may
- S*)"'; where A,
be approximatedby the following equations:k.* : A(S*)'; k.., : B(l
B. n. and m are constants.
Most relative permeability mathematicalmodels may be classifiedunder one of four
categories:
Capillary models - Are basedon the assumptionthat a porous medium consistsof a
bundleof capillarytubesof variousdiameterswith a fluid path lengthlongerthan the sample.
Capillary models ignore the interconnectednatureof porous media and frequentlydo not
provide realisticresults.
Statistical models - Are also basedon the modeling of porous media by a bundle of
capillary tubes with various diametersdistributedrandomly. The modelsmay be described
as being divided into a large number of thin slicesby planesperpendicularto the axes of
the tubes. The slices are imagined to be rearrangedand reassembledrandomly. Again,
statisticalmodels have the same deficiencyof not being able to model the interconnected
natureof porous media.
Empirical models - Are basedon proposedempirical relationshipsdescribingexperi-
mentallydeterminedrelativepermeabilitiesand in general,haveprovi{ed the most successful
approximations.
Netwoik models - Are frequentlybasedon the modelingof fluid flow in porousmedia
using a network of electric resistorsas an analogcomputer.Network models are probably
the best tools for understandingfluid flow in porousmedia'r'aa
The hydrodynamiclaws generallybear little use in the solutionof problemsconcerning
single-phasefluid flow through porous media, let alone multiphasefluid flow, due to the
complexity of the porous system. One of the early attemptsto relate severallaboratory-
measuredparametersto rock permeabilitywas the Kozeny-Carmenequation.2This equation
expressesthe permeabilityof a porousmaterialas a function of the productof the effective
path lengthof the flowing fluid and the meanhydraulicradiusof the channelsthroughwhich
the fluid flows.
Purcell3formulated an equation for the permeability of a porous system in terms of the
porosity and capillary pressuredesaturationcurve of that systemby simply consideringthe
porousmedium as a bundle of capillary tubesof varying sizes.
Severalauthorsa-r6 adaptedthe relationsdevelopedby Kozeny-Carmenand Purcellto the
computationof relativepermeability.They all proposedmodelson the basisof the assumption
that a porous medium consistsof a bundle of capillariesin order to apply Darcy's and
Poiseuille'sequationsin their derivations.They used the tortuosityconceptor texture pa-
rametersto take into accountthe tortuouspath of the flow channelsas opposedto the concept
of capillary tubes. They tried to determinetortuosityempirically in order to obtain a close
approximation of experimentaldata.
II. RAPOPORTAND LEAS
Rapoportand Leasepresentedtwo equationsfor relativepermeabilityto the wettingphase.

16 RelativePermeabilin of PetroleumReservoirs
Theseequationswere basedon surfaceenergyrelationshipsand the Kozeny-Carmenequa-

tion. The equationswere presentedas defining limits for wetting-phase
relativepermeability.
The maximum and minimum wetting-phaserelativepermeabilitypresentedby Rapoport
and Leas are
k.*,(max) : (l)
P. dS
fs* ,['*'
Jr*,t'ot
(tj)(T#)'
and
P. dS
.['*'
: (ti
k,*,(min) - j; )' fs- fS*,
(2)
u hcre r
I P . d s +| R.as iun -tr.r
J r ' J r
Tlr c
whereS- representsthe minimum irreduciblesaturationof the wetting phasefrom a drainage t\
capillary pressurecurve, expressedas a fraction;S*, representsthe saturationof the wetting
phasefor which the wetting-phaserelativepermeabilityis evaluated,expressedas a fraction;
P. representsthe drainagecapillary pressureexpressedin psi and S representsthe porosity
expressedas a fraction.
III. GATES. LIETZ. AND FULCHER

Fan
Gatesand Lietzsdevelopedthe following expressionbasedon Purcell'smodel for wetting-
E^t,rat.
phaserelative permeability:
t.
K.*r
_
- ru
I$
(3)
Ttrr rt
Fulcher et al.,ashave investigatedthe influenceof capillary number (ratio of viscousto
rflfl
capillary forces)on two-phaseoil-water relativepermeabilitycurves.
Thc 1
ilrrrrd
IV. FATT, DYKSTRA,AND BURDINE &nJ
Dillrd
Fatt and Dykstrarr developedan expressionfor relativepermeabilityfollowing the basic
!,! hr
methodof Purcell for calculatingthe permeabilityof a porousmedium. They considereda
Drfi
lithology factor (a correction for deviation of the path length from the length of the porous
crlr cr
medium) to be a function of saturation.They assumedthat the radius of the path of the
Ffm
conductingpores was relatedto the lithology factor, tr, by the equation:
a
\ : - (4)
ro
L7
,aI-' -:l cLlua- Table I

CALCULATION OF WETTING.PHASERELATIVE
P C : - '. . r . r l l t r .
hi i..'j'prp1 PERMEABILITY BASED ON THE FATT AND
DYKSTRA EQUATION
Area from 0
S*, Vo P", cm Hg l/P"'], (cm Hg)-t to S*, in.2 k.*,, Vo
, l r
100 4.0 0.0156 n.25 100.0
90 4.5 0.0110 7.88 70.0,
80 5.0 0.0080 5.54 49.2b
'70 33.8
5.5 0.0060 3.80
60 6.0 0.0046 2.49 22.1
s0 6.7 0.0033 t.50 13.3
40 7.s 0.0024 0.75 6.1
30 8.7 0 . 0 01 5 0.30 2.7
20 13.0 0.0005 0.20 0.4
' 7 . 8 8 / 1 1 . 2x5 1 0 0: 7 0 . 0 .
" 5 . 5 4 1 1 1 . 2x5 l 0 O : 4 9 . 2 .
_ l
where r representsthe radius of a pore, a and b representmaterial constants,and }, is a

function of saturation.
relativepermeability,k.*,, reportedby Fatt and Dykstra
The equationfor the wetting-phase
[l ., ,l:r:nJlC is
J:-. .i.'1tlnS
F ' - ' : ' : l ( r n - ft*' ds

t -
i li- r :'. :, r\ll\ Jn
+ b)
, P2(l
K.*, : (5)
l.r dS
* b)
Jo P2(|
Fatt and Dykstra found good agreementwith observeddata when b : r/r, reducing
Equation 5 to
ft*' ds
Jo P:
(6)
r-rl
TF
They statedthat their equation fit their own data as well as the data of Gatesand Lietz more
accuratelythan other proposedmodels.
The procedurefor the calculation of relative permeability from capillary pressuredata is
illustrated by Table I and the results are shown in Figures I and 2.
Burdine'3 reportedequationsfor computing relative perrneabilityfor both the wetting and
nonwettingphases.His equationscan be shown to reduceto a form similar to thosedeveloped
ir5 ::.r hasic by Purcell. Burdine's contribution is principally useful in handling tortuosity.
srr:...-:ercda Defining the tortuosity factor for a pore as L when the porous medium is saturatedwith
J i:; Frrttus only one fluid and using the symbol tr*, for the wetting-phasetortuosity factor when two
i f;i:. ,'l the phasesare present, a tortuosity ratio can be defined as
T
tr.*,: (7)
r-l) ;
l8 RelativePermeabilitvof PetroleumReservoirs
| 7
Pol
(cm Hg) 6
oo' lo 20 40 50 60 70 80
Sw+
FIGURE 1. Capillary pressureas a function of water saturation.
then
/'*' {^,*,)'ds/(\)'(P.)' (8)

kr*, where S
The rela
/'0r,1^;'1r.y' phaseto
If tr is a constantfor the porous medium and tr,*t dependsonly on the final saturation,then
fS*'
t ds/(P.)r
k.*t : (tr.*.)' rl (9)
where S
t ds/(p")l The e
the exp
In a similar fashion, the relative permeabilityto the nonwetting phasecan be expressed
utilizing a nonwetting-phase tortuosity ratio, tr,,*,,
fl Wylli
^
I dst1e.)'
JS*t
comput
k.n*,: (trrn*,)' (l0)
ds/(P.)2
J"
Burdine has shown that
S*,- S-
Arwt - (lt)
1 - S -
l9
r60
r50
r40
r30
t20
l l
roo
90
I I
t
Pc3 | 70
(CmHqi3
60
50
40
30
20
to
o5 lo 20 30 40 50 60 70
-+
Sw
of (capillary
Reciprocal as a functionof water
pressure)r
il,;yul}:
where S- representsthe minimum wetting-phasesaturationfrom a capillary-pressurecurve.

The relative perrneability is assumedto approach zero at this saturation. The nonwetting
phasetortuosity can be approximatedby
fa:: thcn
Sn*t-- S'
, . :t .
\ -r^n. .w (12)
l-s*-s"
r9)
where S. is the equilibrium saturationto the nonwetting phase.
The expressionfor the wetting phase(Equation 9) fit the data presentedmuch better than
the expressionfor the nonwetting phase (Equation 10).
f3 . r lli'rred
V. WYLLIE, SPRANGLER,AND GARDNER
Wyllie and Spranglertz reported equations similar to those presentedby Burdine for
computing oil and gas relative permeability. Their equationscan be expressedas follows:
rl0)
fs"
k,,,:(iil' J os"rp; (l 3 )
/' or",rl
rll)
Wetrine
o WYLLIE ond SPANGLER
A GATESond LIETZ
I i l | | t l
a B E R E AN O . 4
I
E o.
\\'etring
FIGURE 3. Reciprocalof (capillary pressure)ras a function of saturationfor normalized
data.rT
k,*(r-r+" )' !Yor",r3

_ S*,/ (t4l
/'
where S- representsthe lowest oil saturationat which the gas phase is discontinuous:S-
: (l - S " . ) .
The above equations for oil and gas relative permeabilities may be evaluated when a
reliable drainage capillary pressurecurve of the porous medium is available, so that a plot
of llP"2 as a function of oil saturationcan be constructed.Obviously, reliable valuesof S-
and So.are also neededfor the oil and gas relative permeability evaluation. Figure 3 shows Corsl
some examplesof llP.2 vs. saturationcurves.rT ut ilit r ar
Wyllie and GardnerrTdeveloped equationsfor oil and gas relative permeabilitiesin the \alunlllo
presenceof an ineducible water saturation, with the water consideredas part of the rock rt is fau
matrix: cquation
drarnaec
ft'ds* Pressure
k,.:(H), +* .s; tri the ci

S.trI
Jr*,Pi hart: tri I

\3luralKr
f' ds*
k,, (*)' '6)
f*
Jr*, Pi
where Sl representstotal liquid saturation.Note that theseequationsmay be applied only

when the water saturationis at the irreduciblelevel.
VI. TIMMERMAN,COREY,AND JOHNSON
Timmermanr8suggeststhe following equationsbasedon the water-oil drainagecapillary

pressure,for the calculationof low valuesof water-oil relativepermeability.
2l
Wetting-PhaseDrainageProcess:
k.o : S.
fl'"H.1" Injection Curve
(t7)
LTFI Injection Curve
k.* :
f[Hl" InjectionCurve
(l8)
LrFl
S*
g
tc lnjection Curve
Wetting-PhaseImbibition Process:
b.
kro : So
[l'"H
1" Injection Curve
(le)
l-lt
LTFj Injection Curve
Jt: * '.1. S,,

[[H]" Curve
Trap-Hysteresis
Lrsl
k.o : So (20)
lc; .i hcn a
Injection Curve
D l:.:: .r plot
ta. -.'. ,tl- S.,,
JUr.
t .ht)\\ S Coreyrecombined the work of Purcell3and Burdiner3into a form that has considerable
utility and is widely acceptedfor its simplicity. It requireslimited input data (sinceresidual
ilri:e . rn the saturationis the only parameterneededto developa set of relativepermeabilitycurves)and
I 0: ::.i r(Ek it is fairly accuratefor consolidatedporous media with intergranularporosity. Corey's
equationsare often used for calculationof relative permeabilityin reservoirssubjectto a
drainageprocessor externalgasdrive. His methodof calculationwas derivedfrom capillary
pressureconceptsand the fact that for certaincases,l/P"2is approximatelya linear function
of the effective saturationover a considerablerangeof saturations;i.e. , llP"2 : C [(S" -
l-5) S".)/(1 - S",)] where C is a constantand S" is an oil saturationgreaterthan S.,,.On the
basisof this observationand the findingsof Burdiner3concerningthe natureof the tortuosity-
saturationfunction, the following expressionswere derived:
(2r)
rl6)
(22)
tpp. reJ o n l y
\o:
- S'*lo (23)
k,o [S'
lgc ..rprllary Lr - s * J
22 Relative Permeability of Petroleum Reservoirs
where S'- is the total liquid saturationand equal to (l - Sr); S- is the lowest oil saturation
(fraction) at which the gas phaseis discontinuous;and Sr* is the residualliquid saturation
expressed as a fraction.
Corey and Rathjens2o studiedthe effect of permeabilityvariationin porous media on the
value of the S- factor in Corey's equations.They confirmed that S,,,is essentiallyequal to
unity for uniform and isotropic porous media; however, values of S,, were found to be
greaterthan unity when there was stratificationperpendicularto the direction of flow and
less than unity in the presenceof stratificationparallel to the direction of flow. They also
concludedthat oil relative permeabilitieswere less sensitiveto stratificationthan the gas
relativepermeabilities.
The gas-oil relative permeabilityequationis often used for testing, extrapolation,and
smoothingexperimentaldata.It is also a convenientexpressionthat may be usedin computer
simulationof reservoirperformance.
Corey's gas-oil relative permeabilityratio equationcan be solved if only two points on
the k,r/k,.,vs. S* curve are available.However, the algebraicsolutionof the k,g/k..,equation
when two points are availableis very tediousand the graphicalsolution that Corey offers
in his original paperrequireslengthygraphicalconstructionaswell asnumericalcomputation.
Johnson2rhas offered a greatly simplified and useful methodfor determinationof Corey's
constant.
Johnsonconstructedthree plots by assumingvaluesof Sr*, S,,, and k.s/k..,by calculating
the gas saturation,(1 - S,_),using Corey's equations.The calculationwas carriedout for
variousSr* and S- combinationsand for k.s/k,ovaluesof l0 to 0.1, 1.0 to 0.01, and 0. I
to 0.001. Johnson'sgraphs may be used to plot a more completek.g/k,,,curve basedon
limited experimentaldata. The spanof the experimentaldata determineswhich of the three
figures should be selected.
The suggestedprocedurefor k.g/k.,calculation,basedon Corey's equation,is as follows:
l. Plot the experimentalk.r/k," vs. S, on semilog paper with k,*/k,oon the logarithmic
scale.
2. From the experimentaldata determinethe gas saturationat k.r/k,oequal to 10.0 and
0. 1, 1. 0 and 0 .0 1 , o r 0 .1 a n d 0 .0 0 1 .(T h e l i stedpai rsof val uescorrespond
to Fi gures
4,5, and 6 of Johnson'sdata, respectively,and the rangeof the experimentaldata
dictateswhich figure is to be employed.Note that if the data do not span the entire
permeabilityratio intervalof 10.0 to 1.0, Figure 4 may not be employedfirst; instead t 5rq11
-
Figure 5 with the k,*/k.ointerval of 1.0 to 0.01 or Figure 6 with the k.*/k,.,interval of rilustnl
('rtTr'
0. 10 t o 0. 00 1 ma y b e u s e dfi rs t.)
3. Enter the appropriateFigure (4,5, or 6) using the gas saturationscorrespondingto rrrrrahl
the pair of k.r/k.ovaluesselectedin step 2.
4. Pick a unique S.* and S- at the intersectionof the gas saturationvalues;interpolate
if necessary.
5. Using these S.* and S- values and employing the two other figures of Johnson,
determinetwo more gas saturationvalues and the k,*/k," ratio indicatedon the axes
FJ Ehc\
of each figure.
6. Add thesepoints to the experimentalplot for obtainingthe relativepermeabilityratio
over the region of interest.
This procedureprovidesvaluesof gas saturationat k.*/k.oratiosof 10.0, 1.0, 0.10, 0.01,

and 0.001, which are sufficient to plot an expandedk.s/k.ocurve. rk S-
It should be noted that if the data cover a wide range of permeabilityratios, multiple 3tuJr
C;ttr
determinationsof Sr* and S- can be made. If the calculatedvaluesdiffer from the exper-
imental data, the discrepancyindicatesthat thereis no singleCorey curve which will fit all
23
tl
o)
J
I
o)
U)
'
t \ \ \ :
. . ,
.- :trlilc
20
S n , % k r g / k r o = 0 . 1O
lr ,lnd
N : l::urcs
FIGURE 4. Corey equationconstants.2l
in..' :-:. Jata
ln': . intlre
the points; an averageof the values for each constantshould yield a better curve fit. Figure
fi:-' ::.tc',itd
'- 7 illustratesthe graphicaltechniqueof Johnson.
; :'.ll of
Corey's equationsfor drainageoil and gas relativepermeabilitiesand the gas-oil relative
' .::ng tO permeabilityratio in the simplestform are as follows:
lsi'
k.o : (s".)o (24)

l: ," ':3rl31s
tri l':fl r()Il .

k.r:(l-S".)2x(l-S3") (2s)
i .'- "r.'t\gs
and they are related through
I
B;^ :r ratio
k.. - k.
: I (26)
(S * X - (l - S ;y
l .' r .( ) . 0 1 ,
where So.representsthe lowest oil saturationat which the gas tortuosity is infinite; S". is
defined as (S" - S",)/(l - S".).
i'. '::ultiple
Corey's equationsin the presenceof irreducible water saturationtake the following form:
ln : : J c\p e r-
El'. ,,. I iit all
k,o : (s*)o (27)
Relative Permeabilitv of Petroleum Reservoirs
q
tl
o
-t
o)
-g
(U
aQ
o)
U)
Sg, %, at krn /kro=0.01

nrll(rtl. n
FIGURE5. Coreyequation
constants.2t t(rr\trnal
oi the p
f S 1 2 drrtntrutl
: - - (28)
k,n
' I t ;---""-^ | " fl S*)2
lrtrn\ $ tl
L )--)*iJ
scrB pm
where S- is a constantrelated to ( I - S*") and as a first approximationS- can be assumed ehqrlutcl
to be unity. This is a good approximation,sinceS*"is lessthan5Voinrocks with intergranular Cael
porosity. In theseequations,S* : S"/(l - S*,) and S" is the oil saturationrepresentedas ;.ffstrlXt
a fraction of the pore volume of the rock; S*, is the irreduciblewater saturation,alsoexpressed hrr result
as a fraction of the pore volume. .trr-ludc
Theseequationsare linked by the relationship tV Ctlt1R{
-{pflx
+ +;-q*: |
(s*), (l - s*),
(zs) nE:Ilut3t
\ rnr
lirr{rc5
Corey et al. plotted severalhundredcapillary pressure-saturationcurves for consolidated n crl-gr
rocks and only a few of them met the linear relationshiprequirement.However, comparison
of Corey's predicted relative permeabilitieswith experimentalvalues for a large number of t h r
samplesshowed close agreement,indicating that Corey's predictedrelative permeabilities rt
are not very sensitiveto the shapeof the capillary pressurecurves.
Equation 24 may be employed to calculatewater relative permeability if the oil saturation
and the residual oil saturationare replacedby water saturationand irreducible water satu-
)<
0.9
o
o
J
o)
.:<
(U
Ae
o
U)
5 l o
Sg, %, at krg/kro of O.O01
FIGURE 6. Corey equationconstants.2l
ration, respectively.The exponentof Corey's water relative permeabilityequation is ap-

proximatelyfour for consolidatedrocks, but dependssomewhaton the size and arrangement
of the pores. The exponent has a value of three for rocks with perfectly uniform pore size
distribution. Severalother authorshave proposedsimilar water relative permeabilityequa-
(28)
tions with different exponentsfor other types of porous media. Values of 3.022and 3.521
were proposedfor unconsolidatedsands with a single grain structurewhich may not be
crr, lrc assumed absolutelyuniform in pore size but should have a nalrow rangeof pore sizes.
dtl: :ntcrgranular Corey compared the calculated values of oil and gas relative permeabilities for poorly
consolidatedsandswith laboratory-measured values and obtainedgood results. However,
n r.lrc\ented as
l. ;..,'CrpreSSed his resultsshowedsome deviationat low gas saturationsfor consolidatedsandstone.Corey
concludedthat the equationsare not valid when stratification,solutionchannels,fractures,
or extensiveconsolidationis present.
Application of Corey's equationpermits oil relative permeabilityto be calculatedfrom
measurements of gas relative permeability.Since k., measurements are easily made while
(2e) k.o measurementsare made with difficulty, Corey's equationis quite useful. The procedure
involves the measurementof gas relative permeability at severalvalues of gas saturationin
ft'r ;, 'nsolidated an oil-gas systemand then performing the following steps:
!1c:. itrmparison
lar-ic number of 1. P r e p a r e a n a c c u r a t e p l o t tohf e f u n c t i o n k . r : ( l - S " " ) 2x ( l - S . " ' ) b y a s s u m i n g
E ;\.-rnteabilities arbitrary values of So., the effective saturation,which is defined as
tx- ,rtl saturation

ihic u ater satu-
o
l<
o)
.:.
o n<perj-nental Data of Vlelge
Xustirated Data points
--
o o.lo o.20 0.30 0.40 0.50 0.60 0.70
Sg
FIGURE 7. Example of the use of the Corey equations.rl
2. Preparea tabulation of k., vs. So" for values of k,, ranging from 0.001 to 0.99 in
stepwisefashion.
3. Determinevaluesof So"for eachexperimentalvalueof k., by usingthe above-described
tabulation.
4. Plot these values of So. againstthe values of S" coffespondingto the k., values on
rectangularcoordinatepaper. The plot should be a straightline between50 and 807o
oil saturation. \\ 3l
5. Construct a straight line through the points in this range and extrapolateto S.* : 0. ttfnF;
The value of S" at this point correspondsto S".. (SeeFigure 8.)
6. Employ Equation 24, k,o : (So")oand the value of S.,.obtainedin the previousstep
to calculatek,o valuesfor assumedvaluesof S".
n trre
Corey-typeequationsfor drainagegas-oilrelativepermeability(gasdrive) in the presence
of connatewater saturationhave been suggestedas follows: :r'tr-ll(r
Ttrf.
k ." : (l - S )u (30) Cr{UJllt

rr{Tl$l
k., s3(2- s) (31) 'trLrtn
where S represents(Sr)/(l - S*,).

Corey's equationsfor the drainagecycle in water-wet sandstones
as well as carbonate
formations are as follows:
Brtr
,K - . - : ll --l l - s * 1 r (32)
rr l,ll ttr
Ll - S*,1 it{htut
27
60
50
a
o
o
@
ro
Sor
)70 t
ob 20 40 60 80 roo
o/o
So,
basedon effective
of residualoil saturation
FIGURE8. Determination
'99 in oil saturation.
0t :
k.*: (S**)o (33)

O\ ( .:. .. rtbcd
\ .:.LIC\ ()n
VII. WAHL. TORCASO. AND WYLLIE
r: .,nJ tl07c
Wahl et al.2asuggestedthe use of the following equationfor drainagegas-oil relative
\. - 0. permeabilityratios basedon field measurementsof sandstonereservoirs:
,'Jr \teP : +(o.o43s .l,)

+ o.4ss6 (341
*
where rf represents( I - S*. - S. - Sg.)/(S,,- C); Sr. is the critical gas saturationas a
I th.r'lrc:c'nCe
fraction of total pore space;and C is a constantequal to 0.25.
Torcasoand Wylliett comparedgas-oilrelativepermeabilityratios calculatedby Corey's
(-10) equationwith thoseobtainedfrom Wahl et al. for variousirreduciblewater saturations.This
comparisonsuggestedthat Corey's work was theoreticallysound,sinceit agreedwith values
( 31 ) obtainedfrom field measurements by Wahl et al. (seeFigure 9).t^
VIII. BROOKS AND COREY

a- ..rrhonate
Brooks and Corey26'27 modified Corey's original drainagecapillary pressure-saturation

relationshipand combined the modified equationwith Burdine's equationto develop the
(32)
following expressionthat predictsdrainagerelativepermeabilityfor any pore sizedistribution:
28 Relative Permeabilin of Petroleum Reservoirs
trt e hrg
l,S.
Ttbc
r alrr grr
rrth rx
itrrt it{
crFsll
roo
50
30 9 y y ;= o ' 3 \t-r lh
.rl rclrlr
to
5
o 3
.g
o, to
J
o.5
o.3
o.l
o.
o.03
Iltr
o.ol rtttD I
o.oo5
(*, =
-
o.ootL la--
o 20 40 60 80 roo 5 * =
::
s
FIGURE 9' Comparison of relative permeability calculations at three irreducible water
saturations.25
: (l)^
s** for P. i Po (3s)
where tr, and Po are constants characteristicof the media; ), is a measure of pore size
distributionof the media, and Po is a measureof maximum pore size (minimum drainage
capillary pressureat which a continuousnonwettingphaseexists). Using this relationship,
two-phaserelative permeabilitiesare given by
2 + l A
k - / S * l r
"rwt \vw , (36) rl&
and rrt
k . n * ,: (l -'t**)' - (S**) ,.l (37)

[t J k l
lf.r
where k.*, and k-*, are wetting and nonwettingphaserelative permeabilitiesrespectively. lrel
The valuesof tr and Po are obtainedby plotting (S* - S*,)/(l - S*,) vs. capillary pr.rrur. rb'rq
29
on a log-log scaleand establishinga straightline with L as the slopeand Poas the intercept
a t (S* - S* i ) /(l - S * ,) : 1.
Theseequationsreduceto Equations24 and 25 for \ : 2. Theoretically\ may have any
value greaterthan zero, being large for media with relative uniformity and small for media
with wide pore size variation. The commonly encounteredrangefor L is betweentwo and
four for various sandstones.2t Talash28obtainedsimilar equationswith somewhatdifferent
exponents.
IX. WYLLIE, GARDNER,AND TORCASO
Wyllie and GardnerrThave presentedthe following expressionsfor the drainage water-

oil relative permeability:
k,.:(H)'H ' ds*/P.'

(38)
Jr*,
k,.:(5;)'$i11 (3e)
/' or*,1r";'
More general expressionsfor any wetting and nonwetting relative permeability may be
written where
kr*r Relative permeability to wetting phase(k,* and k,").

k.n*, Nonwetting phaserelative permeability(k,r).
S*i Irreduciblewater saturation.
SL Total liquid saturation: (l - Sr).
r3 5 ) (40)
I ,'l ltrC siZe

lru::. Jrainage
] ( ' - '. - t (r t r n s h i P ,
(41)
(36)
Wyllie and Gardner have also suggestedthe following equationfor relative permeability
to water or oil when one relative permeability is available:
k.* : (S**)' - k,o (S**/(1 - S**))' (42)

(3 7 )
where S**, which is defined as (S* - S*,)/(1 - S*,), is the mobile wetting-phasesaturation
in a water-wetsystem.
1-.J*-utively. Basedon the linear relationbetweenl/P"2and S"/(l - S*,), they obtaineda drainagewater
[an pressure relative permeability equation for water-wet rocks with intergranularporosity as follows:
k,* : (s**)o (43)
Togpaso and Wyllie2s suggestedthe following equation for calculation of gas-oil

relativepermeabilityof water-wetsandstone,where l/P.2 is approximatelya linear function
of effective saturation.Their derivationwas basedon the relationdevelopedby Corey:
\=: ( l - s * ) ,( l - s * , )
(44)
k.,, (s*)o
where S* representseffectiveoil saturationand is equalto S.,/(l - S*,). Obviously, a reliable

value of irreduciblewater saturation,S*r, needsto be known to calculatethe gas-oilrelative
permeabilityratio.
X. LAND, WYLLIE, ROSE, PIRSON, AND BOATMAN
Land2ereportedthat an appreciableadjustmentof experimentalparameterswas required

to avoid a discrepancybetweenexperimentaland calculatedtwo-phaserelative permeabil-
ities. A large numberof the relativepermeabilitypredictionmethodsare basedon derivation
of pore size distribution factors from the saturationand drainagecapillary pressurerela-
tionship. Some authors3o believethat the employmentof capillary pressurerelationshipsfor
the prediction of relative permeabilityis not advisable,since capillary pressureis derived
from experimentsperformed under static conditions, whereasrelative permeability is a
dynamic phenomenon.McCaffery3rin his thesisarguesthat the surfaceor capillary forces
are ordersof magnitudelargerthan forcesarisingfrom the fluid flow and thus, predominate
in controllingthe microscopicdistributionof the fluid phasesin many oil reservoirsituations.
Brown's32results from the measurementof capillary pressureunder static and dynamic
conditionssupportMcCaffery's argument.
Severalrelative permeabilityprediction methodswhich are basedon drainagecapillary
pressurecurves assumethat pore size distributioncan be derived from thesecurves.These
proposedmodels can only be applied when a strongwetting preferenceis known to exist.
Additionally, relativepermeabilitycalculationsfrom capillarypressuredataare developed
for a capillary drainagesituationwhere a nonwettingphase,suchas gas, displacesa wetting
phase(oil in a gas-oil system,or water in a gas-watersystem).They are developedprimarily
for gas-oil or gas-condensate relative permeabilitycalculations;however, water-oil relative
permeabilitycan be calculatedwith a lessercertainty.
Wyllie in Frick's PetroleumProduction Handbook33suggestedsimple empirical gas-oil
and water-oilrelativepermeabilityequationsfor drainagein consolidatedand unconsolidated
sandsas well as oolitic limestonerocks. Theseequationsare presentedin Tables 2 and3.
The oil-gasand water-oilrelativepermeabilityrelationsfor varioustypesof rockspresented
in Tables 2 and 3 may be usedto producek.g/k.ocurvesat various S*, when k., measurements
rrblc
are unavailable.
htr:
It should be noted that the k,.,/k.* values obtainedapply only if water is the wetting phase
rE
and is decreasingfrom an initial value of unity by increasingthe oil saturation.This is
l-n
contrary to what happensduring natural water drive or waterflooding processes;however,
5:I
Figures l0 through l4 also apply to preferentiallyoil-wet systemson the drainagecycle
rrr
with respectto oil if the curves were simply relabeled.
G
Rose6developeda useful method of calculatinga relative permeabilityrelationshipon
*::
the basisof analysisof the physical interrelationshipbetweenthe fluid flow phenomenain
porous media and the static and residual saturationvalues. The equationsfor the wetting
;!
and nonwetting relative permeabilitesare }ftl,
nr
L
f i
3l
r J 3) Table 2
OIL-GAS RELATIVE PERMEABILITIES (FOR
n : :.rr-oil DRAINAGE CYCLE RELATIVE TO OIL)33
i n c . , : : . . n et i t l n
b \ ( ' : e\ . Type of formation k"o k.e
Unconsolidatedsand, well (S*)' (l - 5x;r

r _l_l) sorted
Unconsolidatedsand, poorly (Sxlt : ( l - 5 x ; :( l - 5x's)
sorted
nl.. .,:cliable Cementedsandstone,oolitic (S*)' 0 - sx), (l - 5x:1
r c l a t i re limestone,rocks with vugu-
P'
lar porosity"
Note: In theserelationsthe quantity Sx : S,,/(l - S*,).

{
Application to vugular rocks is possibleonly when the size of the
vugs is small by comparisonwith the size of the rock unit for which
the calculation is made. The unit should be at least a thousandfold
larger than a typical vug.
Table 3
WATER.OIL RELATIVE PERMEABILITIES (FOR
DRAINAGE CYCLE RELATIVE TO WATER)33
Type of formation k"o k.*
Unconsolidatedsand, well (l - S**)' (s**)'

sorted
U n c o n s o l i d a t esda n d ,p o o r l y (l - S**)' (l - S**'') (S**)tt
fai, ..rprllary sorted
C u: ', . '. Th e se C e m e n t e ds a n d s t o n eo, o l i t i c (l - S**;z (l - 5"x:; (S**)o
D \ a ' t : , . 'C f i S t . limestone
lrc .:i\.'loped
Note'. In these relationsthe quantity S** : (S* - S"i)/(l - S*,), where
I-i- .: $ctting S*, is the ineducible water saturation.
|f*.*.::.rrrnarily
tsr . rc'lative -s* -)
l 6si (s* -s* _)t(l
k*= - -
(4s)
t2si(2- 3s*.) + 3S*S*-(3S*. 2) + S**(4 5S*,,)1'
pr:...:l gas-oil
tx-:.,tlidated
- S"-)'(I -,lr* - S.-)
l653*,(5"*,
bl.'. I and 3. k-: (46)
Ei. :':-c.ented
-2rlt*-
[253*,(2 3S.-)+ 3S"*,S"-(3Sn -2* 2,lr*)+ S,-(l - r!*X4-,lr* - 5S".)]'
Dc'-:..irCil9OtS
where S* and Sn*,representwetting and nonwettingsaturations,respectively,expressedas
fractions;S*- and S.- representminimum wetting and nonwettingsaturationvaluesattained
'Ec::.nrphase
under dynamic flow conditions,expressedas fractions;they are the dynamic equivalentsof
It;,,:: This is
S*, and S". obtainedfrom statictests.The symbol qr* representsan immobile wetting-phase
It'. llt ttt eVgf ,
saturationexpressedas a fraction. It is that part of the wetting-phasesaturationwhich does
h . t ; : : . , r cc y ' c l e
not interfere with the nonwetting phase mobility and it is the maximum wetting-phase
saturation at which the nonwetting relative permeability is unity. Note that Equation 46
i l . r : : , ' n . h i ps 1 1
reducesto Equation 45 for r.|l* : 0. The minimum wetting saturation,S**, dependson flow
p h r . : t , , l t t c n ian
conditionsand may be obtainedby the Brownell and Katz3arelationshipof S*- : (1/86.3)
f :-. setting
[V(g o cos 0) dP/dx]-o264where g is the accelerationdue to gravity, o is the interfacial
tension, 0 is the contactangle, k is the permeability,and dP/dx is the pressuregradient.
The principal disadvantageof Rose'smethodis that the residualsaturationof both phases
must be known fairlv accuratelv.
o
j
o)
.Y
o 20 40 60 80 too
Q
vr
L
r?El
FIGURE 10. Wyllie curves for water-wetcementedsandstones,
oolitic F ,.lu'l
limestones,or vugular systems.rl
5. rcl
::Ttrr
Pirson3sderived equationsfrom petrophysicalconsiderationsfor the wetting and non-
Ttr
wetting phaserelative permeabilitiesin clean, water-wet,granularrocks for both drainage
;rclc
and imbibition processes.The water relativepermeabilityfor the imbibition cycle was given
AS
((
k.*, : (S**)"' (R.,/R,)3/2 (41)
later modified to
rtrt
k,*t : (S**)t" (R"/R,)3/2 (48)
and
T\
k.*, : (S**)t" Si (4e)
Water relative permeability for the drainagecycle was given by
k .* , : (S* * )t" Si (s0) rF:

po..e.l
33
o
v
o)
l<
st
tt Wylliecurvesfor poorlysorted
water-wet
unconsolidated
i*Ylt
where R.,representselectricalresistivityof the test core at l00%obrine saturationexpressed

as ohm-meters;R, representselectricalresistivityof the test core expressedas ohm-meters;
S*, representsirreduciblewetting-phasesaturation;and S* representswater saturationas a
fraction of pore space.
h-i .::'lJ non-
The nonwetting phase relative permeabilityin clean, water-wetrocks for the drainage
Xlt: . l r l r n a g e
cycle was found to be
rlc . i . 1 .g i v e n
k**, : (l - S**) [1 - S**r'4(R"/R,)r'4]2 ( s1 )
or
(-17)
k-*, : (1 - S**) (l -S**r/4 Sr/2)2 (s2)
which was later modified to
(48)
k,n*, : (l - S**Xl - S**t/4 Su2)tt2 (53)
The nonwetting phase relative permeability in an imbibition cycle given by

(49)
S* - S*, l'
krn*, : (54)
[t l-s-,-s*J
(s0) where S** represents(S* -S*,)/(l - S*,) and S.*, representsthe irreduciblenonwetting
phasesaturationas a fraction of pore space.Pirson also derived equationsfor the wetting
I,OOO
Swi
roo
ro
o
J
o)
j- o.l
0.ol
o.ool
o.0ootoL 40 60 80 loo
20
s,L
FIGURE 12. Wyllie curvesfor well-sorted
water-wetunconsolidated
}
cores.
ilktr !
and nonwetting phase relative permeabilities in clean, oil-wet rocks for both drainase and
:rfn3
imbibition processes:
rdr
rt&r
kr., : (S.r")"' S: (5s1 I ?l4l :
qiilIlr
where S.* is defined as (S" - S.,.)/(I - S".) and S.. representsirreducibleoil saturationand
is the equilvalentof of ( I - S*') for a clean,water-wetrock; S" represents Fn.:
total oil saturation
obtainedby differencesfrom (l - S*). ln rr
rrt h'r
The nonwettingphaserelativepermeabilityin clean,oil-wet rocksfor the imbibition cycle
was found to be
krr*, : ['
L
So -
l-S..-S*,
So,
t' (s6) fr
k
ln
and for the drainagecycle was found to be
Snr
krn-, : ( l -- s,.)u
, - s:,.-sl,,.l' (s7)
35
3
.Y
o
ra
Well--Sorted Grarns
e
-w
FIGURE 13. Wyllie curves.I
whereS*, represents trapped-watersaturation,which is determinableby Albert and Butault's

dr, and method.36These investigatorssuggestedthat a capillary-pressure curve be obtainedeither
with a wetting fluid or with a nonwettingfluid such as mercury to obtain irreduciblenon-
wetting phasesaturation.They alsoestimatedthat the irreduciblenonwettingphasesaturation
t5-51
is two thirds of net pore volume madeup of capillariesof radii smallerthanthe most common
capillary size, when the nonwettingphasedisplacesthe wetting phase.
illcl-:il()n and
Pirson suggesteda method to determine the in situ trapped nonwetting phase saturation
Ot...:iuratiOn
by meansof microresistivitylogging devices,which respondto the flushed zone arounda
well bore:
D r t . i : ' nc t c l e
Sn*r:1-(1/0) (R-,/R*.,)"t (58)
(5 6 ) where $ representsthe porosity of the reservoir rock and R-r/R^. is the ratio of the mud-
filtrate resistivityto flushed zone resistivity.
Boatman3T suggestedwater and gas relative permeabilityequationsin terms of core pe-
trophysical propertiesobtained from laboratory data:
(5 7 ) (se)
k,* : S**t'' (R"/R,)3'2
n{
rhsnc
Th\r
rbrtr l
R*x(
tw!'rJ
3
L
rhcr
flE
l<
&lqrr
o
L
t $rr
l<
ti-r
F'ffirJ
& l,g*
I c";s
f u
1.uFc
20 40 60 80 roo r frgr
C.ro
e
-w Fsc!
lfr 1l
,mnl
f, .,,
FIGURE 14. Wyllie curvesfor water-wetcementedsandstones,
oolitic limestones,or vug-
ular systems.33 *fut
Hcr
and k,, : (1 - S**t/4 Swt/2)t/2 (60) rtnnt
3rF-il
where *:s.
e * - S * - S * i \
\'w
I - S*,, \
lm-* '
Pirson et aI.38proposed equations for oil and water relative permeabilities as follows: \
\-*'
k,* : (S**)"t (R"/R,)2 (61) \-
\,
L.
and
k^, : (l - S*-)' (62)
where S*- represents(S* - S*,-)/(l - S*,., - S.,.);S** represents(S* - S*,*)/(l - S*,,,).

Thornton5proposedthe following equationfor wetting-phaserelative permeability:
k.*, : Sl (PD/P.)2 (01)
where P"/P. representsthe ratio of displacementpressureto drainagecapillary pressure.

R o s e a n d Wyl l i eT' 3eproposeda petrophysi calequati onfor w etti ng-p haser elat ive
permeability:
k.*, : (Ir/2) (64)
where I representsresistivity index, R,/R".

Jonesao proposedmathematicalrelationshipsfor water-oil and water-gasrelative perme-
abilities as function of S* and S*,, where S* may be determinedfrom well logs, S*, may
be estimatedfrom an S* - $ crossplot,and d may be determinedfrom well logs:
k.* : (s**)' (6s)
k,-:[8H]' (66)
XI. KNOPP, HONARPOUR ET AL., AND HIRASAKI
Knoppa' developeda correlation from 107 experimentallydeterminedgas-oil relative

permeabilityratios of Venezuelancore samples.The core sampleswere from consolidated
as well as poorly consolidatedsandstonereservoirsof high porosity and permeability;the
Welge gas-floodprocedurewas used for k.r/k.odetermination.
A single correlationwas establishedon the basisof the restored-state
water saturationas
a correlatingparameter.The correlationis shownas a family of most probablek.s/k,.,curves
in Figure 15.
Comparisonof Knopp's correlationwith experimentalvaluesis more promisingwhen the
geometricmeanof the suiteof k,s/k,ocurvesfor a given reservoiror samplegroupis compared
with the correspondingmost probablecurves for the correlation.Knopp also suggesteda
procedurefor developing similar correlationsfor various other formations.
A comparisonof Knopp's correlationswith the correlationof Corey and Wahl et al. on
the basisof l5%owater saturationis shown in Figure 16.
Honarpouret al.a2developeda setof empiricalpredictionequationsfor water-oilimbibition
(60) relative permeability and gas-oil drainagerelative permeability from a large number of
experimentaldata. Their resultsare presentedin Tables4 and 5. Symbolsusedin thesetwo
tables are defined as follows:
ku : air permeability,md
ko : oil permeability,md
ko(s*i): oil permeability at irreducible water saturation,md
t l"lItr* Sl k., : gas relative permeability,oil and gas system,fraction
k,e(so,):gas relative permeabilityat residualoil saturation,fraction
(61) k,o,* : oil relative permeability,water and oil system,fraction
k* : water relative permeability, water and oil system, fraction
k.o., : oil relative permeability,oil and gas system,fraction
roo.o
Restored State
Water Saturation
o o
L-
f-
.Y .y,
- t
o,
f-
cr
b
.Y
.-
ooorb
24 30 36 42 48 54 60
ss
FIGURE 15. Knopp's correlationof most probablerelative permeability
ratios.or
Ss : gas saturation,fraction
S*. : critical gas saturation,fraction
S. : oil saturation,fraction
S..* : residualoil saturationto gas, fraction rsG
S..* : residual oil saturationto water, fraction Sxr
S* : water saturation,fraction h r
S*, : irreduciblewater saturation,fraction cirri:
0 : porosity, fraction
a5rF-!
The data which were usedas a basisfor the study by Honarpour

et al. were derivedfr.m x
oil and gas fields locatedin the continentalU.S., Alaska,Canada,
Libya, Iran, Argentina,
and the United Arab Republic. Alt of the laboratorytestswere
made at room temperature
and atmosphericpressure'No attemptwas madeby the authorsto group
the data according
to laboratorytechniquesusedin measuringrelativepermeability,since
this informationwas
not availablefor many of the data sets.Each set of relativepermeability
data was classified
39
o
l-
o.ol tooo,o
.Y
\
o)
l-
.Y
o.ool roo.o
o.oool ro.o
@
o.ooool r.o
t2 t 8 24 30 36 42 48 54 60
s g 'o/o
FIGURE 16. Comparisonof relative permeabilitycorrelations.*'
"carbonate" or "noncarbonate", but the informationwhich was availablewas not

as either
sufficientfor more detailedlithologic characterization.
"carbonate" or "noncarbonate", a further
In additionto the classificationof data setsas
classificationwas made on the basis of wettability. This rough classificationwas made
accordingto the following arbitrarycriteria:
l. The rock was consideredto be strongly water-wetif k,,,at high oil saturationsin an
dc:: , ci 1'1nrn
oil-water system greatly exceededk,o in a gas-oil system at the same saturations,
l . \ : , l en t i n a ,
providedk.* in a gas-oil systemgreatlyexceededk,* in an oil-water systemat or near
l lc:: ftratufe
residualoil saturationafter water-flooding.
l.r -:..,,fding
2. The rock was consideredto be oil-wet when k,o in the oil-water systemwas approx-
f ' I I . r l r ( ) nw a s
imately equal to k,., in the gas-oil system, provided k,* in the gas-oil system was
ra. -..r.:ified
approximatelyequal to k.* in the oil-water system.
Table 4 _1. T
EQUATIONS FOR THE PREDICTION OF RELATIVE PERMEABILITY IN el
SANDSTONE AND CONGLOMERATE
(s* - s"') Atler
k... : 0.035388 - S * , - S , , , * -) o.olo874x
(l linear n
rneasun
't"r- t"':'
f . , - S " ,- . l " + o . s o s 5 6 ( S * ) r n (- S S
* *,) (water-wer) (61) porosit
Ltt S,,,")l
All u
-'s*' equalio
(s* - s"'*)
k . , .: r . 5 8 1 4[ s * l ' " ' - 0 . 5 8 6 1 7 - s * , - S , , ,** ) rrxks.
ll-s", I (l
The
(S" - S*,) - 1.24846(
I - S*,)(S* - S*,) (intermediately
wet) (68) tested
in clox
r \/l - ss "'/ \ - s' l , r . \aere ul
k,,,*:0.760671 ln u.
'- s,,,* [t', t-" =s*,- t-" s,,,*J
': l'"
L I relatrre
+2.63180(l - S , , . * ) ( S -, , S " , * ) ( a n y w e n a b i l i t y ) (69) ttsrTne
shrlied
, t,,=- t,,,,:
k n ' ,: 0 ' 9 8 3 7(l2 +
- t-, ). L l. (anyweuability) (70) Hrra
[ | - s -, - s,,r:]
iollos:
k .*: l o ? 2(H )' u ,* ,,,,. ., + 2.i i g4*
(anY
k'g's,,,r' wettabilitY) ( 7 1)
\+
Table 5
EQUATIONSFOR THE PREDICTIONOF RELATIVE PERMEABILITY IN
LIMESTONE AND DOLOMITE utrrc
k* : 0.002oszs - 0.05r371
(s* - S*,)(i)"" (warer-wet) (72) S.
\f
S.
k*: o2eer.
(H) - otztot(ffi;)'- s-
s.
L.
(S*-S*.)*0.4|325g(*).(intermediate|ywet) (13) \..
L
\ -
k..* : 1.2624(H:) (*)' (anywettablity) (74)
n
k*,e: 0.s37s2
(jil'(ff-- (any
wettablity) (75)
,_)'
o'*: 'sossffik'gts,,,*t + 8'oo53x

A
-
r S . , S , l r S . . . .-r :
-T-l= {s. - S..)x
o'o258eo
.'
(#)'. I
' - t" - t")'

,
(' - _ i:: (t)"' (anywettab'ity) (76)
4r
3. The rock was consideredto be of intermediatewettability when it did not clearly meet
LIT\ I\ either the water-wetor the oil-wet classificationcriteria.
After the data sets had been classifiedaccordingto lithology and wettability, stepwise
linear regressionanalysiswas employedto developequationswhich would approximatethe
measuredrelative permeabilitiesfrom such factors as fluid saturations,permeability, and
porosity.
All water-oilsystemequationsrefer to displacementof oil by water and the oil-gassystem
equationsrefer to drainageprocesses.All experimentaldata were measuredin consolidated
rocks.
The equationsthat were developedby Honarpouret al. have not yet been extensively
tested.However, most of the testswhich have been made indicatedthat the equationsare
in closeragreementwith laboratorydatathan the predictionsof publisfredcorrelationswhich
were used as a basisfor comparison.
In usingempiricalrelationshipssuchas thosepresentedby Honarpouret al., any calculated
relative permeability which exceeds l 0 should be assumedequal to 1.0. If a relative
permeabilityvalue is known at any water saturation,the relativepermeabilitycurve may be
shifted to match the known data point.
Hirasakia3has suggesteda relative permeability correlation for fractured reservoirs as
follows:
Su - So.
S * : (77)
l-s*-So"
k,a : K,o(S*)" (78)
k,, : k:" (l - S*)' (7e)

L - I 1\ I \
where
S* :Normalizedsaturation.
Sd :Displacingphasesaturation.
So" :Immobile displacingphasesaturation.
So. :Residualoil saturation.
k.a :Displacingphaserelative permeability.
r73) ko.o :Displacingphaserelative permeabilityat residualoil saturation.
k,o :Relativepermeabilityto oil.
k".. :Relativepermeabilityto oil at immobile displacingphasesaturation.
r71)
n : Exponentparameterfor shapeof relativepermeabilitycurves, said to be equal to
one in fractured reservoirs.
r75)
-..\ 'i i" ,tY REFERENCES

l) rr",/J-
,_
trt
tdpullien, F. A. L., Ed., Porous Media: FluidTransport and Pore Stucture, Academic Press, New York,
'r,l4lg.
2. Kozeny, J., Uber Kapillare Leitung desWassersimBoden, Sitzungsber.Akad. Wiss. Wien. Math. Naturwiss.
KL., Abt. 2A, 136,2'll, 1927.
3. Purcell, W. R., Capillary pressures- their measurementusing mercury and the calculationof permeability
t76) therefrom.Trans. AIME, 186.39, 1949.
4. Rose, W. D. and Bruce, W. A., Evaluationof capillary characterin petroleumreservoir rock, Trans. -19 l1'rllic.
.AIME, t86, 127, t949. Phr
'1t-'
5. Thornton, o. F., valuation of relative permeability,Trans. AIME, 1g6,329, lg4g. ro. Jones.
6. Rose, W. D., Theoreticalgeneralizationleadingto the evaluationof relativepermeability,Trans.AIME, 11. Knopp
186,1il , 1949. I l l r .r
7. Rose, W. and Wyllie, M. R. J., Theoreticaldescriptionof wetting liquid relarivepermeability Trans. {1 Honerl
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AIME, 186,329, t949. rc'lattrc
8. Gates,J.I.andLeitz,W.J.,RelativepermeabilitiesofCaliforniacoresbythecapillarypressuremethod, -l-r. Hinsrl
paper presentedat the API Meering, Los Angeles,california, May ll, 1950, 296. Ga.. P.
9' Rapoport, L. A. and Leas, W. J., Relative permeabilityto liquid in liquid-gassystem, Trans. AIME, "llliopfif
1 9 2 ,9 3 , l 9 5 l . t-nc l
10. Wyllie' M. R. J., Interrelationshipbetweenwetting and non-wettingphaserelativepermeability,Trans. {5 tukha
A I M E , 1 9 2 ,8 3 , 1 9 8 1 . pha.c r
ll. Fatt, I. and Dykstra, H., Relativepermeabilitystudies,Trans. AIME, 192,249, lg5l.
12. Wyllie' M. R. J. and Sprangler, M. B., Application of electricalresistivitymeasurements to problems
of fluid flow in porous media, Bull. AApG, 36, 359, 1952.
13. Burdine, N. T., Relative permeabilitycalculationsfrom pore size distributiondata, Trans. AIME, lgg,
7t,1953.
14. Naar, J. and Henderson, J. H., An imbibition model- its applicationto flow behaviorand the prediction
o f o i l r e c o v e r y ,T r a n s .A I M E , 2 2 2 , 6 1 , 1 9 6 1 .
1 5 . N a a r , J . a n d W y g a l , R . J . , T h r e e - p h a s e i m b i b i t i o n r e l a t i v e p e r m e a b i l i t y , T r a n s . A I M E , 2 2129, 2 65 l .4 ,
16. Land, C. S., Calculation of imbibition relative permeabilityfor two- and three-phaseflow from rock
properties,Soc. Pet. Eng. J., 6, 149, 1968.
17. Wyllie' M. R. J. and Gardner, G. H. F., The generalizedKozeny-Carmenequation,its applicationto
problemsof multi-phaseflow in porous media, World Oit, 146, l2l, 1958.
1 8 . T i m m e r m a n , E . H . , B d . , P r a t ' t i L ' aRl e s e r t , o iE , e n w e l lp u b r . , r 9 8 2 , l 0 l .
r n g i n e e r i n gP
19. Corey, A. T., The interrelation b e t w e e ng a s a n d o i l r e l a t i v ep e r m e a b i l i t i e sP,r o d . M o n . , 1 9 , 3 8 , 1 9 5 4 .
20. Corey, A. T. and Rathjens, C. H., Effect of stratificationon relativepermeability,Trons.AIME,20j,
358,1956.
21. Johnson, C. E., Jr., Graphicaldeterminationof the constantsin the Corey equationfor gas-oil relative
p e r m e a b i l i t yr a t i o , J . P e t . T e c h n o l . ,1 0 , l l l l , 1 9 6 8 .
2 2 . l r m a y , S . , O n t h e h y d r a u l i cc o n d u c t i v i t yo f u n s a t u r a t esdo i l s ,T r a n s .A G U , 3 5 ( 3 ) , 4 6 3 , 1 9 5 4 .
23. Averganov, S. F., About Permeabilitl, ofSubsurfuc'e Soils in Case of IncompleteSaturation, Engineenng
Colfection, Vol. 7, 1950, cited by Polubarinova-Kochina, P, in The Theory of Ground Water Movement,
E n g l i s ht r a n s l a t i o nb y D e w i e s t ,R . J . M . , P r i n c e t o nU n i v . P r e s s ,P r i n c e t o n N . .J.. t962.
24. Wahl, W. L., Mullins, L. D., and Elfrink, E. 8., Estimationof ultimate recoveryfrom solution gas
drive reservoirs,Trctns.AIME, 213, 132, 1958.
25. Torcaso, M. A. and Wyllie, M. R. J., A comparisonof calculatedk.r/k,,,ratios with field data,J. pet.
Technol., 6, 57, 1958.
26. Brooks, R. H. and Corey, A. T., Hydraulic Properties of Porous Media, Hydrology papers, No. 3,
Colorado State University, Ft. Collins, Colo., 1964.
27. Brooks, R. H. and Corey, A. T., Propertiesof porous media affecting fluid flow, "/. Irrig. Drain. Div..
6.6t. 1966.
28. Talash, A. W., Experimentaland calculatedrelative permeabilitydata for systemscontaining tension
additives,Paper5810, Societyof PetroleumEngineers,Dallas, Tx., 1976.
29. Land, C. S., Calculation of imbibition relative permeability for two- and three-phaseflow from rock
30. Bear, J, Ed., Dynamics of Fluids in porous Media, Ersevier,Amsterdam, 1972.
31. McCafferY, F. G., The Effect of Wenability of Relative Permeabilityand Imbibition in porous Media,
Ph.D. thesis,Universiry of Calgary, Alberta, Canada,1973.
3 2 . B r o w n , H . w . , c a p i l l a r y p r e s s u r ei n v e s t i g a t i o n s , T r a n sA.I M E , 1 g 2 , 6 7 , l g 5 l .
33. Frick, T., Ed., PetroleumProductionHandbook,Vol. 2, Societyof PetroleumEngineersof AIME, Dallas,
Tx., 1962.25.
34. Brownell, L. E. and Katz, D., Flow of fluids through porous media, Chem. Eng. prog., 43(ll), 603,
194'7.
3 5 . Pirson, S. J., Ed., Oil ReservoirEngineering,McGraw Hill, New york, 195g.
36. Albert, P. and Butault, L., Etude des CharacteristiquesCapillaries du Reservoir du Cap don par La
M e t h o d eP u r c e l l ,P e t . A n n . C o m b u s .L i q . , 1 ( 8 ) , 2 5 0 , 1 9 5 2 .
37. Boatman, E. M., An Experimental Investigation of Some Relative Permeability-RelativeConductivity
Relationships,M.S. thesis,University of Texas, Austin, 1961.
38. Pirson, S. J., Boatman, E. M., and Nettle, R. L., Predictionof relativepermeabilitycharacteristics of
intergranularreservoirrocks from electricalresistivitymeasurements,Trans. AIME, Z3l,564. 1964.
43
R. I-rrtns. 39. Wyllie, M. R. J. and Rose, W. D., Some theoreticalconsiderations relatedto quantitativeevaluationof
physicalcharacteristics of reservoirrock from electricallog data, Trans. AIME, 189, 105, 1950.
4 0 . J o n e s , M . A . , W a t e r f l o o dm o b i l i t y c o n t r o l :a c a s eh i s t o r y ,J . P e t . T e c ' h n o l .9, , l l 5 l , 1 9 6 6 .
\ 1 . \E
T. 41. Knopp, C. R., Gas-oil relative permeabilityratio correlationfrom laboratorydata,J. Pet. Technol.,9,
llt1,1965.
fr-,
'., . 'l'runs. 42. Honarpour, M. M., KoederitzrL. F., and Harvey, A. H., Empiricalequationsfor estimatingtwo-phase
relativepermeabilityin consolidatedrock, Trans. AIME, 2'73,2905, 1982.
F. .-; rttcthod. 43. Hirasaki, G. J., Estimationof ReservoirParametersby History Matching Oil Displacementby Water or
G a s , P a p e r4 2 8 3 , S o c i e t yP e t r o l e u mE n g i n e e r sD
, a l l a s ,T e x . , 1 9 7 5 .
.v.vE. 44. Kopli.k, J. and Lasseter, T. J., Two-phaseflow in random network modelsof porous media, Sot'. Pet.
Eng.J., 25, 89, 1985.
'.
I runs. 45. Fulcher, R. A., Ertekin, T., and Stahl, C. D., Effect of cappillarynumberand its constituentson two-
phaserelative permeabilitycurves,J. Pet. Technol., 2,249, 1985.
: ' - ,' h l c r n s
t'.1I I9tt.
l: ..'::Jrctitln
:_- _<: 196L

f " ,:tt rock
t- , ,rtl()n [o
.. le5-l
)r : r/l_ 107.
f -.. rclJllve
| -t -
l" : :nccring
',1 . tttt'ttl
lu' t ,
. .i : r t I l S i t S
h- . . : '. ' . J Pet.
' P::.. - . \ o 3 .
'tt . ,: Div.,
- tcnsion
- 'nr rock
I P . \tedia,
J \ . \ : l . Dallas,
t :. I1t.603,
LT: 'n Par La
u r { :Juctivity
h.:,. : c n ' t i c so f
S+': l e6J
Chapter 3
FACTORS AFFECTING TWO-PHASE RELATIVE PERMEABILITY
I. INTRODUCTION
The first publishedinformationconcerningthe simultaneousflow of multiple fluid phases

"relative permeability" had not yet been coined
was probably by Hassleret al.r The term
and Hassleret al. studied only the flow characteristicsof the gas phaseas a function of
fluid saturationin consolidatedrocks. The relativepermeabilityconceptwas first postulated
by Muskat and Meres.2Their work consistedof extendingDarcy's law to two-phasesystems.
For oil reservoirs,the relevanttwo-phasefluid combinationsare water-oil and liquid-gas
(usually thought of as oil-gas). Gas-waterrelativepermeabilitycurvesare used to describe
the performanceof gas reservoirsand gas-liquidcurvesare usedfor condensatereservoirs.
II. TWO.PHASE RELATIVE PERMEABILITY CURVES
Water-oil relative permeability is usually plotted as a function of water saturation,as

shownby Figure l. At the irreduciblewater saturation(S*.), the water relativepermeability
is zero and the oil relative permeabilitywith respectto water is some value less than one.
At this point only oil can flow and the capabilityof the oil to flow is reducedby the presence
of connatewater. The effect of connatewater in reducingoil flow rate is illustratedsche-
matically by Figure 2.
Note that data to the left of the irreducible water saturationare not useful for predicting
hydrocarbonreservoirperformance,sincewatersaturations lessthanS*" arenot encountered.
As water saturationincreases,the water relative permeabilityincreasesand the oil relative
permeability(with respectto water) decreases.A maximum water saturationis reachedat
the residualoil saturationand the oil relativepermeabilitybecomeszero. Obviously, aquifer
conditionsare representedby a relative permeabilityto water of unity, which occurs at a
water saturationof l00%o.
Unfortunately,there is an alternatedefinition of relative permeabilitycurrently in use.
This terminology(illustratedby Figure 3) definesthe oil relativepermeabilityat irreducible
water saturationas having a value of one, and definesabsolutepermeabilityas the effective
permeabilityat irreduciblewater saturation.The effectivepermeabilitiesare identical with
both definitions of relative permeability and one set of values may be readily convertedto
the other. This second definition of relative permeability (k,r) applies to both the oil and
water phases.
Thesealternateor normalizedvaluesof relative permeabilitymay be convertedto standard
valuesby
k.srn : k,2 ku./kusrD (l)
where
k.. : k"o at S*"
Also note that underthis seconddefinition of relativepermeability,the waterrelativeperme-

ability in an aquiferhas a value greaterthan unity. Essentially,with this alternatedefinition,
relative permeability is normalized to the value at irreducible water saturation.
Gas-oil relative permeabilityand gas-liquidrelative permeabilityare similar in concept
{ to water-oil relativEpermeability. The preferredrelative permeabilityvalues are those taken
\
with connatewater presentat the ineducible saturationvalue.
46 Relative Permeability of PetSoleumReservoirs
I
I
I
I
\ I
\ oil I
I
ftret
W a te r I
/
/
Swc Sorw
0 Svrr-+
(-s o- o
FIGURE l. W a t e r - o i lr e l a t i v ep e r m e a b i l i t yc u r v e s .
,'- ;Water
t Rock )
oif-
L
( Rock \
-.*-t
FIGURE 2. Oil flow reductiondue to the presenceof water.
As free gas saturationincreases,the oil relativepermeabilitywith respectto gasdecreases;

however, until the critical gas saturation(Sr") is reached,the gas relative permeabilityis
zero. The critical gas saturationis the point at which the gas bubblesbecomelarge enough
to break through the oil and away from the rock surface.As gas saturationincreases,the
gas relative permeabilityincreasesand theoreticallyreachesa value of unity at l00%cgas.
A gas-oil relative permeabilitycurve is illustratedby Figure 4.
An experimentalprocedureto determinerelativepermeabilityin an unconsolidatedsand
was first describedby Wyckoff and Botset.3Their work consistedof injectinga combination
of liquids and gasesthrougha sampleundersteady-state conditions.Their resultsare shown (or criti
in Figure 5, where k.. and k,, are relative permeabilityto oil and gas, respectively.The saturat
figure is typical of wetting- and nonwetting phase relative permeabilities,regardlessof relative
whetherthe systemis oil- or water-wet. curve tt
Figure 5 shows differently shapedrelative permeabilitycurvesfor the two phases.The upward
oil relativepermeabilitycurve is concaveupward while the gas relativepermeabilitycurve The :
has an "S" shape.This figure also showsthat the oil relativepermeabilityat the irreducible reducti
rapid de
47
k r e l
Sw
FIGURE 3. Normalizedwater-oil relativepermeabilitycurves
\
\ I
\1
Gor I
I
I
oil I
,
K rcl ,
I
o Sg.
D .:. . :aJ\gs:
SwcSorg
l]tc'.:^llrtf iS
O - S L 4 |
fgr lttough
lfe.:.Cs. the
t +-SG
1 [ r r r ' ,g a s .
FIGURE 4. Gas-oil relative permeabilitycurves'

Itti.,:rJ :and
ill::t'.ltlation at the ineducible oil
S r:i .h()wn (or critical) gas saturationis less than the gas relative permeability
same general observations apply to water-oil
itrrclr. The saturation.Leverett,sworka shows that the
presence of oil, the water relative permeability
tgurJlcss of relative permeabilitydata. That is, in the
relative permeability curve or is concave
curve takes on the shape of the wetting-phase
p h r . e. . Th e upward.
5 indicatesthat, for a small
b r l r t rc u r v e The shapeof the oil relative permeabilitycurve in Figure
decrease in relativepermeabilityto oil' This
: rr.'c,.lucible reductionin oil saturation,there is a sizeable
poresor flow paths by the gasphase'Figure
rapid declineis due to the occupationof larger
l .
Relative P ermeability of t etroleumReservoirs
Nou
inters
mation
other r
of clar
of con
occur i
Rela
the var
ftrel
to wet
nomen
l't:.:':)'/,.
therefc
foral
kts imbibi
Relati
A pressu
Satu
SL At lov
wettin
FIGURE 5. Relative permeabilitycurves for an unconsolidatedsancl.r pendu
transm
5 alsoindicatesa steepincreasein the gasrelativepermeabilityas the gassaturationincreases an app
abovepoint "A", which is the saturationat which relativepermeabilitiesto the oil and gas of ind
phasesbecomeequal. For this unconsolidatedsand,the oil relativepermeabilityat 59Vo orl Aba
saturationis equal to gas relative permeabilityat 4l%o gas saturation.The gas relative path u
permeabilityreachesnearly l00%oat a gas saturationlessthan l007o, which 1n.un,that part phase
of the interconnectedpore spacedoes not significantlycontributeto the gas permeabilityof this re
the porousmedium. This figure also showsthat the gasrelativepermeabilityremainsat iero phase
until the gas saturationreachesthe critical gas saturation,point "B". The gas phaseis not betwe
mobile at a saturationless than the critical value, but this immobile gas impedesthe flow the n'e
of oil and reducesoil relative permeability.As oil saturationis increasedfrom an initial of sat
value of zero, the oil relative permeabilityremainszero until the oil forms a continu.us phase
phaseat the critical oil saturation,which is representedas point C in Figure5. In a solution- ration
gas-drivereservoir, often the water saturationis small and immobile. Therefore,relative Flui
permeabilityvaluesare frequentlyplottedagainstthe liquid saturationratherthan the wetting a poro
saturation.Under such a condition, point "C" is the summationof the irreduciblewater differe
saturationand the residualoil saturation,as previouslyindicatedin Figure 4. for thi
The sum of the relative permeabilitiesfor all phasesis almost always less than unity the no
becauseof interferenceamongphasessharingflow channels.Thereare a numberof reasons reserv
for this interference.One of these reasonsis that part of the pore channelsavailablefor as the
flow of a fluid may be reducedin sizeby the other fluids presentin the rock. Another reason down i
is that immobilized dropletsof one fluid may completelyplug someconstrictionsin a pore phase
channelthrough which anotherfluid would otherwiseflow. Also, somepore channelsmay It hi
becomeeffectively plugged by adversecapillary forces if the pressuregradientis too low to the
to push an interface through a constriction. A fourth reason is the trapping of a group of functi<
globules that are clustered together and cannot be moved, since the grain configuraiion as wel
allows fluid to flow around the trappedglobules without developinga pressuregradient large c
sufficient to move them. This is the phenomenonthat has been referredto as the Jamin indica
effect.
Nowak and Kruegerstestedtwo coresin which the permeabilityto oil in the presenceof
interstitialwater was considerablygreaterthan single-phasepermeabilityto syntheticfor-
mation water. Yuster6and OdehTboth found the samephenomenonbasedon the resultsof
other work. A possibleexplanationfor the high permeabilityto oil is that the distribution
of clay varies within the rock and variationsin water saturationcausevariationsin the area
of contactbetweenwater and clay minerals.Thus, increasingdegreesof clay swelling may
occur at higher water saturationdue to the hydrationof larger amountsof clay minerals.
Relativepermeabilityis dependentupon both the fluid saturationand the distributionof
the variousfluids in the intersticesof the porousnetwork.This distributionis directly related
to wettability characteristicsof the rock, which in turn give rise to capillary pressurephe-
nomena. It is well known that hysteresisexists in capillary pressure-saturation curves;
therefore, hysteresisin relative permeability-saturation curvescan also be expected. Thus,
for a given wetting-phase saturation, the relative permeabilitymeasured in a rock that is
imbibing the wetting phase is not the same as that measured while the rock is draining.
Relativepermeabilityvaluesalsomay be functionsof factorssuchastemperature,overburden
pressure,phaseequilibria,ro'etc.
III. EFFECTS OF SATURATION STATES
Saturationis a term used to describethe relative volume of fluids in a porous medium.

At low saturationsof the fluid that preferentiallytends to wet the grains of a rock, the
wetting phaseforms doughnut-shaped rings aroundthe grain contactpoints. Theseare called
pendular rings. The rings do not communicate with each other and pressurecannot be
transmittedfrom one pendular ring to another. Sometimes such a distributionmay occupy
an appreciable fraction of the pore space. The amount depends upon the nature and shape
of individqal grains, distribution, as well as degree and type of cementation.
Above the critical wetting-phasesaturation,the wetting phaseis mobile through a tortuous
path under a pressuredifferential and as the wetting-phasesaturationincreases,the wetting-
phaserelative permeability increasesas well. The wetting-phasesaturationdistribution in
this region is called funicular and up to a point, the relative permeabilityto the wetting
phaseis lessthan the relativepermeabilityto the nonwettingphasedue to the adhesionforce
between the solid surface and wetting fluid, and the greatertortuosity of the flow path for
the wetting phase.The nonwettingphasemoves throughthe larger poreswithin this range
of saturation, but as the saturationof the wetting phase further increases,the nonwetting
phase breaks down and forms a discontinuousphaseat the critical nonwetting phase satu-
ration. This is called an insular stateof nonwetting-phase saturation.
Fluid flow studieshave shown that when immiscible fluids flow simultaneouslythrough
a porous medium, each fluid follows its own flow path. This flow network changesfor
different ranges of saturationand as the nonwetting phase saturation reduces,the network
for this phasebreaksdown and becomes discontinuous; the remaining stationaryislandsof
i thrn unity the nonwetting phasecanrnt be displaced at pressure gradients encountered in hydrocarbon
J rrl t-CSsoDS reservoirs.This conditionis refened to as a residual nonwetting phase saturation. Similarly,
u a : l . r h l c f' o r as the wetting phasesaturationdecreases, the network through which this phase flows breaks
lhcr rcason down and becomesdiscontinuousand immobile. This is referred to as an ineducible wetting-
f\ ur J pore phase saturation.
Bnncl\ may It has been showns-rrthat for strongly water-wetunconsolidatedsandsthe permeability
I t. lrro low to the wetting phaseis dependentsolely upon its own saturation,(i.e., a plot of k.* as a
3 -rroup 6f function of S* has the same shaperegardlessof whether or not the pore spacecontains gas
f,tl rr uration as well as oil). However, in the petroleumrelatedliterature,somesmall'2''3and somequite
fr' gradient large deviationsare seenfrom thesefindings for consolidatedrocks. Somepublicationsr4'15
I thc Jamin indicate that the nonwetting phaserelative permeability dependson the wetting as well as
I
50 Relative Permeability of P,etroleumReservoirs
average
o
J
o)
minimum
- Y 1
.9
(u
TE
- l
-o
(u
o
E
o
o.
o
.= -01
(u
o
(r
0.5 1.0
S L,
FIGURE 6. R e l a t i v ep e r m e a b i l i t yr a t i o sf o r s a n d sa n d s a n d s t o n e s . r s
the nonwetting phase saturationfor strongly water-wet systems.In preferentiallyoil-wet

systems,the oil phaserelativepermeabilityis found to be strictlya functionof oil saturation,r6
while in water-wet rocks, the oil phaserelative permeabilityis found to dependon both
Vario
water and oil saturation.Donaldsonand Dean'7havepointedout that undertwo-phaseflow,
sandsto
relative permeabilityto water was increasedwhen oil, ratherthan gas was the nonaqueous
and the
phase,indicatingthat water relativepermeabilityis not solelya functionof water saturation.
saturat
abilitl' r
IV. EFFECTSOF ROCK PROPERTIES
wetting
qualita
Relativepermeability-saturation relationsare not identicalfor all reservoirrocks, but may
uncons
vary from formation to formation and from one portion to another of a heterogeneous
and con
formation.
effect o
Arps and Roberts'8have presentedplots of gas-oil relative permeabilityratios for 16
in degre
consolidatedsandstonesand 25 dolomites, cherts, and limestones,all with l57o connate
system
water saturation.These plots are presentedas Figures 6 and 7. The maximum curve in
is wide
Figure 6 seemsto be typical of unconsolidated sandstone,while the minimum curve appears
to be more representativeof highly cementedsandstones.The averagecurve can be con- Corer
permea
sideredtypical of the averageconsolidatedsandstone.The minimum curve in Figure 7,
in aniso
which seemsto be the steepestand most unfavorable,is from a fracturedchert core; at the
saturat
other end of the range, no well-definedmaximum case is apparent.Curve #23, adapted
pendicu
from Bulnes and Fitting's workrerepresenting26samplesof west TexasPermiandolomite,
water-o
appearsto be the bestmaximum curve. The curve selectedas "average" on Figure7 appears
arTange
to be typical of vugular limestones.
ogeneit
Bulnesand Fitting as well as Stone2o have shownthat the fluid flow behaviorin uniform-
Leve
porositycarbonatesamplesis similar to fluid flow behaviorin consolidatedsandstones, but
the differencebecomespronouncedas the rock heterogeneityincreases.
5l
10
ma x im um .\ a verage
o \
-g \ nrmum
\
o) \ \
. Y l \ \
o
(!
tr
.:
I
-o
(u
o
E
q,
o-
o
.: .01
(!
o
tr
. o o1
0.5 1.0
s, L
FIGURE 7. R e l a t i v ep e r m e a b i l i t yr a t i o sf o r l i m e s t o n e sd. o l o m i t e s ,a n d
i a .. . , ' r l - r r e t
lt'
cherts.r*
S : l . . I . r l 1 1 t J 1.
Rn.: ,'lt btlth Various workss''e'2rhave shown that the gas-oil relative permeability of consolidated
'ph.:.c llow.
sandstoneis qualitativelysimilar to the gas-oil relativepermeabilityof unconsolidatedsand
lll\:i.:i.l Llt-'ouS
and there is a very close coffespondence of the two relativepermeabilitiesto oil at high oil
f \.:l'.lfJtlOn.
saturation.It has been found that for consolidatedsand, the wetting-phaserelative perme-
ability drops sharply and the nonwetting phase relative permeabilityrises steeply as the
wetting-phasesaturationdecreases.However, Naar et aI.22have shown that there are both
qualitative and quantitativedifferencesbetweenrelative permeabilityof consolidatedand
L.. lLtt ffioy
unconsolidated sands.Owensand Archerrrindicatedthatpackingasmodifiedby cementation
|fr'icneous
and consolidationaffectsthe equilibrium saturationto the wetting phasebut has a negligible
effect on the equilibrium saturationof the nonwettingphase.Nind23statedthat an increase
llr,'. lttr l6
in degreeof consolidationincreasesthe nonwettingphaserelativepermeabilityin a gas-oil
5 ( " . ()n n a te
system.Severalinvestigatorshave noted that the saturationrangefor a mobile fluid phase
lnr .urre in
is wider in unconsolidatedrock than in consolidatedrock.
ln c .rppears
Corey and Rathjens2a studiedthe effect of rock heterogeneityon drainagegas-oil relative
can hc con-
permeability.They investigatedthe flow paralleland perpendicularto obvious stratification
n I r c u r e7 ,
in anisotropicBereasandstonecoresand concludedthat the relativepermeabilityat a given
C r r t C .a t t h e
saturationfor flow parallel to bedding was greaterthan the analogousvalue for flow per-
J r. .rdapted
pendicularto the bedding plane, as shown in Figures 8 and 9. Huppler2sfound that the
tl .itrl1t11l1a,
water-oil relativepermeabilityof compositecore changesappreciablywhen the sectionsare
rc rppears
arrangedin different orders. Johnsonand Sweeney'oalso studiedthe effect of rock heter-
ogeneityon the gas-oil relative permeabilityratio.
rn unrl b rm-
Leverettafound a small but systematicchangein the positionof the relativepermeability-
drt, rnC:. bUt
o
J
saturatlo
perimen
distribu
c
oo saturati
(spheric
FIGURE8. Relativepermeability
measurements
from an anlsotroprc the shap
sandstone.ra
systems
[,even
water mt
is neces
O - kro - porpondicul!r to boddinO it can h
- kro
O - parEllol to baddlng
unit volr
O - trg - p.rpondlculr. to b.ddinc with larg
O
- krg - p!..llol to boddlng rations a
fluids. T
saturatio
have larl
leavelin
o permeab
l(
Gorrin
it is enc
conclude
nonwett
uniform 1
the size
relative I
higher pr
0 1 efficientl
Botset
so dependsr
and Wyl
FIGURE 9. Relative permeability measurementsfrom a Berea sandstone.2a consequ
of pore s
53
Time 1
Time 2
E otL
M WATER
Time 3
I SAND
FIGURE 10. The formation of residualoil by the blocking

process.
saturationrelationship due to the employment of different sizes of sand grains in his ex-
periments.Botset2rconfirmed Leverett'sfinding and concludedthat the effect of grain size
distributionwas not negligible either on the relationshipbetweenrelativepermeabilityand
saturationor on the value of the equilibrium saturation.It was found that the shape"
(sphericity),roundness"(angularity),and orientation2a of the grainstendedto influenceboth
the shapeof the relative permeability curve and the critical gas saturationvalue in gas-oil
systems.
Leverettapointed out that the relative permeability of an unconsolidatedsand to an oil-
water mixture is relatedto the sandpore size distribution.Muskat et a1.27 suggestedthat it
is necessaryto know the pore geometry of a reservoir rock before fluid movement through
it can be analyzed. Morgan and Gordon2sfound that pore geometry and surface area per
unit volume influencedwater-oil relativepermeabilitycurves.They have shown that rocks
with large pores and correspondinglysmall surfaceareashave low irreducible water satu-
rations and therefore have a relatively large amount of pore spaceavailable for the flow of
fluids. This conditionallows high relativepermeabilityend pointsto exist and allows a large
saturationchangeto occur during two-phaseflow. Correspondingly,rocks with small pores
have larger surface areasper unit volume and they have irreducible water saturationsthat
leave little room for the flow of hydrocarbons.This condition createsa low initial oil relative
permeability as well as a limited saturationrange for two-phaseflow.
Gorring2edemonstratedthat oil in a larger pore can be surroundedand blocked off when
it is encircledby smaller pores which imbibe the displacingwater by capillary forces. He
concluded that both pore size distribution and pore orientation have a direct effect on
nonwetting residual equilibrium saturation, as shown by Figure l0; therefore, a perfectly
uniform packing of spheresshouldgive a residualsaturationnearzero.Gorring also identified
the size of channelsoccupied by the nonwetting phase as an important factor influencing
relative permeability. Crowell et al.30indicated that higher initial water saturationyields a
higher probability for the nonwettingphaseto be in larger channelsso-thatit can b9 recovered
efficiently during wetting-phaseimbibition.
Botset2' mentioned as early as 1939 that the relative perrneability-saturationrelation
dependson the degreeand the type of interconnections of the pores.Fatt,3rDodd and Kiel,32
and Wyllie33 also concluded that the relative permeability of porous media is a direct
consequenceof the network structureof the media. Pathaket al.3aconcludedthat the ratio
of pore size to pore throat is a factor which controls the snapping-off of droplets of the
nonwettingphase,with a high ratio leadingto a high trappedoil saturation.Other workers

have investigatedthe possibilityof describingporousmedia as a network of interconnected
pore bodies and pore throats.
Postdepositional alterationscan form more than one type of reservoirrock from a single
original rock type. Alteration may reducepore sizes,thus causinghigher irreduciblewater
saturationand a natrow rangeof saturationchangeduring two-phaseflow. The presenceof
grains such as feldspar, when partially dissolved,improvesthe reservoirrock quality by
forming pores larger than the pores betweengrains not containingfeldspar.This alteration
causeshigher relative permeabilityvalues and a larger saturationrange during two-ph4sg
flow.tt Reference35 describesalterationsin pore geometry which can occur due to the
introductionof reactivefluids in the rock.
Land and Baptist36indicatedthat when a reservoirsandstonecontainsmontmorilloniteor
mixed-layerclay mineralscontainingexpandablelayers,the watersensitivityof the sandstone
is not necessarilya result of pore blockagedue to the increasedvolume occupiedby the
swollen montmorillonite.Some sandstones containingtrace amountsof clay mineralsmay
exhibit sensitivityto water resultingfrom dispersionand subsequenttransportationof clay
mineralsto pore constrictions.Thus, permeabilityreductionmay occur in formationsthat
do not contain expandableclay minerals;however, all formationscontainingexpandable
clays are probably water-sensitivedue to the easeof dispersionand expansionof this type
of clay. Permeabilityreductionin sandscontainingsodiumclays is likely to be higher than
the reductionin sandscontainingcalcium clays.
Somerock propertiesthat influencerelativepermeabilityvariationsare readily observable
with a binocular microscopeor even more clearly under a scanningelectronmicroscope.
Therefore,microscopiccore examinationcan be highly usefulfor evaluatingrelativeperme-
ability characteristics.Once the significantrock propertyvariationshave been identified, a
reservoir can be subdivided into appropriatereservoir rock types. Within each of such
reservoirrocks types, relative permeabilitycharacteristicsare usually similar, varying only
slightly for rather large changesin air permeabilityor mediangrain size.
V. DEFINITIONAND CAUSESOF WETTABILITY

"Wettability" is
a term usedto describethe relativeattractionof one fluid for a solid in
the presenceof other immisciblefluids. It is the main factor responsiblefor the microscopic
fluid distribution in porous media and it determinesto a great extent the amount of residual
oil saturationand the ability of a particular phaseto flow. The relative affinity of a rock to
a hydrocarbonin the presenceof water is often describedas "water-wet", "intermediate", tension.
or "oil-wet". Examplesof formations with strongly water-wet, strongly oil-wet, and in- tensions
termediatewettability are the Spraberry formation in west Texas, the Black Bradford sand measure
in Pennsylvania,and the Fairbanksand in south Texas, respectively. A pos
Wettability may be representedby the contact angle formed among fluids and a flat solid surfacei:
surfaceor the angle formed betweenthe fluids' interfaceand a glasscapillary tube, as shown angle is
by Figure I l. The angle is measuredthroughthe denserfluid. A neg
The wettability of a porousmedium is determinedby a combinationof all surfaceforces. the solid
A sketchis shown in Figure 12, wherein two liquids, oil and water, are in contactwith a suring o,
solid. The force exerted by water to spreadlaterally and displaceoil (interfacialtension evaluate
betweenwater and oil) is opposedby the resultantof the solid and liquid forces (solid-oil to a surf
and solid-waterinterfacialtensions).This differencein opposingforcesis calledthe adhesion Under
tension: the polar
of surfac
A, : o.o - or* : o*o cos 0*o Q) Stege
molecul
This relationship is referred to as the Young-Dupre equation, where A, is the adhesion for the n
55
hcr i. ()rkers
tt., rtltlc-Ctd
f)nr .r .ingle
P. t'.lc \\ ater
p r l . e o C O f
I . 1 . r . r l r tbr y
i..tltcration
g : , r, , - p h a s e
f \:..i to thg WATER-WET OIL-WET INTERMEDIATE
f r r . .' , r tt t c o r g >goo g=9Oo

e<goo
la..:::Jrttlne
_w;,
p:;.: rr the
FIGURE I L Wettability conditionson flat surfacesand in capillarytubes.
Itll;:.r, . t'l'lii)'
lr' : 'l clal'

!r-:: 'lt. that
cr:'.:itJable
ttl I :1.: t) P
r h .- : . . ' rt h a n ='-Kfig==
y , , : . c r ra b l e ,lI\
lTll. rrrrCOP9.
Ttrp Vian of a Drop of VJater
lltr c P.'a*a- on a Solid Surface in the
i d e : r t r t ' i c ' d .a Presence of Oil
l, i: ,,l rUCh
Ia:-,.:.t ()nly
fx ., . , r l i d i n Ttrree Dirrensional Sdrernatic View

tTl:.:,.'tCOpiC
| ,': :c.tdual FIGURE 12. Forcesat a water-oil-solidinterface.
o: .: r(Xk tO
!r:::l.irate", tension;oso,o,*, and o*o, respectively,are solid-oil, solid-water,and water-oil interfacial
lc: .tnd in- tensions(usually measuredin dyne/cm); 0*" is the contact angle betweenwater and oil
sand
fa"::,'r-.1 measuredthrough the denserliquid phase(usually water).
A positivevalue of adhesiontensionmeansthe contactangleis lessthan 90' and the solid
d . : : . . r ts O l i d surfaceis preferentiallywater-wet. A zerovalue of adhesiontensionindicatesthat the contact
be. .r. .hown angle is equal to 90'; this is intermediatewettability.
A negativevalue of adhesiontension meansthe contact angle is greaterthan 90' and that
ItJ. e l()rceS. the solid surface is preferentially oil wet. There is no practical laboratory method for mea-
fil.:.t $ith a suring trsoor o.*. However, o*o and cos 0 are measurablequantitieswhich can be used to
X i.:, tc'nsion evaluate the wettability of a solid surface. A fluid is referred to as wetting or nonwetting
f,r .trlid-oil to a surfacedependingon whether the contact angle is less than or greaterthan 90".
thc .tJhesion Understandingthe causesof wettability requires a study of the chemistry of the fluids,
the polarity and molecular weight of reservoir hydrocarboncompounds,and the occurrence
of surfacechemical processesat the solid-fluid interfaces.
(2) Stegemeierand Jensen3T experimentally found that the contact angles vary directly with
molecularweight for liquids with similar chemicalstructures.Figure l3 showsthis variation
Jrt' .'Jhesion for the normal paraffin seriescompounds.
50
n-ct
6
n-cl cause al
4
n-cl
2 thermon
40
o
o studies:
o
o)
of crude
30
readilr r
r,u
J
o n-C^
t'
studiesI
z
One c
F
o
< z v
or depos
F
z beenelir
o
geochen
n-c6
10 crude oi
deaspha
I
I
in soluti
50
rock. Ir
100 150 200
quartz iu
MOLECULAR WEIGHT the resu
Despi
F I G U R E 1 3 . C o n t a c ta n g l ea s a f u n c t i o no f m o l e c u l a rw e i g h t . r i preSent
particula
and the
Woodbir
83o -
reservoi
Mungan
formatio
Silica Surface wet whe
film left
fsooctane film will
fsooctane +
5.7E Isoquinoline
Isoqrinoline Naphthenic can then
SuggeSt
eitheroil
wet rese
with airlr
Calcite Sr-rrface the aque
Autho
FIGURE 14. Interfacialcontactangles.38 reservoir
fractiona
Benner and Bartell38examined various multi-liquid systemsin contact with silica and
the fracti
calcite surfaces.Figure l4 illustratessomeof the findings of this study. It was reportedby
the wate
theseinvestigatorsthat when water and iso-octaneare used, the silica and calcite surfaces
of capill:
are preferentially wet by water; but when water and naphthenicacid are used, water wet
while the
the silica but oil wet the calcite surface.The experimentof Benner and Bartell illustrated "spotted
the effects of chemical as well as fluid compositionof phaseson wettability of a porous
dition in
medium. Contact angles as low as 30o and as high as l58o were observedwhen various
Gimalud
chemicalswere employedin the study.
that the r
Salathiel3ediscoveredthat the wettability of mineral surfacesmay be altered not only by to the ror
adsorbedmonolayersof surface-activepolar compounds,but also by much thicker layers insular n
of depositedorganic materials. Severalother workers have reportedthe formation of stable preferent
films on solid surfaceswhen the surfacesstandin contactwith certaincrude oils. Reisberg
somepon
and Doshelo described the deposition on glass or quartz surfaces of highly stable and
The er
appreciablythick films of strongly oil-wet material from Ventura crude oil.
chemistr
Early experimentersthought that all oil-bearing formations were strongly water-wet be-
compoun
minerals
i7
causean aqueousphasewas always the fluid initially in contactwith reservoirrock; fur-

thermore, silica and carbonatesare normally water-wet in their clean state. Subsequent
studies suggestedthat many oil reservoirsare not strongly water-wet and that the presence
of crudeoils containingnaturalsurface-active agents,suchas asphalticor wax type material
readily adsorbableby solid-liquid interfaces,can render the solid surfaceoil-wet.arOther
studiesprovide evidencethat reservoirrock wetting preferencemay cover a broad spectrum.
One criticism of the idea of reservoirrock surfacesbecomingmodified by the adsorption
or depositionof polar organicmaterialfrom the oil phaseis that suchmaterialsshouldhave
been eliminatedduring migration from the sourcerock to the reservoir.On the other hand,
geochemistsare now finding substantialevidenceof variousalterationprocesses which affect
crude oils subsequentto their accumulationin reservoirs.[n a discussionof natural gas
deasphalting,Evanset al.a2suggesteda reasonablehypothesisthat the more gas a crude has
in solutionthe more of its heavyendshave come out of solution,plating out on the reservoir
rock. It may be noted in this respectthat Salathiel'sstrongly oil-wet film depositionon
quartzand porous rocks from a mixture of evacuatedcrude oil and heptanewas also probably
the result of a deasphaltingprocess.
Despite uncertaintyas to the causesof reservoir wettability, much evidencehas been
presentedin recentyearsto suggestthat many oil reservoirsare not stronglywater-wet.In
particular,there are the many brine/crudeoil contact-anglemeasurements of Treiber et aI.62
and the conclusionsof Salathielwith regard to the apparentwetting characteristicsof the
Woodbine reservoirin the East Texas Field. Nuttinga3as early as 1934indicatedthat some
reservoir rocks are oil-wet. Leach et al.aadescribeda reservoir believed to be oil-wet.
Munganasstudied fresh carefully preservedcores from a reservoir and concluded that the
formationwas oil-wet. Schmida6hasshownthat stronglywater-wetcoresbecamelesswater-
wet when equilibratedwith some crudes.Kusakov et al.a1studiedthe thicknessof a water
film left on a quartz surfaceunder crude oil drops and found that for two of the crudes, the
film will rupture, bringing the crude oil into direct contactwith the quartz surface;the surface
can then be describedas water-wet at some spots and oil-wet at others. Also, Craigas
suggestedthat most formations are of intermediatewettability with no strong preferencefor
eitheroil or water. There is recentevidenceto suggestthat water may not alwayscompletely
wet reservoirrock in gas-waterflow following solvent injection. Soil scientistsconcerned
with airlwater/soilsystemshave reportedsituationsin which thereis incompletewetting by
the aqueousphase.ae
Authors such as Holbrook and Bernard,soand Fatt and Klikoffs' assumedthat wetting of
reservoir solids was heterogeneousrather than uniform. Holbrook and Bernard measured
fractional wettability by dye adsorption. Brown and Fatts2defined fractional wettability as
d t l : . r l r c aa n d the fraction of surface area in contact with water. This may not be a constantvalue since
|s :s3rr1sd[y the water and oil saturationschangeas a reservoiris produced.Schmida6showedby means
il r - rlc . Urfa Ce S of capillary pressure-saturation data, that in preservedcores the fine pores were water-wet
hJ. ri tter wet while the large pores were much less water-wet. This type of wetting is often referred to as
le l l r llu stra te d "spotted", "dalmation", or "fractional". That heterogeneous wettability is a normal con-
' , 'r r po ro u s dition in oil sandshas also been suggestedby Salathiel,3e Iwankow,s3Brown and Fatt,s2
rr hcn various Gimaludinov,s4and McGhee and Crocker.ssSeveralof theseinvestigatorshave suggested
that the wetting phasecompletely occupiesthe smaller pores of a reservoir rock in addition
)d n,'l only by to the rock surface of the larger pores, while the nonwetting phaseprimarily occupies the
t h r ; I cr l a ye rs insular regions of the larger pores. Evidence suggeststhat some oil reservoirs are partly
llt,'n of stable preferentiallywater-wet and partly preferentiallyoil-wet. Such a condition could arise if
o r l. Re i sb e rg someporesare lined with one type of mineral and other poresare lined with anothermineral.
lr .t abl e a n d The existence of different minerals in porous media can create differences in surface
chemistry of the grains, so all grain surfacesdo not have the sameaffinity for surfaceactive
S .r l cr-w b
t e- compounds. For instance, a tertiary sand reservoir in Alaska contains quartz and siderite
minerals which are strongly water-wet and calcite which is strongly oil-wet. The overall
58 Relat iv e P ermeabi I i ty of Petro leum Re'rervoirs
necedi-ng
l^later Water displacing oil |st ti.
di spLaced Static conditrlon Advancmg
by oi1
tubes.
FIGURE 15. Advancing and recedingcontactanglesin capillary
siderite surfacesin
rock system is water-wet, probably due to the presenceof quartz and
presence of anhydrite or gypsum in the flow channelsof some
the main flow channels.The
These minerals are found to create a strongly water-
carbonaterock may alter its wettability.
rocks are probably oil-wet under reservoir conditions'
wet system, while many carbonate
to render a surface oil-wet when they are present in the
Heavy metal sulfides are known
flow channelsof Porous media'
is covered by a
Wagner and Leachs6stated that in some oil reservoirsthe rock surface
would be preferentially
firmly attachedbituminousor other organiccoating. Such surfaces
Boneau
oil-wet in the presenceof oil and water, regardlessof oil and water composition.
reservoir due to
is
and Clampitt.tt-reported that the oil-wet characterof the North Burbank
surface'
a coating of chamositeclay which coversapproximately77o of the quartz
VI. DETERMINATIONOF WETTABILITY

qualitatively'
The wettabilityof a rock can be eitherevaluatedexperimentallyor estimated
However' labo-
There is no satisfactorymethod to determinein si/a reservoirwettability.
ratory-measured wettabilityhasbeenusedto evaluatein situ wettability.Many of the widely
rock or the
used experimentalmethodsof wettability evaluationutilize either the reservoir
be related
reservoirfluids, but not both. Therefore,a laboratorywettabilityevaluationshould
to actual reservoirconditionsusing a greatdeal of caution.
{d
I
I
A. Contact Angle Method rlcf
has received
The contactangle methodis usedby a numberof laboratories;the technique
I
thc cr
t
measurement'
considerableattentionin the literatureas a quantitativemethodof wettability rllu.tr
restingon
The method consistsof measuringthe contactangle 0 that a drop of pure liquid rhri
immersed in
a smooth, flat, incompressible,nonporous,homogeneoussolid forms when L.ICr
the solid surface
anotherfluid. In most iractical situations,the contactangleformedbetween trtr F
than a single
and the water-oil interface is found to exhibit two limiting values rather rnltrel
brought into contactwith
equilibrium value. The value of the contactangle when water is "advancingcontactangle"'
t\SUf
oil on a solid surfacepreviouslyin contactwith oil is calledthe rjren
The value of contact angle when oil is brought into contact with water on a solid surface ttrnt
"receding contactangle".
previouslyin contactwith water is called the Ttx
in a capillary
Figure l5 shows a comparisonof advancingand recedingcontactangles rtxtr t
is referred to as
tube. The fact that advancing and receding contact angles are not equal rc.r-[r
and roughness,
contactangle hysteresisand it is usually attributedto surfaceheterogeniety rnsk
As the
as well as the presenceof surface-activematerialsssand rate of fluid movement. Rc
increase, provided the
surfaceroughnessof a rock increases,the contactangle will further irr I
however, if the
contact angle measuredon the smooth surfaceof the rock is above 90o; a(rr\
in surface roughness
contactanglemeasuredon a smoothsurfaceis lessthan90o,the increase txl th
to increasein
would further decreasethe angle. The smoothsurfacecontactangle is found ctuLJ
of the 0 to l80o contact
advancingand decreasein receding,on the rough surfaceover most cn(!u
angle range.tn fTBa\r
solid-fluid
Surface-activematerialsin the fluids may causeadsorptionprocessesat the a nxj
even with a smooth,
interfaceswhich give rise to appreciablecontact angle hysteresis 7t'
contact angle hys-
homogeneoussolid. Motion of thl three-phaseline of contactincreases
teresisas the rate of movementincreases'
59
It4ineral Flat plate #1

e
ter /or,
/
Mineral Flat plate #2
B .urlrces in
lk'1. rrf some F I G U R E 1 6 . S c h e m a t r cm e a s u r e m e notf c o n t a c ta n g l e s . 5 o
Dn. lr \\ ater-
r ..,::Jrtitlns. 't20
Equilibrium
JB.;::l rn the tContact Angle
. "
Oil-wet a
o
o
irri t:.'J b' a o
;r':. :lntially 3 8 0
!
br'' [JtrneaU
o
f,r:: . duc to o,
lar -
8 E 4 0
o
Water-wet
o
o
1u.:.ri.rtirely.
$.'. Jr. labo-
0 20 40 60
D t r h. r r i d e l y
Time (hours)
J : , ' .k o r t h e
ll.: ^.' rclated
F I G U R EI 7 Influenceof aging on laboratory-measured
contactangle.18
Advancingand recedingcontactanglescan be shownin a capillarytube for oil displacing

water(recedingangle)and waterdisplacingoil (advancingangle).The procedureto determine
the contact angle using a contact angle cell is describedby Wagner and Leachs6
and is
illustratedschematicallyby Figure 16. Briefly, samplesof polishea,Rat platesof the mineral
which is the main constituentof the reservoirrock are immersedin a sampleof formation
water. A drop of reservoiroil is held betweenthe two flat samplesof the mineral
and the
two plates are moved horizontally so that the water advanceson the surfaceof the plate
initially coveredby oil. The contactangleformedbetweenthe interfaceand the newly water-
occupied surfaceof the mineral is a measureof the water advancingcontact angle.
The
advancingcontactangle is the one that is customarilymeasuredand often reportedwithout
being identified as advancing.
The contact angle measuredin the laboraotryis often influencedby aging. It has been
ll .: ..rpillary
shown that contactangle increaseswith age of the oil-solid interfaceuntil an Lquilibrium
BI.::Jd tO AS is
reached.This may require severaldays and it is one of the disadvantages of the contact
d r '.rrhness,
angle method.a8Figure l7 shows this effect.
Jrt'::: .\s the
Reliable wettability measurementrequiresthat both the reservoirrock and the fluids be
pr, ''. iJc'd the
free from contaminants.Uncontaminatedreservoirrocks can probably be obtainedif the
lc',.':. if the
coresare recoveredwith coring fluid containingno surface-active additivesor with reservoir
fc :,'Lrghness
oil that has not been exposedto oxygen. It has been reportedthat exposureof coresto air
D irircase in
could result in alterationfrom water-wetto intermediatewettability. Uncontaminatedres-
| \r I CrtntaCt
ervoir water and oil are easierto obtain than unalteredreservoirrock. Since contactangle
measurement can be donewithout a sampleof (uncontaminated) reservoirrock, it hasbecome
ts .rrlrd-fluid
a widely used method for determiningwettability.
h .r :t'llOOth,
g t . 1 n c l eh y s -
Zismanmand other investigatorsstudiedcontactanglesunder controlledconditionsand
expressedvarying opinions concerningthe method's usefulness.Melrose and Brandner6r

believed that the contact angles provides the only direct and clear specificationof the
wettability property characteristicof a given oil-water-rocksystem.Treiber et a|.62found
that the water-advancing contactanglescorrelatewell with other wettabilityindicatorswhile
water-recedinganglesdo not.
Brown and Fatts2questionedthe ability of the contactangle methodto provide a reliable
scale for determiningwettability and suggestedthat the conceptof a contact angle repre-
sentation of wettability of reservoir rock be abandonedand that this method be replaced
with a "fractional surfacearea" method. Morrow et al.63also observedthat severalfactors
cast doubt on the utility of the contact angle method. Mungans describedsome of the
limitations and pitfalls of contactangle measurementas follows:
l. The mineral chosenfor the contactangle measurementis the principal constituentof

the reservoirrock. For the purposeof contactangle measurement,silica or quartz is
usedto representa sandstone;calciteis usedto representa carbonateor reef reservoir.
Laboratorymeasurementof contactangle or mineral surfacesmay not simulatetrue
reservoircontactangle.
2. The contact angle at the water/oil displacementfront is "advancing" while at the
leading edge of the oil bank it is "receding". Thesevalues sometimesdiffer by as
much as 50o. This variationcan be on the sameorder of magnitudeas the laboratory-
measuredcontactangle.
3. Contactangle measurementshouldbe done when the solid surfaceand a fluid remain
in contact for an adequatetime before the secondfluid is introducedover the surface.
This is referredto as pre-equilibriumtime and it is of different length for each crude
oil-water system.Without adequatepre-equilibriumtime, a stablecontactangle is not
reached.In somecasesit hasbeenreportedthat a stablecontactangleis neverobtained
if the solid surfacecomes into contactwith some types of crude oils. Contact angle
measurementis frequentlytime consuming.
4. Contact angle measurementshould be performedwith actual reservoirfluids, since
they are in equilibrium and solubility effectsare negligible;otherwise,the fluids must
be equilibratedwith one anotherso that the solubility effectsbecomenegligible.
5. Contactanglemeasurement preferablyshouldbe donewith bottom-holefluid samples;
however,becauseof the time and expensesinvolved, flow line samplesare often used.
Fluid samplestaken from the storageor treating facilities are not reliable, due to the
possibleaccumulationof asphaltenes. When producedwater is not available,synthetic
brine is commonly used.
6. Contact angle measurements should be made under controlledconditionsso that the
oxidation of crude oil can be prevented. I
7. Contact angle measurementrequiresextremecare to assurecleanlinessand inertness l
of the apparatus. a
t
B. Imbibition Method
An imbibition test is a reliabletechniqueof wettability determinationprovidedunaltered
reservoir fluids are available. The method consistsof the measurementof rate of flow of a a
wetting fluid spontaneouslyimbibed into a core and replacinga nonwettingfluid by the
action of capillary forces alone.
Imbibition testsmay be performedat standardconditionsor at reservoirconditions.Figures
18, 19, and 20 illustrateequipmentthat is usedfor conductingthe testsat ambientconditions.
The imbibition test at standardconditionsmay be performedas follows:
L
l. A cylindrical plug of reservoirrock I to I tlrin. in diameteris cut with water as a T I
coolantin the cuttingprocess. G
6l
I Brrndnero'
I t t r ) r 1( ) i t h e
'r
I rl iound
i c u i . ' ! - .s h i l e
&' .r rcliable
Capillary Tube
an i lc repre-
ir* rcplaced
r c:.rl t'actors
g)r:r. of the
th:,; at the
dr::lr br as
i lrnl )rJtofy-
flurJ rcmain
lhc.urtace.
f cJLh crude
,anilc is not
tcr,,btained
b n : . , .i l n g l e M e t a l l i cS a m p l e H o l d e r
llu,.:.. stIlC Tef lon

I il-:J. ntUst
glrirl.le.
Urd..lnlples;
! ( ' | : l c nU s e d .
i. Juc to the
lG. .r nthetic
F I G U R E 1 8 . I m b i b i t i o nc e l l .
D -,, ihat the

2. The sample is placed under water in a beaker and evacuatedto remove trapped gas.
3. The sampleis flushed with water to reducethe oil saturationto residuallevel.
lhj rncrtness
4. The core plug is placedin an imbibition cell underoil and oil imbibition is monitored.
5. The drained water is measured;it is equal to the amount of imbibed oil. Sufficient
time should be allowed for the systemto reachequilibrium; this may take severaldays
dependingon the permeability of the plug.
hJ unaltered
Ol :l()\\ Of a 6. The plug is then saturatedwith oil to reduce the remaining water to the ineducible
level.
fl u r J b1 th e
7. The sampleis placedin an imbibition cell underwater and water imbibition is monitored
by the amount of oil being drained. The fluid that imbibes into the sample (oil or
bn. Figures
I c , ''nditi o n s. water) is the wetting phase.
The imbibition test under reservoir conditions is more complex. Irreducible water satu-
ration is establishedby flushing the core with live oil and the imbibition tests are made at
I r,i.rtc'f ilS &
reservoir pressureand temperature.
hr .rn
{cF\
l
:
6 l
to Water Reservoir
)7
()rl rn
fTf3\ff
irtrm .
Thc
t c . \
rrxlx.l
.ufler
F I G U R E 1 9 . I m b i b i t i o nc e l l ll* rr Ct
{m
\ltlre
Accumulated
the rm
also rn
scll a
ctal'
lhe r tr
rmhrht
aofe s
causer
\lur
a(rfBa
*rth g
le\t K
C. Br
The
refcrrc
oi ttr
Rubber Stopper -----+ flurds r
hr ca,,
br Ga
made r
Ftre\!ul
FIGURE 20. Imbibition cell.
nrtlxr
Amott6s developed a quantitative techniquefor defining the degreeof water-wetnessof

D-cq
cores. He expressedthe degreeof water wetnessby a water index, which he defined as the
Jc*rr
ratio of the volume of water spontaneouslyimbibed into a core to the total volume of oil
\rettah'
displacedby a water drive (forced displacementof oil by water). Similarly, an oil index
Jorn\ tl
was defined at the ratio of the volume of oil spontaneously
imbibed to total water displaced
trrth a
63
by an oil drive (forceddisplacementof water by oil). Amott's test consistsof the following
steps:
l Flush the reservoirsamplewith water to reducethe oil saturationto its residuallevel.

2. Immersethe samplein water and evacuateto remove gas.
3. Immersethe samplein kerosene(or reservoiroil) and measurethe volume of water
displacedby imbibition of oil after 20 hr.
4. Measure the volume of water displacedwhen the sampleis centrifugedunder oil.
5. Immersethe samplein water and measurethe volume of oil displacedby water after
20 hr.
6. Measure the volume of oil displacedwhen the sampleis centrifugedunder water.
Oil index is the ratio of the volume of fluid measuredin step 3 to the volume of fluid
measuredin step 4. Water index is the ratio of fluid volume from step 5 to fluid volume
from step 6.
The preferentialwettabilityof a rock is determinedby the magnitudeof thesetwo indexes,
i.e., strong wettability is indicatedby values approachingone and a weak preferencein
indicatedby valuesapproachingzero. A water index of one indicatesa strongly water-wet
surfacewhile an oil index of one indicatesa stronglyoil-wet surface.Valuesbetweenthese
two extremesor a value nearzero for both ratioscover the rangeof intermediatewettability.
Amott's testof wettabilityof porousmediareceivedhigh marksfrom Razaet aI.66,although
Moore and Slobad,67 Bobek et aI.,68Killens et al.,6eand RichardsonTo have indicatedthat
the imbibition rate cannot be entirely attributedto the wettability of the core, but that it is
also influencedby rock porosity, permeability,pore structure,and pore size distribution,as
well as viscosityand interfacialtensionof the fluids involved in the experiment.Donaldson
et al.7' tried to eliminateextraneouseffectsfrom the wettabilitymeasurement by comparing
the volumes of fluids imbibed into preservedreservoircores with the volumes of fluids
imbibed in the same cores after extractionand resaturation.Although the use of the same
core would appearto offer identicalpore size distributions,the changein fluid distributions
causedby the cleaningprocessmay have offset the advantagegained.
MunganT2reportedthe use of an imbibition test to evaluatethe wettability of native-state
cores. Emery et a1.73used an imbibition test after incubationof cores for up to 1,000 hr
with gas-saturated oil under pressure;water was the first phaseto contactthe rock in the
test. Kyte et al.7adescribedimbibition testsconductedat reservoirtemperatureand pressure.
C. Bureau of Mines Method

The U.S. Bureauof Mines methodof wettabilitydeterminationof a porousrock, commonly
referredto as the "Centrifuge Method", is basedon the assumptionthat an elementalarea
of the internal surfaceof the porous medium is either wettableor nonwettableby one of the
fluids involved. The problemis one of determiningthe fractionof the internalsurfacewetted
by each fluid. A methodof measuringwettabilitybasedon the abovetheory was suggested
by Gatenby and MarsdenTsand was later developedby Donaldson.TrThese investigators
made use of the areasobtained from the drainageand imbibition cycles of the capillary
pressurecurve to producea numericalrepresentation of wettability. The Bureau of Mines
method is quite rapid and it can be employedwith reservoirfluids.
' u c t ncsso f
D. Capillarimetric Method
hnc,i as the Johansenand DunningT6recognizedthe importanceof the liquid used in determining
lu r nc of o i l wettability of a rock-liquid-brinesystemand suggestedthe use of a capillarimeterwhich
n ,,rlindex joins the two liquid phases,oil and water, through a small diameterglasscapillary tube,
!r J r. place d with a capillary pressureacrossthe interfacejoining the two phases.Adhesion tensionor
displacementenergy, was calculatedfrom the differencein height of the two liquids in the
two armsof the capillarimeter,the differencein densities,and the accelerationdue to gravity.
The instrumentis capableof measuring interfacialforceswith eitheran advancing or receding
interface. Major limitations of this method are the exclusion of reservoirrock as a factor
influencingwettability and lack of provision to preventoil from oxidizing.
E. Fractional Surface Area Method

This method, developedby Brown and Fatt,s2usesmixturesof untreatedsandand sand
renderedoil-wet by organosilanevaporsto obtainwettingconditionsrangingfrom completely
water-wetto completelyoil-wet.
Wettability is representedby the fraction of solid surfacemade artificially oil-wet. Al-
though use of the method to evaluatefield behavioris not in evidence,the conceptof a
fractionally wet surfacehas been presentedin the work of other writers.3e
F. Dye Adsorption Method

This method,developedby Holbrook and Bernard,-50 is basedupon the ability of reservoir
rock to adsorba dye suchas methyleneblue from aqueoussolution,while rock surfaceareas
covered by contaminantsfrom the oil phase remain unaffected.The test is based on a
comparisonof the adsorptioncapacity of the test samplewith that of an adjacentsample
extractedby chloroform and methanol.This methodmakesassumptionssimilar to thoseof
Brown and Fatts2in their "fractional surface area" method. that is
a test
G. Drop Test Method petrolr
This method is often used to confirm rock wettability. The procedureinvolves placing routin
drops of oil and water on the surfaceof a fresh break in the core. The fluid that imbibes is
the wetting phasewhile the fluid that forms a ball and doesnot wet the surfaceis nonwetting. J. Res
The drop test is a qualitativedeterminationand is sometimesmisleading. Mc(
oil sat
H. Methods of Bobek et al. a nati\
Bobek et aI.68proposeda laboratorytestto ascertainpreferentialwettability in a qualitative found
fashion. The techniqueconsistsof determiningwhich fluid will displacethe other from a ones.
rock sampleby imbibition. The resultsof this imbibition test are comparedwith thoseof a be con
referenceimbibition test on the samecore sampleafter it has been heatedto 400'F for 24 the co
hr to remove any organic materialsand to make it more water-wet. The assignmentof scribe
qualitativewettability designationsis basedon the relativeamountsand ratesof imbibition (See I
in the two tests. prefen
In the same paper a method for estimatingthe wettability of unconsolidatedmaterial is to the
discussed.A thin layer of the unconsolidatedsandis spreadon a microscopeslide. The oil a rock
content of the sand is increasedby adding a clear refined oil. Droplets of water are then fluid s
placedon the surfaceof the sandgrains and the fluid movementis observed.If the sand is curve
water-wet, the added water will displace oil from the surfacesof the sand grains and the
oil will form spherical droplets, indicating that oil is the nonwetting phase. A similar K. Pe
procedureis used to test for oil wettability. The
compa
I. Magnetic Relaxation Method at con
A nuclearmagneticrelaxationtechniquewas suggesteds2 for determiningthe portionsof water-
the rock surfacearea that are preferentiallywater-wetor oil-wet. A rock sample is first betwe
exposedto a strong magneticfield, then to a much weakerfield. The magneticrelaxation in the
rate- that is, the rate at which the initially imposedmagnetismis lost - is then measured. wettab
In sandpackscontaining known mixtures of oil-wet and water-wet sand grains, a linear be wei
relationship was observedbetween the relaxation rate and the fraction of the surface area design
65
I l r q u r d si n t h e
due to eravity.
i n s t r Fr e c e d i n g
x[ ar a factor
s.rrrJand sand
D nl.\ )nlp l e te l y
l ) , " 1 - r r e tA. l -
I . , l : . c p lo f a
il \ ,, 1rcse rvo i r .t
0.5
\ . -.:i.rgc&feos Fraction of Dri-Filmed Sano
i. ..:.cd on a
lp. cnt :ample FIGURE 21. Interstitialwater saturationfor sand mixtures.sr
ilar i,' thtlse of
that is oil-wet. Though the authorsreportedno studiesusing naturalcores, they proposed
a testingprocedure.Their techniquerequiresspecializedequipmentnot normally found in
petroleumlaboratoriesand thereare no indicationsin the literaturethat the methodhasfound
5 1 r l rg r p l a c i n g routine use.
h . r i r rrrb i b eis
i . n , ' n \ cr t t i n g . J. Residual Saturation Methods
McGheeet al.,ssLorenz et al.7eand Rezniket al.80reporteda correlationbetweenresidual
oil saturationand wettability. Treiber et al.62reportedthat the connatewater saturationin
a native core can sometimesbe usedas an indicationof formationwetting preference.They
in r .iualitative found that oil-wet formation have much lower connatewater saturationsthan the water-wet
! ( ) i i. r i ro m a ones. In addition, the connatewater saturationin a stronglyoil-wet reservoirwas found to
yril-.th,rseof a be constantregardlessof the samplepermeability,while in reservoirsof other wettabilities
) -lr r r l: t-or 24 the connatewater saturationdecreasedwith increasein permeability.Iwankow53also de-
l. . r snnte n t o f scribedthe effect of heterogenoussandwettability in terms of a fraction of drifilmed sand.
it,: rrrrhibition (See Figure 21.) Drifilm is a solution commonly used in the laboratoryto make sands
preferentiallyoil-wet. Coley et al.8r were not successsfulin using the ratio of the wetting
hj rrr.rtcrial is to the nonwettingresidual saturationfrom relative permeability-saturation relationshipsas
s lr Je Th e o i l a rock preferentialwettability indicator; however, they found that the volume of mobile
la tcr lre th e n fluid shown by the spreadbetweenthe residualsaturationvaluesof a relativepermeability
I t r n c : a n di s curve appearsto decreaseas the oil wettability increases.
p u r n. a n d th e
t' '\ similar K. Permeability Method
The determinationof wettability of a samplefrom permeabilitydata is accomplishedby
comparingthe ratio of water permeabilityat residualoil saturationwith the oil permeability
at connatewater saturation.If this ratio is less than 0.3, the sample is consideredto be
h' F'rtions of water-wet,while a value near unity indicatesthat the sampleis oil-wet.82The relationship
rnrplc is first betweenabsolutepermeabilityand connatewater saturationhas been frequentlymentioned
;tre rclaxation in the petroleum literature and the relationshipbetweenconnatewater saturationand rock
Fn nrcasured. wettability has been discussed.Rocks with low connatewater saturationare consideredto
lrn.. a linear be weakly water-wetto oil-wet, while rocks with high connatewater saturationare normally
! \ urlacea re a designatedas water-wet.
Relative Permeability of P etroleum Reservoirs
(Water-wet)
ft rel
h .
al rl
(r{{uF
rlirr
Sw tbr(f\
edh
TL
crn&t
trt lh
tT er
(Oit-wet)
dtc rn.
It h!
Fcrrx
krel l*e
trl rel
r-cr.
rltuot
sbrrrr
pre.lcf
thc ctl
Sw {rtYrg
th. g
FIGURE 22. Schematicwettability effecrs on relative
permeabilitycurves. TtE
tllg8e
L. Connate Water-Permeability Method rehrr
A correlationof absolutepermeabilityas a function of water saturationin corescut with Lncr
oil-basemud hasbeenusedfor qualitativeidentificationof corewettability.6s Watersaturation chang
is measuredin freshly cut coresand absolutepermeabilityis determinedafter extractionand mlcrl{
drying. A plot of water saturationas a function of absolutepermeabilityto air is prepared. rhrlc
The curve will have a gentle slope over a large saturationinterval for water-wetsystems,
while it will exhibit a nearlyverticalslopeover a narrowsaturationrangefor oil-wet systems. \. R.
This techniqueis applicableprimarily to thick hydrocarbonreservoirswith sufficientvariation Thc
in permeability and water saturationso the required plot can be prepared. dto I
thc ru
M. Relative Permeability Method prefen
For a given water saturation,the water relativepermeabilityof a water-wetrock is lower
than that of a comparableoil-wet rock. For the systemsstudiedby Owens and Archern it O. R.
was found that an increasein oil wetness(at constantwater saturation)producedan increase lfo
in k,* and a decreasein k,.,. Treiber et aI.62concludedthat water-wetconsolidatedporous of thc
media normally have a water relative permeabilitylessthan l5Vo at residualoil saturation, of thc
while oil-wet porous media show a 50Voor higher relative permeabilityto water at flood- hghcr
out. gas-or
Craigasoffers the following heuristicguidelines,which are illustratedby Figure 22: fronr r
prefen
r-anqr
67
Water-wet Oil-wet
S*i >20 to 25Va < l 1% a,usual l yl 07o

k,* -- t[r.*
.
@ S*>507o @ S*<507o
k,* at S.,* <0.3 > 0.5, approachi ng 1.0
In a water-wetrock, residualoil globulesin the large flow channelsblock the easy flow
of water and causea low water relativepermeability;however,the oil in an oil-wet system
occupiessmaller flow channelsand coatsthe walls of the largerones, causinga minimum
disturbanceto water flow and a higher water relativepermeability.ttThis is why an oil-wet
reservoirwill waterfloodpoorly, with early water breakthrough,rapid increasein water cut,
and high residualoil saturation.
The water-oil relative permeabilityrelationshipof native-statecores under steady-state
conditionsis one of the best indicatorsof the rock wettability preference.Keelan82pointed
out that a sharpdrop in oil relativepermeabilityover a small saturationchangeaccompanied
by a rapid rise in relative permeabilityto water, to a terminal value in excessof one third
the initial oil relativepermeability,often indicatesoil wetness.Careful sampleexamination
is essentialin using this technique,for heterogeneous or cracked samplesyield relative
permeabilitydata similar to the data obtainedfrom oil-wet cores.
Water relative permeabilitycurves in water-oil systemsshow good agreementwith the
oil relativepermeabilitycurve obtainedduring gas-oilrelativepermeabilitytestsin a strongly
water-wet core.62'63'84 This effect does not exist under any other wetting condition. In a
strongly water-wet core, the water relative permeability curve of a water-oil system also
shows good agreementwith the water relative permeabilityof a gas-watersystem in the
presenceof residualoil saturation.This agreementwill occur, even though the directionof
the changein saturationmay not be the samein the two systems.In the same manner, in
stronglyoil-wet cores, the gas relativepermeabilityof a gas-watersystemis comparableto
the gasrelativepermeabilityof a gas-watersystemin the presenceof residualoil saturation.8a
The point of intersection of the water and oil relative permeability curves has been
suggestedas an indication of rock wettability. Owens and Archerrr have shown that the
relative permeability intersectionpoint moves toward higher values of water saturationand
lower values of relative permeability in a water-oil system as the sample wettability is
rr-. ;ut $ ith
changedfrom oil-wet to water-wet. As illustratedby Figure 22, a relative permeability
Rr..rluration
intersectionpoint on the left of 507o water saturationindicatesthat the system is oil-wet,
tI.:. : l()n and
while an intersectionto the right of this saturationsuggeststhat the system is water-wet.
i. l:cpared.
Iei .'..tgms.
lCl .\:tCfflS.
N. Relative Permeability Summation Method
The summation of relative permeabilitiesto the water and oil phaseat fixed saturations
ln: ..lriation
also gives some insight into the immiscible flow processes.McCafferysenoted a trend in
the minimum values of the sum of relative permeabilitiesof samplesaccordingto their
preferential wettabilities.
I\-k r. lower
O. Relative Permeability Ratio Method
| - \ : ' eh c ' r r ri t
If the ratio of displacing to displacedphaserelative permeability is plotted as a function
Ja n r n c r e a s e
of the displacing-phasesaturation,the shapeof the plot is related to preferentialwettability
btc.i porous
of the rock.66It has been shown that the water-oil relative permeability ratio shifts to a
l..rturatioD,
higher value as the rock becomesmore oil-wet; furthermore, a semilog plot of water-oil and
ler .rt tlood-
gas-oil relative permeability indicatesthat the gas-oil relative permeabilityratio curve moves
from under to over the water-oil relative permeability ratio curve as the rock becomes
;ur-cll:
preferentially water-wet.sr The water-oil relative permeability ratio curves of rock with
variousdegreesof intermediatewettability are found to be practicallythe samein the presence
of constantinitial water saturation.85

Imbibition water-oil relativepermeabilityratio curves ni .t
in the absenceof initial water saturationsshow higher valuesof residualoil saturationas ;r<\i i
the cores become more oil-wet.8sSteady-staterelative permeabilitymeasurements should rItYl.S
be usedfor determinationof wettability. Unsteady-state methodsmay not allow equilibrium lg.t. b
to occur during the flow test; therefore,they may indicatemore oil wettnessthan actually h. .ti
exists. It h.r.
rcu-rt
P. Waterflood Method tcfnrtr
Severalattemptsto find a single correlationof wettability with waterfloodoil recovery ('ru
for different porous media have failed, even though the tests were carried out under a rult\ C
standardset of conditions.6sHowever, the waterflood performanceof a native-statecore [vc\f,r
under carefully controlled laboratory conditions has been used as an indication of rock .rlltlrr
preferentialwettability. It is found that in a strongly water-wetsystem,a large fraction of tJJntrl"i
the oil is producedprior to water breakthroughand very little additionaloil is recovered r. ll\el
after breakthrough.For the test to be reliable,an equilibriumwetting conditionmust prevail trtl tr I
prior to the passageof the flood front through the core. \arr
ln-hnt.
Q. Capillary Pressure Method rnr'tlf r
Both displacementpressureand the ratio of drainageto imbibition displacementpressure atc ir,t
have beenproposedas qualitativeindicatorsof preferentialwettabilityof porousmedia. An srrnn$
increasein displacementpressureor in the ratio of drainageto imbibition displacement Ctn
pressuresignifies a tendencyof the core to becomemore oil-wet. The above techniqueis ctx|\lrtr
applicablewhen oil-water capillary tests are made on native-statecores. However, most rlJny
capillary pressuretestsare either of the mercury injection or air-brinetype, which provide rxx re!
little information concerningwettability.8l xrphrs
Fa-t
R. Resistivity Index Method arrl pn
Formation resistivity obtainedfrom electric logs can be used as a qualitativetechnique frrft .t
for wettability identification. Resistivity index is defined as the ratio of true formation the chr
resistivityto resistivityof the formation when 1007asaturatedwith formationwater. A high that tlx
value of resistivity index indicatesa low water saturationor a discontinuouswater phase, oi hear
which characterizean oil-wet system.A knowledgeof the water saturationin the rock may [rR\n
yield sufficient information to make a judgementabout rock wettability. Jenn
There is considerableuncertaintyconcerningthe natureof the wettability characteristics abrlrtr
of reservoir rocks in situ. Tests of wettability made on cores taken from reservoirsare not randst<
necessarilyvalid indicatorsof subsurfaceconditions, since the coring processitself may rn nett
alter wettability. Cores cut in oil-base mud, for example, are often renderedentirely or rrredn-
partially preferentiallyoil-wet. Thereforespecialprecautionsmust be observedduring both rr|3'thaf
coring and transportingto minimize the danger of altering the true wettability of the rock. tr etnbr
In the absenceof convincingevidenceto the contrary(for example,abnormallyhigh resis- al."'bt
tivity index) the assumptionof preferentialwater wettability has been frequentlyused.86 Teras
and as:
VII. FACTORSINFLUENCINGWETTABILITYEVALUATION of this
A rh
It has been suggestedthat four factors may influence the results of experimental deter- Stainle
mination of rock wettability.8TOne of thesefactors is core recoveryand preservation.In In sprt
the processof core recovery from a reservoir, heavy hydrocarboncomponentsof crude oil nit h t e
become less soluble as the oil loses its associatedsolution gas (as a result of pressure lidated
reduction).The heavy hydrocarboncomponentscan precipitateon the rock grains, leading heharrr
to less water-wetor even oil-wet core behavior.8s-mDrilling fluid containingsurface-active grain s
-{ '
materialsmay drasticallychangea core wettability, but it has been shown that bentonite \l'el .
69
| [.rllr) CUfVeS and carboxymethylcellulosehave no observableeffect on rock wettability when they are
s J t u r . r t i ( ) na s used in the coring fluid.7aWeatheringand contaminationof coresduring preservationand
Ilc'r t r should storageare alsofound to influencecore wettabilities.er Stronglywater-wetcoresmay become
r cqurlibrium less water-wetas a result of air exposure,while cores with intermediatewettability show
lh.rn .rctually no significantchange.6sOil-wet cores also may becomewater-wetupon exposureto air.72
It has been suggestedthat alterationdue to air exposurecan be minimized and native-state
wettabilitycan be restoredby incubationof the core in reservoiroil for two weeksat reservoir
temperature.2s
ttl, rc'COVefY Crude oil is probably the best coring fluid for preservingwettability and maintaining
r\ut undef a native interstitialwater saturation;e2however,useof the wetting phaseas a coring fluid may
tc-.t.ttd COfe preservethe rock propertiesproperly.2sNaCl brine containingCaCO, powder with no other
It, ':t tri rock additivesis considereda good fluid for cutting cores.e3Care must be taken to avoid con-
F ::.rjtionof taminationof the coring fluid with air, sediments,etc. The useof crudeoil as a coring fluid
lr li,t)\'fed is likely to introducea fire hazardinto the coring operation,especiallyif a high API gravity
I rIl ... i prc'vail oil is used.
Native state wettability of cores is obviously the most desirablecondition, and the best
techniquefor obtainingcores in this condition is by employing a pressurecore barrel. The
method allows coresto be cut and retrievedat reservoirpressure.At the surface,the cores
llr'!ll [trt'Ssgfe are frozen, cut into sections,and sentto the laboratory.ea
Although early attemptsat pressure
l . : : t c t l i a .A n coring met with limited success,recentdevelopments indicatea success ratio of 80 to90Va.
dr-ll.rcement Cores that have been cleaned, dried, and restoredto some saturationand wettability
tc. hniqueis condition are known as "restored state" cores.a8This techniquehas been employed for
nrc.cr. most many yearsand it is an establishedprocedure;unfortunately,quite frequently,the coresare
rh:.:: provide not restoredto their native stateand the useof thesecoresinvalidatesresultsobtainedusing
sophisticatedmeasurementtechniques.Put very simply, restoredstatecores are not.
Factorsthat influencethe core wettability evaluationincludethe laboratorycore cleaning
and preparationprocedure.Mungane2statesthat the cleaning procedureneither changesthe
n c : e; h n i q u e pore size distributionnor the quantity of kaolinite and illite in the core. He concludesthat
1g :, 'rtttation the changein fluid flow behavioris basicallydue to wettabilityalteration.Salathiel3e reasons
rat.r .\ high that the extractionof a core with strongsolventsdissolvesthe stronglyoil-wet surfacecoating
r * . r t d Fp h a s e , of heavy organic moleculesand therebyaltersfluid displacementbehaviorof many fresh or
lhc r,rc[ 63y preservedcores, as shown in Figure 23.28
Jenning'se5 resultsshow a small but measurablechangein the water-oil relative perme-
har.retcristics ability ratio curve after toluene extractionof a variety of core samplesfrom oil-bearing
[tr]!'r afe nOt sandstones and limestones.The changesare not thoughtto be causedby significantchanges
gr ll.cli ffio! in wettability. The resultsof Richardsonet al.ershow a higherrateof imbibition and a lower
d c n t r r e l yo r ineducible water saturationwhen East Texas Woodbinecoresare extractedby hexaneand
I J .r rrn gb o th methanol.Morgan and Gordon's28resultsshow that the effect of cleaningprocedureon core
I t,l thc- rOCk. wettability may be minimized if reservoirfluids are used as testing fluids. Richardsonet
I nrghre si s- al.et believe a changein fluid flow behavioroccursas a result of repeatedflooding of East
;lr u.cd.E6 Texas Woodbine cores. This change appearsas a decreasein irreducible water saturation
and as an increasein residualoil saturation.Furtherwork is necessaryfor betterunderstanding
IO\ of this problem.
A third categoryof factorsthat influencecorewettabilityevaluationis the testingcondition.
mc'ntal deter- Stainlesssteel wettability can be alteredby pressureincreasein a methane-watersystem.e6
5('r\ ation. In In spite of decreasein interfacialforces, the oil-water-solidsystembecamemore water-wet
I trt crude oil with temperatureincreasesin a clean unconsolidatedHouston sand and a natural unconso-
I trt Plattuaa lidated California oil sand.eTOne explanationfor the effect of temperatureon displacement
t?rn:. leading behavior is that polar componentsof the crude oil may not be adsorbedas readily on the
Urtrcr'-active grain surfacesof a rock at elevatedtemperature,so the flow behavior becomesmore water-
hat hcntonite rA'g1.7+'9a
air p e r m e a b i f i t y : -2 2 9 m d .
o Fresh
kto A Extracted
4
0'5
6
j
kr*
-:i -'
sw
permeabi'itv
data thesame
rrom
il:|':?"il,,'t:Hiil:iJT11',:'
A fourth category of factors that influence the core wettability evaluation is the type of
fluid used in the test. Carbonatesare very sensitiveto nitrogeneoussurfactantcompounds
containing sulfur and oxygen.arSandstonescontaininglarge percentagesof silica possess
acid type surfaces.38'er Crude oil containingnormal paraffins are inert and inactive with
regard to the surfacesof porous media, while naptheneand aromaticsare more active with
porous surfaces.Heterocyclicsand asphaltenescontainingoxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, and
metallic atomsare active with regardto the acid or basicsites.Reisbergand Doschelo have
indicated that different crude oils probably have different proportions of these compounds
which are believedto be responsiblefor the wettability characteristics of surfaces. llgilc't
The critical gas saturation decreases and that for oil increases with increasing concentra- lreale
tions of polar substances.eeFurthermore, increasing the concentration of polar compounds pH vr
in oil causesthe cumulativewater productionto increaseand cumulativeoil productionto el-fect
decreasein laboratorytests. Bra
Oxidation of crude oil frequentlyappearsto modify the wettabilityof porousmedia. The angle
degreeof modification dependson the amount of oxidizablepolar compoundsin contact rep|()r
with air and wettability may even be reversed.e8 Morgan and Gordon28and Cuiece8have and 1-
investigatedthe effect of fluids and laboratory handling on relativepermeability.Mungane2 nxks
saturatedan extracted core with reservoir fluid and let it sit at reservoir temperaturefor 6 amine
days. He discoveredthat the measured relative permeability valueswere identicalto those t C H -l
of freshly preserved cores; but when he used purified fluids in place of reservoirfluids a dtxlec;
more water-wetcondition in the core was developed, as indicated in Figure 24. appror
The initial fluid saturationin a core,s salinityalteration,eo water alkalinityand hardness,ee cause
as well as the aging processe'can influencethe preferential wettability of a core. Wagner such a
and Leach-'6have shown that the wettability of an oil- or intermediatelywet sample of tou ard
sandstoneor carbonatecan be changedto a more water-wetcondition by the addition of noled
chemicalssuch as hydrochloricacid, sodium hydroxide,and sodium chloride. They inves- \r'ettab
7l
0.9
s tle trpe of
I .,'lrrpttunds
plr..r ptrssess
i n . : . l r rc w i t h
E .r.lrrcwith
Sw o.7
r...iilur. and
Drsle I-:" have FIGURE 24. Effect of fluid and laboratoryhandlingon relativepermeability."l
B .,'lllPt)UfldS
lre' tigatedthe influenceof water pH on wettability of a quartzsampleand useda n-octylamine
DS .,,ncentra- treatedsyntheticoil to producean oil-wet quartz surface.Their resultsindicatedthat lower
J .,\lllP()UDdS pH solutionstend to producewater-wetsurfacesunder controlledsalinity conditions.This
Jr' \l.le tlon to effect is shown in Figure 25.
Bradleyroohas shown that a basic 57oNaCl solutionspontaneously decreasesthe contact
I i:rrJra. The angleof oil-wet coresand as a resultincreasesthe amountof imbibition. Theseeffectswere
d. .r',eontact reportedto be most pronouncedon coresof intermediatewettability.Morrow et al. ,63Wagner
''
C u r ee h a v e and Leach,s6and McCaffery and Munganrorhave shownthat wettabilityof typical reservoir
l) \lungane2 rocks can be easily changedto any desireddegreeby adding polar compoundssuch as
pr.rturc for 6 aminesor carboxylic acids. Bradleyrmfound that carboxylicacidssuch as stearicacid CH.,
It.Jl to those (CHr)16COOH at concentrationsgreaterthan 10-6 moll( alteredthe wettabilityof a water-
;rtrlr tluids a dodecane-calcite systemtoward more oil-wetnessand stearicacid with a concentrationof
hl approximately5 x l0-3 mol/f causedstronglyoil-wet surfaces.He found that stearicacid
d h.rrdness,ee causedno wettability alterationwhen quarlzsampleswere used. Bradley found that amines
;rrrc \\'agner such as octadecylamineCH. (CHr),, NH, alter the wettability of both quartzand calcite
Et ..ilnple of toward oil wetness,especiallyat concentrations greaterthan 5 x l0-a mol/{. It should be
r .rJ.lition of noted that polar compoundswhich alter wettability of a given rock type may not alter the
. I hcr inves- wettability of anotherrock type.
o O.O
ppm NaCl
a 25,000
WATER PHASE
c 50,OOO
a
C)
O r30
o
uJ OIL_WET
J
o
F
z 90
(J
z
z
70
o
I
(r
uJ
F
50
3 W A T ER - W E T
WATER_PHASE PH
FIGURE 25. Contactangle as a function of pH.so
VIII. WETTABILITY INFLUENCEON MULTIPHASEFLOW
The microscopicdistribution of fluids in a porous medium is greatly influencedby the

degree of rock preferentialwettability. The fluid distribution in virgin reservoirsunder
strongly water-wet and strongly oil-wet conditionshas been describedby Pirson.ro2In a
stronglywater-wetreservoir,most of the waterresidesin dead-endpores,in smallcapillaries,
and on the grain surface.In strongly oil-wet reservoirs,water is in the centerof the large
poresas discontinuousdroplets,while oil coatsthe surfacesof the grains and occupiesthe
sm allerc apillar i e s . dtsrr m
Under strongly water-wetconditionsthe effective permeabilityto the nonwettingphase of rgsc
at irreduciblewater saturationis approximatelyequal to the absolutepermeabilityof the Thoau
rock. On the other hand, in strongly oil-wet systems,the effective permeabilityto oil at \r elurbl
irreduciblewater saturationis greatlyreducedby the waterdropletsin the largerpores.Raza ercnlla
et aI.66statedthat in someoil-wet reservoirs,water occupiessomeof the finer poresand is drrea:
trapped as droplets in the larger ones. Raza et al. analyzedthe displacementof oil by S(-hn
advancingwater and the trappingof the residualoil as shown in Figure 26. trn ilou
In strongly water-wetreservoirs,water traps oil in the larger poresas it advancesalong icr hetr
the walls of the pore, while in strongly oil-wet reservoirs,water moves in large pores and *r rm1
oil is trappedclose to the walls of the pores.66 Strn
The petroleumindustry has long recognizedthat the wettability of reservoirrock has an favoral
important effect on the multiphaseflow of oil, water, and gas through the reservoir.API increas
Project 27 at the University of Michigan was initiated in l92l to study this problem. The have n
strongl
73
Oil-Wet Sand
FIGURE 26. The trappingprocessof oil by advancingwater'n"
- TEST 1 waler wet
--- TEST 2 weter wel
... ... TEST 3 oil wet
\\
\\
\
E 5 0
j
I
I
oi1 Brine
f,
25 50 75 100
nr'eJ hr the
\rrlfr Undef
B R I N ES A T U R A T I O N
s.,n tlna
Ir;prllaries,
FIGURE 27. Effect of wettability on flow behavior''r
oi :nc large
I...nrcs the
dissymmetryof relative permeabilitycurvesis attributedlargely to the preferentialwettability
As illustratedby Figure 27, Geffen et al.r2 and Donaldsonand
of reservoir rock.te'es'ro3
llt: r I phase
Thomas'oahave shown the effect of fluid distributions brought about by rock preferential
bri::r ,ri the
wettability on the relative permeability-saturationrelationship.As the degreeof rock pref-
[lr i,' oil at
p'rc.. Raza erential wettability for waier decreases,the oil relative permeabilityat a given saturation
decreaseswhile the water relative permeabilityincqeases.
F'rc. and is
Schneiderand Owenssarecognizedthe fact that rock type appearsto have less influence
It ,rt oil by
on flow relationshipsthan doesrock wetting preference.However, this may not be the case
for heterogeneous rocks or mixed wettability systems.Owens and Archerrr also confirmed
Bn,Cr along
the importance of preferential wettability on multiphaseflow in porous media.
F n()rcs and
Some investigatorsno have found that relative permeabilitybecomesprogressivelyless
rrxk has an
favorable to oil production as a rock becomesless water-wet. The residual oil saturation
increasesas a rock becomeslesswater-wet.Othershave shownthat weakly water-wetcores
F:'rtrir. API
have more favorable relative permeability curves and lower residual oil saturationsthan
Ntt',icrn.The
strongly water- or oil-wet rocks. Conceptually,this latter behaviorseemsreasonablesince
74 Relative Permeabilitv of Petroleum Reservoirs
S P L A C E OP H A S E S
4
t/
/l
Ni troqen displacrng Heptile,

Dodecane or bio.tyl eti... up to 49c
llitrogen displacing Water l08o
Dioctyl Ether displacing Nrtrogen I3Io
HepLile displacing Nitroqen above l38c
.8
Displaced phase Saturation. pV
rt Relative
permeability
for fluidpairswithvarious
contacr
il:,yrT..
the capillary forces in strongly water-wetcores are strong. The oil may be bypassedand That
trappedin larger poresby the tendencyof a water-wetcore to imbibe water into the smaller on \r
capillaries.The bypassedoil in the large poresis then surroundedby water and is immobile Ina
exceptat very high pressuregradients.The saturationintervalfor two-phaseflow underthis r alue
condition is probably short. incrc
As the capillaryforcesare reducedby reductionin preferentialwater-wettabilityof a rock, dunn
the tendencytoward rapid imbibitional trappingof oil in large poresby movementof water ina
throughsmallporesshouldalsodiminish. The zoneof two-phaseflow shouldbecomebroader value
and oil displacementto a lower residualsaturationshouldbe possible.If other factorsremain of dr
constant,higherflow ratesand lower interfacialtensionsareconduciveto higheroil recovery; a res
theseare changesthat diminish the ratio of capillary forcesto viscousforces. u'oul
StegemeierandJensen3T and McCafferyand Bennionr05 reportedthat wettabilityalterations Ge
over a relatively wide rangeproducea negligibleeffect on the relativepermeabilitycurve, et al
as shown by Figure 28. However, other workers did not confirm this finding. Treiber et relat
aI.62found that relatively small variationsin wettabilityproduceconsiderableeffectson the perm
relative permeability curve. Figure 29 shows the effect of contact angleson relative perrne- Inat
ability curves for a Torpedo sandstone. pha-s
relat
IX. EFFECTSOF SATURATIONHISTORY from
Th
The relative perrneability-saturation
relation is not a unique function of saturationfor a onlr
given core, but is subjectto hysteresisfor porous systemswith strong wetting properties. bitior
75
100
\ .
"Nt \
'/ ATER
10 I..
o
l<
Contact Ancrle
ô
nro
. . . . . . 9 0 o
. -ô
" ^ô
.1
20 40 60 80 100
sw
FIGURE 29. Imbibitionrelativepermeabilitywith variouscontactangles."l
That is, the relativepermeabilityof a porousmediumto a fluid at a given saturationdepends

;rp.:..Cdarld on whetherthat saturationis obtainedby approachingit from a higher value or a lower one.
rthl .rttaller
In a displacementprocesswhere the wetting-phasesaturationis approachedfrom a lower
i. l :: r rn o b i l e
value, the resulting relative permeabilitycurve is referred to as an imbibition curve (an
r u r : J c rt h i s
increasein the wetting phase).Examplesof imbibition processesare the injection of water
during waterfloodingand coring a water-wetrock with a water-basemud. On the otherhand,
D , ' l . rr o c k . in a displacementprocesswhere the wetting phasesaturationis approachedfrom a higher
Rtll , r1 \\ atef
value, the resultingrelative permeabilitycurve is referredto as a drainagecurve. Examples
Dcil hroader
of drainageprocessesare the displacementof oil by expansionduring primary depletionof
ltr r:. rCfflilitl
a reservoirand the accumulationof hydrocarbonsin oil and gasreservoirs;anotherexample
ttl :l.,rr ery:
would be waterfloodingan oil-wet reservoir.
Geffenet al. ,r2Osobaet al.,r3Levine,'ooJosendal et al.,r07Terwilligeret &1.,'n' andColey
;.rltcrations et al.8' describedthe hysteresisphenomenonand verified that both water-oil and gas-oil
! r l r tr c u r v e ,
.I'rciber relativepermeabilityratio curvesas well as individual wetting and nonwettingphaie relative
- et
permeabilityof both sandstoneand carbonateformationsmay exhibit hysteresis.rr'22'ro7'roe
Tc,t. tln the
In a two-phasesystem,hysteresisis moreprominentin relativepermeabilityto the nonwetting
lr\ c perme-
phasethan in relativepermeabilityto the wetting phase.ro'I roThe hysteresisin wetting-phase
relativepermeabilityis believedto be very small and thus, sometimesdifficult to distinguish
from normal experimentalerror, as indicatedin Figure 30.
The drainagecurve shown in Figure 30 is a primary drainagecurve which is applicable
only when drainageoccurs before imbibition. When a drainageprocessoccurs after imbi-
FulttrJl tOf a
bition, a secondarydrainagecurve exists, as shown in Figure 31.
;p r ,r p, " -rti e s.
D r a in a g e
lmbibition
Sw (Water-Wet System)
FIGURE30. Primarydrainage
relativepermeability
curve
Water
e W (water-wet system)
D
,t Secondary
drainage
curve:end-point
flow
:t":rYXt
Thesecurves describerelative permeabilitywhen the flow reversaloccursat one of the

saturation end points. The effect of flow reversal at an intermediate saturation value is
illustratedby Figure 32.
As shown in Figures30 and 31, the water (wetting phase)relativepermeabilitycurve is
essentiallythe samein stronglywater-wetrock for both drainageand imbibition processes.rr
However, at a given saturation,the nonwettingphaserelativepermeabilityof a consolidated
rock is usually less for an imbibition cycle than for a drainagecycle.t2.t3.22.to6For an
unconsolidatedrock, the nonwetting phaserelative permeabilityin an imbibtion cycle is
usually greaterthan the corespondingnonwettingphaserelativepermeabilityin a drainage
cycle. Naar et aL.22reportedthat relativepermeabilityrelationshipsfor poorly consolidated
formations tend to resemblethose for unconsolidatedformations.
Figure 33 shows the imbibition and drainagerelative permeabilitiesof a consolidated
rock. It can be seen that the residual nonwetting phase saturationis much greater for
imbibition than for drainage.That is, the nonwettingphaseloses its mobility at a higher
saturationin imbibition than it does in drainage.Figure 34 showsthat the imbibition cycle
k.o may lie abovek.. on the drainagecycle for some systems.This relationshipprobably is
not typical of petroleumreservoirs.
77
Secondary drainage
o
.Y
Sw (water-wet system)
FIGURE 32. Secondarydrainase curve: intermediateflow

reversal.
160
140
.=
-o
$
o
E 120
L
o
o.
o
100
o
.9
=
o 80
o
o-
o
be
60
o
ttr:l ,ri the Water
v
; ' . r l u ei s
40
ir ..rne is
||
Jt\ e.rCS.
rlrdated
20
trr1.,
'r ' Ftrl 3P Water
,n .) cle is
0
a Jrarnage 0 2 0 4 0 6 0 80 100
111.trlidated
Brine saturatiofi, o/o
n.trltdated
FIGURE 33. of a consolidatedrock.12
Oil-water flow characteristics
Erc.rtr'r for
u .r higher
itr,'n ct'cle
pr,''b.rbll'is
1.O 1.O
- Drainage
--- lmbibition
ta*- *rn
o . 5 X*'n j
9.5
l< .--Y
t.',
\ /*-) r o
\ 7
l(
ro --+---r
' a --,^,'
.5 1.0 .5 1.0
so so
Consolidated Sand Unconsolidated Glass Spheres
FIGURE 34. Relativepermeabilitycurves for consolidatedsandsand unconsolidated

glassspheres.rr
The amountof trappedoil in water-wetporousmedia is given approximatelyby the area

betweenthe drainageand imbibition oil relative permeabilitycurves.rr2It is believedthat
the occurrenceof hysteresisis possiblyrelatedto the pore size distributionand cementation
of a rock. As water is progressivelyimbibed into oil-filled pores of different sizes, oil is
ejectedfrom them. The ejectionprocesscontinuesas long ascontinuousescapepathsthrough
poresstill containingoil are available.Theseescapepathsappearto be lost at oil saturations
which greatly exceedthose which occur at the onset of continuity of a nonwettingphase,
(e.g.,gas) on the drainagecycle. Thus, the residualoil saturationwhich resultsfrom
waterfloodinga water-wet rock is much greaterthan the critical gas saturationthat char-
acterizesthe samerock. Apparentlyoil is trappedon the imbibition cycle. A similar behavior
is observedif a preferentially water-wet rock containing free gas is waterflooded.
The imbibition and drainagewetting-phaserelative permeabilitiesof a consolidatedor
unconsolidatedrock are retracedunder a successionof imbibition and drainagecycles;in a u'ith an<
reversalof the saturationchangefrom drainageto imbibition, a distinct path is traced by reported
the nonwetting phase relative permeability curve (as shown in Figure 32) to a residual a l . r rh a r
nonwettingphasesaturation.This path dependson the saturationestablishedin the drainage conditio
cycle. Also, the nonwettingphaserelativepermeabilitycurve in a drainagecycle following simulati
an imbibition cycle retracesthe imbibition curve until the previousmaximum nonwetting pressure
phasesaturationis reached.This effect is illustratedby Figure 35.22'13
X. EFFECTSOF OVERBURDENPRESSURE
Wyck,
Wilsonila reportedthat a 5000 psi laboratorysimulationof overburdenpressureat reservoir and abs
temperaturereducesthe core effective permeabilitiesto oil and water by about the same Dunlap"
extentas it reducesthe single-phasepermeabilityof that core. Consequently,the water and found n<
oil relative permeabilityof a naturalcore, under 5000 psi overburdenpressure,show only specific
a moderatechange from the relative permeability measuredunder atmosphericconditions, ranging I
as shown in Figure 36. Wilson alsopointedout that an overburdenpressurethat can produce granular
over 5Voreduction in porosity of a core can also producea sufficiently large changein pore gas satu
size distributionto affect the relative permeabilityof the core. bility me
In contrastto the work of Wilson, Fatt and Barrettrrsconcludedthat variation of rock curvesto
overburdenpressuresin the range of 3000 psi does not produce any changeon gas relative various p
permeabilityin a sandstonegas-oil system.Figure 37 shows the gas relative permeability Botset
79
100
*\.
10 AIR
\\
l\
b a l
I
o
l.
' - air-brine system
p''.-'
.1
br rhc area
e l r c ic d t h a t
gCntcntation
Sl/d:. oil is
Ith. thrttugh
.01
I . . r ll r a t i o n s 40 60 80 100
Itrr:_p
: hase.
R.i,il. t'rom
B r i n e s a t u r a t i o r ' ,V o
D Il.rt char-
hr 'lhar ior FIGURE 35. Air flow behaviorin two-phasesystems,Nellie Bly sand-
iJ stone.r2
Fl:.:.rlcdor
cr.:c.: in a with and without the laboratory simulation of overburdenpressure.Similar results were
b : : . r e c db y reportedby Thomasand Ward"6 for a gas-oil systemin a low permeabilityrock. Geffen et
) .r rcridual al.'2 have shown that the residualgas saturationin a liquid-gassystem,under atmospheric
hc' .lrainage conditions,is similar to the resisdualgas saturationmeasuredunder a 5000 psi laboratory
b l , ' l l r r *i n g simulationof overburdenpressure.Merliss et al.r17concludedthat the effect of overburden
Jlr)li\\c'tting pressureon relative permeabilitywas primarily due to changesin interfacialtension.
XI. EFFECTSOF POROSITYAND PERMEABILITY
Wyckoff and Botset3as well as Leverettand Lewis8investigatedthe influencesof porosity

al rcrc'rt'oif and absolute permeability on relative permeability and found them to be insignificant.
tl lhc' same Dunlaprrsusedunconsolidated sandpackshavingpermeabilities of 3.0,4.5, and 8.0 D and
G r . . r t c ra n d found no indication that the relative permeability-saturationrelationshipis a function of
r .hrr\\ OfllY specific permeabilityof the sand. Stewart et al.rre found that variationsin permeabilities
cr)nJitions, ranging from 8.5 to 300 mD and porositiesfrom I 5 to 22Voin limestonecores with inter-
gan prtlduce granularporosity, causedrelative permeabilitycurves to shift up to a maximum of 2Voof
nlJ rn pore gas saturation.These investigatorsemployeda solution gas drive, gas-oil relative permea-
bility measurementtechniquein their study. They also reportedthe relative permeability
ir''n , 'l rock curvesto shift up to a maximum of 47o of gas saturationwhen fracturedlimestonecoresof
g:r. rclative variousporositiesand permeabilitieswere employed.
rnncrbility Botset2rfound that absolutepermeabilitiesrangingfrom 17 to 260D had negligibleeffects
100
a
o)
L
.Y
40 60 100
s* ' o/o
FIGURE 36 Effect of overburdenpressureon relative permeabilityof an oil-brine

system.rra
1.0
.t. Ef
rnlsr
.8 OBP = 0 psig rGF
\lv
OBP = 3OOO psig
rdF
.6 rtct I
rGd
o) .{\rr."{rr
.Y \r
.4
lr.crj
rJ;ger
r rlqh
.2 nl gl
Iom
Felrr
o .unef
0 20 40 60 80 100
\ TL1
:lT\ L
so
FnrJ
FIGURE 37. Effectof overburdenpressure
on gasrelativepermeability.rr5
.( srfi
:rrj r
f{fflr1
elht
81
1.0
o
J
100
40
s*
FIGURE 38. Effect of absolutepermeabilityon relativepermeability.ro
on the gas-liquidrelativepermeability-saturation relationshipof a consolidatedNichols Buff

sandstone.Botset'sresultswere in agreementwith the findingsof Leverett,awho usedsands
with permeabilitiesranging from 1.04 to 6.80 D.
Morgan and Gordon28conductedtestson four sandstonesamplesfrom a reservoirrock
with permeabilitiesranging from 109 to 213 mD. No clear effect of permeabilityon oil-
water relativepermeabilitycurveswas observed.Crowell et al.30studiedfour differentsands
with absolutepermeabilitiesrangingfrom 3.0 to 8.0 mD and found no correlationbetween
absolutepermeabilityand gas relativepermeabilityin a water-gassystemas shownin Figure
38.
Keelanr20observedsatisfactorycorrelationsof sandstoneair permeabilitycorrectedfor
slippage and the irreducible water saturationsas well as end-point relative permeability
valuesof gas-watersystems.Leas et al.r2rnoteda correlationbetweenabsolutepermeability
and gas relativepermeabilityin particularcases,but believedthis relationshipnot to be true
in general.
Felsenthalr22 tested300 sandstonecores and noted that the gas-oil relative permeability
curves becameless steepas specific permeabilityincreased.This trend was also reported
by McCord.'23In Felsenthal'spaper an effect of porosity on gas-oil relative permeability
ratio was also noted. This effect was not generally discerniblein the study of relative
permeabilitydatafor a givenreservoirbut becameapparentwhendatafor sandstone reservoirs
of similar lithology but differing averageporosity were compared.For example,a definite
trend was observedin a comparisonof argillaceousand/or calcareoussandstonesfrom I I
reservoirsranging in averageporosity from l4 to 28Vo,indicatingthat for a given perme-
ability, the gas-oilrelativepermeabilityratio curvesbecamelessfavorable,(i.e., k1k., increased)
82 RelativePermeabiliryof PetroleumReservoirs
as porosity increased.A similar trend was observedfor a group of clean sandstonesfrom

five reservoirsrangingin porosityfrom 15 to2lTa.For a given porosityand permeability,
comparativelycleansandstones gavemorefavorablegas-oilrelativepermeabilityratio curves
than argillaceousand/or calcareoussandstones or chert reservoirs.The leastfavorablegas-
oil relative permeabilityratio curves were for conglomerates,shaly sandstones,and sand-
stonescontainingcarbonateinclusions.Felsenthalthen classifiedsandstonesin three cate-
gories and found a correlation of gas-oil relative permeabilityratio for each class. The
parametersused in the correlationwere porosity, permeability,and sandstonetype, which
are all relatedto pore geometry. On the other hand, pore geometrymay be characterized
by the pore size distribution and Felsenthalfound a correlationbetweengas-oil relative
pl.-.uUitity ratio and pore sizedistribution.He found that the morefavorablegas-oilrelative
permeabilityratio curveswere generallyassociated with a pore sizedistributioncurve having
a sharppeak among the large pore sizes.
XII. EFFECTSOF TEMPERATURE
Severalearly studiesr2a-r28 indicatedthat ineducible water saturationincreasedwith in-

creasingtemperatureand that residualoil saturationdecreasedwith increasingtemperature;
all of these studiesemployed a dynamic displacementprocess.Difficulties in evaluating
these results include possible wettability changesdue to the core-cleaningprocedure,rro
possiblechangesin absolutepermeability,and clay migration.t24't2'7't2'1
Steady-state relativepermeabilitymeasurements by Lo and Munganr2e indicatedthat the
relative permeabilities were temperature-dependent when using white oils, but were unaf-
fected by temperature changes when using tetradecane; this finding agrees with the results
of Edmondson.'r. Other variations in results have been attributed to viscosity ratio. Sufi et
al.r30.r3rpointed out that some of the previous results may have significant error due to the
difficulty in measuring relative permeabilities at elevated temperatures and suggested that
tErrrr.
t.*p..uture effects possibly result from a combination of measurement difficulties and
.rrtxh
laboratory-scaling phenomena, (i.e., end effects in shortcores). \1, r
Miller and Ramey,32performeddynamic displacementexperimentsat elevatedtempera- 'afl
.rt
tures on unconsolidatedsand packs and a Berea core. Their resultsindicatedthat changes .rlc I IIr
in temperaturedo not cause relative permeabilitychanges,but that changesin the flow .I::ls :
capacityat elevatedtemperaturesare due to clay interactions,changein pore structure,etc. 'rfftrrrY
The only changethat they observedwas an increasein oil relativepermeabilityat irreducible .1.1 ,
water saturationand this parameteris relatively unimportantfor predictingtwo-phaseflow rrnr.
behavior.In measuringsteam-waterrelativepermeabilities, Counsilr33 and Chen et al-r67
also noted the absence of temperature effects.
XIII. EFFECTS OF INTERFACIAL TENSION AND DENSITY L{r,

:Elrrr,
The interfacialforces at fluid-fluid and fluid-solid interfacesare responsiblefor retention 4x.{r-r
of residualsaturationin porousmedia. Wyckoff and Botset3and Leverett4describeda small 'rl r r..
but definite effect of interfacialtensionwithin the range of 27 to 72 dyne/cm on relative tatesc
permeability. (See Figure 39.) Lefebvre du Preyro3also identified the interfacial tension of .rfrso.:
fluids in a consolidatedsampleas a factor influencing the relative permeability and residual .ffC :
saturationvalues. Crowell et al.30found that a reductionin interfacialtensionof a water- b !trLI1
air system produced an increasein gas recovery and a decreasein residual gas saturation. \f r.
IV1uskatr3adiscountedthe possibility that the interfacialtensionwithin the rangeof 27 to Jt\-\t!
72 dynelcm can influencerelative permeability.Owens and Archer" concludedthat inter- f:r ;i
facial tension has no influence on either the water-oil relative permeability of a water-wet :rrh"r
core or the gas-oil relative permeability of an oil-wet core. They found that water relative .rlJnx
83
nJ-tr)t'lcsfrom 1.0
| 1.-rrrrcability,
i t r r . r t i oc u r v e s points: o -5 dyne/cm
fur , 'rlrble gas-
/
llc.. .rnd sand- \ o /
i rn lhrL'ecate-
\ l i n e sI o -- 24-g4 dynes/cm /
rh .lass. The
o\oo o'/
D ci r p g . w h i c h
I . h.rnrcterized \ o /
o /
!J- ,ril relative
o r l \
g.rr rrllrclative o
\ . o /
n ..r-\ c having l<
\ ./
\ o o
" wArER
\ /
\ " /
is*.r.r:.1rr ith in-
\1."/
It :J:llP!'rature; ;eCo
s :r: c\aluating
g p:, '.,cdure, l16
0 */,')**
I r . . , : . ' . 1t h a t t h e 0 1.0
t'..: .rcrc unaf- "a w
t r::: lhc rc-sults
N : . r i i t r .S u f i e t
FIGURE 39. Effect of interfacialtensionon relativepermeability.a
lrr,': rluc ttl the
. . . - - : c . t c dt h a t
permeabilityof the water-wet core and oil relative permeabilityof the oil-wet core were
d r : : . . r l t i c sa n d
coincident.
Moore and Slobod6Treporteda reductionin waterfloodresidualoil saturationof a water-
il .r:.'.1tcnlpera-
wet core at lower valuesof interfacialtension.Pirsonr02statedthat drainagerelativeperme-
$ :: .'t changes
ability is independentof the interfacialtension,but imbibition relativepermeabilityis sen-
lB. .:: thc flow sitive to interfacial tension. Bardon and Longeronr35found that a reduction in interfacial
i . : : . . . t L l f g .e t c .
tension reducedoil relative permeabilityat constantgas saturationin an oil-gas drainage
!r .:: :rrcducible
cycle of the Fontainebleau formation.(SeeFigure40.) The effectof liquid densityon relative
lu, i.ltase flow
' r67 permeabilityhas beenfound to be insignificant.-''r2
J ( : : . ' n c - ta l.
XIV. EFFECTSOF VISCOSITY

SII\
Leverettet al.a'8investigatedthe effect of viscosityvariationof an oil-water mixture on
relativepermeabilityof artificiallycompactedsandswith 417oporosityand 3.2to 6.8 D of
) l c : , , rr c t e n t i o n
absolutepermeability.He found no systematicvariation in relativepermeabilitywhen the
5 r-rl.cda small
oil viscosity was varied from 0.31 cp (hexane)to 76.5 cp (lubricatingoil) and the water
,cnr ()n relative phaseviscosity was varied from 0.85 to 32.2 cp. Viscosity ratios employed in the study
L'r.rl tensionof
rangedfrom 0.051 to 90. The experimentsof Leverettet al. were performedunder steady-
[tr .rndresidual
state flow at low pressuregradients.Figures41 and 42 show the effect of viscosity ratio
iitrn ..rfa water-
variation on water and oil relative permeabilitycurves.
8J. \aturation. Wyckoff and Botset3found that moderatevariationsin viscositiesof the fluid phasesin
I rrnrr-'of 27 to
unconsolidatedsandpacks with permeabilitiesrangingfrom 3 .2 to 6.0 D failed to produce
uticJ that inter-
any changein the relative permeabilityvalues.In their experimenta mixture of water and
trl I \\ ater-wet
carbondioxide was employedand water viscositywas adjustedbetween0.9 and 3.4 cp by
I s ltcr relative
addition of a susar solution to the water.
1.0
o = .0O1 mN/m
O . 5
J
.5
t { -
tu:r
ss \ lh
gtlri
FIGURE 40. Effect of low interfacialtensionson gas-oil relativepermeability.r15 n {

\I
.\G
1.0
&
rr irr
rtx!
Fr l'-
O MEgO.
a 1.80 \|uri
D 0.35
* 0.057 r{rlt
f.n
3 .L iri
.Y
itrn
rlr I
Sr
;rtl
lrhr
ra irX
lu
o 1.o r(:tB
sw crr0
I rrt
FIGURE 41. Effect of viscosity ratio (M) on water relative l l
permeability.a *'
aDl
Richardsonr36found that the water-oil relative permeability ratio is independentof fluid lIllrl
viscositywhere the oil viscosityvaried from I .8 to I 5 I cp (seeFigure43). Johnsonet al . r37 llc d
confirmed theseresults for displaced/displacing viscosity ratios up to 37. Leviner38found tn rts
85
1.0
o M = 9 0
o 1.8
o .35
v .057
o
r\'
-Y %\o
1.0
s*
FIGURE 42. Effect of viscosity ratio (M) on oil relative

permeability.a
\
that the relative permeabilityof a sandstonesamplewas independentof viscosity ratio in
the rangeof 1.92 to 22.6. Craigr3ereportedthat the gas-oil relative permeabilityratio of a
Nellie Bly sandstonesample with 824 mD permeabilityand 28.l%oporosity showed no
significantvariation with oil viscositiesin the rangeof 1.4 to 125 cp. Resultsof this study
are illustrated by Figure 44.
Sandberget al.'aofound that oil and water relativepermeabilitiesof a uniformly saturated
core are independentof the oil viscosity in the range of 0.398 to 1.683 cp. Donaldsonet
al.'o' and Geffen et al.ta2alsoconcludedthat relativepermeabilityis independentof viscosity
as long as the core wettability is preserved.Wilsonrrafound that a 5000 psi fluid pressure
which causedkeroseneviscosityto increasefrom I .7 to2.l cp and waterviscosityto increase
by 17odid not produceany significanteffect on water and oil relativepermeabilityvalues.
Muskat et al.27reported that the effect of viscosity on relative permeability of an uncon-
solidatedsand was very small and within the limits of experimentalaccuracy.
Krutter and Day'43used methaneand air as the nonwettingphasein a two-phasesystern
of oil and gas. The gas was injectedinto cores saturatedwith oils with viscositiesranging
from 2 to 100 cP. They found that the air relative permeability values were slightly less
than those for methane.
Saraf and Fattroapplied Darcy's law to each of the phasesof a multi-phasesystemand
concludedthat relative permeability is independentof viscosity. The Saraf and Fatt equation
is basedon the assumptionthat different phasesflow in different capillariesand do not come
in contact with each other.
Yuster,6however, concluded that relative permeability values for the systemshe studied
were markedly influenced by variation in viscosity ratio, increasingwith an increaseof the
ratio. This conclusionwas later supportedby the work of Morse et al.r44Odehr45expanded
Yuster's work and concludedthat the nonwetting phaserelative permeability increaseswith
an increasein viscosity ratio. He found that the magnitudeof the effect on relative perrne-
ability decreaseswith increasein single-phaseperrneability. Odeh found that the deviation
in nonwetting phaserelative permeability is increasedas the nonwetting phasesaturationis
nnjcnt of fluid increased,with the deviationreachinga maximum at the nonwettingphaseresidualsaturation.
hn.rrnct al.r37 He also concluded that the wetting-phaserelative permeability is not affected by variation
''
!\ lnc found in viscosityratios. Figure 45 showsthe effect of viscosityratio variationin the rangeof 0.5
60
o
; 4 1
3
j
q+6i.li'-qla+6
! ncp,eri-nent
j Waterflood using
151 cp. oil
A waterflood using
Kerosene
30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
sw
F I G U R E 4 3 . C o m p a r i s o n o f s t e a d y - s t a t er e s u l t s w i t h f l o o d i n g
performance.r36
i\(: i
L'' t1
to 74.5 on water and oil relativepermeabilitycurves.Odeh statedthat the effect of viscosity \L
ratio on relativepermeabilitycould be ignoredfor sampleswith single-phase permeabilities
greaterthan lD. Yuster'sand Odeh'sresultshave beencriticizedby other investigators.ra6
rvn
rsLell
Downie and CraneraT reportedthat oil viscosity could influencethe oil effective perme- rlr rc
ability of somerocks. Later, they qualified their statementby sayingthat once an increased
Pcr
relativepermeabilityis obtainedby employmentof high viscosityoil, it may not be lost by \ l\-\!
replacingthis oil with one of a lower viscosity.They explainedthis phenomenonqualitatively
Px\c
in terms of the movementof colloidal particlesat oil-water interfaces.
.rFri8
Hassler et al.r found that lower gas relative permeabilityvalues were associatedwith L'Ct:l!
lower oil viscosity in a Bradford sand. However, they expresseddoubt that the variationin
:lt !j
relative permeabilitycould be describedby a single factor varying with oil viscosity.
srfvc
Pirsonro2stated that the importanceof the effect of viscosity ratio on the imbibition
[YF\x
nonwettingphaserelative permeabilityis of second-ordermagnitude.Ehrlich and Cranera8 .fuh
concludedthat the imbibition and drainagerelativepermeabilities,under a steadycondition
{:-aJL
of flow, are independentof viscosityratio. However,they found that the irreduciblewetting-
;w
phasesaturationfollowing a steady-state drainage,when the interfacialeffect predominated
FR
87
1.0
0.1
o
J
0 . 01
0 . 0 01
o.4
Q
"g
FIGURE 44. Relativepermeabilityratios for Nellie Bly sandstone.rre
over viscousand gravitationaleffects,decreases with an increasein the ratio of nonwetting

to wetting-phaseviscosities.
t r'i \ rrcosity McCafferysereportedthat in stronglywettedsystems,the imbibition and drainagerelative
r:: : r c. rh i l i ti e s permeabilitiesare independentof the viscous forces. He concludedthat even though the
E . : t j . r t t l r s l.1 6 relative permeabilityto a phasemight be influencedby viscosity variation of that phase,
f l: . i' [,L*rme- the relative permeabilityratio is independentof viscosity.
ar. tnarr'ased Perkinsrae concludedthat flow in a porousbody is governedby relativepermeabilityand
Ft \e ltlst by viscosity ratio when the ratio of capillary pressureto the applied pressureis negligible.
qu.rJrtatively
Pickell et al.r-toconcluded that only a large variation in viscous forces could have any
appreciableeffect on residualoil saturation.Severalauthors4'67'rsr rs3recognizedthat the
f \ r . r t c dw i t h wetting and the nonwetting phaserelative permeabilitymight be significantly affectedby
I \ . : n J t t o ni n the ratio of capillary to viscous forces, ocos0/pv, where o representsinterfacialtension
lt-, '.ll) .
expressedas dynes per centimeter;0 representscontact angle; p representsviscosity ex-
r rrnhibition pressedas cp; and v representsfluid velocity expressedas centimetersper second.Lefebvre
a n . l (-ra n e ra 8 du Prey'samade a systematicstudy of the effect of this ratio on relative permeabilityby
dr .,,ndition simultaneouslyvarying the interfacialtension,viscosity,and velocity. He found that relative
il. .' ri ctting- permeabilitydecreasesas the ratio ocos0/pv increases.He also concludedthat the relative
rr '. i, 'lni n a te d permeabilitycurve is influencedby the viscosityratio when the wetting phaseis displaced
240
t
6 L
-Y
o 50 1OO
-aw
bhri
FIGURE 45. E f f e c t o f v i s c o s i t yr a t i o ( M ) o n r e l a t i v ep e r m e a b i l i t y . r l s ar\lt\
by the nonwettingphase.Bardon and Longelsnr'3-s found that in some gas-oil systems,the

drainagerelative permeabilityand residualoil saturationare stronglyaffectedby the p"vlct
ratio. Ttx
An assumptionthat the relativepermeabilityvaluesare independent of viscosityimplies (-rrll
that the system can be representedby a bundle of parallel, noninterconnecting capillary IITUT
tubes,eachof which is filled with eitherthe wettingor the nonwettingphasealone.Thus, !l! rt
the nonwettingphaseflows throughthe largerchannelswhile the wettingphaseflows through thc .u
the smaller capillaries. However, this model probably does not completely representthe Sr
conditionsin porousmedia.An alternativemodel is the simultaneous flow of two immiscible Fffrx
fluid phasesin larger capillaries. ?f..rl
A flow picture more compatiblewith the presentknowledgeof fluid behavioris a com- Yfi{rL
binationof the two modelsdescribedabove,with one dominatingover the other depending nrrd
primarily on wettability. OdehTbelieved that the fluid phasesdid not flow in separate lfct
capillariesof porous media as Leverettpostulatedand further statedthat the wetting phase rrlIrr
moves microscopicallyin a sort of sliding motion impartedto it by the shearforce caused G\|
by motion of the nonwettingphase.From this modelhe concludedthata decrease in interstitial tr.Lrrr
wetting-phasesaturationcan be developedas a result of an increasein viscosity, thereby G tf,
affectingthe relative permeabilityvalues. l$ ,,
In view of the diverse opinions which have been expressedby various investigators h-.
concerningthe influence of viscosity on relative permeability, it seemsbest to conduct r :g,llI
89
Water Present at Start

--- 5%
-102
------202
\r olL
o
J
WATER
/
-:='
20 40 60 80 100
sw
DO
FIGURE 46. Effect of original water saturationon relativepermeability.''
laboratoryrelative permeabilityexperimentswith fluids which do not differ greatly in vis-

cosity from the reservoirfluids.
| .'..i:lllr. the XV. EFFECTS OF INITIAL WETTING-PHASE SATURATION

l t . . lhc p r',rr
The amount of initial interstitialwater affectsthe oil-water relativepermeabilityvalues.
! r ) - ' , .r r n p l i e s Caudle et al.ra investigatedthis relationship.Figure 46 shows the effect of varying the
Irr*..rpillary amountof initial water saturationon water and oil relativepermeability.It can be seenthat
' . r . ' : . . ' Th u s. not only the startingpoints, but also the shapeof the relativepermeabilitycurvesvary with
ll,' .i . thrtlugh the amountof initial interstitialwater.ro'
fC:':,'.Cnt the SaremrT2 found that the presenceof initial water saturationtendedto shift water-oilrelative
ttt;:::lttirciblg permeabilityratio curves toward the region of lower oil saturation.The differencein the
residualoil saturationcausedby this shift was reportedto be about half the differencein
/lrt: l\ J C()m- initial water saturation.Thus, a lower residualoil saturationis obtainedat higher valuesof
F: .lcpcnding initial water saturation.
I .:r .cpafate Hendersonet al.3-t'r6s noted that the maximum effect of initial water saturationon the
I c : :r r r p h a se relativepermeabilitycurve was a shift of the entire curve laterallyapproximately4Tc along
l , ' 1 .i ' C a U S e d the saturationaxis, in a direction which increasedthe oil saturationfor a given pair of
I tr ::)lcrstitial relativepermeabilityvalues.Craig indicatedthat up to 20Vainitial connatewater saturation
hr:r . thereby in oil-wet coreshad no effect on oil-waterrelativepermeabilities.However, a definiteeffect
was observedin water-wetcores.
tn'. g:[19111915 It is suggestedthat, exceptfor specialstudies,the amountof water presentat the startof
! :.' J()nduct a relativepermeabilitydeterminationshouldbe the irreduciblewatersaturationof the sample.
100
I
I
*"I
ô
";/
:l no connate
3 l t
t/
t/
I
o
t/
j
\. 1
I
o)
:l
.:< O l
sl
ilr,
!t
tl
;l
I
{t
/
n+-.:-l
.01
20 40 60 80 100 .lrFrtr
*::
"eg !a.L:
fi .,I
FIGURE 47. Effect of connatewater on relativepermeabilityratio.'7*
Il|: a,
lr i:
XVI. EFFECTS OF AN IMMOBILE THIRD PHASE
:f"r3-
{t}\|
Many hydrocarbonreservoirshave only two mobile fluid phases.The mobile phasesmay
={Trc
be gas and oil in the upper portion of the reservoirand water and oil in the lower portion.
\r.E r
Thus, two-phaserelative permeabilitiesare sufficientto characterizefluid flow behaviorin
F.&.
thesereservoirs.
ll:,u
Some investigatorssuggestthat the immobile water saturationmay be regardedas part
rf :f1.i
of the rock, and gas and oil saturationsmay be given in terms of the hydrocarbonpore
space.Owens et al.rss'r73 testedseveralnative-stateand cleanedcores,both water-wetand
oil-wet. and found that an immobile connatewater saturationhad no measurableinfluence
on the gas-oil relative permeability ratio in the majority of the casesthat were studied. i l
CalhounrTa concludedthat low water saturationsdid not appreciablyaffect the permeability
t
ratio, simply becausethe wateroccupiesspacewhich doesnot contributeto the flow capacity
of the rock. Figure 47 showsthe effect of connatewater saturationon gas-oil permeability
ll:u
ratio. Stewartet al.'tt have also shown that in a limestonewith intergranularporosity, the
ft;n
effect of interstitialwater on externalgas or solutiongas drive gas-oilrelativepermeability
6fkr
ratio is negligible.
a .f$f
Leas et al.'2' reporteda close agreementbetweenthe gas-oil relative permeabilityof a
system at various values of interstitial water saturation.This agreementwas best in the
9l
\\
15-25eaconnate water f
\ ""ut"t";'
\ ,r
\ / /
\
\ , / , /
\ y/ot f
o
l< \ / /
GAS
.z'\''--
40 60 80 100
So-
.__ sg
FIGURE 48. Efl'ect of the presence ol' connate water on relative

permeabilities.l
equilibrium gas saturationregion. They concluded that the gas relative permeability is
dependenton total liquid saturation.Other investigatorshave suggestedthat even though
the immobile connatewater does not appreciablyaffect the relative permeabilityratio, the
amount and distribution of the interstitial water may influence the relative permeability
curve. Dunlap,r18 Leverett,aCaudleet al.,'" and McCaffery''ehave indicateda dependency
on connatewater saturation.Figure 48 comparesthe permeability-saturation curves for oil
and gas at l5 to 25Voconnatewater with the correspondingcurveswithout connatewater.
Kyte et al.t7ostudieda wide rangeof corematerialsand fluid propertiesthatcould influence
residualsaturation,to determinethe mechanismof oil displacementby water in a partially
gas-saturatedporous system. They found that the initial gas saturationis related to the
i [-: .1\C\ntay
trappedgas saturation,which plays a beneficial role in reducing residual oil saturation.
nr i': |'trftitln.
Mattax and ClotheirtTTconcludedthat the trappedgas saturationcould improve oil-water
) \:l.r\itlr in
relative permeabilityvalues in consolidatedwater-wetsandstones.(SeeFigure 49.)
.t: poft
Holmgrenand MorserT8 attributedthe oil recoveryimprovementof a samplein the presence
lrj.'.:
of residualgas to one or more of the following factors:
I;:hrrI'l P0fe
at.:-\\ct and
ble rrrlluc'nce
l. The changesin physicalcharacteristics of oil.
Ic:, .tudid. 2. The selectiveplugging action of the gas as indicatedby Kyte.
3. Inclusionof mist in the free gas phase.
1 * - .: : : lc.rb i l i ty
4. The additionalsweepingor driving action of the free gas as indicatedby Leverett.a.s
ll.'.. . .1pra1,,
J *- :: rrca b i l i ty
Holmgrenand Morse concludedthat the changesin physicalcharacteristics of oil, within
F ' : , ' . i t r. t h e
the pressurerange used for their experimentalwork, were not sufficient to account for the
J*-:':rcability
differencesin the residualoil saturationwhich were noted.They further statedthat a change
E * ^ r l r t ro f a in displacementmechanismwas the most importantcauseof the oil recoveryimprovement.
t \ '. r in th e
100
G A S S A T U R A T I O N ,% P V
MOBILE TRAPPED
o
5
10 9
't2
3
-Y
\ 1
o
L
.o1
1.O
so
water-oilrelative
permeability
ratioimprovement
dueto
lfrU.}?"a:.,,
Schneiderand Owenssainvestigatedthe effect of trappedgas saturationin sandstoneand

carbonaterocks and concludedthat the trappedgasaffectedwater relativepermeabilitymore
than oil relative permeabilityin oil-wet rocks. These effects are illustratedin Figures 50
and 5l . They also concludedthat the trappedgas saturationloweredthe maximum value of
oil relative permeability. Water relative permeabilitywas also lowered as a result of an
increasein trappedgas saturation.Theseeffectsare illustratedby Figure 52.
XVII. EFFECTS OF OTHER FACTORS rllt 1

:rg f
The effects of displacementpressure,pressuregradient,and flow rate on the shapeof I C.-
relative permeability curves have long been a controversialsubject in petroleum-related I rcrlrr
literature.Someauthorsbelievethat the effect of displacmentpressureand pressuregradient
t[cr*-
may be due to the changesimposedon viscosity,interfacialtension,and other fluid or rock tcrE(
properties.Others believe that the changesin relativepermeability,which appearto result tgt
from changesin displacmentpressureand pressuregradient,are actually due primarily to ilrt
an "end effect" developedduring laboratorytests. cl:r
End effect or boundary effect refers to a discontinuityin the capillary propertiesof a (.tr'sr
systemat the time of relative permeabilitymeasurement.In a stratumof permeablerock, t a"r
the capillaryforcesact uniformly in all directions,and thusnegateeachother. In a laboratory lilrar1 I
sample,however,thereis a saturationdiscontinuityat the end of a sample.When the flowing *tr rr
phasesare dischargedinto an open region under atmosphericpressure,a net capillary force &rr
persistsin the sample;this force tendsto preventthe wetting phasefrom leavingthe sample. |f'c.!*
The accumulationof the wetting phaseat the outflow face of the samplecreatesa saturation fl clit&
gradientalong the sample which disturbsthe relative permeabilitymeasurements. For ex- hAr
ample, a large difference in saturationat the displacementfront causesa large capillary It':'
pressuregradient, which in turn causesthe water to advanceaheadof the flood front and
[.c'r:
to reducethe capillary pressuregradientin the measuredregion.The advancingwatercannot ffn
be producedwhen it first reachesthe outflow face of a core, becausethe pressurein the
93
100
*r* vs. S,
\
10
be
o
lz
kro vs. So
Trapped Gas Sat.
o 0 %
.a 1 1.8%
.1
1'o
i i l t l " l. 1 , ' n C a n d s*-
E.r^ .:l\ mofe
in I . . r rc: 5 0 .-so
lt u" . . rl u c'o f
I r ; ' .. . . 1t r t 'a n FIGURE 50. Effect of trapped gas saturation (oil wet Grayburg
carbonate).Ea
waterjust insidethe core is lower than the pressurein the oil-filled spacearoundthe outflow
face. This differencein pressureis equal to the capillary pressurefor the existingsaturation
th. .hapc'of at the outflow face. Therefore,water accumulatesat the outflow end of the core, causing
D k ' .. : :rcl
r a te d a reduction in the capillary pressure.The water will not be produceduntil the capillary
s u : r - lr a d i e n t pressureis overcome and the residual oil saturation(at the outflow face of the core) is
fl-:.1 trf fOCk reached.The calculation of relative permeability basedon the averagesaturationof the
p.r: lrr rl.sult sampleproduceserroneousresultsin this case,sincethe relativepermeabilityvariesthrough-
I p::::rlrilr to out the core due to the saturationgradientcreatedby the wetting phaseaccumulationat the
outflow face of the core.
Dft':i tc. tlf a Owens et al.,r-5s Sandberget al.,to"Kyte and Rappoport,rs6 and Perkinsrae believethat
lltc'.rhlc rock, the most convenientway of minimizing the boundaryeffect is the adjustmentof capillary
l.r l.:hr131g1y forcesto insignificantvalues, as comparedto the viscousforces. This is usually done by a
n thc tlou'ing flow rate adjustment.However, the adjustedrate must be low enoughso the inertial forces
lp r ll. r n tb rce do not disturb the laboratory measurement.It is suggestedthat the higher flow rate also
! t n c: a m p l s . increasesthe fluid dispersionat the inflow end of the sample,so that fluid mixing is enhanced.
I .r .lluration An equation has been developedr-57 to predict the extent that a core can be disturbedby
in l . F Ore x- boundaryeffect, at a given rate. Another convenientway of minimizing the boundaryeffect
lu c . . r p i l l a ry at the outflow end of a core is to use a more viscousoil in a longercore.rs6
ul tr,rnt and Leverett et al.a'8reported,then refuted, the influenceof flow rate upon relative perme-
tl ulcr eannot ability. They eventuallyattributedthe observeddeviationsin their resultsto an end effect.
lr.-.t'c in the
100
be
o
Y kro vs. So
T r a p p e dG a s S a t .
o 0 %
a 10.3%
o 19.2%
s,r-
t_ So
51. Effect
RGURE oftrapped (oilwetTensleep
gassaturation sandstone).Ea
suchas that previouslydescribedby Hassler.rCrowell et al.3ofound that a 50-fold variation

of injectionrate, within the limits of viscousflow of waterand gas,had no effect on residual rf,C r
gas saturationof an Arizona sandstone.Geffen et al.ra2also concludedthat, at reasonable :ntrrhri
flow rates, the effect of waterflooding rate on the efficiency of gas displacementwas :srf&
negligible. Hendersonand Yuster3sand Morse et al.r-58 found that relativepermeabilitywas AJ .J

rate-dependent in all gas-liquidsystemsthat were studied.Wyckoff and Botset3also found Sr.fr{
that the gasand liquid relativepermeabilitieswere rate-dependent when the two phaseswere tf !l"rr
allowed to flow through the core under the samepressuregradient. { crtt

Caudleet al.'a found that relativepermeabilitydecreasedwith increasein flow rate when \ ili.rtr
one of the flowing phaseswas a gas. Labastieet ol.,'-tnhowever, investigatedthe effect of trci
flow rate in a water-wetsandstoneand oil-wet carbonatecoresand concludedthat relative k rir
permeabilitieswere independentof flow rate exceptnear residualoil saturation.Sandberg \f, r.

O s o b ae t a l .,r3and Leas et al .r2rfoundthat drai nagerel a-
et al. , r aoRic ha rd s o ne t a l .,r-t7 .!{*r
tive permeability is independentof the flow rate as long as a saturationgradient is not ; f.rJnl
introducedin the core by the inertial forces. Pirsonr02concludedthat relativepermeability :.rtr.r
is not rate-sensitivein drainageprocesses.Ehrlich and Crane'otexaminedthe effect of flow ffi.
rate variation on steady-staterelative permeability and concluded that both imbibition and trFrlul
drainagerelative permeabilitywere independentof flow rate. c:},rt
Handy and Dattar62found that the imbibition relativepermeabilityvalueswere dependent tr* I:

on the imbibition procedures;that is, the relativepermeabilityvaluesunder free imbibition -t Jr*{
-::ftiq
95
100
kro vs so
o\s
o Kr* us. S*
-Y
s*---_
-so
Effectof trappedgas saturation

(warerwet Tensleep
il*"r,::.,i,].
It' .: r.rriation
h: rrrcsidual were largerthan thoseundera controlledprocess.The differencebetweenfree and controlled
; l -C.tronable imbibition was found to be smaller for more permeablesamples.Perkinsrae
, found that the
i l . : .J : t l C n t W a S residualoil saturationafter flooding was independentof the flooding rate and concluded
r r l r i . r ' r r l i t lw a s that capillary forces controlled the microscopicfluid distribution in the core. Moore and
Id: -,..tl lbund Slobod6Treportedthat waterflood recoveryfrom a water-wetcore was practically independent
Kt l-ll .t:Cs Wefe of flooding rate. However,they observedthat a significantrecoveryincreasemay be obtained
at extremely high rates. Hupplerr6sstated that the waterflood recovery from cores with
ilr.'.i :.rtc when significantheterogeneitywas sensitiveto flooding rate. Lefebvredu Preyrsaconcludedthat
d tr.c cl't'ectof the relativepermeabilitywas a function of velocity (v), throughthe ratio (ocosO/pv),when
!d in.tt relative the viscousforces predominate.
i..n Sandberg Wyckoff and Botset,3Leverett,aand Hendersonet al.3-s'r6s studiedthe possibleeffectsof
drrrnJge rela- displacementpressureand pressuregradienton water-oil relative permeability.They con-
Fr.jrcnt is not cluded that the water and oil relative permeabilityvalueswere slightly influencedby these
c arrneability factors. Muskatr3aand Krutter and Day,'oohowever, reportedthat the gas and oil relative
c : : ei t o f f l o w permeabilityvaluesof a consolidatedsandstonewere not affectedby changesin differential
i n r h r h r t i o na n d pressure.McCafferyrTeindicated that the drainagerelative permeabilityvalues were not
influencedby the flow rateswhich result from apressuregradientin the rangeof 1.0 to 5.0
rrl Jcpendent psi acrossa 12 in. core. Delclaudr60 also concludedthat relativepermeabilityis independent
hcc rrnbibition of displacementpressure.Pirson,ro2however, suggestedthat the relativepermeabilityin an
imbibition cycle is sensitiveto pressuregradient.
Krutter andDayr66found that ultimaterecoveryincreases with increasingpressuregradient, mcas

althoughthe ratio of increasedrecoveryto increasedpressuregradientdecreases in the region displa
of high pressuregradients.Brownell and Katzr68reportedthat an increasein pressuregradient supen
decreasedthe residualsaturationtoward zero in the systemsthat were investigated.Geffen testsc
et al.ra2also confirmed that residual gas saturationwas a function of pressuregradient. gener
Stegemeierand Jensen3T believedthat the residualwetting phasein a drainageprocesswas Thc
held in pendularrings interconnectedwith only thin wetting-phaselayers. They concluded Ther ,
that this residualwetting phasewas trappedby capillary forces and that a higher pressure of the
gradientmight overcomethecapillarypressureandreducetheresidualwetting-phase saturation. that rt
Stewartet al.rreobservedthat the rateof pressure declinein a nonuniformlimestonemight time tr
influencethe gas-oilrelativepermeabilityratio when the solutiongasdisplacementtechnique
for relative permeabilitymeasurementwas employed.Wall and Khuranar6e found the gas
saturationdevelopedin a sand pack, at a given rate of pressuredecline, was a function of
the meanparticlesize and probablya functionof permeability.They found that a finer grain
sandpack gave rise to higher gas saturationsin the solutiongas displacementtechnique.
Crowell et al.30studiedthe effect of coredimensionson laboratorymeasurement of relative
l l
permeability.They found that the residualgas saturationin water-gassystemswas almost F
independentof length of the core, within limits of the laboratory-scale models used. They : !
also examinedcylindrical and rectangularsamples,and observedthat a 100-foldchangein i l
the ratio of core length to core cross-sectional area of Berea and Boise sandstones did not J 1
5 t
alter the residualgas saturationof the samples.Moore and SlobodoTalso found that fluid
\l
recovery from water-wet cores was not affected by the sample length. Perkinstaeand 6 l
McCafferyrTerecommendedthe use of longer cores, to reduceinfluenceof the end effect. \l
RoserTostudied the effect of gas expansion,createdby the pressuregradientalong the - (

sample, on gas-liquid flow characteristics.He concludedthat a necessarycondition for x l
correct steady-state measurements T
of liquid-gasrelativepermeabilitywas the establishment
e S
of a uniform fluid saturationdistributionin the core. Osobaet al. '3 found that gasexpansion J
affected gas and oil relative permeability values in tests conductedat near-atmospheric l 0 s
pressure.Richardsonet al.,r-'7however, found that the effect of gas expansionon gas and
oil relativepermeabilityvalueswas insignificantat the low pressureswhich were employed ll c
in their study. r(
t: c
In the laboratorygas displacementmethodof relativepermeabilitymeasurement,a "sta- al
bilized zone'' tendsto form when the wetting liquid saturationis sufficientlyhigh to permit l-1 0
its readjustmentfaster than the imposed displacementby the externaldrive. The relative u1
permeabilityvaluesobtainedprior to passageof the stabilizedzone arenot valid. Therefore, l { c
d
it is advantageousto reduce the range of saturationinfluencedby the stabilizedzone, to
t-s s
obtain valid measurements over as wide a saturationrangeas possible. t 6 E
It can be shown from the Buckley-Leverettequation that the saturationat which the rt
stabilizedzone passesout of a systemis inverselyrelatedto the viscosityof the displaced 17 D
liquid. This relationshipis based on an assumptionthat a true stabilizedzone forms in L
laboratorygas drives on short cores. It can also be shown that the length of the stabilized irr
\a
zone is inverselyrelatedto the injection rate or differentialpressure.It has been suggested
t 9 B
that the stabilizedzone will be sufficiently small if the pressuredifferential is of such a it
magnitudethat a volume of gas approximatelyequal to one half the pore volume of the ros
samplewould be producedin lessthan 60 sec. This flow rate insuresthat the portion of the l1
.- :1.E
core in which the capillary effects predominatewill be a negligibly small fraction of the /
total pore space. Loomis and CrowellrT' showedexperimentallythat the influence of the
zls
m
stabilizedzone fluid flow is much less marked with relatively viscousoil as the displaced l_1 \
phase. :lc
Botset2' investigatedthe effect of saturationpressureon gas-oil permeability values and r-
concludedthat the saturationpressurehadnegligibleeffecton laboratoryrelativepermeability 1 5 H
tr
97
Ur; -:radient, measurement.Stewart studiedthe effect of gas supersaturation on laboratorysolution gas

rr^:irc rcgion displacementrelative permeabilitymeasurements. He indicatedthat even though very liitle
su:l rradient supersaturationexistsundermost field conditions,the effect may be significantfor laboratory
testsconductedat high flow rates.He found that the gas-oil relativepermeabilityratio was
Btr'.: Gc'ffen
urc -iradient. generallyindependentof the degreeof supersaturation in rock with intergranularporosity.
The influenceof dispersionon relative permeabilitywas studiedby Chilingarianet
P r 't . a t * * U t al.ee
ir . r rn!'luclgd They concludedthat an increasein degreeof dispersionincreasedthe relativs permeability
of the porousmediumto both the continuousanddiscontinuous phases.They alsoconcluded
!hc: p1-g\qu19
\i.lr.rll()n. that the degreeof dispersionincreasedwith decreasinginterfacialtension and increasine
R . l , , r ' t cr n i g h t time of coalescenceof dispersed-phase droplets.
lni :eihnique
ou::.l thc gas
l : . . : t . l l ( ) no f
J::rergrain
lc.:rnlque. REFERENCES
n t ' : r eI a t i v e
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on the oil from sandstones
I --..1. They 2. Muskat, M. and Meres, M. W., phv-sics, j, 346. 1936.

l J . h . r n c ei n 3 ' W y c k o f f , R . D . a n d B o t s e t , H . G . , F l o w o f g a s l i q u i d m i x t u r e st h r o u g hs a n d s , p h y s i c s j,, 3 2 5 ,
1936.
nr.:. Jid not 4 ' L e v e r e t t , M . C . , F l o w o f o i l - w a t e r m i x t u r e s t h r o u g h u n c o n s o l i d a t e d s a nTdr as n , s.AIME, l32, l49,lg3g.
5' Nowak, T. J. and Krueger, R. P., The effect of mud filtratesand mud particles
nu :h.rt tluid upon the permeability
of cores, Proceedingsof the Spring Apr Meeting, Los Angeres, 1955.
rl:r:. t" and 6' Yuster, S. T., TheoreticalConsiderationof MultiphaseFlow in ldealizedCapillary
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s l . : ^ ,t . h n t g n t
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ll -- ..rhtlrtr
142. Geffen, T. M., Parrish, D. R., Haynes, G. W., and Morse, R. A., Efficiency of gas displacementfrom
Dt ..:llrtllli.l.
porous media by liquid flooding, Trans. AIME, 195,29. 1952.
143. Krutter, H. and Day, R. J., Air-drive experimentson long horizontalconsolidatedcores../.Pet. Technol.,
Dc'-.:' using
t2, t, t943.
'/-.j.
[:. 144. Morse, R. A., Terwilliger, P. K., and Yuster, S. T., Relativepermeabilitymeasurements on small core
fr;-- :rcrtiCs. samplesO , il GasJ., 46. 109, 1947.
145. Odeh, A. S., Effect of viscosityratio on relativepermeability,Trans. AIME, 216,346, 1959.
ff.-. \l( hEJ.
1 4 6 . B a k e r , P . E . , D i s c u s s i o no f e f f e c t o f v i s c o s i t yr a t i o o n r e l a t i v ep e r m e a b i l i t yJ, . P e t . T e c h n o l . , 2 1 9 , 6 5 ,
I 960.
. i.t/1 t9tJ. 1 '95691' .
1 4 7 .D o w n i e , J . a n d C r a n e , F . E . , E f f e c t o fv i s c o s i t y o n r e l a t i v e p e r m e a b i l i t y , s o t ' . P e t . E n g . J . ' 6
148. Ehrlich, R. and Crane, F. E. , A model for two-phase flow in consolidated materials , Trans . Al M E , 246,
i 3' '.c.rhility
22t, t969.
149. Perkins, F. M., Jr., An investigationof the role of capillary forces in laboratorywaterfloods.J. Pet.
d "':rr.cible
T e c h n o l . ,l l , 4 9 , 1 9 5 7 .
5 < ' . .r l r l e a n s .
150. Pickell, J. J., Swanson, B. F., Hickman, W. B., Applicationof air-mercuryand oil-air capillarypressure
d a t a i n t h e s t u d y o f p o r e s t r u c t u r ea n d f l u i d d i s t r i b u t i o n ,S o c .P e t . E n g . J . , 4 , 5 5 . 1 9 6 6 .
l.: : t9-18.
l5l. Warren, J. E. and Calhoun, J. C., A study of waterfloodefficiency in oil-wet systems,Truns. AIME.
204.22. t955.
1 5 2 . C a r o , R . A . , C a l h o u n , J . C . , J r . , a n d N i e l s e n ,R . F . , S u r f a c ea c t i v ea g e n t si n c r e a s eo i l r e c o v e r y .O i 1
GusJ., 12. 6. 1952.
153. Ojeda, E., Preston, F., and Calhoun, J. C., Jr., Correlationof residualsfollowing surfactantfloods,
Prod.Mon., 12,20, 1953.
- 154. Lefebvre du Prey, E. J., Factorsafl'ectingliquid-liquid relative permeabilitiesof a consolidatedporous
m e d i u m .S o c . P e t . E n e . J . , 2 , 3 9 . 1 9 ' 1 3 .
1 5 5 . O w e n s , W . W . , P a r r i s h , D . R . , a n d L a m o r e a u x , W . E . , A n e v a l u a t i o no f a g a s d r i v e m e t h o d f o r
determiningrelative permeabilityrelationships,Truns. AIME, 201,275, 1956.
156. Kyte, J. R. and Rapoport, L. A., Linear waterfloodbehaviorand end ef'fectsin water-wetporousmedia, Rc'rlCOl
Trans. AIME, 213. 423. 1958.
pha:c' rel
157. Richardson, J. G., Kerver, J. K., Hafford, J. A., and Osoba, J. S., Laboratorydeterminationsof
r e l a t i v ep e r m e a b i l i t y T
, r a n s .A I M E , 1 9 5 , 1 8 7 , 1 9 , 5 2 . than thc
158. Morse, R. A., Terwilliger, P. K., and Yuster, S. T., RelativePermeabilityMeasurements on Small Core cnginc-c'
SamplesO , il GasJ., 46. 109, 1941. cartxrn rl
159. Labastie, A., Guy, M., Delclaud, J. P., and lffly, R., Effect of flow rate and wettability on water-oil nitrogc'n
relativepermeabilitiesand capillarypressure,paperSPE 9236 presentedat the SPE Annual Meeting, Dallas.
.\ll f.r
T e x . , S e p .2 l - 2 4 , 1 9 8 0 .
159a. McCaffery, F. G., The Effect of Wettability on Relative Permeabilityand Imbibition in PorousMedia. thrc'c-ph
P h . D . t h e s i s ,U n i v e r s i t yo f C a l g a r y ,A l b e r t a ,C a n a d a ,1 9 7 3 . .incc' rc.
I 6 0 . Delclaud, J. P., New resultson the displacementof a fluid by anotherin a porous medium, paper SPE plctc'lr d
4 1 0 3 p r e s e n t e da t t h e S P E 4 7 t h A n n u a l M e e t i n g .S a n A n t o n i o , T e x . , 1 9 1 2 .
a. a lhrc'
l 6 l . Fetkovitch, M. J., The isochronaltestingof oil wells, paper SPE 4529 presentedat the 48th Annual Fall
uhrch ttt
M e e t i n go f t h e S P E , L a s V e g a s ,N e v a d a . 1 9 7 3 .
- .mall \
t 6 2 . Handy, L. L. and Datta, P., Fluid distributionsduring immiscibledisplacementsin porous media. Sot'.
Pet.Eng./.,, 10.261, 1966. includc'.
t 6 3 . Huppler, J. D., Numerical investigationof the effects of core heterogeneities on waterflood relative lIl lTltlrl ,
p e r m e a b i l i t,yS o c ' .P e t . E n g . J . , 1 2 , 3 8 | , 1 9 7 0 .
i: b*-rn!
164. Stewart, C. R. and Owens, W. W., A laboratorystudy of laminar and turbulentllow in heterogeneous
p o r o s i t yl i m e s t o n eT, r u n s .A I M E , 2 l 3 , 1 2 l , 1 9 5 8 .
high arxl
s t u d i e s ,P r o d . M o n . , 4 . 1 2 ,
1 6 , 5 .H e n d e r s o n ,J . H . a n d M o l d r u m , H . , P r o g r e s sr e p o r to n m u l t i p h a s e - f l o w In tl-*-
t949. c'nginc'e
166. Krutter, A. and Day, R. J., Air-drive experimentson long horizontalconsolidatedcores,-/. Pet. TeL'hnol ., l11rr* o .
l l. l. r943.
ct)mpat:l
1 6 7 . C h e n , H . K . , C o u n s i l ,J . R . , a n d R a m e y , H . J . , J r . , S t e a m - W a t eRr e l a t i v eP e r m e a b i l i t y1. 9 7 8G e o t h e r m a l
s o u n c i l A n n u a l M e e t i n g ,H i l o , H a w a i i , J u l y 2 5 - 2 7 , 1 9 1 8 .
R e s o u r c eC [{.*rtornr:
168. Brownell, L. E. and Katz, D. L., Flow of fluids through porous media - single homogeneousfluids, r\ qurle I
C h e m . E n s . P r o s , . ,4 3 ( 1 0 ) , 5 3 7 . 1 9 4 ' 7 . anr.-etor
169. Wall, C. G. and Khurana, A. K., Saturation p e r m e a b i l i t yr e l a t i o n s h i p alto w g a ss a t u r a t i o n . J . l n s t P
. et., :trlutttrn
5 1 .2 6 1 .1 9 7 1 .
dnrc' A
1 7 0 . R o s e , W . D . , F l u i d d i s t r i b u t i o n cs h a r a c t e r i z i ngga s - l i q u i df l o w , T r a n s . A I M E , 1 9 2 , 3 1 2 , 1 9 5 1 .
- l 7 l . L o o m i s , A . G . a n d C r o w e l l , D . C . , R e l a t i v ep e r m e a b i l i t ys t u d i e s I. I . W a t e r o i l s y s t e m sP . rod. Mon.,8. There
r8. 1959. to drarru
172. Sarem, A. M., Significanceof water-oil relative permeabilitydata calculatedfrom displacementtests, change r
P r o < ' . ,T h e o r y o f F l u i d F l o w i n P o r o u sM e d i a C o n f e r e n c eU , n i v e r s i t yo f O k l a h o m a .N o r m a n , 1 9 5 9 , 1 8 9 . \Aetting-
173. Owens, W. W., Parrish, D. R., and Lamoreaux, W. E., A comparisonof field k*/k,,characteristics and
drctrons
laboratoryku/k,,test results measuredby a new simplified method. paper 518-G presentedat the AIME
3 0 t h A n n u l M e e t i n g , N e w O r l e a n s ,1 9 5 5 .
tri r.rtufi
174. Calhoun, J. C., Jr., Fundamentalsof ReservoirEngineering,University of Oklahoma Press,Norman, Drarn
t94'7.
| 75. Stewart, C. R., Craig, F. F., and Morse, R. A., Determinationof limestoneperformancecharacteristics r t u
by model flow tests. Truns. AIME, 198, 93, 1953.
dt
176. Kyte, J. R., Stanclift, J. R., Stephan, S. C., Jr., and Rapoport, L. A., Mechanismof waterflooding
l \ l
in the presenceof free gas,Trans. AIME, 101, 215, 1956.
1 7 7 . M a t t a x , C . C . a n d C l o t h e i r , A . T . , C o r e A n a l y s i so f U n c o n s o l i d a t eadn d F r i a b l eS a n d s ,p a p e rS P E 4 9 8 6 s
presented a t t h e S P E 4 9 t h A n n u a l M e e t i n g ,H o u s t o n ,T e x . . 1 9 7 4 . -1 h
178. Holmgren, C. R. and Morse, R. A., Effect of free gas saturationon oil recoveryby waterflooding.Trans. sa
A I M E , 1 9 2 , 1 3 5 ,1 9 5 1 .
179. McCaffery, F. G., The Effect of Wettability on Relative Permeabilityand Imbibition in PorousMedia.
lmhrt
Ph.D. thesis, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, 1973.
180. Gornik, B. and Roebuck, J. F., Formation Evuluetion through Extensive Use of Core Analysi,s,Core
L a b o r a t o r i e sI,n c . , D a l l a s ,T x . , 1 9 7 9 . R.
103
.r r \ . o i l Chapter4
' : tloods,
THREE-PHASE RELATIVE PERMEABILITY
-..: P()r()us
l\- 'lhtrd l1;1 I. INTRODUCTION

... lltcdia.
Recent innovationsin the field of oil recovery have led to a renewedinterestin three-
h- .rilrrll\ Of phaserelative permeability. Three-phaseflow occurs when the water saturationis higher
than the irreducible level, and oil and gas are also presentas mobile phases.Detailed
.ril (-ore engineeringcalculationsof the performanceof reservoirsunder recoverymethodssuch as
carbon dioxide injection, in situ combustion,steamdrive, micellar fluid injection, and
h .\.rtcr-oil
h - l)allas.
nitrogen injection frequentlyrequirethree-phaserelativepermeabilitydata.
All factors which influenceflow in systemscontainingtwo mobile phasesalso apply to
P ' . \lcdia. three-phase systems.Virtually all oil reservoirsconstitutepotentialthree-phase systems,
sincereservoirrocks invariably contain interstitialwater, and naturallyoccurring oils com-
lr .:':r SPL,
pletely devoid of gas are rare. In fact, a two-phasesystemof oil and gas may be regarded
!!-
'. '
. . . r 1F a l l
as a three-phasesystemin which the water phaseis immobile. The numberof reservoirsin
which oil, gas, and water are simultaneouslymobile during primary productionis probably
l\ , .: .r. .lrrr'. small. Nevertheless,three-phasemobility is always possible when a producing interval
includespart of the oil-water transitionalzone in a reservoir.It is probable,however, that
t:' .'.: r-elative
in most caseswhere oil and free gas are producedwith an appreciablewater cut, the water
h.'- ' :cncrlus
is being producedfrom layers of the reservoir in which relative permeabilityto water is
high and not by true three-phaseflow.
In the past, the use of three-phaserelative permeabilitydata for conventionalreservoir
t, t . I a
- . I - .
engineeringcalculationshas seldom been necessary.In consequence,considerablyless is

f , "tt,,1..
I
known about three-phaserelative permeability characteristicsof rocks than is known for
. '..'nnal comparabletwo-phasecases.The realizationthat detailedengineeringcalculationsof the
performanceof reservoirsproducedby in sitrzcombustionprocesses requirethree-phase data
F- . .. :luids. is quite new. Three-phaserelativepermeabilityis useful in the calculationof field perform-
ancefor reservoirsbeingproducedby simultaneous waterandgasdrive, and alsoin analyzing
). . Ptt. ,
solution gas drive reservoirs which are partially depletedand are being produced by water
9< drive. An increasinginterestin three-phaseflow phenomenais anticipated.
)/ 1 / , r r . .l J . There are two distinct classesof three-phaserelative perrneabilitydata: ( I ) that pertaining
to drainage;and (2) that pertainingto imbibition. Drainagerefersto the direction of saturation
l. . ' l l t e\ t \ . changein which the wetting-phasesaturationdecreases.Imbibition refers to an increasing
s. .<'r. lll9.
wetting-phasesaturation.For the relative permeabilitydata to yield correct reservoirpre-
a.-. ' .:l. \ And
I . - \l\lE
dictions, the directionof saturationchangein the reservoirmust correspondto the direction
of saturationchange for which the data were derived.
tr" \.'rtllan' Drainagerelative permeabilitydata should be used in the following situations:
\ - . . ' . r i.J f l \ t l C S
l. Enhancedrecovery processesinvolving the injection of dry gas, flue gas, carbon
'\a..
-::l{)()ding
dioxide, and other gasesinto watered-outreservoirs.
2. Miscible flood processesin which liquified petroleum gas (LPG) is injected into
rn,' :['[: -l9tl6 watered-outreservoirs.
3. Productionfrom reservoirsin which the water saturationis greaterthan the ineducible
D..--.l'rarts.
saturation.
' ... \tcdia.
h
Imbibition relative permeabilitydata should be used under the following conditions:
Crlre
l. Reservoirsproduced by natural water drive.
I OOI w!tor
oil
FIGURE l. Three-phaserelative permeability.r
2. Reservoirsdevelopedby water flood, as well as by processeswherethe injectedwater

containssurfactants,polymers, or other additives. approa
3. Reservoirsdevelopedby recovery processeswhere water is used to push a slug of of oil a
chemicals,LPG, etc. The r
agass
saturat
II. DRAINAGERELATIVEPERMEABILITY to its o
gas sat
A. Leverett and Lewis mode c
Much of the credit for the classicalwork in three-phase relativepermeabilityis accorded the inte
to Leverettand Lewis' who were the first to measurethree-phase relativepermeabilityof a oil and
water-oil-gassystem in an unconsolidatedsand. These investigatorsused a steady-state an oil I
single-core dynamic method and ignored end effects and hysteresis.Errors from ignoring which <
capillary end effects were probably significant,since low flow rateswere used. Ring elec- Hower
trodes were spacedalong the length of a sand pack to measureresistivity of the sample and flow of
brine saturationwas assumedto be directly relatedto resistivity. Gas saturationwas deter- of the 1
mined from pressureand volume measurements. Oil sdturationwas obtainedby a material move f
balancetechnique.Leverett and Lewis obtainedthree separatetriangulargraphs showing at cons
lines of constantrelative permeability("isoperms") to the three phases;thesewere plotted Also
againstthe saturationsof the three fluids, as shown by Figure l. They also obtaineda plot This ef
showing the region of three-phaseflow; Figure 2 shows the region where each component may flr
comprisesat least5Voof the flow stream.As shown by the figure, three-phaseflow occurs the por
in a rather confined region. parts ol
Relativepermeabilityto water, k,*, was found to be dependentonly on water saturation, result i
S*, and was not affected by the introduction of an additional nonaqueousphase. Relative [rve
permeability to gas, k,r, was found to be slightly less than would be expectedfor the same for var
gas saturation, S* in two-phase flow. The k., isoperms are convex towards the 1007oS,
apex of the triangulardiagram. As gas becomesone of the two flowing nonwettingphases, B. Cor
whenboth oil and waterarepresent,the relativepermeabilityto gasdecreases The
asoil saturation
a calci
105
lOO%gas
100% water lOO%oil
FIGURE 2. Region of three-phaseflow.l
ieetcd*'ater
approaches the water saturationvalue, becominga minimum when roughly equal saturations
fi -r .lu_sof of oil and water are associatedwith the gas.
The relative permeability to oil is seento vary in a more complex manner. Starting with
I
t a gas saturationof zero, oil relative permeabilityat constantoil saturationincreasesas gas
saturationincreases(except at low oil saturationswhere k,, remainsconstant)then decreases
to its original value as more gas is introduced,finally falling well below this value when
gas saturationis further increased.In a water-wet system,the presenceof gas leavesthe
mode of water flow unchanged,but since the gas tends to occupy the central portions of
i. .r..trrded the intergrainspaces(where the oil is also driven by capillary forces)interferencebetween
i a l ' ' r l r t ro f a oil and gas flow is likely. Visual examinationunder the microscopeshowsthe presenceof
Dlc;Jr -\tate an oil film (in some casescontaininga very small amountof finely divided water) through
nr lrnoring which oil flows aroundeachgasbubble.It is not clearwhetherall gasbubblesare connected.
Rrng c.lec- However, the gas bubblesare observedto move jerkily, as opposedto the generallysmooth
slrplc and flow of water (and of oil when gasbubblesare absentor are stationary).This unevenmotion
I lr jr glg[91- of the gas implies a similar motion of at leastpart of the oil, which would be expectedto
move faster than in the absenceof gas at the same oil saturation.We see a decreasein k,.
7 .r :naterial
h: .htrwing at constantS" as S, is increased,especiallyat low S*.
rerc plotted Also, there is an increasein k.o at constantS" as S* is increasedat low values of S*.
uncJ a plot This effect is evidently due to ihe shifting of oil into parts of the intergrain spacewhere it
c()nlrx)nent may flow more freely. The water introduced tends to occupy the sharply curved parts of
Jltrri occurs the pores,forcing oil into the centralspacevacatedby gas. Sincefluid in the sharplycurved
parts of the poresmoves only with difficulty and that in the centermoves more readily, the
s.rturation, result is an increasein k,o.
E Rclative
Leverettand Lewis pointed out that they found no effect of oil viscosityon the isoperms
for various saturationsof the three phases.
lr lhc same
E l ( x ) 7 cs s
ing phases,
B. Corey, Rathjens, Henderson, and Wyllie
| .;turation The resultsof the work of Corey et al.2are shown by Figure 3. Theseinvestigatorsused
a calcium chloride brine. Capillary end effects were minimized by using a core with semi-
gas
FIGURE 3. Three-phaserelative permeability.r
permeablemembranesmountedat eachend. They measuredsaturationsgravimetricallyand

avoided hysteresiseffects by using separatecores for each measurementrather than resa-
turating the samecore. In an initial conclusion,they reportedthat when the saturationsof
the wetting phaseswere equal, the nonwettingphase relative permeability,k,n, was un-
changedregardlessof whetherthe nonwettingphasewas oil or gas.They usedthe equivalent
liquid permeabilityas the basevalue. The oil isopermsof Corey et al. are similar to those
The d
obtainedby Leverettand Lewis, exceptthat Corey's oil isopermshave a greatercurvature.
by
Relativepermeabilityto water was not measured,but was calculatedon the assumptionthat
it was a function of water saturationaloneand that waterpermeabilityin a water-wetsystem
was the sameas the oil permeabilityin an oil-wet system.It shouldbe noted that the data
of Cltrey et al. are for oil drainagein an oil-gassystem.They alsoobservedthat the behavior
of the nonwetting phaseswas more sensitiveto changesin pore geometry than was the
behaviorof the wetting phase.The increasein k." (at low S*) with the increasein S* (and where S
a correspondingdecreasein S*) is higher in Corey's consolidatedsandstonesamplesthan
As in
in the unconsolidatedsamples.This is becauseof the dependenceof k..,on the ratio
especia
the syst
ft' at highe
I dsl/P.r
JS* alone.I
wetting
dsL/P:
l,
C. Reid
which is usually higher in consolidatedrocks than in unconsolidatedrocks. Using
Corey et al. extendedtheir two-phaserelative permeabilityrelationshipto three-phase Reidr ot
flow on the basisof the following approximation: was ign
obtaine
differen
107
2 I
FIGURE 4. Three-phaserelative permeability.r
8 l : . . tI l r a n d Sr_, St'
l/Pl : g for S,' t
B r : : l . r l lf e S a - IS,_-(S*,..+S,,.)] (soi,, + s.,,)
l l . . - . r l l r r I l SO f
I '\.1\un- t''=,
: o f b r S . s- ' ^ (l)
E ; . . . rr r a l e n t (S*,,, * S",)
lrlr: i(r those
l f . . 1 r \a t u r e .
The drainageoil phaserelativepermeabilityin a water-wetsystemcontaininggas is given
U n r n l r r r nt h a t
bv
f- \\ .'l :\ Ste[l
lh.:i thc' data (2)
thc hchavior
h;:: s aS the
r r : :S . ( a n d
where S., is residualliquid saturation.
n r : . ; . l c rt h a n
I r . l l , r
As in Leverett's data, the oil isopermstend to be parallel to the oil isosaturationlines,
especiallyat high S*. At increasingS* and constantS.,, the gas which was previously in
the systemis no longerpresent.Thus, the rate of increaseof k..,with increasingS* decreases
at higher valuesof S*. Corey et al. proposeda methodto obtain k.,,and k,*, basedon k.*
alone. Incidentally, k.* was found to be a function of S* and independentof the relative
wetting propertiesof the fluids within the rock.
C. Reid
Using the samemethodemployedby Leverettand Lewis (single-coredynamictechnique),
thrc.'-phase Reid3obtaine{ the isopermsshown in Figure 4; He eliminatedend effects, but hysteresis
was ignored.'frine saturationwas measuredby resistivity,and'oil and gas saturations
were
obtainedby gamma ray absorption.His saturationmeasuremenis possiblywere affectedby
differentialabsorptionof gamma rays by oil and water. While Leverettand Lewis obtained
straightlines for the water phasebehavior(showingk,* to be independentof the distribution

of the nonwettingphases)and oil isopermsconcavetoward the l}OVaSoapex, Reid's results
indicatedconcavewater isoperms,convex oil isoperms,and slightly concavegas isoperms.
These results were interpreted as indicating that the relative permeability to each phase is
dependentboth upon its own saturationand the saturationsof the other phases.His results
showeda greateroil permeabilitywhen threephaseswere presentthan with two phases,at
a given oil saturation.
Reid made no attempt to correlate the three-phaseresults with those from two-phase
experiments.He placed emphasison his conclusionsfor the oil isopermsand noted that
Leverett'soil phasedata showeda substantialamountof scatter.For this reason,he believed
that his oil isopermswere more valid than Leverett's.The work of Rose seemsto confirm
Reid's findings.
D. Snell
Three-phasebehavior in a water-wet unconsolidatedsand was investigatedby Snell,a-6
who used radio frequency detection for the determination of S* and a neutron counting
methodfor measurementof Sr. Oil saturationwas obtainedby materialbalancecalculation.
His experimentshad a repeatabilitywithin Ilr%ofor relativepermeabilityvalues,with a better
repeatabilityfor the saturationvalues.He found that when the wetting phasesaturationwas
uniform over a length of the test sample,the saturationsof the other two phaseswere also
uniform over the samelength.
Although Caudle et al. " did mention hysteresisin their work, the first significantstudy
on the effect of saturationhistory on three-phaserelative permeabilitywas done by Snell.
In describingSnell's work, it is convenientto definefour typesof liquid saturationhistories:
l. Imbibition of water with oil saturationincreasing(II).

2. Imbibition of water with oil saturationdecreasing(ID).
3. Drainageof water with oil saturationincreasing(DI).
4. Drainageof water with oil saturationdecreasing(DD).
As seen from his results in Figure 5, k.o values were lower for DD than for the other
saturationhistories.Since, in two-phaseflow, drainagecausedthe wetting phapeto lose its
mobility at highersaturations,it hasbeensuggested that thereis a partialchangein wettability
I
from water-wetto oil-wet during DD. When the systemwas oil-wet, a largerS,,was required
for the samek,., becausesomeof the oil was trappedin the smallerpores.This oil increases
S.,,but it is immobile. He further suggestedthat this changein wettability may be caused 10 0 %
by polar compoundsin the oil. Snell's resultsdo not show good agreementwith those of
Leverettand Lewis except in the caseof k.*.
Oil and water isoperms reported by Snell are similar to those determinedby Reid, but
Snell's k.. valuesare higher than Reid's, especiallyat low water saturation.
In a later work, Snell reinterpretedthe resultsof four earlier studiesdoneon unconsolidated
sands.In these investigations,no hysteresiswas found for water isoperms.Oil isoperms
showed hysteresisonly when keroseneor a kerosene/lubricatingoil mixture was used as the
oil phase.Nonpolaroil gaveno hysteresis.Reinterpretation of the earlierresultswas possible
becauseLeverettand Lewis indicatedpossibleenors in their saturationmeasurements. Reid's
saturationdata might also have been inaccuratebecauseof differential absorptionof gamma
rays by oil and water. Relativepermeabilityto oil was found to be dependentonly on the
1O0% watr
historiesof the liquid phasesaturations,althoughSnell did not rule out dependenceon gas
phasesaturationhistory. Snell reinterpretedLeverett'sdata to obtain oil isopermsconvex
toward the l00%oS,,apex. Oil isopermsthen followed the samepatternin all four investi-
gations.Theseresultsareshownin Figure6. The curvatureof the isopermsof both nonwetting
109
dr.rribution
R r J '. r! 'su l ts
5i lrtrpt3ttTlS.
rh phaseis
, [{r. rcsults
o p h a r e s .a t
I I\\ ()_phase
I n,'ted that I OO* watet
10Oi oil
hc hc'lieved water
i lr, a()nfifm
br S n L - l l . r6
tn . \)unting
c a l eu l a t i o n .
t rth .r hrctter
Uf .:i i(ln \.\'aS
M R)
s ii crc also
10OS water roOS oil
I OOi oil
gas
l-ls.rntrtud)
r tr Snell.
FIGURE 5. Three-phaserelative permeability.5
xr hr.ttlries:
'l0O%
gas
100% gas
lmbibition _
D ra ina ge - - - -
r thc o th e r Rsults of Snell
! l \ \ l ( ) \ ei t s
_
1 uer r . r b i l i t y il!to,Dt
/I,a'
oD ----
ra. rcquired
il r nir ca se s
I n- eaused 1OO%water
100% oil 100% water
ith lhore of 10 0 %
1O0% oil
y Rer . l. b u t
o n ., ''lid a te d
ll r.oPITnS
u'cd as the non-polar
y3.possible
in t. Re i d 's
I ()l gamma
Dnlr on the
1OO%water 'l
llluc ttn 935 1O0% oil OO% water 100% oil
lTIlr r-t)DVeX
FIGURE 6. Reinterpretationof resultsby Snell.6
D urr nre sti -
Jk,nrrctting
ll0 Relative Permeabilin of Petroleum Reservoirs
---
_ 4 o :;,--=--
. _)
\
Gas iniectsd, pore volumes
zj+
i---- to-..\.. 1
(L
E
i -'--\:\:1..,,
[--'"-\..
o
o
/,
F---,:-:N*,
o
O_ .z
o
b *-' < - L
-l
o -A
I
^-.5
.1 L-.25 ---A
J . 1
0
O tNtlAL wATERsATURATtoN
100
100 {- rNrrrAL
orL sATURATToN 0
FIGURE 7. Fluid flow experimentalaata for Berea sandstone.T
phases(oil and gas)are convextoward the correspondingphase-apex,whereaswetting phase

isopermsare straightlines or are concavetoward the l00%oapex of the wetting phase.
E. Donaldson and Dean

An extensionof Welge's two-phaseunsteady-state techniquewas usedby Donaldsonand
DeanTto determinethree-phaserelative permeabilitiesof Berea sandstoneand Arbuckle
limestone.Oil and water in the core were displacedby gas and the flow ratesof all three
phaseswere measuredsimultaneously.Their resultsfor the displacementtestson the two
cores startingwith various S*, and S.,,are shown in Figures7 and 8. They minimized end
effects by using a high pressuredifferential and high flow rates, and they did not account
for hysteresiseffects. The volumes of oil and water displacedwere less in the limestone
than in the sandstonefor the same S,,(or S*) and the samepore volumes of gas injected.
This effect is presumablycausedby the largerflow channelsin the limestone.The efficiency
of a gas displacementprocessis greaterfor a matrix with smallerpores.There is a narrower
rangeof saturationsfor three-phaseflow in the limestonebecausethe large vugs may allow
gas to flow without transferingenergy to oil or water.
The isopermsarepresentedasfunctionsof terminalratherthanaveragesaturations,because
the former govern the flow of fluids throughthe core. The resultsof Donaldsonand Dean,
shown in Figures9 through 14, indicatethat, at low and constantS' k., for Bereasandstone
initially decreased with increasingS" until S" reacheda valueof about50Vo.Furtherincreases
in Socausedan increasein k,r. At S* greaterthan I 3Vo,k," increasedso the isopermsbecame
concavetoward the gas apex. No explanationof this phenomenonwas suggestedby the
authors.At a given S* the k., was lower in the presenceof water than in the presenceof
oil, probably becausewater adheredmore stronglyto the rock surfacethan did the oil. The The u
flow path of gas is more restrictedin the presenceof water, sincegas can displaceoil more was gen
easily than it can displacewater. For the limestone,k,, was alwaysconcavetoward the gas in the pr
apex.
lll
DataPoints:
.4

A)
o- .3 e o
E
q) t
"oo,
Inlecteo. pore votumes I
O
.r, /-oas
U,
(g o
O - A A'
A .Z 2 o
o
i5 -o_
o !
100 INITIAL OIL SATURATION
FIGURE 8. Fluid flow experimentaldata for Arbuckle limestone.T
Rt::.: phase
l :" .:\c
tL..l .rrfl ODd
d \rhuckle
t'l .rll three
r,n lhc two
I r : : : r z c t el n d
n ': .lLCOUnt
f .l n t c \ t o n e
F.:rttccted.
E J: : lj lCncy
I .r :t.rITt)Wer
I r::.:r allow
n.. hccause
I .rnJ Dean,
a ..rndstone
Er lnarr-ases
uw so
ml. hccame
stcJ br the FIGURE 9. Gas relative permeabilityfor Berea sandstone.T
prCrc.llCeOf
lhc ,'tl. The The water isoperms are concave toward the water apex. Relative permeability to water
Fc ,\rlmore was generallyhigher in the presenceof oil than in the presenceof gas, but k.* was higher
lar.l thc' gas in the presenceof gas than in its absenceat a constanthigh S*. Both k." and k.* increased
tt2 Relative Permeability of Petroleum Reservoirs
o^
ao/
sw so
FIGURE IO Gas relative permeabilityfor Arbuckle limestone.i
5
A6
ieo
1o
sw so
FIGURE I l. Oil relative permeabilityfor Berea sandstone.T
at constantS,,and S*, respectively,when S, was increasedfrom 0 to 8Vapossiblybecause

gas was trappedin poreswhich would otherwisebe occupiedby immobile wetting phases. F. Saren
Also, k.* increasedin the presenceof oil becausethere may be partial oil wetting, so that Using ;
water was displacedinto larger pores;this was not the casewhen gas was present. did not cc
Sarem'sr
113
sw so
F I G U R EI 2 . Oil relative permeabilityfor Arbuckle limestone.T
ss
--w q Q
oo
F I G U R E 1 3 . W a t e r r e l a t i v ep e r m e a b i l i t yf o r B e r e as a n d s t o n e ' -
n.llrl) because
I c t : r n Sp h a s e s . F. Sarem
tetirns.so that Using an unsteady-state method, Saremsobtainedthree-phase data for a Bereacore. He
fL'.cnl. did not considerend effectsor saturationhistory, but his methoddid accountfor wettability.
Sarem'smethod, which is an extensionof Welge's two-phasetechnique,is relatively fast.
tt{ Relative Permeabilin of Petroleum Reservoirs
Sarr--
on k..
the s:r
and D
G. Sa
A r
Sarai
uscd t
efl-ect
oil tlr
sw so a\\ulT
salur:r
\\a\ a
FIGURE 14. Water relative permeabilityfor Arbuckle limestone.T
onlr t
The core is saturatedfirst with one liquid and then flooded with an immiscible unreactive Oil r.
liquid, at leastuntil breakthrough.Then, both liquids are displacedby gas. In the derivation r c s ul t ,
of his equations,Sarem assumedeach relative permeabilityto be a function of the colre- shapc
spondingsaturationalone. Isopermswere thereforeparallel to the isosaturationlines. The n I'ere
relative permeability to gas was assumedto be dependenton total liquid saturationand a ca_\e
independentof the relative wetting properties. the as
The saturationequationsare
H. n'
Soz : S..o,, * f", Q (3) Thr
\r ater
S*z : S*.ou* * f*, Q (4) hare I
follou
S r r : 1 - S * r - S . , 2 (5) t his t a
t.
where
2.
Q : cumulativevolume of injectedfluid (per pore volume)
e : 9 LAO
rt
3
and q, : total volumetric flow rate (cclsec),t : time (seconds),and f : fractionalflow.
Subscriptso, w, g, and 2 standfor oil, water, gas, and outlet, respectively.The relative
permeabilitiesare computed from the following relationships:
d (l/Q) Thr
k.* : I*z -l-4pp4 (6) diagra
1
tl l I relati
\L p " q' Q/
are ot
115
k.* Or,,H (7)
d ( l/Q)
K"': t"'(-4r!4-r*,, (8)
o,J
Saremalso concludedthat initial saturationconditionsaffect k..,and k.*, but havelittle effect
on k,r. He found that k."/k.* was influencedby initial saturationsin three-phasestudiesin
the samemanneras in two-phasestudies.Sarem'sresultsdiffered from thoseof Donaldson
and Dean even though both used the sametype of sandstone.
G. Saraf and Fatt

A dynamic method using nuclearmagneticresonance(NMR) techniqueswas used by
Sarafand Fatteto determineliquid saturationsin Boise sandstone.A volumetricmethodwas
used to obtain gas saturations.The experimentaltechniquewas designedto minimize end
effects.To maintaina constantpressuredifferential,the gas flow rate was increasedas the
oil flow rate was decreased.Saraf and Fatt found no theoreticaljustification for Sarem's
assumptionthat three-phaserelative permeabilityto each phasewas a function only of the
saturationof that phase.In the water-wetBoise sandstone,however, they did find that k,*
was a functionof S* alone.Using waterpermeabilityasthe base,they found thatk,* depended
only on the total liquid saturationand was independentof the relative wetting properties.
Jc.rnrc'active Oil isopermsdeterminedby these investigatorswere convex toward the oil apex. Their
ir.* .lcrir ation resultsare shown in Figure 15. The explanationgiven by the authorsfor this unexpected
ol :irc corre- shapeof the isopermsseemsless than convincing.They did state,however,that in studies
rt :lrc.. The where k,* was a function of both S* and S", the systemwas not 1007awater-wet.In such
llu:.r:lrrrl ilfld a case,it seemslikely that S* did not remain constantwhen Soor S* was increasedand that
the assumptionof constantS* could be a sourceof experimentalerror.
H. Wyllie and Gardner

(l) Three-phaserelative permeabilityequationsfor preferentiallywater-wet systemswhere
water and oil saturationswere determinedby the drainagecycle rather than by imbibition
(4) have been given by Wyllie and Gardnerroand are presentedin Chapter 2, Table 3. The
following factors should be taken in considerationwhen using the equationspresentedinto
(5) this table.
l. The k,* valuesare normalizedto absolutepermeability.

2. The values of k.o and k., calculatedfrom theserelationshipsare both normalizedto
the effective hydrocarbon permeability at irreducible water saturation. Inasmuch as
they are normalized to the same base, k.s/k.. values may be calculateddirectly by
using these equations.This is not true, of course, for water-hydrocarbonrelative
permeabilityratios.
3. The gas and oil relative permeabilityequationsdo not include provision for residual
Xti,'nrl tlow. oil saturation.When S* equals S*i.,, k,o is equal to [S"/(l - S*,.,)]ofor cemented
.l'hc
. rclative sandstone,oolitic limestones,and vugular rocks. To handle residualoil saturation,
this relationshipshould be alteredto [(S" - S.,,)/(l - S*,'..)].0
The correlations developed by Wyllie and Gardner can be used to construct a ternary
(6)
diagramshowing the relative permeabilitiesto oil, gas, and water. In general,the valuesof
relative permeability(10, 20,30Vo, etc.) are chosenfirst and then the valuesof saturation
are obtained from the correlations. As can be seen from Chapter 2, Table 3, some of the
r16 Relative Permeabilin of Petroleum Reservoirs
10 0 % g a s
orL
100% water 100% oil
gas
I
WATER
En
(xlcs
pfe\ k
the hr
water \ ()lr\
l) F*- t
gas Ftr
lx)otA
the \\
l() ca
GAS
A. Cr
L's
c*xarr
ttre rr
t'tf !:a
acrtx(
water oil k-s
tri rru
FIGURE 15. Three-phaserelative permeability.' effc,,-t
S raa
equationsare nonlinear.Hence, numericalmethods(suchas Newton-Raphson)are required
to solve theseequations.Manual interpolationis also possiblefor plotting relative perme- B. \r
ability isoperms. \iu
tl7
WATER
wut6l o
olL GAs
FIGURE 16. Three-phaserelative permeabilitydata of Caudleet al.rr
Empirical relationshipsprovide reasonableresultsin some casesand very disappointing

ones in other situations;consequently,they must be used carefully. Note that most of the
previousrelationshipswere developedfor media with intergranularporosity.This points out
the huge problem of determining relative permeability curves for naturally fractured reser-
voirs. The difficulty arisesprimarily from the difficulty (or impossibility)of making this
type of measurementon a fracturedcore sample.
For totally oil-wet three-phasesystemsin which oil is the wetting phase, water the
nonwettingphase,and gas nonwettingwith respectto both, the substitutionof S" for S* in
the Wyllie and Gardner equationscan be made for estimationof the relative permeability
to each phase.
III. IMBIBITION RELATIVEPERMEABILITY
A. Caudle, Slobod, and Brownscombe

Using a dynamic displacementmethod on a consolidatedcore sample, Caudle et al.rl
obtainedisopermsfor k.o, k.*, and k,*, as shown in Figure 16. They useddistillationto find
the water and oil saturationsat eachdata point, and usedmaterialbalancefor determination
of gas saturation.Caudle et al. employed a pressuredifferential of 5 to 50 in. of water
acrossthe core and usedwater permeabilityas the basevalue. Relativepermeabilityto water
k.* was found to be dependenton S*, Sr, and S". These workers recognizedthe presence
of some form of hysteresisin the three-phasestudies,but they ignored the capillary end
effect. They found all relative permeabilitiesto be approximatelyat minimum valueswhen
So was maintainedat the value of S*..
) arc rc'quired
htrr g perme- B. Naar and Wygal
Naar and Wygal12developeda set of equationsthat was discussedin Chapter2. Based
l18 RelativePermeabilin of PetroleumReservoirs
oil-r
water-wet
S' S;
w
I
F I G U R E 1 7 . T h r e e - p h a siem b i b i t i o n . r r S;
on theseequationsthey plotted isopermswith 1007areducedsaturationsat the apexes,as

shown in Figures17 and 18. The displacement mechanismindicatedthat at the beginning
of the imbibition process,S** (reducedwater saturation)increasedat the expenseof S, at and
constantS", until no more gas was trapped.Thereafter,S* increasedat the expenseof S.,
at constantS*. This path is tracedin Figure 17. The locus of all such paths is also shown.
Unlike the findings of other workers, Naar and Wygal concludedthat k,.,/k,* is not a
function of S*, for equal valuesof oil recoveryin three-phase flow. On the other hand, the
ratio was found to be a function of Sr, and wettability. This dependence is shown in Figure \a;
19. The higher the initial gas saturation,the lessthe influenceof wettabilityon k.,,/k.*.Also, FCrm(
the water saturationat a given recoverywas a function of initial water saturationand initial
gas saturation.The ratio of S*, for a water-wetsystemto S*, for an oil-wet systemincreased
with Sri, and the rate of increasewas an incresingfunction of S*,. For a given S* ratio and
n herc
a given recovery,S*, decreased with increasingSri. With higherS*,,thereis lesspore space
availableand the oil is alreadypushedout into larger channelsbecauseof the higher S*i;
therefore,less water is requiredfor the samerecovery.
The imbibition water-oil relative permeabilityequationsdevelopedby Naar and Wygal,
basedon the assumptionthat l/P.2 equalsCS*, are
""intt'
S * * . , n -, b s * d s *
So,i,,,.imb
P:
/s*
(e)
f' t - s* ds*
kr*.irrb
J,, P:
anJ S
119
o2
water
I .::\, \ !'\. a\ FIGURE 18. Three-phasedrainage.rl

E ^.,-rnning
lfl.; ,'l S. at and
lf\'::.C tlf S,, kr,r.irrb : s;:i(s..,,
+ 3 Si")
al.,' .htt\\'n.
l. n()t a
(s,,- S"o)t(S,, + 2S.,n+ 3S*, - 3S*')
L (l0)
r : : t . 1 r 1 Jt.h e
( I - S * ' )"
lr :r [irgure Naar and Wygal suggestedthe following approximationfor imbibitiongas relative
'\lso.
;. permeability:
Jl .:' .1 lnltial
0.5 - S**i.in,r,
!n: :.. rcased ( I - S*i'",n)
k,* (ll)
S :.rittr dfld 0.5
S l":J :paC where
S**,.i-t, : S**.druin
-
l/2 S::, drain;
I : . : h c r S g, l,t , ;
S _ S* '.
ai.l \\.rgal, S* :
l -S * ,
s.l,:S"-S"t'
l - S * ,
* S.t,
Sl*-S*lS*'
l - S*i
and S"ois the trappedoil saturation.

t20 Relative Permeability of Petroleum Reservoirs
1 A
S*1r,= o'3
't2
o
3
3 ro
I
(!= ^(Dlt ^
3
s w i r r - o . ' l5 u)
; ; L 8
{ l {
-l I o l=
= lo:
o
J
{ lq
o
J
- l t
6 lr
l o
.1 .2 .3 .4 .5 .6
I N I T I A LG A S S A T U R A T I O N
FIGURE 19. Influenceof wettability at 40o/crecovery.'l

Wate
Thesemodelswere derivedby assumingthe randominterconnection of straightcapillaries,

with a provision for blocking of the nonwettingphaseby the invading wetting fluid.
The imbibition water, and drainageoil and gas, relativepermeabilittequationsdeveloped stnce
by Naar and wygal were also presentedin the following form: natur
Hi:
kr*,i,r,b : (S;)o (t2) simil
[-rn
k,..i*u : (l - 2S*x;t't {2 - (l - 2S*x;,,2t (l 3 )
and
k,* s_ir: - 2srr) (r4)

where
SF -' , : s F - s * '
l - S * ,
In theseequationsthe subscript"t" standsfor "trapped" and,,f" for.,free,,
C. Land
In Land's13work, equationsfor imbibition two- and three-phaserelative permeabilities
were obtainedfrom rock properties.Land consideredresidualgas saturationafter imbibition
to be directly related to the initial gas saturation.The gas and water imbibition relative
permeabilitieswere reportedto be the samein three-phase systemsas in two-phasesystems, For S.
12l
Gas
I
I
I
d
c
I
I
t
)
)
I
orL
t
Water
X . . rt ' rI l a r i e s . FIGURE 20. Imbibition k.,,for a mobile gas saturation.rl

t?- I
Dr .l-'rcltlped
since the totally nonwetting and wetting phasesoccupiedthe samepores regardlessof the
natureof the other phasespresent.
His plots fork.o in the II and ID casesare shown in Figures20 and21. The ID plots are
(l2) similar to the plots obtainedby Naar and Wygal,12their systembeing an II case.
Land's final equationsare
(l3)
^*r It ds*
5 i I
ts'Jr*sgr p:
k,* (ls)
(14)
It
t. _
- II''E (l6)
It
Kr*
k.. :
r,'fl.,":
Y (t7)
m : r e. r h i l i t i e s f'ds*
ir r;:rhrbition J,, P:
Ir ,': : r cla ti ve
.) rtc'ITlS.
For S* increasingand S* constant:
l:i
k.o : S:i [2(S** * S",*) * S"r*] (18)

Gas
Land
GAS of Cc
D.&
Sc
cartxr
imbib
gas\:
on oi
prTn
found
perTn
UrSlitr
u'etti
Water t hent
oil
bet uc
F IGU R2EI. Imbibition k,,,for a trappedgas saturation.rl r elat
value
This equationis similar to the one obtainedby Corey et al.2 for the drainagecondition.
Corer
When all the gas is trapped:
E. Sr
k.. : s:i(2s**+ S"r*) - S,,r*[S*i.+ 2/C(S;, + llC{lnSr,/Sr,})J (l e ) Thr
to dra
where
are c(
co. i
S* : (l _ S*r*)
shour
S. - S.-
S .* :
l-S*, -S,,,.
Sin
S", a mat
Sr,* : -
l -S *, requi
model
Nolen
Sot
S.u* : condi
l-s*, extre
the ea
S. - Sru \to
S.r* :
l-S*, gas v
(-- I
I
(sr,* ),.u*
123
S* - S*.
s**: l-S*.
s
v()m
: minimum residualoil saturation
Sr, : trappedgas saturation
S.r, : trappedoil saturation
Land's correlationsdid not considerhysteresissincehis derivationwas basedon the work

GAS of Corey et al., which did not include hysteresiseffects.
D. Schneider and Owens

Schneiderand Owensraperformed steady-stateand unsteady-state tests on a variety of
carbonateand sandstonesamples, and found the relative permeability to oil during an
imbibition processin a water-wet systemto be insensitiveto the flowing gas phasewhen
gas saturationwas increasing.Oil relativepermeabilitywas found to be primarily dependent
on oil saturation.It was reported that residual oil significantly reducedthe gas relative
permeabilityin a water-wetsystem.The gas relativepermeabilityin an oil-wet systemwas
found to be insensitiveto the presenceof a residualoil saturation.The nonwettingrelative
permeability-saturationrelationshipin three-phaseflow was reportedto dependon the sat-
uration history of both nonwetting phasesand on the ratio of the saturationsof the two
wetting phases.In some casesthe nonwettingrelative permeabilitywas found to be lower
then the two-phasevalue due eitherto trappingof a nonwettingphaseor to flow interference
between the nonwetting phaseswhen both were mobile. For some tests the nonwetting
relative permeabilityvalue for three-phaseflow was found to be higher than the two-phase
value. The authorsdiscussedthe reasonswhy their resultsdid not fullv asreewith thoseof
p .,'ndrtion. Corey et al.
B. Spronsen
(19) The centrifugemethod, alreadyproven for two-phaseflow, was extendedby Spronsenrs
to drainagethree-phaseflow in a water-wetsystem.Oil isopermsdeterminedby Spronsen
are concavetoward the l00Vo oll apex. He discussedthe adverseinfluenceof immiscible
CO, injection on the shapeof three-phaseoil isoperms.The resultsof his investigationare
shown in Figure 22.
IV. PROBABILITYMODELS
Sincethe experimentalproblemsassociated with three-phase

flow aredifficult to surmount,
a mathematicalmodel appearsto be an alternateapproach.The correlationsdiscussedearlier
required some type of experimental three-phaseflow data. On the other hand, probability
models as formulated by Stoner6'r7and modified by Dietrich and Bondor'8 and later by
Nolen as cited by Molina,'eassumethat two-phaseflow behaviorcanbe usedas a limiting
condition for three-phaseflow. Water-oil-gasflow can be boundedby water-oil flow at one
extremeand oil-gas flow at the other. While someof thesemodelscan considerhysteresis,
the earlier correlations,such as Land's,r3cannotdo so.
Most probability models assumethat gas relative permeabilityis dependentonly on the
gas saturation:
kry k., (Sr) (20)

gas
will t
satur
Stone
result
Wate
corTe
expre
where
water
OIL ISOPERMS
gas
and
.0o002
Fayen
- o o o1
-ooo5
- o o1
where
Sto
resid
water oil oil rel
WATER ISOPERMS
FIGURE 22. Data of Spronsenfor Berea sandstone.r5

where
Similarly, it is assumedthat the relative permeabilityto water is dependentonly on the relatir
water saturation: phase
kr. val
k,* : k.*(S*) (2t) Altt
relativ
Oil relative permeability,however, varies in a more complex manner.Theseassumptions in whi
have been confirmed in laboratoryinvestigationsfor a water-wetsystem. of the
In a water-wet system, gas behavesas a completelynonwettingphase, but oil has an most (
intermediateability to wet the rock. The relativepermeabilityto oil in a water-oil-gassystem
12s
will thereforebe boundedby relative permeabilityto oil in a water-oil systemat low gas
saturationsand by relative permeabilityto oil in a gas-oil systemat low water saturations.
Stoneattemptedto combinethesetwo terminalrelativepermeabilitiesto obtaina three-phase
result by using the channel flow theory in porous media and simple probability models.
Water and gas three-phaserelativepermeabilities,accordingto Stone,are the sameas their
correspondingtwo-phaserelative permeabilities.In his first model, Stone developedthe
expression:
k.. : s;P",F* (22)

where
S. - S.,,
S.,* :
l-S*,-S..
k_.
P*: (2-Phase)
r=;
S*.*
s * - S*i
l-S*, -S.,
9, : +T (2-phase)
and
S,:
s .-
[-s*, -s..-Sr.
Fayersand Matthews26suggestedthat
S.. : c{.S,,,* + (l - o,) S,,.o
where
S '
-: lr -
I -S*.-{
Stone'searliermodel did not agreewell with datainvolving the dependence
of waterflood
residualoil saturationon trappedgas saturations.Stone's secondmodel gave three-phase
oil relative permeabilityas
k,,, : (k..,* + k,*)(k",* + k,s) - (k.* + k,s) (23)
where k,o* and k.* representoil and water relativepermeabilitiesfrom two-phase,oil-water

trnlr tln the relativepermeabilitydata;k,o,and k,* representoil and gasrelativepermeabilitiesfrom two-
phase,oil-gas relative permeabilitydata. Equation 23 may yield unrealisticresultsat low
k.o values.
( 2 1) Although it seemsreasonablethat one should be able to combine the two two-phase
relativepermeabilitiesto arrive at three-phase
dataat leastfor water-wetsystems,the manner
a..untptions in which they have been combined in thesemodels may not accountfor the total physics
of the process.Theseprobability modelsstronglydependon the assumptionthat there is at
I ,rrl has an most one mobile fluid in any channel.That is, Stone's assumptionimplies that water-oil
l- t.r. rt stem
capillary pressureand water relative permeabilityare functionsof water saturationalone in Tab

the three-phasesystem,regardlessof the relativesaturationsof oil and gas. Moreover, they perTne
are the samefunction in the three-phasesystemas in the two-phasegas-oil system.Stone's autho
secondmodel generallypredictsthe correctoil relativepermeabilityin the three-phase system syster
if the relative permeability at the end points is equal to one. Stone points out that when his rock s
secondmodel yields a negativek,,,, this implies a completeblockageof oil and as a result air . ca
k." equals zero. The Stone models accountfor hysteresiswhen water and gas saturations
are changingin the samedirection.
Dietrich and Bondorr8applied Stone's models to publishedthree-phasedata and found
them to be only partially successful.They found that it was necessaryto modify Stone's Thrr
secondmodel for the casewhere gas/oil relative permeabilityis measuredin the presence diesel
of connatewater. They pointed out that, at irreduciblewater saturationand zero gas satu- Berea
ration, Equation 23 reducedto stonei
is ofte
k,. : (k..,*)(k.,,*) Per
tical m
This expressioncan be valid only if both k..,* and k.,,, equal unity. Since k,,, at S*. is ia1'ab
frequentlyless than one, Stone's secondmodel has some limitations. Yh. gt
Dietrich and Bondor adjustedStone'smodel by normalizingit with k..,.* to obtain: Proble
u'hen r
k..: t,0,"** k,*)(k.",* k.r)l- (k.*+ k.g) (24) remo\
fr prTne
where k.o.* is the oil relative permeabilityat connatewater saturation.At irreduciblewater itored
saturationand zero gas saturationthis equationreducesto: Brir
(k"'o )(k"'t )
measu
k-. : and th
k..r.*
liquid
This model tends to predict incorrectoil relative permeabilityvalues (magnitudelarger or b1' r
than unity) for valuesof k,,,.* < 0.3. The
Nolen, as referencedby Molina'e has taken into accountthis problem and suggestedthe be stu
following model which remainsboundedas k.,,.* approacheszero: to infl
t. conce
k_
k.,, : k..,.*)* + k,*::
'* * k.s - (k.*, + k.s) (25) Bou
Na,,.o k..r.*
and pe
ma)'p
V. EXPERIMENTALCONFIRMATION
Penn I
Three-phaserelativepermeabilitystudiesare still in an early stageof development.Little gators
has been done on the experimentalconfirmationof imbibition correlationsand most of the staten
correlationsavailableare for imbibition. Ina
Early work was done primarily on unconsolidated sandsand the effectsof wettability and rate of
hysteresiswere not recognizeduntil recently. Donaldsonand Kayser2ohave categorizedthe mEasu
reasonsfor divergenceof experimentalthree-phaserelative permeabilitydata as follows: may b
should
l. Errors introducedin saturationmeasurements in variousexperimentalmethods. with tl
2. Errors introducedby neglectof capillary end effectsand saturationhysteresisphenomena. the ga
3. Variations caused by use of different oils, brines, and cores which could exhibit needle
different wettability characteristics. be mei
4. Assumptionsmade to facilitate experimentalproceduresor calculations. or '*'it l
5. Inadequacyof mathematicalformulationsto representthree-phaseflow conditions. is des
SO OS lr
The empirical methods,though seeminglysimpler, suffer from simplifying assumptions press
that have limited the rangeof saturationhistoriesthat can be simulated.
r27
I t , ' : : . r l t l n ei n Table I is a chronologicallisting of the experimentallydeterminedthree-phaserelative

D r c , , cr r . t h e y permeabilitiesthat have been reported.2rIn all of the studiesincludedin the tabulationthe
lc::: Stone's authorsusedrefined oils in order to minimize oil-wetting;they assumeda totally water-wet
p h . : . e\ \ S t e m system.In caseswhere a single core was used,the influenceof the saturationhistory of the
hu: ',rhcn his rock samplewas frequently ignored. The gasesused in the studieslisted in Table 1 were
rJ .:. u result air, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen.
F ..rlurations
VI. LABORATORYAPPARATUS
Lt .:n.l tirund
X J ; : , .S t o n e ' s Three-phase relativepermeabilitystudieshavebeenconductedusing refinednonpolaroil,
th. l.rcscnce dieseloil, Soltrol, kerosene,hydrocarbonfractions,brine, nitrogen,air, and carbondioxide.
3f' -.r: \iltU- Berea, Boise, Torpedo, Tensleep,and Weeks Island sandstones, as well as Arbuckle lime-
stoneand unconsolidatedsandsampleshave beenusedfor the flow media. Bereasandstone
is often preferredbecauseof its uniformity and generalacceptabilityas an industrystandard.
Personalcommunicationswith researchers in this field have indicatedthat the most prac-
tical meansof saturationmeasurement is gravimetric.Othermodernmethods,suchas gamma
}. .rt S,.. iS ray absorption,X-ray absorption,NMR, etc., are unnecessarilyexpensiveand elaborate.
The gravimetricsaturationmeasurements aresufficientlyaccurateand relativelyinexpensive.
r , x : .lrn : Problemsmay be encounteredwith gravimetricsaturationmeasurements, however,especially
when gas is used in the presenceof volatile oil. Therefore,core holderswhich permit rapid
(24) removal of cores (without the removal of rubber sleeves)should be used when relative
permeabilityis determinedby steady-state methods.Wettability of the core shouldbe mon-
l u . . ^ l c* a t e r itored either by the centrifugaltechnique23 or an alternativemethod.
Brine saturationmay be determinedwith satisfactoryaccuracyby',electricalresistivity
measurement when nonpolaroil is employed.Oil saturationmay be obtainedgravimetrically
and the gas volume may be computedas the differencebetweentotal pore volume and total
liquid volume. The oil and water flow ratesmay be obtainedby a simpleburettearrangement
n r : . . . 1lca r g e r or by flowmeters.The gas flow rate may be obtainedby use of a gas flowmeter.
The effect of wettability on the relative permeabilitiesis an importantfactor that should
U i i J . t r 'd th e be studied.The changeof wettability in a core from oil-wet to a water-wethas beenknown
to influencerelative permeabilities,but no definite conclusionsare found in the literature
concerningthe influenceof wettability on three-phase relativepermeabilities.
(15) Boundary effects should be eliminatedby using core plugs at either end of the test core
and performing the experimentat reasonablyhigh flow rates.A semipermeablemembrane
may precedethe core plug at the inlet end for properdistributionof the phases.A modified
Penn Statemethod of relative permeabilitymeasurementmay be used, since most investi-
pc:Jnt. Little gatorsbelieve that the Penn Statemethodgives betterresultsthan any of the other steady-
I r : r , ' . Io f t h e statemethods.
i'
il
! In addition to saturationmeasurements for each phase,one needsto measurethe flow
B t l : i . r l i t ra n d
rate of each fluid and the pressuredrop while making the steady-state relativepermeability
i
le g' 'r12a6,1ta measurements.A gas dome may inject fluids into the core and a back-pressureregulator
t
Ir l,rllttws:
may be used to maintain a constantpressureat the outlet end. Also, the gaseousphase
shouldbe bubbledthrough the oil supply tanks. This procedureensuresthat the oil is saturated
3th,rJr. with the gas before it enters the core. As a result, there should be no masstransfer between
i^*n,'ttlena. the gaseousphase and the oil inside the core. The gas flow rate may be regulated with a
tru.J c'rhibit needle valve, with a large pressuredifferential acrossthe valve. The rate of gas flow may
be measuredeither by collecting gas by displacementof water for a known length of time,
or with a soapbubble meter or a wet-testmeter. For pressuredifferentialmeasurements, it
is desirablethat the displacement of fluid into the measuring device be as small as possible
9()n!illlons.
so as to minimize error. Hence, use of a regularmanometeris not possible,but differential
a..unrptions pressuretransducersmay be used. The connectionsfor measuringpressuredifferential can
a
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Z x t 't , ,=' gFg E* Egl; lE: i- ,Y( Ei E ti-onal
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fi: _
9 i x : Y! i l ' ,: ,; , a ; s I
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z = g " A " d
Pt
&11-
s
valves
5 s = 3 ;, g
, 5geTU;e
2 = I
- v E
tl
rF
FI
l-
are pr(
I valves
q,, -
a.l
: F co shou'n
A o ,
Aur
t em . lt
t^
air an<
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(h U)
131
CORE HOLOER
FIGURE 23. Schematicdiagram of three-phaserelative permeabilityapparatus.
be made through semipermeablemembraneports. The capillary tubesconnectingthe trans-

ducermay be insertedand cementedin placeabout I in. from eachend of the testapparatus.
Unsteady-state methodsof three-phaserelative permeabilitymeasurements have the ad-
vantageof beingrapid. Oil and watermay be displacedby gasto duplicategasdrive processes
used in enhancedrecoverymethods.However, the calculationof isopermsfrom laboratory
data requiresanalytical solutionsof the partial differentialequationsdescribingthe three-
phase fluid flow. Some early studies have made erroneoussimplifying assumptionsin
describingthe dynamic condition of the unsteady-state process.Reliablevaluesof relative
permeabilityas a function of saturationsmay be obtainedby mathematicalsimulation of
laboratory data using finite difference calculations.20Capillary pressuredata should be
obtainedfor gas-oil, water-oil, and water-gassystemsto provide basic data necessaryfor
three-phaserelative permeabilitycalculations.Solubility of the gas in the liquids employed
in the study should be determinedbefore thesecalculationsare performed.
A schematicdiagram of the apparatusused for three-phaserelative permeabilitymeas-
urementis shown in Figure 23. The core holder, which has ports for differentialpressure
measurements, allows rapid retrievalof the core. Temperatureis controlledwith a Propor-
tional Controller connectedto a heatingtape wrappedaroundthe core holder. In order to
eliminatepulsationof flow normally associatedwith pumps, fluids are injectedby applying
gas pressureon top of the fluid in a tank equippedwith appropriaterelief valves. Solenoid
valves and level controllersmaintain a constanthead of fluid in the supply tanks. Filters
are provided in the supply lines of each phasebeing injectedinto the core holder. Check
valves preventbackflow of each of the three phases.A cross sectionof the core holder is
shown in Figure 24.
Auxiliary equipmentincludesan accuratebalance,electricalresistivitymeasurementsys-
tem, level controller,chart recorder,differentialpressuretransducer,cylinders,compressed
air and regulators,and a humidity oven.
D I F F E R E N T I AP
L R E S S U R EP O R T S
ANNULAR
P R ES S U R E
<-._
2" PORT
rO
N
cv)
-1.125>
--
19" +1JJ\
FIGURE 24. Diagram of a core holder.
VII. PRACTICALCONSIDERATIONS
FOR LABORATORYTESTS
The literature cited contains a large amount of information on factors affecting the.lab-
oratory investigationof relative permeability.The following listing, however, cites iome
practicalconsiderationsthat have not been widely discussedin the literature:
10. c
l. If a pump is used to inject fluids into the core, the packingmaterialshouldpreferably d
be Teflon@.Most other packing materialscontain silicon and carbon which may ll. E
dissolvein injected fluids and affect the wettability of the core. 12. lr
2. When brine is used as one of the fluids, all metal parts of the systemshould be of d
stainlesssteel. One-eighth-in.tubing offers excellenthandlingcharacteristics. Tygon p
tubing is recommendedif the pressureis not too high.
3. Most electronic differential pressuretransducershave good linearity and hysteresis
characteristics; however,if possible,the transducershouldbe recalibratedat leastonce
per month.
4. While changingpressureson the liquid storagetanks, it is importantnot to exceedthe The
backpressurerating of the solenoidvalves. The
5. Every effort should be made to ensure l00%osaturationof the wetting phase before is disp
startinginjection of the nonwettingphase. same c
6. In a steady-stateexperiment, input flow rate should equal the output flow rate for each equatio
phase.In many cases,this condition is tediousto achieve. perTne
7. Some extraneousmaterial may be noticed in the output lines. It must be determined and De
whether the particles are fines from the test sampleor bacterial matter. A bactericide Dean's
may be used with caution not to alter either the wettability or the resistivity of the than th
core. toward
8. Often the resistivity meter utilizes chamoisleathercontactsat either end of the core becom
holder. The contacts should be kept immersed in brine to prevent changesin the
k,,, inct
readings.
S" betr
9. It has been noticed that the position of the outlet tubes going into the measuring which
cylinders affects the pressuredifferential readings.It is recommendedthat the tubing
the tw<
outlet be kept at the same level as the core holder to eliminate gravitational effects.
In tl
r33
+---:5
- 5 ' -
.
-
ESfS
trnr thelab-
'. . ila\
SOme FIGURE 25. Comparisonof three-phaseoil relative permeabilitydeterminations.
10. Gas in the transducerlines seriouslyaffectspressuredifferentialreadings.The trans-

kl prclcrably ducer should be bled of gas at frequentintervals.
rr:rih may I l. Every effort should be made to eliminateend effectsas describedby Batycky et a1.22
12. If possible, the wetting characteristicsof the core should be frequently monitored
f1,,ultl be of during the relative permeability experiments.The centrifugemethod23may be em-
str. . Tr gon ployed for monitoring wettability.
ld nr.teresis
a l i er \ t o n c e VIII. COMPARISON OF MODELS
o cr;ccd the The following sectionpresentsa comparisonof some of the modelsdiscussedearlier.

The equationof Corey et al.2 for three-phasek,,,valuesis valid for a systemin which oil
lhr.c betbre is displacedby a gas. Donaldsonand DeanTobtainedthree-phasek..,valuesfollowing the
same displacementmechanism.Thus, we have an opportunity to observehow well the
l'3tc ltr[ gOCh equation of Corey et al.2 fits data provided by other workers. Three-phaseoil relative
permeabilityvaluescalculatedby theequationof Coreyet al.2werecomparedwith Donaldson
r tjctcrmined and Dean's data. The isopermsobtainedare shown in Figure 25 along with Donaldsonand
t huitcricide Dean's data as a basis for comparison.The Corey et al.2equationgives higher k,. values
Irr rtr tlf the than those obtainedby Donaldsonand Dean. Isopermsby Corey et al3 are less concave
towards l00%ooil saturation.Both methodsare in agreementin predictingthat the isoperms
I tri thc' COf becomeconcavetoward l00Vo S" and decreasingS*. The Donaldsonet a1.23'2a data show
nsc. in the k..,increasingup to an optimum S, value and then decreasing.This is evidentfor valuesof
S" between30 and 6OVoon this Berea core. The Corey et al. correlationsgive isoperms
: rnca:uring which show k,o to increaseas S.,increasesat the expenseof S*. The discrepancybetween
I tr rct u b i n g the two methodsis larger at low S.,values.
url ct't'ects. In the second comparison, data of Schneiderand Owens2shave been used to obtain
6. Snel
1 7 1.
7. Don
tt.l' .ll
8. San
J..t
9. Sarz
re\()
10. \'l'rl
Pnrh
Nolen,s Model
l| Cau
-o--<r- Meihod of Naar & Wygal
dete
12. Naa
196
13. L.an
PrttP
14. Sch
char
15. \'an
ofP
16. Stor
17. Stol
t:.
18. IXcr
at th
19. lltol
SPE
20. Dorl
rcF\
21. llar
FIGURE 26. Comparisonof three-phaseoil relativepermeabilitydeterminations.
Prcv
22. Bat-
isopermsby Nolen's modelreand by Naar and Wygal's correlation.r2Few dataare available and r
in the literature that show how the latter methodcompareswith experimentalvaluesor other l 9 t rI
23. Doo
correlations.Figure 26, however, provides such a comparison.Schneiderand Owens ob-
efllc
tainedgas-oil drainagedata in the absenceof connatewater; their oil-water imbibition data 24. Don
is for a water-wet system. Theoretically, the Dietrich and Bondorr8or the Nolen model oi l'
should give the same results as Stone's second model, since gas-oil data used in this 25. Schr
comparisonhave beenobtainedin the absenceof connatewater, i.e., k.o"*equalsunity. As char
26. Falr
in the earlier comparison,the discrepancybetweenthe two methodsis evident at low S"
relat
values.Another point to note is the evidencethat k," dependsonly on Sovalues,especially
at low S" in Naar and Wygal's correlations.There is a slight indication in both methods
that k," isopermsbecomeconvex towards the l}OVo So apex at high S".
REFERENCES
l. Leverett, M. S. and Lewis, W.8., Steadyflow of gas-oil-watermixturesthroughunconsolidatedsands,
T r a n s .A I M E , 1 4 2 . 1 0 7 . 1 9 4 1 .
2. Corey, A. T., Rathjens, C. H., Henderson, J. H., and Wyllie, M. R. J., Three-phaserelativeperrne-
ability, Trans. AIME, 201,349. 1956.
3 . R e i d , S . , T h e F l o w o f T h r e eI m m i s c i b l eF l u i d si n P o r o u sM e d i a , P h . D . t h e s i s ,U n i v e r s i t vo f B i r m i n s h a m .
E n g l a n d1 9 5 6 .
4. Snell, R. W., Measurementsof gas-phasesaturationin a porous medium, "/. Inst. Pet., 45(428), 259,
l 959.
5. Snell, R. W., Three-phaserelative permeabilityin an unconsolidatedsand, "/. Inst. Pet., 48(459), 80,
t962.
135
6. Snell, R. W., The saturationhistory dependenceof three-phase oil relativepermeability,J. Inst.pet.,59,

4 ' 7 1 .1 9 6 3 .
7. Donaldson, E. C. and Dean, G. W., Two- and Three-Phase RelativePermeabilityStudies,U.S. Bureou
of Mines, Washingron,D.C. , #6826, 1966.
8. Sarem, A. M., Three-phaserelativepermeabilitymeasurements by unsteady-state methods,Soc..pet. Eng.
J . . 9 . 1 9 9 .1 9 6 6 .
9. Saraf, D. N. and Fatt, I., Three-phaserelative permeability measurementusing a nuclear magnetic
resonance t e c h n i q u ef o r e s t i m a t i n gf l u i d s a t u r a t i o ns, o r ' . P e t . E n g . J . , 9 , 2 3 5 . 1 9 6 7 .
10. Wyllie' M. R. J. and Gardner, G. H. F., The generalizedKozeny-Carmanequation,its applicationto
p r o b l e m so f m u l t i - p h a s ef l o w i n p o r o u sm e d i a , W o r l d O i l , 1 4 6 , l 2 l . 1 9 5 8 .
b:.
ll. Caudle, B. H., Slobod, R. L., and Brownscombe, E. R., Further developmentsrn the laboratory
' \: .. 4 Wygal
determinationof relative permeability, Trans. AIME, 192. 145, l95l .
1 2 . N a a r , J . a n d W y g a l , R . J . , T h r e e - p h a s iem b i b i t i o nr e l a t i v ep e r m e a b i l i t y ,S o < 'P . et. Eng. J., 12,254.
r96r.
13. Land, C. S., Calculation of imbibition relative permeability for two- and three-phaseflow fiom rock
14. Schneider, F. N. and Owens, W. W., Sandstoneand carbonatetwo- and three-phase relativepermeabrlity
c h a r a c t e r i s t i cS
s ,o c . P e t . E n g . J . , 3 , 7 5 , 1 9 1 0 .
15. Van Spronsen, E., Three-Phase RelativePermeabilityMeasurements Using the CentrifugeMethod. Society
o f P e t r o l e u mE n g i n e e r s / D e p a r t m eonf tE n e r g y ,T u l s a ,O k l a . , # 1 0 6 8 8 , 1 9 8 2 .
1 6 . S t o n e , H . L . , E s t i m a t i o no f t h r e e - p h a sree l a t i v ep e r m e a b i l i t yJ, . P e t . T e c h . , 2 , 2 1 4 , 1 9 7 0 .
1 7 . S t o n e ,H . L . , E s t i m a t i o n o ft h r e e - p h a s e r e l a t i v e p e r m e a b i l i t y a n d r e s i d u a l o i l dJ a. toaf ,C a n . P e t . T e c h n o l . ,
t2, 53, t913.
18. Dietrich' J. K. and Bondor, P. 8., Three-phase oilrelative permeabilitymodels,paperSPE 6044 presenred
at the 5lst Annual Fall TechnrcalConferenceand Exhibition of the SPE, New Orleans. 1976.
19. Molina, N. N., A systematicapproachto the relativepermeabilityproblemsin reservoirsimulation,paper
SPE 9234 presentedat the 55th Annual Fall TechnicalConferenceand Exhibition of the SPE, Dallas, 1980.
20. Donaldson, E. C. and Kayser, M.8., Three-PhaseFluid Flow in PorousMedia. DOE/BETCilC-8)t4.
r e p o r tp u b l i s h e db y t h e U . S . D e p a r t m e not f E n e r g y .B a r t l e s v i l l eO , kla., April. 1981.
21. Manjnath, A. and Honarpour, M. M., Investigationof three-phaserelative permeability, SPE 12915
presentedat the Rocky Mountain RegionalMeeting of the SPE, Casper,May 20-23, 1984.
22. Batycky, J. P., McCaffery, F. G., Hodgous, P. K., and Fisher, D. 8., Interpretingcapillary pressures
arc r\ ailable androckwettingcharacteristicsfromunsteady-statedisplacementmeasureP meetn. E
t sn, g
so. Jr .' ., 6 , 2 9 6 ,
iluc. trr other t 9 8 l.
23. Donaldson, E. C., Thomas, R. D., and Lorenz, P. 8., Wettabilitydeterminationand its ef-fecton recovery
| ( )ricns ob-
e f f i c i e n c y ,S o < 'P . et. Eng. J., 3, 13, 1969.
b r i . r t r o nd a t a 24. Donaldson, E. C. and Dean, G. W., Two- and Three-PhaseRelativePermeabilityStudies,U.S. Bureau
frrrlcI model of Mines, WashingtonD , .C., #6826. 1966.
u\'!l in this 25. Schneider, F. N. and Owens, W. W., Sandstoneand carbonatetwo- and three-phase relativepermeability
t l . . r n i t v .A s c h a r a c t e r i s t i cSs ,o r ' .P e t . E n s . J . , 3 , 7 5 , 1 9 1 0 .
26. Fayers, F. J. and Matthews, J. D., Evaluationof normalizedStone'smethodsfor estimatingthree-phase
nt .rt low S"
r e l a t i v ep e r m e a b i l i t i e sS. o r ' .P e t . E n g . J . , 4 . 2 2 4 , 1 9 8 4 .
s. c.pecially
rrth rncthods
F l . : . , : . ' Js a n d s ,
It r' 'i Perme-
"'rngham.
I ir
.3i j'rr r5Q
,. :. -:i9). 80.
r37
APPENDIX
SYMBOLS
A : area Subscripts
: constant a : absolute
A, : adhesiontension av : average
a : materialconstant c - critical
B : formation volume factor : capillary
: constant cw : connatewater
b : materialconstant D : displacement
C : constant d : displacingphase
F : fraction de : immobile displacingphase
g : gravitationalacceleration e - equilibrium
h : thickness : external(radius)
I - injectivity : effective
: resistivityindex f : free
k : permeability g :gas
L : length i - initial
m : exponent : index number
N : number of barrelsof oil : irreducible
n : exponent imb : imbibition
P : pressure irr : irreducible
a : volume L : liquid
q : volumetric rate LR : residualliquid
R : radius m : minimum
: resistivity mf : mud filtrate
r : radius n : nonwetting
S : saturation o :oil
: distancein directionof : measuredat 1007oS*
flow (resistivity)
s* : reducedsaturation ob : trappedoil
SL : total liquid saturation p : produced
T : time r - relative
: velocity : residual
Z : vertical coordinate s - solution
ct : constant SL : total liquid
p : constant STD : standardcondition
0 : angle T : total
\ : lithology factor t - trapped
f.r : viscosity w : water
o : surfaceor interfacial : well
tension wt : wetting
0 : porosity xo : flushed zone
.1, : immobile saturation

Relative Permeability of Petroleum Reservoirs: Mehdi Honarpour

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Relative Permeability of Petroleum Reservoirs: Mehdi Honarpour

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RelativePermeability

Leonard Koederitz A. Herbert Harvey

S Distancein direction of flow, which is taken as positive

Dr. Mehdi "Matt" Honarpour is an associateprofessorof petroleumengineeringat

The authorswish to acknowledgethe Societyof PetroleumEngineersand the American ctf,

IX. E f f e c t so f S a t u r a t i oHni s t o r y . . . . ......'74 c{ehlr.

K ) ( I . E f f ec t sof Po ro s i tya n d P e rm e a b i l i ty ... ......79 irlurltl

XII. Effectsof Temperature. . .. .82 thc crr

XIII. Effects of InterfacialTension and Density . . .82 Itrf ft\

X I V . E f f e c t so f V i s c o s i t y. . . .;.... . .. ' ' 83 thc Ha

XV. Effectsof Initial Wetting-Phase Saturation ... 89 ln tt

C. Land. .. 120 rltc\

Symbols. ....... 137 rnarl

Outl-et Differential Pressure Inlet

FIGURE l. Three-sectioncore assembly.8

> {-i- ^ -o-

fnf low face 1>

J ii- *i'trDd Distance from Outflow Face, cffi

plcir :Jtrtr\r' FIGURE 2. Comparison of saturationgradientsat low flow rate.e

3T .:'.:t.t.tIlS dP.:dP.-dP*, (3)

where dP"/dL is the capillary pressuregradient within the core. Since

lc.l. ,i*-J b) dP. : dP. ds*, (s)

FIGURE 3. Comparison of saturationgradients at high flow rate.e

C:'- .'. -:l lhc

l.-. ..--l.rl FIGURE 4. Two-phase relative permeability apparatus.r5

in each fluid phaseis measuredseparatelythrough a semipermeable barrier. By adjusting

llE 3 ^ - G S*.u, - S*z : f.r, Q* ( 8)

where I,, the ?elative injectivity, is defined as

l. The pressuregradientbe large enoughto minimize capillary pressureeffects.

Laboratory equipment is available for making the unsteady-statemeasurementsunder sim- tmcl

The techniqueswhich are usedfor calculatingrelative permeabilityfrom capillary pressure

B uLJr'l rllTl- the nonwettingphase)is injectedin measuredincrementsat increasingpressures.Approx-

b r . : ': ; ..u rc (l7)

FIGURE 6. Automated centrifuge system.28 Thc n

VI. CALCULATION FROM FIELD DATA .E! E

(producedgas) : (free gas) * (solutiongas) (18)

FIGURE 7. Calculation of gas-oil relative permeability values from production data.

Similarly, the rate of oil flow in the same system is

R o : s . 6 t s l ube* ' * * . (2t)

Thus, the relative permeability ratio is given by

The oil saturationwhich correspondsto this relative permeabilityratio may be determined

l\r s,:s*+(r-s*)(\}) (*) (24)

| :', .t::t tx?)

TWO-PHASE RELATIVE PERMEABILITY

Direct experimentalmeasurementto determinerelative permeabilityof porous rock has

II. RAPOPORTAND LEAS

Rapoportand Leasepresentedtwo equationsfor relativepermeabilityto the wettingphase.

Theseequationswere basedon surfaceenergyrelationshipsand the Kozeny-Carmenequa-

III. GATES. LIETZ. AND FULCHER

,aI-' -:l cLlua- Table I

where r representsthe radius of a pore, a and b representmaterial constants,and }, is a

F ' - ' : ' : l ( r n - ft*' ds

FIGURE 1. Capillary pressureas a function of water saturation.

/'*' {^,*,)'ds/(\)'(P.)' (8)

Burdine has shown that

where S- representsthe minimum wetting-phasesaturationfrom a capillary-pressurecurve.

k,*(r-r+" )' !Yor",r3

k,.:(H), +* .s; tri the ci

Jr*,Pi hart: tri I

where Sl representstotal liquid saturation.Note that theseequationsmay be applied only

VI. TIMMERMAN,COREY,AND JOHNSON

Timmermanr8suggeststhe following equationsbasedon the water-oil drainagecapillary

LTFI Injection Curve

lc.l. ,i-J b) dP. : dP. ds, (s)

llE 3 ^ - G S.u, - Sz : f.r, Q* ( 8)

l\r s,:s+(r-s)(\}) (*) (24)

/'' {^,,)'ds/(\)'(P.)' (8)

k . n * ,: (l -'t)' - (S) ,.l (37)

krr Relative permeability to wetting phase(k, and k,").

k.* : (S)' - k,o (S/(1 - S**))' (42)

Unconsolidatedsand, well (l - S)' (s)'

Snr:1-(1/0) (R-,/R.,)"t (58)

where S- represents(S - S,-)/(l - S,., - S.,.);S** represents(S* - S,)/(l - S*,,,).

k .: l o ? 2(H )' u , ,,,,. ., + 2.i i g4*

o': 'sossffik'gts,,,t + 8'oo53x