College of Petroleum

Engineering & Geosciences

Petroleum Engineering Dept.
PETE 525 Advanced Petrophysics

Rock
Permeability (1)
Tuesday, September 24, 2024
 Advanced Petrophysics: Rock Permeability

Outlines

1 Introduction

2 Liquid & Dry Gas Permeability

3 Klingenberg Effect

4 Validity of Darcy’s Law

5 Forchheimer Effect

2
 Advanced Petrophysics: Rock Permeability

Introduction to Permeability

▪ A pore space property

▪ A measure of the ease with which a fluid can move
through the pore spaces or fractures in the rock.
▪ The size and distribution of pore throats influence
how easily fluids can flow through the rock.
– Connectivity (Well or poor)
– Size (small or large)
– Distribution (uniform or wide)

3
 Advanced Petrophysics: Rock Permeability

Introduction to Permeability

▪ Permeability is a tonsorial property and

exhibits, in many cases, anisotropy.

Seven sandstone cores taken from a geothermal reservoir

4 Goupil et al. 2022
 Advanced Petrophysics: Rock Permeability

Factor Affecting Permeability

Shape and size of sand grains

Lamination

Cementation

Fracturing and solution

Effective stress

Shale content

5
 Advanced Petrophysics: Rock Permeability

Factor Affecting Permeability

Shape and size of sand grains

▪ Large and flat grains uniformly arranged ▪ Mostly large and rounded grains
with the longest dimension horizontal
▪ Considerably high permeability and of
▪ Very high kH and medium to large kV. same magnitude in both directions

6
 Advanced Petrophysics: Rock Permeability

Factor Affecting Permeability

Shape and size of sand grains Anisotropic

Anisotropic

▪ If the sand grains are

small and of
irregular shape.
▪ Most petroleum
reservoirs fall in this
category

7
 Advanced Petrophysics: Rock Permeability

Factor Affecting Permeability

Lamination
▪ Platy minerals such as muscovite, and shale
laminations, act as barriers to kv with kH/kV ratio
generally ranges from 1.5 to 3 and may exceed 10
for some reservoir rocks.
▪ Not only abundance but also type and mineralogy of
the clay minerals and composition of the pore fluids.
▪ Clay minerals, which coat the grain surfaces,
expand and/or become dislodged due to changes in
the chemistry of the pore fluids or mud filtrate
invasion, will highly affect the permeability

Limestone with
8
mudstone layers
 Advanced Petrophysics: Rock Permeability

Factor Affecting Permeability

Cementation
▪ Both permeability and porosity of
No Clay cementing material Clay cementing material
sedimentary rocks are influenced by the
extent of the cementation and the
location of the cementing material within
the pore space

9
 Advanced Petrophysics: Rock Permeability

Factor Affecting Permeability

Fracturing and Solution

Solution of minerals by percolating surface and subsurface

Important for sandstones interbedded with shales,
acidic waters as they pass increase the permeability of
limestones, and dolomites. carbonate reservoir rock.

10
 Advanced Petrophysics: Rock Permeability

Factor Affecting Permeability

Effective Pressure
▪ Increasing effective pressure compresses the
pore space, reduces the pore cross section
area, and closes pore throats and fractures.
▪ Permeability decreases with increasing
effective pressure.
▪ Pressure dependence is strong in weak-
consolidated rocks or fractured rocks, for more
competent rocks the pressure dependence
decreases.

Effective Pressure = Poverburden-Ppore

11
 Advanced Petrophysics: Rock Permeability

Factor Affecting Permeability

Effective Pressure
Effective Pressure = Poverburden-Ppore
Experimental results on actual crystalline rock samples

12
 Advanced Petrophysics: Rock Permeability

Factor Affecting Permeability

Effective Pressure

Matrix permeability of Pennant

sandstone for flow normal to
bedding and for Bowland and
Haynesville shales for flow
parallel to layering as a function
of effective pressure

13 Rutter et al. 2022

 Advanced Petrophysics: Rock Permeability

Factor Affecting Permeability

Effective Pressure

Decline Curve

Recovery Curve

14
 Advanced Petrophysics: Rock Permeability

Factor Affecting Permeability

Shale Content
▪ Permeability of shaly sands is controlled by
– Shale/clay content,
– Type of shale distribution (laminated,
dispersed, structural)
– Porosity
– Confining stress.

15
 Advanced Petrophysics: Rock Permeability

Factor Affecting Permeability

Shale Content
▪ Permeability versus porosity plot for shaly sands
with three different clay types:
– pore-filling kaolinite
– pore-lining chlorite
– pore-bridging illite

16
 Advanced Petrophysics: Rock Permeability

Factor Affecting Permeability

Shale Content

17
 Advanced Petrophysics: Rock Permeability

How to Determine Permeability?

Direct measurements Cores

- Using Core Samples and core plugs

Logs

Direct tests
RFT,MDT, XPT, FTNG pretests
- Drill stem Test - Wireline formation testers
- Well Testing - Pump Tests
MDT Mini DST

Indirect methods
Well

- Grain size parameters for unconsolidated sediments

Testing

- Wireline logging data (NMR, Stoneley waves)

Radius of investigation

18
 Advanced Petrophysics: Rock Permeability

Reservoir Permeabilities

▪ Vary widely from 0.001 md for a tight gas sand in East Texas
to 4000 md for an unconsolidated sand in the Niger Delta
▪ A permeability of 0.1 md is generally considered the
minimum for oil production

19 Limestone with different sedimentary fabrics

 Advanced Petrophysics: Rock Permeability

Which Permeability?

▪ Permeability relates the laminar flow (fluid volume/time) of a non-reactive

fluid to a macroscopic cross-section of a rock, to the viscosity of the fluid,
and the fluid pressure gradient.
▪ Depending on the fluid composition must distinguished between:
– Absolute permeability (laminar flow of a single nonreactive fluid),
– Effective permeability (flow of one fluid in the presence of another
fluid, when the fluids are immiscible)
– Relative permeability (ratio of effective and absolute permeability).

20
 Advanced Petrophysics: Rock Permeability

Permeability Measurement

▪ Both liquids and gases have been used to measure permeability.

▪ Liquids sometimes change the pore structure and therefore the permeability.
▪ There are several factors that could lead to some of error in determining
reservoir permeability. Some of these factors are:
– Core sample may not be representative of the reservoir rock because of
reservoir heterogeneity.
– Core recovery may be incomplete.
– Permeability of the core may be altered when it is cut, or when it is cleaned
and dried in preparation for analysis.

21
 Advanced Petrophysics: Rock Permeability

Darcy’s Law

𝑘 𝑑𝑃 𝑞
𝑣=− 𝒗= Horizontal flow
𝜇 𝑑ℓ 𝐴
ℓ = 0, 𝑃 = 𝑃1
<<= Two Boundary condition
ℓ = 𝐿, 𝑃 = 𝑃2
Assumptions:
• Horizontal Flow
• Constant cross sectional area from inlet to outlet of q q
• Incompressible fluid
L
▪ Separating the variable and integrating between 0 and L and inlet pressure P1 and outlet
pressure P2, and solving for k gives:
𝑞𝜇𝐿
𝑞 𝑘 𝑑𝑃 𝐾=−
𝑣= =− 𝑃1 − 𝑃2 𝐴
𝐴 𝜇 𝑑ℓ
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 Advanced Petrophysics: Rock Permeability

Darcy Law units

▪ Darcy Units ▪ Oilfield Units

– q [cm3/s] – q [STB/day]
– k [Darcy] – k [mD]
– A [cm2] – A [ft2]
– 𝜇 [cp] – 𝜇 [cp]
– P [atm] – P [psi]
– z [cm] – z [ft]
– s [cm] – s [ft]

𝑘𝐴 𝑑𝑝 𝜌g 𝑑𝑧 𝑘𝐴 𝑑𝑝 𝜌g 𝑑𝑧
𝑞=− + 𝑞=− +
𝜇 𝑑𝑠 𝟏. 𝟎𝟏𝟑𝟐 × 𝟏𝟎𝟔 𝑑𝑠 𝜇 𝑑𝑠 1.0132 × 106 𝑑𝑠
23
 Advanced Petrophysics: Rock Permeability

Example 1 (3.9 page 139)

▪ Here is a falling head permeameter for determining

the permeability of a core using a nonreactive fluid. h1
a. Derive the differential equation for instantaneous
height h in terms of the pertinent system variables
and parameters.

b. OK, now solve the equation, smarty.

c. Given the set of h versus t measurements shown h2
below, determine the absolute permeability of the
core.
t (s) h (cm) L = 2 cm
0 100 ρ = 1.02 g/cm3
2000 45.0 μ = 1 cp
5000 13.5 g = 981 cm/s2

24
 Advanced Petrophysics: Rock Permeability

Example 1

Darcy’s equation: Separate variables and integrate

ℎ2 − ℎ1 ℎ 𝑑ℎ 2𝑘𝜌𝑔
𝑞 = −𝐾𝐴 = 𝐾𝐴 =− 𝑑𝑡
𝐿 𝐿 ℎ 1.0132 × 106 𝜇𝐿
What is the flux q? 𝑑ℎ 2𝑘𝜌𝑔
න = න− 𝑑𝑡
It is the volume moving ℎ 1.0132 × 106 𝜇𝐿
𝑘𝜌𝑔
through the cross-sectional ln ℎ + 𝐶 = − 𝑡
1.0132 × 106 𝜇𝐿
area A per unit time:
𝑑ℎ2
𝑞 = −𝐴
𝑑ℎ1
𝑞=𝐴 Initial condition: h = h0 at t = 0
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡
𝑑ℎ1 𝑑ℎ2 𝑑ℎ 𝐴 𝑑ℎ
2𝑞 = −𝐴 − = −𝐴 𝑞=− lnℎ0 + 𝐶 = 0
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡 2 𝑑𝑡 𝐶 = − lnℎ0
Combine:
𝐴 𝑑ℎ ℎ 2𝑘𝜌𝑔
𝑞=− = 𝐾𝐴 ln ℎ − lnℎ0 = − 𝑡
2 𝑑𝑡 𝐿 1.0132 × 106 𝜇𝐿
ℎ 2𝑘𝜌𝑔
𝑑ℎ ℎ 2𝑘𝜌𝑔 ℎ ln = − 𝑡
= −2𝐾 = − ℎ0 6
1.0132 × 10 𝜇𝐿
𝑑𝑡 𝐿 1.0132 × 106 𝜇 𝐿
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 Advanced Petrophysics: Rock Permeability

Example 1
ℎ 2𝑘𝜌𝑔 ▪ plot time versus natural log of h/h0 and
ln = − 6
𝑡
ℎ0 1.0132 × 10 𝜇𝐿 find the slope of the line.
1.0132 × 106 𝑚𝜇𝐿
t (s) h (cm) 𝑘(𝑚𝑑) = −
0 100
2𝜌𝑔
2000 45.0 0
5000 13.5 kρg/μL = 0.0004
-0.5 ρ = 1.02 g/cm3
-1
g = 981 cm/s2
μ = 1 cp
ln(h/h0)

y = -0.000400x
-1.5 L = 2 cm
-2
k = 0.405 Darcy
-2.5
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000
Time (s)

26
 Advanced Petrophysics: Rock Permeability

Example 2 (3.4 page 137)

The figure below shows a fluid flow experiment designed to measure the absolute permeability of a
core shaped as a truncated right circular cone. An incompressible liquid of viscosity μ is injected at a
constant rate q and the steady-state pressure drop ΔP is measured where ΔP = (P1 – P2). The
pressure drops are measured at a number of different rates.
a. Starting from Darcy’s law, derive the
mathematical relationship between ΔP and q in ∆p
terms of r1, r2, L, μ, and k. Assume 1D flow in
the x-direction. Neglect the effect of gravity.
q
b. Use the provided experimental data to r1 r1
determine k for a particular core. Other data are
r1 = 1 cm, r2 = 2 cm, L = 10 cm, μ = 1 cp. Lc

27
 Advanced Petrophysics: Rock Permeability

Example 2

▪ Darcy’s law in differential form:

𝑘 𝑑𝑃
𝑞=− 𝐴
𝜇 𝑑𝑥
∆p
The truncated right circular cone
implies that r is a linear function of x:
𝒓𝟐 − 𝒓𝟏
q
𝑟 𝑥 = 𝑟1 + 𝑥 = 𝑟1 + 𝜷𝑥
𝑳 r1 r1

𝐴 𝑥 =𝜋 𝑟 𝑥 2 = 𝜋 𝑟1 + 𝛽𝑥 2
Lc

𝜋𝑘 𝑟1 + 𝛽𝑥 2 𝑑𝑃
𝑞=−
𝜇𝑑𝑥

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 Advanced Petrophysics: Rock Permeability

Example 2
𝜋𝑘 𝑟1 + 𝛽𝑥 2 𝑑𝑃
𝑞=−
𝜇𝑑𝑥
𝑞𝜇𝑑𝑥
−𝑑𝑃 =
𝜋𝑘 𝑟1 + 𝛽𝑥 2
𝑃2
𝑞𝜇 𝐿 𝑑𝑥
− න 𝑑𝑃 = න 2
𝑃1 𝜋𝑘 0 𝑟1 + 𝛽𝑥
𝐿
𝑞𝜇 1 𝑞𝜇 1 1
𝑃1 − 𝑃2 = Δ𝑃 = − =− −
𝜋𝑘 𝛽 𝑟1 + 𝛽𝑥 0
𝜋𝑘 𝛽 𝑟1 + 𝛽𝐿 𝛽𝑟1

𝑞𝜇 𝛽𝑟1 − 𝛽𝑟1 − 𝛽2 𝐿 𝑞𝜇 𝐿 𝑞𝜇 𝐿
=− = =
2 2 3
𝜋𝑘 𝛽 𝑟1 + 𝛽 𝑟1 𝐿 2
𝜋𝑘 𝑟1 + 𝛽𝑟1 𝐿 𝜋𝑘 𝑟 2 + 𝑟2 − 𝑟1 𝑟 𝐿
1 𝐿 1
𝑞𝜇 𝐿 𝑞𝜇𝐿
= 2 2 =
29 𝜋𝑘 𝑟1 + 𝑟1 𝑟2 − 𝑟1 𝜋𝑘𝑟1 𝑟2
 Advanced Petrophysics: Rock Permeability

Example 2
Injection rate (cm3/s) Pressure drop (atm.)
▪ Use the given data to compute the permeability of 0.0 0.0
such a core: 0.1 1.6
▪ We found a linear relationship between q and ΔP, 0.2 3.2
so let’s plot it and record the slope: 0.3 4.8
6 𝑞𝜇𝐿 𝜇𝐿
Δ𝑃 = = 𝛼𝑞 where 𝛼 =
5 𝜋𝑘𝑟1 𝑟2 𝜋𝑘𝑟1 𝑟2
y = 16x 𝜇𝐿
4
𝑘=
𝜋𝛼𝑟1 𝑟2
ΔP (atm)

2
We’re given q in cm3/s and ΔP in atm, so let’s
use Darcy units:
1
μ = 1 cp L = 10 cm
0 α = 16 atm/cm3/s r1 = 1 cm
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35
3
q (cm /s) r2 = 2 cm k = 0.0995 D
30
= 99.5 mD
 Advanced Petrophysics: Rock Permeability

Example 3: Gas Permeability

▪ The following data obtained during a routine permeability test at 70oF. Find the permeability.
– Flow rate = 2000 cc of air at 1 atm in 400 sec
– Downstream pressure = 1 atm
– Viscosity of air at test temperature = 0.02 cP
– Core cross sectional area = 3 cm2
– Core length = 5 cm
– Upstream Pressure = 1.75 atm

0.1622 Darcy
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 Advanced Petrophysics: Rock Permeability

Dry Gas Permeability

▪ Dry gas (air) has been selected as the standard fluid for use
in permeability determination because it minimizes fluid-rock
reaction and is easy to use.

2𝑞𝜇𝐿
𝑘= 2 2
𝑃1 − 𝑃2 𝐴

32
 Advanced Petrophysics: Rock Permeability

Steady-State with Compressible fluid

33
 Advanced Petrophysics: Rock Permeability

Steady-state with compressible fluid

34
 Advanced Petrophysics: Rock Permeability

Example 3: Gas Permeability

▪ The following data obtained during a routine permeability test at 70oF. Find the permeability.
– Flow rate = 2000 cc of air at 1 atm in 400 sec
– Downstream pressure = 1 atm
– Viscosity of air at test temperature = 0.02 cP
– Core cross sectional area = 3 cm2
– Core length = 5 cm 2000
𝑞𝑠𝑐 = = 5 𝑐𝑐/𝑠𝑒𝑐
– Upstream Pressure = 1.75 atm 400
𝑞𝜇𝐿 5 × 0.02 × 5
𝑘= 𝑘=
𝐴 𝑃1 − 𝑃2 𝑃𝑚 3 1.75 − 1 × 1.375

𝑘 = 0.1616 𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑐𝑦
35
 Advanced Petrophysics: Rock Permeability

Klingenberg Effect

▪ If gas is used as non-reactive fluid, at low gas pressures the mean free path of gas
molecules gets the order of the pore dimensions.
▪ Then gas molecules have a finite velocity at the pore wall, but for liquids, a zero velocity at the
wall is assumed.
▪ The “gas slippage effect” increases the flow rate and causes an overestimated permeability.
▪ Klinkenberg correction uses measurements at different pressures and an extrapolation for a
(theoretical) infinite pressure.
▪ It results in the “Klinkenberg corrected permeability”, which is independent of the type of gas,
and approximately the same as for a single phase liquid

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 Advanced Petrophysics: Rock Permeability

Dry Gas Permeability

▪ Klinkenberg showed that at low Pm the gas molecules are 𝑞𝜇𝐿

𝑘𝑎 =
so far apart that they “slip” through the pore spaces with 𝑝1 − 𝑝2 𝐴
little friction loss, and yield a higher permeability.

𝑘
Liquid flow through a capillary

𝑘𝑎
Gas flow through a capillary

37
 Advanced Petrophysics: Rock Permeability

Klingenberg Effect

▪ As the mean pressure increases the calculated gas permeability decreases.

▪ Liquids had a zero velocity at the sand grain surface, while gases exhibited some finite velocity.
▪ The “Klinkenberg Effect” is a function of the testing gas and permeability.

50 50
Hydrogen
𝑷𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 (𝒎𝒅)

𝑷𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 (𝒎𝒅)
Nitrogen
Carbon Dioxide

35 35

Liquid Absolute Permeability

20 20
0 2 4 6 8 0 2 4 6 8
𝟏Τ𝒑𝒎 𝟏Τ𝒂𝒕𝒎 𝟏Τ𝒑𝒎 𝟏Τ𝒂𝒕𝒎
38
 Advanced Petrophysics: Rock Permeability

Klingenberg Effect

Example Klinkenberg plot for the same porous, non-adsorbing rock using three
different gases as permeates to determine Klinkenberg-corrected permeability
39 Ref: Sander et al. 2017
 Advanced Petrophysics: Rock Permeability

Klingenberg Effect

▪ Effect of Permeability

Intermediate K Low K
𝑏 High K

𝑘𝑔 = 𝑘𝐿 1+
𝑝𝑚

𝑷𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 (𝒎𝒅)
k g = Measured ges permeability
k L = Effective liquid permeability
b = emperical constant depending
on rock and gas used (Klinkenberg factor) 0 2 4 6 8
𝟏Τ𝒑𝒎 𝟏Τ𝒂𝒕𝒎
pm = mean core pressure

40
 Advanced Petrophysics: Rock Permeability

Knudsen Number
Kapp/Kd of various pore types under different pressures
▪ When a gas molecule flows in a nanopore, the flow types D (nm)
consist of diffusion, slippage and advection. <10
>10
▪ Ratio of the molecular mean free path (the average >100
molecular motion length during two successive collisions) >1000
and pore diameter.

𝜆
𝑘𝑛 =
𝐷
Permeability correction
coefficient for different pore
diameters at different pressures

Relationship between the permeability correction

41 Chen et al. 2017 coefficient and Knudsen number for different models.
 Advanced Petrophysics: Rock Permeability

Knudsen Number

▪ Nanopores are commonly within the organic matter

and clay-rich mudstone, while micropores are
typically in the silica-rich shale
▪ Slip flow dominates for kn of 0.01 to 0.1.

Rock pore diameter ranges

Jurassic Haynesville Shale Basin 2–20 nm
Ordovician Utica Shale Basin 20–200 nm
Mississipian Barnett Shale Basin 5–750 nm (Avg. 100 nm)
Sichuan Basin 1-900 nm

42
 Advanced Petrophysics: Rock Permeability

Example 4 [Klingenberg Effect]

2000 𝑞𝑠𝑐 𝜇𝐿𝑃𝑠𝑐
𝑘=
▪ The following data were obtained in a gas permeameter for the determination of 𝐴 𝑃12 − 𝑃22
the permeability of a clean core plug. What is the permeability? 𝑃ሜ =
𝑃1 + 𝑃2
2
Core diameter 2.54 cm P1 (atm) P2 (atm) qsc (cm3/min) k (mD) Pmean (atm)
Core length 2.54 cm
1.133 1.0 6.4 6.79 1.066
Gas viscosity 0.018 cp
Psc 1 atm 1.667 1.0 35.6 6.02 1.334
3.000 1.0 132.8 4.99 2.000

▪ Then plot kapp versus 1/Pmean and find the y-intercept:

k = permeability, (millidarcies, mD) 8
y = 4.0965x + 2.9453
𝜇 = viscosity, (centipoise, cP) 6

Kapp (mD)
L = plug length (cm)
A = plug cross section (cm2 ) 4
Q = flow rate (cm3/sec )
P1 = inlet pressure (atmospheres absolute)
2 k = 2.945 mD
P2 = outlet pressure (atmospheres absolute) 0
Psc = atmospheric pressure (atmospheres absolute) 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
43 1/Pm
 Advanced Petrophysics: Rock Permeability

Klingenberg Effect

▪ What if you have only one gas permeability

measurement (kg) of a core sample is made at pm?
▪ A nonlinear equation can be solved iteratively by
using the Newton- Raphson iterative method. 𝒃
50
𝑘𝑔 = 𝑘𝐿 1+
𝑝𝑚
𝑷𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 (𝒎𝒅)

𝒃 = 6.9 𝑘𝐿−0.36
35

6.9 𝑘𝐿0.64 + 𝑝𝑚 𝑘𝐿 − 𝑝𝑚 𝑘𝑔 = 0

20
0 2 4 6 8
𝟏Τ𝒑𝒎 𝟏Τ𝒂𝒕𝒎
44
 Advanced Petrophysics: Rock Permeability

Example 5 [Klingenberg Effect, single point]

▪ The permeability of a core plug is measured by air. Only one measurement is made at a mean
pressure of 2.152 psi. The air permeability is 46.6 mD. Estimate the absolute permeability of the
core sample. Compare the result with the actual absolute permeability of 23.66 md.
Solution
6.9 𝑘𝐿0.64 + 𝑝𝑚 𝑘𝐿 − 𝑝𝑚 𝑘𝑔 = 0
𝑓 𝑘𝑖 = 6.9 𝑘𝑖0.64 + 2.15𝑘𝑖 − 2.152 × 46.6
𝑓 𝑘𝑖
′
𝑓 𝑘𝑖 = 4.416 𝑘𝑖−0.36 + 2.15 𝑘𝑖+1 = 𝑘𝑖 + ′
𝑓 𝑘𝑖
𝑖 𝑘𝑖 𝑓 𝑘𝑖 𝑓 ′ 𝑘𝑖 𝑘𝑖+1
1 30 25.12 3.45 22.719
2 22.719 -0.466 3.29 22.861
3 22.861 0.414 3.29 22.848
45
 Advanced Petrophysics: Rock Permeability

Validity of Darcy’s Law

▪ Slow, Laminar flow in porous media without

chemical reaction.
▪ Define pore Reynolds number and friction factor
▪ The friction factor and pressure drop increased with
𝑣𝜌𝐷𝑝
the decrease of porosity and pore size
𝑅𝑒 =
𝜇
▪ Darcy flow is in the laminar flow segment, where the
Reynold number is generally less than 1.0.

𝑣: Darcy velocity (cm/s)

𝐷𝑝 : mean grain diameter of the granular porous medium (cm)
𝜌: Fluid density (g/cm3)
46
𝜇: Fluid viscosity (poise)
 Advanced Petrophysics: Rock Permeability

Validity of Darcy’s Law

𝑣𝜑 𝐾𝜌 𝛽𝜌𝑞𝑚
𝑅𝑒 = 𝑅𝑒 =
3 6.33 × 1010 𝐴𝜇𝑔
1750𝜇𝜙 2
𝑣𝜑 : real flow velocity (cm/s) 𝛽: Turbulence factor (1/ft)
𝐾: permeability (𝜇m2) 𝑞𝑚 : mass flow rate (𝑙𝑏𝑚/𝑠)
𝜌: Fluid density (g/cm3) 𝜌: Fluid density (g/cm3)
𝜇: Fluid viscosity (mPa.s) 𝜇𝑔 : Fluid viscosity (cp)
𝜙: porosity 𝐴: cross section area (ft2)

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 Advanced Petrophysics: Rock Permeability

Example 6

▪ In Darcy’s experiment, if the rock core is placed horizontally, the diameter of core is 25 mm, the
length is 40 cm, the permeability is 250 mD, the viscosity of liquid is 5 mPa ·s, and the pressure
difference at two ends is 3 atm. Please calculate the flow rate Q (cm3/min) and Darcy velocity
v(μm/s).

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 Advanced Petrophysics: Rock Permeability

Example 6

▪ In Darcy’s experiment, if the core is placed horizontally, the diameter of core is 25 mm, the length
is 40 cm, the permeability is 250 mD, the viscosity of liquid is 5 mPa ·s, the pressure difference at
two ends is 3 atm, the relative density of liquid is 0.9, and the porosity is 0.2. Please calculate the
Reynold number.

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 Advanced Petrophysics: Rock Permeability

Validity of Darcy’s Law

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 Advanced Petrophysics: Rock Permeability

Forchheimer Effect

▪ At high pressure gradient, Darcy law will overestimate the flux.

▪ At higher fluxes turbulent phenomena can take over.
▪ This cannot be accommodated by Darcy’s law.

The difference of flow

velocity between pore
throats and pore bodies
causes turbulences
Measured

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 Advanced Petrophysics: Rock Permeability

Forchheimer Effect

▪ linearity deviation between

pressure gradient and flow rate Loss of flow rate
due to friction
– D factor
– Resistance factor
– Inertial Factor Excess pressure
due to inertia
– Turbulent factor
▪ Can be used for reservoir
characterization
▪ Doesn’t depend on type of gas
and length of pay zone
▪ Indicates the heterogeneity
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 Advanced Petrophysics: Rock Permeability

Experimental Determination of non-Darcy Flow

▪ Darcy flow does not fit the experimental data

due to the non-Darcy flow effects

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 Advanced Petrophysics: Rock Permeability

Turbulent Factor (D)

▪ Turbulence is acting as a skin and it is represented by Dq

𝑆 = 𝑆 ∗ + 𝐷𝑞
▪ D factor should be minimum in order to avoid turbulent flow
▪ Perforation interval is selected to minimize turbulence in wellbore 𝛽𝜌𝑘
vicinity, and increase hydrocarbon production 𝐷=
2𝜋𝜇ℎ𝑟𝑤
▪ Effects of turbulent flow includes:
– It decreases net productivity of well.
– Induces errors in the model during the performance of gas
producing wells.
– Sand production problem will start due to this turbulent flow.

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 Advanced Petrophysics: Rock Permeability

Forchheimer Equation (1901)

▪ Horizontal, steady-state flow

𝑑𝑃 𝜇𝑔 𝑣
− = + 𝛽𝜌𝑣 2
𝑑ℓ 𝑘
𝑝 = 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 (𝑎𝑡𝑚)
𝛽 =? ?
L= 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ (𝑐𝑚)
𝜇𝑔 = 𝑓𝑙𝑢𝑖𝑑 𝑣𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 (𝑐𝑝)
𝑘 = permeabilty (darcy)
𝑣 = velocity (cm/s)
𝜌 = density (g/cm3)
𝛽 = turbulence or non − Darcy factor, (atm s2/g )
55 𝛽 𝑓𝑡 −1 = 𝛽 atm s2/g × 3.0889 × 107
 Advanced Petrophysics: Rock Permeability

Turbulence or non−Darcy factor

Ref 𝛽 units
Janicek and Katz 1.82 × 108
1/cm, md
(1955) 𝑘1.25 𝜙 0.75
5.5 × 109
Tek et al. (1962) 1/cm, md
𝑘1.25 𝜙 0.75
Cooke (1973) 𝑏𝑘 −𝑎 Darcy
0.005
Geertsma (1974) cm2, 1/cm
𝑘 0.5 𝜙 5.5
4.8 × 1012
Pascal et al. (1980) 1/m, md
𝑘1.176
6.15 × 1010
Jones (1987) 1/ft, md
𝑘1.55
8.91 × 108 𝜏
Liu et al. (1995) 1/ft, md
𝑘𝜙
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 Advanced Petrophysics: Rock Permeability

Turbulence Radial Flow

▪ Non-Darcy flow effect is most significant near the

wellbore because, in radial flow systems, the velocity of
the flowing fluid increases as the fluid approaches the well.

𝑘ℎ 𝑝𝑒2 − 𝑝𝑤
2
𝑞𝑠𝑐 = 𝑟𝑒
1422𝜇𝑔 𝑍𝑇 ln + 𝐷𝑞𝑠𝑐
𝑟𝑤

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 Advanced Petrophysics: Rock Permeability

Turbulence Radial Flow

▪ Pseudo-steady state (gas well) inflow relationship with non-Darcy

2 2 1424𝑍ሜ 𝜇𝑇
lj 0.472𝑟𝑒 1424𝑍ሜ 𝜇𝑇𝐷
lj
𝑝lj − 𝑝𝑤𝑓 = ln +𝑠 𝑞+ 𝑞2
𝑘ℎ 𝑟𝑤 𝑘ℎ

Darcy Effect Non-Darcy Effect

2 2
𝑝lj − 𝑝𝑤𝑓 = 𝑎𝑞 + 𝑏𝑞 2 (Forchheimer)

▪ For field applications, the constants a and b can be calculated from a “4-points test”.
▪ Approximation for the non-Darcy coefficient can be estimated using the following correlation

6 × 10−5 𝛾𝑘𝑠−0.1 ℎ Where =gas gravity, =gas viscosity, ks=skin near wellbore,
𝐷= 2 h=net perforated thickness, hperf=thickness of perforation
𝜇𝑟𝑤 ℎ𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑓
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 Advanced Petrophysics: Rock Permeability

Example 7 [Gas Well Performance]

▪ Develop a deliverability relationship, and graph Darcy and non-Darcy components curves for the
Well data below. Show the absolute open flow potential (AOF). The skin effect is equal to 3 and
the non-Darcy coefficient, D, is 4.9×10-2 (quite big).
𝑇 = 640𝑜 𝑅
1424 0.93 0.022 640 0.472 1490
𝑝𝑖 = 4613𝑝𝑠𝑖 𝑎= ln + 3 = 1.5 × 104
𝑍ሜ = 0.93 0.17 78 0.328
𝜇lj = 0.022𝑐𝑝
𝑟𝑒 = 1490𝑓𝑡
𝑐𝑡 = 1.5 × 10−4 𝑝𝑠𝑖 −1 1424 0.93 0.022 640 4.9 × 10−2
𝑏= = 68.9
ℎ = 78𝑓𝑡 0.17 78
𝜑 = 0.14
𝑟𝑤 = 0.328𝑓𝑡
𝑘 = 0.17𝑚𝑑
𝛾𝑔 = 0.65 𝑝lj 2 − 𝑝𝑤𝑓
2
= 1.5 × 104 𝑞 + 68.9𝑞 2

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 Advanced Petrophysics: Rock Permeability

Validity of Darcy’s Law

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 Advanced Petrophysics: Rock Permeability

Validity of Darcy’s Law

2𝜏 2𝑑
𝑓= 2=
𝜌𝑣 𝑁𝑅𝑒 𝜇𝑣

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 Advanced Petrophysics: Rock Permeability

Validity of Darcy’s Law

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 Advanced Petrophysics: Rock Permeability

References

▪ R. Sander, Z. Pan, and L. D. Connell, “Laboratory measurement of low permeability unconventional gas reservoir rocks: A review of experimental
methods,” J. Nat. Gas Sci. Eng. 37, 248–279 (2017).https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jngse.2016.11.041
▪ Peng Chen, Shan Jiang, Yan Chen, Shanshan Wang, An apparent permeability model of shale gas under formation conditions, Journal of
Geophysics and Engineering, Volume 14, Issue 4, August 2017, Pages 833–840, https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-2140/aa6dd4
▪ Klinkenberg, L.J. 1941. The Permeability of Porous Media To Liquids and Gases. Drilling and Production Practice, New York, 1 January 1941, API-
41-200.

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 College of Petroleum
Engineering & Geosciences
Petroleum Engineering Dept.
PETE 525 Advanced Petrophysics

Thank you