Porosity Permeability Relationships

Permeability and porosity trends for various rock types

[CoreLab,1983]
Porosity Permeability Relationships

Influence of grain size on the relationship

between porosity and permeability
[Tiab & Donaldson, 1996]
Porosity Permeability Relationships

Darcys Law (1856) empirical observations of flow to obtain

permeability

Slichter (1899) theoretical analysis of fluid flow in packed

uniform spheres

Kozeny (1927),Carmen (1939) capillary tube model

Porosity Permeability Relationships

Capillary Tube Model

Define porosity ntr 2

Where r is radius of the capillary tube,

nt is number of tubes/ unit area
4
n t r
Define permeability k
8

r2
Porosity-permeability relationship k
8
Porosity Permeability Relationships

Example
For cubic packing shown, find and k.

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

r
1 2
Porosity * r
2 4
4r
2
La
Tortuosity 1
L

r 2 r 2 r 2
Permeability k *
8 4 8(1) 32
Porosity Permeability Relationships

Define specific surface area Carmen Kozeny Equation

Spv specific surface area per unit Spv = 2/r

r2
pore volume k
Spv = 2/r (for cylindrical pore shape)
8

Sbv- unit bulk volume

k
2
k z S pv
Sgv- unit grain volume
2 Where
L
a
S bv * S pv L



Kz, Kozeny constant-shape factor to
account for variability in shape
and length
S gv S
1
pv
Porosity Permeability Relationships

Carmen Kozeny Equation Carmen Kozeny Equation

Spv = 2/r k z ko *
r 2
k
8
Tortuosity,
2
La

k L



2
k z S pv
Where ko is a shape factor
Kz, Kozeny constant-shape factor to = 2 for circular
account for variability in shape = 1.78 for square
and length
Porosity Permeability Relationships

Example: spherical particles with diameter, dp

k
2
k z S pv

??

3d 2p
k
721 2
Distribution of Rock Properties

Porosity Distribution

Expected porosity histogram

[Amyx,et at., 1960]
Distribution of Rock Properties

Porosity Distribution
10 1.2

9
1.0
8

Cum ulative Frequency

7
0.8
Frequency

5 0.6

4
0.4
3

2
0.2
1

0 0.0
4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28
Porosity , %

Actual porosity histogram

[NBU42W-29, North Burbank Field]
Distribution of Rock Properties

Permeability Distribution

Expected Skewed normal and log normal histograms for permeability

[Craig,1971]
Distribution of Rock Properties

Permeability Distribution
25

20

15
frequency

10

0
0.01 0.10 1.00 10.00 100.00 1,000.00
Permeability, md

Actual permeability histogram

[NBU42W-29, North Burbank Field]
Distribution of Rock Properties

Permeability Variation

Dykstra-Parsons Coefficient

k 50 k 84.1
V
k 50

Characterization of reservoir heterogeneity by permeability variation

[Willhite, 1986]
Distribution of Rock Properties

Permeability Variation

Example of log normal permeability

distribution [Willhite, 1986]
Distribution of Rock Properties

Permeability Variation
10000.000

1000.000
Flow units

100.000

10.000
k,md

y = 578.37e-4.647x
R = 0.9917
1.000

0.100

0.010

0.001
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0

probability of samples with permeability >

Actual Dykstra-Parsons probability plot

[NBU42W-29, North Burbank Field]
Distribution of Rock Properties

Permeability Variation

Lorenz Coefficient
Area ABCA
Lk
Area ADCA

Flow capacity vs storage capacity distribution

[Craig, 1971]
Distribution of Rock Properties

Permeability Variation Flow Capacity Distribution

Lorenz Coefficient 0.9

0.8

Fraction of total Flow Capacity

Area ABCA
Lk 0.7

Area ADCA 0.6

0.643
0.5

0.4

0.3
y = -3.8012x4 + 10.572x3 - 11.01x2 + 5.2476x - 0.0146
0.2 R = 0.9991

0.1

0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1

Fraction of total Volume

Actual Lorenz plot

[NBU42W-29, North Burbank Field]
Distribution of Rock Properties

Drawback of statistical approaches

Sequential ordering of data

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

reliance only on permeability variations for estimating flow

in layers. Does not account for:
phase mobility, pressure gradient, Swirr and the k/ ratio
Distribution of Rock Properties

Hydraulic Flow Unit

unique units with similar
HFU1
petrophysical properties that HFU2
HFU3
affect flow.
Hydraulic quality of a rock is HFU4

controlled by pore geometry

It is the distinction of rock units with
similar pore attributes, which leads to
the separation of units into similar
Schematic illustrating the concept of flow units.
hydraulic units.
not equivalent to a geologic unit. The
definition of geologic units or facies
are not necessarily the same as the
definition of a flow unit.
Distribution of Rock Properties

Start with CK equation

k 1

1 k S
o gv

Take the log

log( RQI ) log( r ) log( FZI )

where the Reservoir quality index (RQI)

is given by,
k{md}
RQI {m} 0.0314

the Flow Zone Indicator (FZI) is,
1
FZI
S gv k z

and the pore-to-grain volume ratio

is expressed as Plot of RQI vs r for East Texas Well

r [Amaefule, et al.,1993]
1
Distribution of Rock Properties

10.000 10.000

FZI
4.0
2.6

1.8

1.000 1.000

0.5

RQI
RQI

0.100 0.100

0.010 0.010
0.010 0.100 1.000 0.010 0.100 1.000

Porosity Ratio Porosity Ratio

HFU
[NBU42W-29, North Burbank Field]
Distribution of Rock Properties
10000.000 10
9
1000.000
Flow units 8
100.000 7

Frequency
6
10.000 FZI4
y = 578.37e-4.647x 5
k,md

R = 0.9917 FZI3
1.000 4
3 FZI2
0.100
2 FZI1
0.010 1
0
0.001
4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
probability of samples with permeability > Porosity, %

1E+04 10.000

1E+03 FZI
4.0
2.6
1E+02
1.000 1.8
permeability

1E+01
0.5
1E+00 RQI

1E-01 0.100
k = 6E+066.9644
1E-02 R2 = 0.9014

1E-03
0.00 0.10 0.20 0.30 0.40 0.010
porosity 0.010 0.100 1.000
Porosity Ratio