Chapter2

PROPERTIESOFOIL &NATURALGAS

Oilproperties
Propertiesofcrudeoilandnaturalgasarefundamentalfor designingandanalyzingoilandgasproductionsystemsin petroleumengineering. Oilpropertiesinclude: solutiongasoilratio(GOR) density formationvolumefactor viscosity compressibility.

SolutionGasOilRatio(GOR)
Volumeofgasthatcanbedissolvedinunitvolumeofoilin reservoircondition.(SCF/STB)

GORremainsconstantwhenP>Pb(bubblepointpressure). ItdecreasesaspressuredecreasewhenP<Pb. ItcanbemeasuredinPVTlaboratoriesorcanbeestimated byexperimentalcorrelations.

GORcontd
Onewidelyusedcorrelationtoestimateitis:

wheregandAPIaredefinedinthelattersections,andpand tarepressureandtemperatureinpsiaandF,respectively. SolutionGORisusedfor: 1 volumetricOil&Gascalculation. 2 toestimateotherpropertiesoffluidlikedensity. 3 initialGORcanbeanindicatorofreservoirfluidtype.

Density
Densityofoilisdefinedasthemassofoilperunitvolume, orlbm/ft3. Sincethereisdissolvedgasinoil,oildensityisafunctionof pressure.

Densitycontd
Thedensityofoilatstandardcondition(stocktankoil)is evaluatedbyAPIgravity.Therelationshipbetweenthedensity ofstocktankoilandAPIgravityisgiventhroughthefollowing relations:

Densitycontd
LikesolutionGOR,densitycanbeestimatedbyexperimental correlations. OnewellknowncorrelationisAhmedcorrelation:

FormationVolumeFactor(Bo)
Boisdefinedas:volumeofoilinreservoirovervolumeofoil insurface(reservoirbarrel/StandardTankBarrel)(rb/STB).

Boisalwaysgreaterthan1because:inreservoirconditionoil candissolvemoregasthaninstandardcondition. WhenP>Pb,Bodecreasesslowlyaspressureincreases. WhenP<Pb,Bodecreasesaspressuredecreases.

Bocontd

Bocanbecalculatedbyexperimentalcorrelationslike:

Viscosity()
Viscosityistheresistanceoffluidtoflow. Waterviscosityis1cpinstandardcondition. Viscosityisusedfor: wellinflowcalculations. pressuredropcalculations. effectivemobilityinmultiphaseflow. Viscositycanbecalculatedbyexperimentalcorrelations. Standingscorrelationfordeadoil:

Viscositycontd
Standingscorrelationforsaturatedoilis:

Standingscorrelationforundersaturatedoilis:

Oilcompressibility
Isdefinedas:unitvolumeschangeasaresponsetothe pressure

OilcompressibilityismeasuredfromPVTlaboratoriesandis usedfor: 1 wellinflowperformancecalculations. 2 reservoirsimulation.

Problem2.1
Calculatetheviscosityofoilforanygivensectionwithits relateddata: a) GOR=550scf/STB,P=4000psia,T=120F,Pb=2200psia, Oilspecificgravity=0.85andGasspecificgravity=0.76. b) P=1500psia,T=120F,Pb=2200psia,Oilspecificgravity=0.9 andGasspecificgravity=0.79.

GasProperties
Gaspropertiescanbecalculatebytheoreticalmethodsbeside experimentalcorrelationsorPVTlaboratorymeasurement. Propertiesthatwillbediscussedare: 1 Gasspecificgravity 2 Gaspseudocriticaltemperature&pressure 3 Gasviscosity 4 Gascompressibilityfactor 5 Gasdensity 6 Gasformationvolumefactor 7 Gascompressibility

Gasspecificgravity
Specificgravitygasisdefinedastheratiooftheapparent molecularweightofthegastothatofair. Themolecularweightofairisusuallytakenasequalto28.97 (79%nitrogenand21%oxygen).

Where:MWaistheapparentmolecularweightofgas,which canbecalculatedonthebasisofgascomposition.

Pseudocriticalproperties
Thegascriticalpropertiesdeterminedinsuchawayarecalled pseudocriticalproperties.Gaspseudocriticalpressure( ppc)andpseudocriticaltemperature(Tpc)are,respectively, expressedas:

Ifthecompositionisnotknown,criticalpropertiescanbe calculatebycorrelationslike(Ppcinpsia,TpcinR):

Pseudocriticalpropertiescontd
Correctionsforimpuritiesinsourgasesarealwaysnecessary. ThecorrectionscanbemadeusingWichertandAziz correctionexpressedasfollows:

Pseudocriticalpropertiescontd
Ahmedcorrelationisalsousedtocalculatepseudoproperties withimpurities:

pseudoreducedpressureandtemperaturedefinedas:

Viscosity
Dynamicviscosity(mg)incentipoises(cp)isusuallyusedin petroleumengineering. Kinematicviscosity(g)isrelatedtothedynamicviscosity throughdensity(g):

Directmeasurementsofgasviscosityarepreferredforanew gas.Ifgascompositionandviscositiesofgascomponentsare known,themixingrulecanbeusedtodeterminetheviscosity ofthegasmixture:

Viscositycontd
Theatmosphericpressureviscosity(1)canbeexpressedas:

Viscositycontd

GascompressibilityFactor(z)
Gascompressibilityfactorisalsocalleddeviationfactoror zfactor.

Brill&BeggscorrelationcanbeusedtocalculateZfactor:

Gasdensity
Becausegasiscompressible,itsdensitydependsonpressure andtemperature.Gasdensitycanbecalculatedfromgaslaw forrealgaswithgoodaccuracy:

wheremismassofgasandgisgasdensity.Takingair molecularweight29andresults: (lbm/ft3)

Formationvolumefactorofgas(Bg)
Gasformationvolumefactorisdefinedastheratioofgas volumeatreservoirconditiontothegasvolumeatstandard condition,thatis: (ft3/scf).

Anotherwaytoexpressthisparameteristousegasexpansion factordefined,in(scf/ft3),as:

Bgisusedinmodelinggaswellinflowperformance relationship(IPR)

Gascompressibility
Likeoil,compressibilityfactorforgasisdefinedunitvolumes changeasaresponsetopressure:

Andfinally:

Problem2.2
Asourgaswithspecificgravity=0.7has2%CarbonDioxide, 0.2%Nitrogenand5%HydrogenSulfide.Whatisits expansionfactor(E)?.(P=3000psia&T=100F).

Reference
PetroleumProductionEngineering,AcomputerAssisted Approach;BoyunGuo,WilliamC.Lyons,AliGhalambor; ElsevierScience&TechnologyBooks;2007.