Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 73 (2010) 20–26

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Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering

j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w. e l s ev i e r. c o m / l o c a t e / p e t r o l

Analytical derivation of Brooks–Corey type capillary pressure models using fractal

geometry and evaluation of rock heterogeneity
Kewen Li ⁎
Yangtze University, China
Stanford University, United States

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The Brooks–Corey type capillary pressure models (three models on the relationship between capillary pressure
Received 19 June 2008 and saturation) were derived theoretically from fractal modeling of porous media. The pore size distribution
Accepted 10 May 2010 index is coupled with fractal dimension. The pore size distribution index increases with the decrease in fractal
dimension. Capillary pressure curves of different rock samples were measured using a mercury intrusion
Keywords: technique. The values of fractal dimension were calculated using three fractal models and the results were
capillary pressure model
compared. The heterogeneity of rock was evaluated using fractal dimension. The consistency between fractal
fractal
heterogeneity
dimension and the frequency graph of pore size distribution was examined. The theoretical derivation
demonstrated that the three fractal models are correlated. Sensitivity analysis data showed that the accuracy in
estimating irreducible wetting-phase saturation is essential to obtain the power-law relationship between the
capillary pressure and the normalized wetting-phase saturation.
© 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Heterogeneity of reservoir rock is a key parameter in reservoir en-
gineering; it controls production performance and ultimate oil recovery,
etc. Fractal dimension and pore size distribution index derived from
capillary pressure curve are frequently used to evaluate the heteroge-
neity of reservoir rock.
Many researchers (Friesen and Mikula, 1987; Hansen and Skjeltorp,
1988; Katz and Thompson, 1985; Krohn, 1988; Pérez Bernal and Bello
López, 2000; Wong et al., 1986) have studied the fractal nature of
reservoir rocks and other porous media in the past two decades. Katz and
Thompson (1985) showed that the pore spaces of several sandstones are
fractal by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and optical data.
Katz and Thompson (1985) developed a method to predict rock porosity
using the fractal statistics.
Wong et al. (1986) studied the microstructure of sedimentary rocks
by using small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) and found that the pore
spaces of sandstones and shales show fractal nature because of the
presence of clay. Friesen and Mikula (1987) proposed a technique to
infer fractal dimension of coal particles from capillary pressure data by
mercury intrusion porosimetry. Later Pérez Bernal and Bello López
(2000) calculated the fractal dimensions of building stones using this
approach. Hansen and Skjeltorp (1988) conducted direct measurements
of the fractal volume and surface dimensions of sandstones; they
evaluated fractal dimensions using box-counting techniques. Hansen
and Skjeltorp (1988) demonstrated the dependence of rock permeabil-
⁎ Stanford University, United States.
E-mail address: kewenli@stanford.edu.
ity on the values of fractal dimension. Krohn (1988) measured the
fractal properties of sandstones, shales, and carbonates using a statistical
analysis of structural features on fracture surfaces. Krohn (1988) found
that the values of porosity calculated using the fractal model were less
than or equal to the measured values. The remaining porosity might be
associated with Euclidean pores. This may explain the difference
between the measured porosity and the porosity estimated by the
fractal model proposed by Katz and Thompson (1985). Lenormand
(1990) investigated gravity drainage in micromodels and proposed a
power-law function between production rate and time. The exponent of
this function was associated with the fractal nature of the micromodels.
Angulo and Gonzalez (1992) reported another approach to evaluate
fractal dimensions using capillary pressure data from mercury intrusion
tests. The idea was to plot the volume of mercury intruded into rock
versus capillary pressure. Angulo and Gonzalez (1992) related the
scaling exponent to the pore bulk fractal dimensions.
The author, with Shen and Horne in Shen and Li (1994, 1995) and
Li and Horne (2003), also developed a method to calculate fractal
dimension and characterize the heterogeneity of rock using capillary
pressure data from mercury intrusion tests. The number of pores was
estimated from the capillary pressure curves first and then the radius
of pore throat was inferred. The number of pores was plotted versus
the radius of pore throat. The relationship between the number of
pores and the radius of pore throat was of fractal features.
According to the fractal curves inferred from capillary pressures
measured by mercury intrusion, Shen and Li (1994) found that the
part of porous media with large pores was not fractal (domain I) but
the remaining part with small pores was fractal (domain II or domain
III). This is consistent with the results of porosity measurements by

0920-4105/$ – see front matter © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.petrol.2010.05.002
 K. Li / Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 73 (2010) 20–26 21

from capillary pressure curves. The theoretical relationship between

Nomenclature
pore size distribution index and fractal dimension is developed too. An
important feature of a fractal object in nature is the self-affinity with a
a constant
dimension that is fractal rather than integer. This feature can be
Df fractal dimension
represented mathematically by a power-law function (Mandelbrot,
l length of a capillary tube
1982):
N(r) number of the units needed to fill the fractal object
Pc capillary pressure −Df
r radius of the unit Nðr Þ∝r ð1Þ
SHg mercury saturation
where r is the radius (or characteristic length) of a unit chosen to fill
Sw wetting-phase saturation
the fractal object, N(r) is the number of the units (with a radius of r)
Sw⁎ normalized wetting-phase saturation
required to fill the entire fractal object, and Df is the so-called fractal
Swr irreducible saturation of the wetting-phase
dimension.
VHg cumulative volume of mercury intruded into rock
Capillary pressure curves measured by a mercury intrusion tech-
Vp pore volume
nique are often used to infer the pore size distribution of rock samples. In
θ contact angle
making this inference, rock with solid skeleton and pores is represented
σ interfacial tension
by using a capillary tube model. N(r) can be calculated easily once
capillary pressure curves are available. The unit chosen in this study was
a cylindrical capillary tube with a radius of r and a length of l. So the
Krohn (1988) who reported that the measured values of porosity were volume of the unit is equal to πr2l and N(r) at a given radius of r is then
greater than or equal to the values calculated using fractal model pro- calculated easily. Note that the length may or may not be a function
posed by Katz and Thompson (1985). The reason may be that the part of the radius. The following derivation is started with the assumption
with large pores was not considered in the fractal porosity model. that the length is not a function of the radius and then with the
Li and Horne (2003) found the capillary pressure curves measured assumption of l = r.
by mercury intrusion in The Geysers graywacke rock could not be Once N(r) is known, the value of fractal dimension, Df, can be
represented using the frequently used Brooks–Corey (1964) model determined from the relationship between N(r) and r. The relation-
but could be modeled using a fractal approach. Attention has also been ship between N(r) and r should be linear on a log–log plot if the pore
paid to the application of fractal modeling of porous media in reservoir system of the rock is fractal. This approach for calculating fractal
engineering. Moulu et al. (1997) developed a three-phase relative per- dimension has been used by the author (Shen and Li, 1994, 1995) and
meability model based on the fractal representation of rock. Toledo et al. other researchers (Li and Horne, 2003).
(1993) proposed fractal models for capillary pressure, water relative According to the capillary tube model and the previous descrip-
permeability, electrical conductivity, and capillary dispersion. Abdassah tion, N(r) can be expressed as follows:
et al. (1996) derived an electrical resistivity model according to the
fractal modeling of thin-sections. VHg
Nðr Þ = ð2Þ
Summarizing the literature in this area, there have been several πr2 l
methods to infer the fractal dimension of rock. These methods include
SEM, SANS, thin-section, and mercury intrusion. Only the mercury in- where l is the length of a capillary tube and VHg is the cumulative
trusion technique was considered in this study. There have been three volume of mercury intruded into the rock sample when capillary
main models (Friesen and Mikula, 1987; Shen and Li, 1994, 1995) to infer pressure is measured. Combining Eq. (1) and Eq. (2):
fractal dimensions from capillary pressure curves measured by mer-
cury intrusion. Few studies have investigated the relationship between VHg −Df
∝r ð3Þ
these models. On the other hand, results obtained from different fractal πr 2 l
techniques may be inconsistent.
The Brooks–Corey capillary pressure model works satisfactorily in Arranging Eq. (3):
many cases and has been utilized widely for several decades in pe-
2−Df
troleum and other industries (Abdassah et al., 1996; Kjosavik et al., VHg ∝r ð4Þ
2002; Papatzacos and Skjæveland, 2002; Li and Horne, 2006). However
it is not clear why the empirical capillary pressure model works effec- Considering a capillary tube model, the capillary pressure can be
tively in many cases. expressed as follows:
In this study, we conducted a theoretical development based on the
fractal geometry to derive the Brooks–Corey capillary pressure model. 2σ cosθ
Pc = ð5Þ
We also proved that three approaches used to calculate fractal r
dimension from capillary pressure curves could be derived from each
other. Capillary pressure curves of different rocks were measured using where Pc is the capillary pressure, σ is the surface tension, and θ is the
mercury intrusion. Fractal dimensions were calculated with the three contact angle.
fractal models and the results were compared. The fractal approach Substituting Eq. (5) into Eq. (4):
used to evaluate the rock heterogeneity was verified using the fre-
−ð2−Df Þ
quency graphs of pore size distribution inferred from capillary pressure VHg ∝Pc ð6Þ
curves. Also studied was the comparison of fractal dimension inferred
from intrusion capillary pressures with that inferred from extrusion The mercury saturation is calculated as follows:
capillary pressures in the same core sample.
VHg
SHg = ð7Þ
2. Methodology Vp

The Brooks–Corey capillary pressure model is derived theoretically where SHg is the mercury saturation and Vp is the pore volume of the
in this section. Also derived are the models to calculate fractal dimension core sample.
22 K. Li / Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 73 (2010) 20–26

Substituting Eq. (7) into Eq. (6): Reducing Eq. (15), one can obtain:

−ð2−Df Þ  − 1
SHg = aPc ð8Þ Pc = pe S*w
λ
ð16Þ

where a is a constant. Note that a similar equation was reported by

Broseta et al. (2001). According to Eq. (8), the fractal dimension can be here S⁎
w is the normalized saturation of the wetting phase and is
obtained by drawing the mercury saturation versus capillary pressure expressed as follows:
on a log–log plot. This method is similar to the technique used by
Angulo and Gonzalez (1992).  Sw −Swr
Sw = ð17Þ
Differentiating Eq. (8): 1−Swr

dSHg −ð3−Df Þ
∝Pc ð9Þ and λ = 3 − Df.
dPc
Eq. (16) is the frequently used Brooks–Corey capillary pressure
model proposed empirically by Brooks and Corey (1964) in 1964. One
If a three-dimensional pore model (l = r in this case), instead of a can see from the previous derivation of Eq. (16) that the Brooks–Corey
two-dimensional capillary tube model, were used to calculate the capillary pressure model has a solid theoretical base. This may explain
number of pores in porous media, the following equation can be why this model has been found to be suitable for many types of rock,
obtained: including reservoir and artificial core samples.
The theoretical model showed that the pore size distribution
dSHg −ð4−Df Þ index increases with the decrease in fractal dimension (λ = 3 − Df).
∝Pc ð10Þ
dPc This is reasonable because porous media with greater heterogeneity
have smaller values of pore size distribution index. Note that the
Friesen and Mikula (1987) derived Eq. (10) using a different assumptions to derive Eq. (16) are: (1) fractal dimension Df is less
approach. Fractal dimension can also be calculated from capillary pres- than 3; (2) Pc approaches infinity when Snw = 1 − Swr. The two
sure data using Eq. (9) or (10). One can see that the approaches used assumptions are also the constraints to use the Brooks–Corey capillary
by Angulo and Gonzalez (1992) (Eq. (8)) and by Friesen and Mikula pressure model.
(1987) (Eq. (9) or (10)) can be derived from Eq. (1), which was used by Eq. (16) foresees that the relationship between the capillary pressure
the author and other researchers (Shen and Li, 1994, 1995; Li and Horne, and the normalized saturation of the wetting phase is linear on a log–log
2003). Theoretically the values of fractal dimension calculated using the plot. This is true in many cases. However the accurate estimation of the
three approaches should be the same. However the results were actually irreducible wetting-phase saturation (Swr) is important to obtain such a
different. This will be demonstrated in the next section and discussed in straight line from the capillary pressure data measured by a mercury
more detail. intrusion approach. Overestimation and underestimation of the
Eq. (10) can be represented as a more general form in terms of the irreducible wetting-phase saturation may change the linear relationship
nonwetting-phase saturation: on a log–log plot. This will be discussed later in more detail.
The significance of calculating fractal dimensions of rock and char-
dSnw −ð4−Df Þ acterizing heterogeneity is the application in developing relative perme-
= aPc ð11Þ
dPc ability models, capillary pressure models, and predicting oil production
rate, etc. Lenormand (1990) proposed a fractal model to correlate the oil
where Snw is the saturation of the nonwetting phase. production rate with production time. Several researchers (Lenormand,
Assuming that Pc approaches to pe as Snw goes to 0, integrate 1990; Moulu et al., 1997) reported relative permeability models derived
Eq. (11): from fractal modeling of porous media. Shen and Li (1995) reported that
the ultimate oil recovery by water flooding depended on the fractal
1−Sw P −ð4−Df Þ dimension of domain II. Shen and Li (1995) also reported that the values of
∫0 dSnw = a∫pce Pc dPc ð12Þ
initial water saturation correlate with the fractal dimension of domain III
with smaller pores.
where Sw is the saturation of the wetting phase and pe is the entry
capillary pressure. 3. Experimental measurements
According to Eq. (12), one can obtain:
  Mercury intrusion tests were conducted in three sandstone core
−ð3−Df Þ −ð3−Df Þ
1−Sw = b Pc −pe ð13Þ samples (S1, S2, and S3) from an oil reservoir and one Berea sandstone
core sample. The error of the measurements on pressure and volume
was about 1%. The reason for the selection of mercury intrusion tests to
where b is another constant. Assuming that Pc approaches infinity measure capillary pressure curves is that the surface tension of mercury
when Snw = 1 − Swr, Eq. (13) can be reduced as follows: and the contact angle are well known and constant during an
experiment. With this feature, the measured capillary pressure curves
−ð3−Df Þ should be a good representation for the pore structure of rock.
1−Swr = −bpe ð14Þ
The measured porosities and permeabilities of the three reservoir
core samples are listed in Table 1. The three cores were sampled from
where Swr is the irreducible saturation of the wetting phase. It is as-
different depths in the oil reservoir and were expected to have
sumed that fractal dimension Df is less than 3 in deriving Eq. (14) from
different pore structures and heterogeneity. The porosity of the Berea
Eq. (13). This assumption is reasonable in many cases. Combining
sandstone sample was about 23.0% and the air permeability was about
Eqs. (13) and (14):
804 md. The Berea sandstone sample was the same as used by Li and
 −ð3−D Þ Horne (2003). The surface tension of air/mercury is 480 mN/m and
1−Sw P f
the contact angle through the mercury phase is 140° according to the
= 1− c ð15Þ
1−Swr pe results reported by Purcell (1949).
 K. Li / Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 73 (2010) 20–26
Table 1
Fractal dimensions calculated using three models.
Sample S1 S2 S3
ϕ (%) 24.09 26.32 27.11
k (md) 206 935 2131
Df Method I 2.45 2.18 2.06
Method II 2.32 2.15 2.05
Method III 2.94 2.73 2.47
4. Results
The values of fractal dimension were calculated from experimental
data of capillary pressure using the three approaches represented by
Eqs. (1) (Method I), 8 (Method II), and 10 (Method III) respectively.
The results are presented and analyzed in this section.
Fig. 1 shows the experimental data of capillary pressure curves
of the three sandstone core samples (S1, S2, and S3) from an oil res-
ervoir. In Fig. 1, capillary pressure was plotted against wetting-phase
saturation (the wetting-phase was air in this study). Qualitatively one
can see from Fig. 1 that the heterogeneity of the three core samples was
significantly different according to the curvatures of the capillary
pressure curves. Core S1 was the most heterogeneous and core S3 was
the least heterogeneous.
As mentioned previously, there are three main approaches (Eqs. (1),
(8), and (10)) to infer fractal dimension from capillary pressure curves.
To test if the values of fractal dimension calculated using the three
approaches are the same, the capillary pressure curves were transferred
and plotted in Figs. 2, 3, and 4 according to Eqs. (1), (8), and (10). One can
see in Fig. 2 that all the curves of N(r) vs. r are linear at a wide range of
scale on a log–log plot, which implies that the pore systems of the three
core samples are fractal and can be characterized using the theories of
fractal geometry. Note that some data points with large pore throat
diameters in Fig. 2 are off the straight lines. This implies that the pore
system consisting of large pore throats may not be fractal, which
is consistent with the observations of other researchers (Krohn, 1988;
Angulo and Gonzalez, 1992). The values of fractal dimension were
calculated using Eq. (1) (Method I) and the results are listed in Table 1. The
results show that the values of fractal dimension of the three core samples
range from 2.06 to 2.45 and have the relationship: Df(S1)N Df(S2)N Df(S3).
Fig. 3 shows the relationship between mercury saturation and
capillary pressure. As foreseen by Eq. (8), the three curves are all linear
when the capillary pressure is greater than a specific value. Fractal
dimensions were calculated based on the linear part shown in Fig. 3
using Eq. (8) (Method II) and the results are listed in Table 1. One can see
that the values of fractal dimensions calculated using Method I and
Method II are almost the same for the three reservoir core samples. Fig. 3
also demonstrates that the pore system with large pores may not be
fractal.
Fig. 1. Capillary pressure curves of the three core samples from an oil reservoir.
23
Berea
23.0
804
2.05
2.05
2.45
Fig. 2. Relationships between N(r) and r of the three core samples from an oil reservoir.
Considering the length of pore body may be a function of r, Eq. (10)
was used to calculate the fractal dimension as Method III. Fig. 4 plots
the fractal curves transferred from the capillary pressure data shown
in Fig. 1 according to Eq. (10) (Method III). The data points in Fig. 4 are
more scattered than the data in Figs. 2 and 3. The values of fractal
dimensions calculated using Method III are listed in Table 1. The
results also show that Df(S1) N Df(S2) N Df(S3). The values of fractal
dimensions by Method III are greater than those calculated using
Method I and Method II, but were still in the range from 2 to 3.
Capillary pressure curves are often plotted as capillary pressure
versus normalized wetting-phase saturation in logarithmal coordina-
tions. The capillary pressure curves shown in Fig. 1 were transferred in
such a way and the results are shown in Fig. 5. The capillary pressure
curve of core S3 is linear on a log–log plot, which implies that the
capillary pressure curve can be represented using the Brooks–Corey
model (1964). However the capillary pressure curves of the other two
rock samples are not satisfactorily linear. Note that all the three fractal
curves shown in Fig. 2 are linear.
According to the values of fractal dimensions calculated using the
three fractal models (Eqs. (1), (8), and (10)), core S1 has the greatest
heterogeneity and core S3 has the greatest homogeneity. To provide
further evidence of the heterogeneity of the three core samples, the
pore size (pore throat radius) distributions inferred from capillary
pressure measurements are shown in Figs. 6–8. Rock heterogeneity
can be observed qualitatively from the frequency graph of pore size
distribution. One can see from Fig. 6 that the pore size distribution of
core S1 is wide and has multiple peaks. Fig. 8 shows that the pore size
distribution of core S3 is narrow and has only one peak. This implies
that core S1 is more heterogeneous than core S3, as indicated by the
values of fractal dimensions listed in Table 1. Note that the above
Fig. 3. Relationships between mercury saturation and capillary pressure of three core
samples.
24 K. Li / Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 73 (2010) 20–26
Fig. 4. Relationships between dSHg/dPc and Pc of three core samples.
discussion is limited in the cases in which the fractal dimension
ranges from 2.0 to 3.0 (3.0 is not included).
Both intrusion and extrusion capillary pressure curves of Berea
sandstone were measured and the results are plotted in Fig. 9. The fractal
curves transferred using Method I are shown in Fig. 10. The fractal
dimensions in the intrusion and the extrusion cases calculated using
Method I are the same and the value is listed in Table 1. Figs. 11 and 12
show the fractal curves transferred using Method II and Method III. One
can see that the fractal dimensions in the intrusion and the extrusion
cases calculated using Method II and Method III are also almost the
same. The fractal dimension of Berea sandstone listed in Table 1 is the
value in the intrusion case. The deviation in the intrusion data shown in
Figs. 10 and 11 might be caused by experimental problem due to skin
effect during the injection of mercury. Another possible reason might be
that the pore throats with a great size do not follow the fractal law
(Toledo et al., 1993).
Note that the determined fractal dimensions of samples S3 and
Berea are almost the same (see Table 1). Is the pore size distribution of
the Berea sample used similar to that of S3? Actually it is. Li and Horne
(2003) reported the pore size distribution of the same Berea sand-
stone. One can see the pore size distribution of both the Berea and S3
core samples are similar. The results presented previously demon-
strated that the fractal dimension may be used to evaluate the het-
erogeneity of rock satisfactorily.
Accuracy in estimating irreducible wetting-phase saturation is
essential to obtain the power-law relationship between the capillary
pressure and the normalized wetting-phase saturation. A set of
capillary pressure curves were determined using fixed values of λ and
pe but variable values of Swr to study the effect of irreducible wetting-
phase saturation. Fig. 13 shows the effect of overestimation and
underestimation of the irreducible wetting-phase saturation on the
Fig. 5. Representation of the capillary pressure curves of three core samples using
Brooks–Corey model.
Fig. 6. Pore size distribution of core S1.
normalized capillary pressure curves for λ = 1.9 and pe = 0.4 atm
(note that only the wetting-phase saturation was normalized). The
true value of the irreducible wetting-phase saturation was 20% in
Fig. 13. The values of the normalized wetting-phase saturation were
calculated using Eq. (17) with different values of the irreducible
wetting-phase saturation (see the numbers close to each curve in
Fig. 13). The normalized capillary pressure curve is linear only when
the estimated value of the irreducible wetting-phase saturation is
equal to the true value (20%). The normalized capillary pressure curve
is concave to the axis of the normalized wetting-phase saturation if
the irreducible wetting-phase saturation is overestimated. Otherwise
the normalized capillary pressure curve is convex to the axis of the
normalized wetting-phase saturation. Fig. 13 shows that the effect of
the irreducible wetting-phase saturation on the shape of the
normalized capillary pressure curves is significant.
Fig. 14 also shows the effect of the estimated irreducible wetting-
phase saturation on the shape of the normalized capillary pressure
curves for λ = 0.3 and pe = 0.4 atm. The phenomenon is similar to that
shown in Fig. 13. However the effect of the estimated irreducible
wetting-phase saturation on the normalized capillary pressure curves
is more significant in the case with smaller value of λ than in the case
with greater value of λ.
According to the results shown in Figs. 13 and 14, it is important to
estimate the irreducible wetting-phase saturation accurately. Usually
the true value of the irreducible wetting-phase saturation is smaller
than the wetting-phase saturation at the maximum intrusion pressure
during the mercury intrusion test. Brooks and Corey (1964) used the
“trial and error” technique to choose the irreducible wetting-phase
saturation. In this study, the solver function of Microsoft Excel was
used to estimate the irreducible wetting-phase saturation.
Note that if the normalized capillary pressure curve is concave to
the axis of the normalized wetting-phase saturation, it does not always
imply that the irreducible wetting-phase saturation is overestimated.
For example, Li and Horne (2003) found that the capillary pressure
Fig. 7. Pore size distribution of core S2.
 K. Li / Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 73 (2010) 20–26
Fig. 8. Pore size distribution of core S3.
curves of the rock from The Geysers geothermal field are concave to the
axis of the normalized wetting-phase saturation. This is not brought
about by the overestimation of the irreducible wetting-phase saturation
because the normalized capillary pressure curves are still concave to the
axis of the normalized wetting-phase saturation even if the irreducible
wetting-phase saturation is set to zero.
5. Discussion
According to the studies in this work, it has been found that almost
equal fractal dimensions could be obtained using Method I and Method
II. The fractal dimensions inferred using Method III are greater. The data
points are scattered if Method III is used. Probably, the error is enlarged
after differentiating the mercury saturation and the capillary pressure.
Note that the values of fractal dimension obtained using Method I and
Method II in this study are smaller than those reported by Friesen and
Mikula (1987) and Broseta et al. (2001). This may be because the porous
media used were different or the methods used to calculate fractal
dimension were not the same.
Although a theoretical basis of the Brooks–Corey capillary pressure
model has been found, it does not imply that the model can apply in all
cases without constraints. As mentioned previously, there are two
known constraints to use the Brooks–Corey capillary pressure model.
One of the constraints is that Pc approaches infinity when Snw = 1 − Swr.
This may not be true in the case of imbibition capillary pressure curve.
Sinnokrot (1969) reported such an example. Sinnokrot (1969) mea-
sured the oil–water capillary pressures of different rocks (limestones
and sandstones) at different temperatures and found that the Brooks–
Corey capillary pressure model could model the drainage oil–water
capillary pressure curves but not the imbibition ones. For this reason, Li
and Horne (2001) proposed an empirical capillary pressure model for
the imbibition case.
Fig. 9. Capillary pressure curves of Berea sandstone (intrusion and extrusion).
25
Fig. 10. Fractal curves of Berea sandstone in the intrusion and the extrusion cases (Method I).
Another constraint to apply the Brooks–Corey capillary pressure
model is that the fractal dimension Df is less than 3. It may be
physically impossible for Df is greater than 3. However the calculated
fractal dimension of the porous media may be greater than this value
in some cases. For example, Friesen and Mikula (1987) also reported
that the values of fractal dimension of some coals were greater than 3.
Li and Horne (2003) also observed this phenomenon and found that
the capillary pressure curves of the rock (with high density
microfractures) from The Geysers geothermal field could not be
represented using the Brooks–Corey capillary pressure model (al-
though it could still be represented by a fractal model).
There have been some arguments regarding the definition of a
fractal object. As pointed out by Avnir et al. (1998), “a fractal object, in
the purely mathematical sense, requires infinitely many orders of
magnitude of power-law scaling”. From the point of view of
engineering and experiment, however, it is difficult to obtain data
covering infinitely many orders of magnitude of power-law scaling.
The number of orders of magnitude depends on the ability of
experimental devices. For example, the number of orders of
magnitude in this study was around 3.0, which was limited by the
maximum working pressure of the device for mercury intrusion. Note
that the data reported by Li and Horne (2003) covered about 5.0
orders of magnitude (the maximum number collected by Avnir et al.
(1998) was less than 3.0) because the apparatus for mercury intrusion
has a much greater working pressure. The limited number of orders of
magnitude in experimental data does not imply that the studied
object is not fractal. The number of orders of magnitude can be greater
if the experimental apparatus has a greater working pressure in the
case studied.
Fig. 11. Fractal curves of Berea sandstone in the intrusion and the extrusion cases
(Method II).
26 K. Li / Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 73 (2010) 20–26
Fig. 12. Fractal curves of Berea sandstone in the intrusion and the extrusion cases
(Method III).
Fig. 13. Effect of irreducible wetting-phase saturation on the estimation of normalized
capillary pressure curves (λ = 1.9).
6. Conclusions
Based on the present work, the following conclusions may be
drawn:
1. Three models (Eqs. (8), (10), and (16)) on the relationship
between capillary pressure and saturation, including the Brooks–
Corey capillary pressure model, can be derived theoretically based
on fractal modeling of porous media.
2. Fractal dimension determined from capillary pressure curves
measured by mercury intrusion can be used to evaluate the
heterogeneity of rock samples in the cases studied.
3. The values of fractal dimension calculated using three approaches
may be different but the relationship with heterogeneity of rock is
similar.
4. The fractal dimension inferred from the intrusion capillary pressure
curve is almost the same as that from the extrusion capillary pressure
curve in Berea sandstone.
5. Underestimation or overestimation of the irreducible wetting-
phase saturation may change the shape of the normalized capillary
pressure curve from linear to nonlinear on a log–log plot.
Acknowledgements
This research was conducted with the financial support from the
US Department of Energy under grant DE-FG07-02ID14418, the
contribution of which is gratefully acknowledged.
Fig. 14. Effect of irreducible wetting-phase saturation on the estimation of normalized
capillary pressure curves (λ = 0.3).
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