THERMODYNAMICS AND PHASE BEHAVIOUR

PME 309
HND 2
CREDIT VALUE: 4
LECTURER: MR CHIN THIERRY B

INTRODUCTION

To understand and predict the volumetric behavior of oil and gas reservoirs as a function
of pressure, knowledge of the physical properties of reservoir fluids must be gained. These
fluid properties are usually determined by laboratory experiments performed on samples of
actual reservoir fluids.

PROPERTIES OF NATURAL GASES

In the absence of experimentally measured properties, it is necessary for the petroleum

engineers to determine the properties from empirically derived correlations. A gas is defined
as a homogeneous fluid of low viscosity and density that has no definite volume but
expands to completely fill the vessel in which it is placed.

Generally, the natural gas is a mixture of hydrocarbon and nonhydrocarbon gases. The
hydrocarbon gases that are normally found in a natural gas are methane, ethane, propane,
butane, pentane, and small amounts of hexanes and heavier. The nonhydrocarbon gases (i.e.,
impurities) include carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, and nitrogen.

Knowledge of pressure-volume temperature (PVT) relationships and other physical and chemical
properties of gases is essential for solving problems in natural gas reservoir engineering.
These properties include:

Apparent molecular weight, Ma. Specific gravity, γg. Compressibility factor, zz. Density, ρg
Specific volume, v. Isothermal gas compressibility coefficient, cg. Gas formation volume factor,
Bg. Gas expansion factor, Eg. Viscosity, μg
BEHAVIOR OF IDEAL GASES

The kinetic theory of gases postulates that gases are composed of a very large number of
particles called molecules. For an ideal gas, three assumptions exist:
1) The volume of these molecules is insignificant compared with the total volume
occupied by the gas.
2) It is also assumed that these molecules have no attractive or repulsive forces between
them, and that all collisions of molecules are perfectly elastic.
3) Based on the above kinetic theory of gases, a mathematical equation, called the ideal
gas law is established as stated below:

It should be noted that lb refers to lbs mass in any of the subsequent discussion on density
The basic properties of gases are commonly expressed in terms of apparent molecular weight,
standard volume, density, specific volume and specific gravity. These properties are defined as
follows:

BASIC GAS PROPERTIES

APPARENT MOLECULAR WEIGHT

If Yi represents the mole fraction of the ith component in a gas mixture, the apparent molecular
weight is defined mathematically as:
where Ma = apparent molecular weight of a gas mixture
Mi = molecular weight of the ith component in the mixture
Yi = mole fraction of component i in the mixture

STANDARD VOLUME
BEHAVIOUR OF REAL GASES
In dealing with gases at very low pressure, the ideal relationship is a convenient and generally
satisfactory tool. At higher pressures, the use of the ideal gas equation of state may lead to errors
as great as 500% as compared to errors of 2-3% at atmospheric pressure.
COMPRESIBILITY OF NATURAL GAS
GAS FORMATION VOLUME FACTOR
GAS VISCOSITY

METHODS OF CALCULATING THE VISCOSITY OF NATURAL GASES

PROPERTIES OF CRUDE OIL
SPECIFIC GRAVITY OF SOLUTION GAS
GAS SOLUBILITY
BUBBLE POINT PRESSURE
OIL FORMATION VOLUME FACTOR
HOW TO CALCULATE Bo
STANDING CORRELATION

ISOTHERMAL COMPRESSIBILITY
OIL FORMATION VOLUME FACTOR

Figure 2-9. Volume versus pressure relationship.

CRUDE OIL DENSITY
TOTAL Bo
 8
8

CRUDE OIL VISCOSITY

 9
0

METHODS OF CALCULATING VISCOSITY IN DEAD OIL

 9
3

SURFACE/INTERFACIAL TENSION

9
4
PROPERTIES OF RESERVOIR WATER
Figure 2.1
Figure 2.2
COURSE OUTLINE
INTRODUCTION
PROPERTIES OF NATURAL GAS
BEHAVIOUR OF IDEAL GASES
BASIC GAS PRINCIPLES
BEHAVIOUR OF REAL GASES
PROPERTIES OF CRUDE OIL
PROPERTIES OF RESERVOIR WATER
PHASE DIAGRAM