Introduction to

Relative Permeability
and
Capillary Pressure
Absolute permeability: is the permeability of a
porous medium saturated with a single fluid
(e.g. S
w
=1)
Absolute permeability can be calculated from
the steady-state flow equation (1D, Linear Flow;
Darcy Units):
Review: Absolute Permeability
L
p A k
q

A
=
Multiphase Flow in Reservoirs
Commonly, reservoirs contain 2 or 3 fluids
Water-oil systems
Oil-gas systems
Water-gas systems
Three phase systems (water, oil, and gas)
To evaluate multiphase systems, must
consider the effective and relative
permeability
Effective permeability: is a measure of
the conductance of a porous medium
for one fluid phase when the medium is
saturated with more than one fluid.
The porous medium can have a distinct and
measurable conductance to each phase present in
the medium
Effective permeabilities: (ko, kg, kw)
Effective Permeability
Amyx, Bass, and Whiting, 1960; PETE 311 Notes
Oil
Water
Gas
L
A k
q
o
o o
o

Au
=
L
A k
q
w
w w
w

Au
=
L
A k
q
g
g g
g

Au
=
Effective Permeability
Steady state, 1D, linear flow
equation (Darcy units):
q
n
= volumetric flow rate for a
specific phase, n
A = flow area
Au
n
= flow potential drop for
phase, n (including pressure,
gravity and capillary pressure
terms)

n
= fluid viscosity for phase n
L = flow length
Modified from NExT, 1999; Amyx, Bass, and Whiting, 1960; PETE 311 NOTES
Relative Permeability is the ratio of the effective
permeability of a fluid at a given saturation to some
base permeability
Base permeability is typically defined as:
absolute permeability, k
air permeability, k
air
effective permeability to non-wetting phase at irreducible wetting
phase saturation [e.g. k
o
(S
w
=S
wi
)]
because definition of base permeability varies, the definition
used must always be:
confirmed before applying relative permeability data
noted along with tables and figures presenting relative
permeability data
Relative Permeability
Amyx, Bass, and Whiting, 1960
Oil
Water
Gas
k
k
k
o
ro
) 3 . 0 , 5 . 0 (
) 3 . 0 , 5 . 0 (
=
k
k
k
w
rw
) 3 . 0 , 5 . 0 (
) 3 . 0 , 5 . 0 (
=
k
k
k
g
rg
) 3 . 0 , 5 . 0 (
) 3 . 0 , 5 . 0 (
=
Relative Permeability
Modified from Amyx, Bass, and Whiting, 1960
So =0.5
Sw =0.3
Sg = 0.2
Relative Permeability Functions
0.40
0
0.20
0.40 0 1.00 0.60 0.20 0.80
Water Saturation (fraction)
R
e
l
a
t
i
v
e

P
e
r
m
e
a
b
i
l
i
t
y

(
f
r
a
c
t
i
o
n
)
1.00
0.60
0.80
Water
k
rw
@ S
or
Oil
Two-Phase Flow
Region
k
ro
@ S
wi
Wettability and direction of
saturation change must be
considered
drainage
imbibition
Base used to normalize this
relative permeability curve is
k
ro
@ S
wi
As S
w
increases, k
ro
decreases
and k
rw
increases until
reaching residual oil
saturation
Modified from NExT, 1999
Imbibition Relative Permeability
(Water Wet Case)
Effect of Wettability
for Increasing S
w
0.4
0
0.2
40 0 100 60 20 80
Water Saturation (% PV)
R
e
l
a
t
i
v
e

P
e
r
m
e
a
b
i
l
i
t
y
,

F
r
a
c
t
i
o
n
1.0
0.6
0.8
Water
Oil
Strongly Water-Wet Rock
0.4
0
0.2
40 0 100 60 20 80
Water Saturation (% PV)
R
e
l
a
t
i
v
e

P
e
r
m
e
a
b
i
l
i
t
y
,

F
r
a
c
t
i
o
n
1.0
0.6
0.8
Water Oil
Strongly Oil-Wet Rock
Water flows more freely
Higher residual oil saturation
Modified from NExT, 1999
Fluid saturations
Geometry of the pore spaces and pore
size distribution
Wettability
Fluid saturation history (i.e., imbibition
or drainage)
Factors Affecting Relative Permeabilities
After Standing, 1975
Characteristics of Relative
Permeability Functions
Relative permeability is unique for
different rocks and fluids
Relative permeability affects the flow
characteristics of reservoir fluids.
Relative permeability affects the
recovery efficiency of oil and/or gas.
Modified from NExT, 1999
Applications of
Relative Permeability Functions
Reservoir simulation
Flow calculations that involve
multi-phase flow in reservoirs
Estimation of residual oil (and/or
gas) saturation
Hysteresis Effect on Rel. Perm.
0
20
40
60
80
100
0 20 40 60 80 100
Drainage
Imbibition
k
rnw
Wetting Phase Saturation, %PV
R
e
l
a
t
i
v
e

P
e
r
m
e
a
b
i
l
i
t
y
,

%
Residual non-wetting
phase saturation
Irreducible wetting
phase saturation
Non-wetting
phase
Wetting
phase
k
rnw
k
rw
What is k
base
for this case?
Hysteresis Effect on Rel. Perm.
During drainage, the wetting phase ceases to flow at the
irreducible wetting phase saturation
This determines the maximum possible non-wetting
phase saturation
Common Examples:
Petroleum accumulation (secondary migration)
Formation of secondary gas cap
During imbibition, the non-wetting phase becomes
discontinuous and ceases to flow when the non-wetting
phase saturation reaches the residual non-wetting phase
saturation
This determines the minimum possible non-wetting
phase saturation displacement by the wetting phase
Common Example: waterflooding water wet reservoir
Oil
Water
Gas
L
A k
q
o
o o
o

Au
=
L
A k
q
w
w w
w

Au
=
L
A k
q
g
g g
g

Au
=
Review: Effective Permeability
Steady state, 1D, linear flow
equation (Darcy units):
q
n
= volumetric flow rate for a
specific phase, n
A = flow area
Au
n
= flow potential drop for
phase, n (including pressure,
gravity and capillary pressure
terms)

n
= fluid viscosity for phase n
L = flow length
Modified from NExT, 1999; Amyx, Bass, and Whiting, 1960; PETE 311 NOTES
The pressure difference existing across
the interface separating two immiscible
fluids in capillaries (e.g. porous media).
Calculated as:
P
c
= p
nwt
- p
wt
CAPILLARY PRESSURE
- DEFINITION -
Where:
P
c
= capillary pressure
P
nwt
= pressure in nonwetting phase
p
wt
= pressure in wetting phase
One fluid wets the surfaces of the formation
rock (wetting phase) in preference to the other
(non-wetting phase).
Gas is always the non-wetting phase in both
oil-gas and water-gas systems.
Oil is often the non-wetting phase in water-oil
systems.
Capillary Tube - Conceptual Model
Air-Water System
Water
Air
u
Ah
Considering the porous media as a collection of capillary tubes provides useful
insights into how fluids behave in the reservoir pore spaces.
Water rises in a capillary tube placed in a beaker of water, similar to water (the
wetting phase) filling small pores leaving larger pores to non-wetting phases of
reservoir rock.
The height of water in a capillary tube is a function of:
Adhesion tension between the air and water
Radius of the tube
Density difference between fluids
aw
aw
g r
h

u o
A
= A
cos 2
CAPILLARY TUBE MODEL
AIR / WATER SYSTEM
This relation can be derived from balancing the upward force due to adhesion
tension and downward forces due to the weight of the fluid (see ABW pg 135).
The wetting phase (water) rise will be larger in small capillaries.
Ah = Height of water rise in capillary tube, cm
o
aw
= Interfacial tension between air and water,
dynes/cm
u = Air/water contact angle, degrees
r = Radius of capillary tube, cm
g = Acceleration due to gravity, 980 cm/sec
2
A
aw
= Density difference between water and air, gm/cm
3
Contact angle, u, is measured through the more dense phase (water in this
case).
Combining the two relations results in the following
expression for capillary tubes:
r
P
aw
c
u o cos 2
=
CAPILLARY PRESSURE AIR / WATER
SYSTEM
CAPILLARY PRESSURE OIL / WATER
SYSTEM
From a similar derivation, the equation for
capillary pressure for an oil/water system is
r
P
ow
c
u o cos 2
=
P
c
= Capillary pressure between oil and water
o
ow
= Interfacial tension between oil and water, dyne/cm
u = Oil/water contact angle, degrees
r = Radius of capillary tube, cm
Capillary Pressure Curve
Drainage Curve
Effect of Fluids
J-Function Different Rocks
J-Function Carbonates
OWC and FWL
DRAINAGE AND IMBIBITION
CAPILLARY PRESSURE CURVES
Drainage
Imbibition
S
wi
S
m
S
w
P
d
P
c
0 0.5 1.0
Modified from NExT, 1999, after
DRAINAGE
Fluid flow process in which the saturation
of the nonwetting phase increases
IMBIBITION
Fluid flow process in which the saturation
of the wetting phase increases
Saturation History - Hysteresis
- Capillary pressure depends on both direction
of change, and previous saturation history
- Blue arrow indicates probable path from
drainage curve to imbibition curve at S
wt
=0.4
- At S
m
, nonwetting phase cannot flow,
resulting in residual nonwetting phase
saturation (imbibition)
- At S
wi
, wetting phase cannot flow, resulting in
irreducible wetting phase saturation (drainage)
Effect of Permeability on Shape
Decreasing
Permeability,
Decreasing
A
B
C
20
16
12
8
4
0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
Water Saturation
C
a
p
i
l
l
a
r
y

P
r
e
s
s
u
r
e
Modified from NExT 1999, after xx)
Effect of Grain Size Distribution on Shape
Well-sorted
Poorly sorted
C
a
p
i
l
l
a
r
y

p
r
e
s
s
u
r
e
,

p
s
i
a
Water saturation, %
Modfied from NExT, 1999; after )
Decreasing
Rise of Wetting Phase Varies with
Capillary Radius
WATER
AIR
1 2 3 4
Ayers, 2001
CAPILLARY TUBE MODEL
AIR/WATER SYSTEM
Air
Water
p
a2
Ah
p
a1
p
w1
p
w2
Water rise in capillary tube depends on the density difference of fluids.
P
a2
= p
w2
= p
2
p
a1
= p
2
-
a
g Ah
p
w1
= p
2
-
w
g Ah
P
c
= p
a1
- p
w1
=
w
g Ah -
a
g Ah
= A g Ah
Combining the two relations results in the following
expression for capillary tubes:
r
P
aw
c
u o cos 2
=
CAPILLARY PRESSURE AIR / WATER
SYSTEM
CAPILLARY PRESSURE OIL / WATER
SYSTEM
From a similar derivation, the equation for
capillary pressure for an oil/water system is
r
P
ow
c
u o cos 2
=
P
c
= Capillary pressure between oil and water
o
ow
= Interfacial tension between oil and water, dyne/cm
u = Oil/water contact angle, degrees
r = Radius of capillary tube, cm
AVERAGING CAPILLARY PRESSURE
DATA USING THE LEVERETT
J-FUNCTION
The Leverett J-function was originally an attempt
to convert all capillary pressure data to a
universal curve
A universal capillary pressure curve does not
exist because the rock properties affecting
capillary pressures in reservoir have extreme
variation with lithology (rock type)
BUT, Leveretts J-function has proven valuable
for correlating capillary pressure data within a
lithology (see ABW Fig 3-23).
EXAMPLE J-FUNCTION FOR
WEST TEXAS CARBONATE
0.00
1.00
2.00
3.00
4.00
5.00
6.00
7.00
8.00
9.00
10.00
0.00 0.10 0.20 0.30 0.40 0.50 0.60 0.70 0.80 0.90 1.00
Water saturation, fraction
J
-
f
u
n
c
t
i
o
n
Jc
Jmatch
Jn1
Jn2
Jn3
DEFINITION OF LEVERETT J-FUNCTION
( )
| u o
k C P
c
S J
w
cos
=
J-Function is DIMENSIONLESS, for a particular rock type:
Same value of J at same wetting phase saturation for
any unit system, any two fluids, any exact value of k,|
(k/|)
1/2
is proportional to size of typical pore throat
radius (remember k can have units of length
2
)
C is unit conversion factor (to make J(S
w
) dimensionless)
Flow
Units
Gamma Ray
Log
Petrophysical
Data
Pore
Types
Lithofacies Core
1
2
3
4
5
Core
Plugs
Capillary
Pressure
|
vs k
P
c
(S
w
) Depends on k,|
High Quality
Low Quality
Function moves up
and right, and
becomes less L
shaped as reservoir
quality decreases
LEVERETT J-FUNCTION FOR
CONVERSION OF P
c
DATA
Reservoir
c
Lab
c
w
k
cos
P C k
cos
P C
) J(S
(

=
(

=
| |
J-function is useful for averaging capillary
pressure data from a given rock type from a given
reservoir
J-function can sometimes be extended to
different reservoirs having same lithologies
Use extreme caution in assuming this can be
done
J-function usually not accurate correlation for
different lithologies
If J-functions are not successful in reducing the
scatter in a given set of data, then this suggests
that we are dealing variation in rock type
USE OF LEVERETT J-FUNCTION
Capillary Pressure in Reservoirs
A B
Reservoir,
o
Aquifer,
w
1
2
3
P
c
= p
o
-p
w
= 0
Pressure
D
e
p
t
h
dp
w
=
w
g/D dh
Free
Water
Level
dp
o
=
o
g/D dh
Fluid Distribution in Reservoirs
Gas & Water
Gas density =
g
Oil, Gas & Water
Oil & Water
Oil density =
o
Water
Water density =
w
A
h
1
h
2
B
Free Oil Level
Free Water Level
Capillary pressure difference
between
oil and water phases in core A
P
c,ow
= h
1
g (
w
-
o
)
Capillary pressure difference
between
gas and oil phases in core B
P
c,go
= h
2
g (
o
-
g
)
Modified from NExT, 1999, modified after Welge and Bruce, 1947
F
a
u
l
t
RELATION BETWEEN CAPILLARY
PRESSURE AND FLUID SATURATION
Free Water Level
P
c
P
d
Oil-Water contact
H
d
H
e
i
g
h
t

A
b
o
v
e

F
r
e
e

W
a
t
e
r

L
e
v
e
l


(
F
e
e
t
)
0 50 100
S
w
(fraction)
0 50 100
S
w
(fraction)
0
Modified from NExT, 1999, after
P
c
0 50 100
0
P
d
S
w
(fraction)
Lab Data
-Lab Fluids: o, u
-Core sample: k,|
J-Function
J-Function
- for k,|
Reservoir Data
Saturation in
Reservoir vs.
Depth
Results from two
analysis methods (after
ABW)
Laboratory capillary
pressure curve
Converted to
reservoir
conditions
Analysis of well
logs
Water saturation
has strong effect
Determine fluid distribution in reservoir (initial conditions)
Accumulation of HC is drainage process for water wet res.
S
w
= function of height above OWC (oil water contact)
Determine recoverable oil for water flooding applications
Imbibition process for water wet reservoirs
Pore Size Distribution Index,
Absolute permeability (flow capacity of entire pore size
distribution)
Relative permeability (distribution of fluid phases within the
pore size distribution)
Reservoir Flow - Capillary Pressure included as a term of flow
potential for multiphase flow
Input data for reservoir simulation models
Applications of Capillary
Pressure Data
water wet , Z ; P
D
Z g
p
ow c,
w
o w
+ + =
DRAINAGE AND IMBIBITION
CAPILLARY PRESSURE CURVES
Drainage
Imbibition
S
i
S
m
S
wt
P
d
P
c
0 0.5 1.0
Modified from NExT, 1999, after
DRAINAGE
Fluid flow process in which the saturation
of the nonwetting phase increases
Mobility of nonwetting fluid phase
increases as nonwetting phase saturation
increases
IMBIBITION
Fluid flow process in which the saturation
of the wetting phase increases
Mobility of wetting phase increases as
wetting phase saturation increases
Four Primary Parameters
S
i
= irreducible wetting phase saturation
S
m
= 1 - residual non-wetting phase saturation
P
d
= displacement pressure, the pressure
required to force non-wetting fluid into largest
pores
= pore size distribution index; determines
shape
DRAINAGE PROCESS
Fluid flow process in which the saturation of the nonwetting
phase increases
Examples:
Hydrocarbon (oil or gas) filling the pore space and
displacing the original water of deposition in water-wet rock
Waterflooding an oil reservoir in which the reservoir is oil
wet
Gas injection in an oil or water wet oil reservoir
Pressure maintenance or gas cycling by gas injection in a
retrograde condensate reservoir
Evolution of a secondary gas cap as reservoir pressure
decreases
IMBIBITION PROCESS
IMBIBITION
Fluid flow process in which the
saturation of the wetting phase increases
Mobility of wetting phase increases as
wetting phase saturation increases
Examples:
Accumulation of oil in an oil wet reservoir
Waterflooding an oil reservoir in which the reservoir is
water wet
Accumulation of condensate as pressure decreases in
a dew point reservoir
S
w
* Power Law Model
Having an equation model for capillary pressure
curves is useful
Smoothing of laboratory data
Determination of
Analytic function for integration (future topic)
The S
w
* Power Law Model is an empirical model that
has proven to work well
Model parameters: S
wi
, P
d
,
( )
1/
*
w d c
S P P

=
wi
wi w
*
w
S 1
S S
S

=
S
w
* rescales x-axis
S
w
* Power Law Model
S
w
*, fraction
S
w
*=0 S
w
*=1
Capillary Pressure vs. Wetting Phase Saturation
0
5
10
15
20
25
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
S
w
, fraction
P
c
,

p
s
i
a
S
wi
=0.20
P
d
=3.0
Power Law Equations plot as Log-Log straight line
S
w
* Power Law Model
Capillary Pressure Data Plotted vs. S
w
* (S
wi
=0.20)
1
10
100
0.01 0.1 1
S
w
*, fraction
P
c
,

p
s
i
a
slope = -1/ = -1/2.0
P
d
=3.0
S
w
* Power Law Model
Straight line models are excellent for
Interpolation and data smoothing
Extrapolation
Self Study: review Power Law Equations (y=ax
b
)
and how to determine coefficients, a and b given
two points on the straight log-log line
( )
1/
*
w d c
S P P

=
wi
wi w
*
w
S 1
S S
S

=
S
w
* Power Law Model
Pd, can be determined from Log-Log plot
But, S
wi
can be difficult to determine from Cartesian plot, if data
does not clearly show vertical asymptote
Capillary Pressure vs. Wetting Phase Saturation
0
5
10
15
20
25
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
S
w
, fraction
P
c
,

p
s
i
a
Choosing wrong S
wi
limits accuracy of determining
P
d
,
S
w
* Power Law Model
Same Capillary Pressure Data Plotted vs. S
w
*
1
10
100
0.01 0.1 1
S
w
*, fraction
P
c
,

p
s
i
a
S
wi
value too small
S
wi
value too large
S
wi
value correct
Review: S
w
* Power Law
Model
Power Law Model (log-log straight line)
Best fit of any data set with a straight line
model can be used to determine two unknown
parameters. For this case:
slope gives
intercept gives P
d
S
wi
must be determined independently
it can be difficult to estimate the value of S
wi
from cartesian P
c
vs. S
w
plot, if the data set
( )
1/
*
w d c
S P P

=
wi
wi w
*
w
S 1
S S
S