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Abstract
Byrnes, A. P.,
DOI:10.1306/13131050H31483
2008. The American Association of Petroleum Geologists. All rights reserved.
Issues with Gas Relative Permeability in Low-permeability Sandstones
Alan P. Byrnes
Kansas Geological Survey, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, U.S.A.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I am indebted to my interactions with James C. Castle, Robert M. Cluff, Suzanne G. Cluff, C. William Keighin, Philip L. Randolph, Krishnaswamy Sampath, John C. Webb, Michael D. Wilson, and many others. This work was supported in part under the U.S. Department of Energy Contract DE-FC26-05NT42660. This chapter benefited significantly from insightful, constructive reviews by Robert Barree, Robert Cluff, John Dacy, and Philip Nelson. The experimental complexity of this subject raises many issues that are not all resolved, but make for good ongoing scientific discussion.
ABSTRACT
A review of gas relative permeability (krg) studies of low-permeability sandstones indicates that they can be modeled using the Corey equation, but scarce data near the critical gas saturation (Sgc) limit krg modeling at high water saturations. Confined mercury injection capillary pressure and coupled electrical resistance measurements on Mesaverde sandstones of varied lithology were used
to measure critical nonwetting saturation. Most of these data support the commonly applied assumption that Sgc
0.05. However, a few heterolithic samples exhibiting higher Sgc indicate the dependence of Sgc on pore-network architecture. Concepts from percolation theory and upscaling indicate that Sgc varies among four pore-network architecture models: (1) percolation (Np), (2) parallel (N//), (3) series (N
), and (4) discontinuous series (N
d). Analysis suggests that Sgc is scale- and bedding-architecture–dependent in cores and in the field.
The models suggest that Sgc is likely to be very low in cores with laminae and laminated reservoirs and low (e.g., Sgc 0.03–0.07 at core scale and Sgc
0.02 at reservoir scale) in massive-bedded sandstones of any permeability. In cross-bedded lithologies exhibiting series network properties, Sgc approaches a constant reflecting the capillary-pressure property differences and relative pore volumes among the beds in series. For these networks, Sgc can range widely but can reach high values (e.g., Sgc
0.6). Discontinuous series networks, representing lithologies exhibiting series network properties but for which the restrictive beds are not sample spanning, exhibit Sgc intermediate between Np and N
networks.
Consideration of the four network architectures lends insight into the complications of heterogeneous lithologies at differing spatial scales and underscores the difficulty of upscaling laboratory-derived relative permeabilities for reservoir simulation. Analysis also indicates that for some architectures, capillary pressure and relative permeability anisotropy may need to be considered.
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