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Chapter from:
AAPG Memoir 71 : Reservoir Characterization-Recent Advances
Edited by Richard A. Schatzinger and John F. Jordan
Copyright 
1999 by The American Association of
Petroleum Geologists. All rights reserved.
Memoir 71, Chapter 12: A Direct Method for Determining Complete Positive and Negative
Capillary Pressure Curves for Reservoir Rock Using the Centrifuge , by E. A. Spinler and
B. A. Baldwin , Pages 175 - 178
Chapter 12
A Direct Method for Determining Complete Positive
and Negative Capillary Pressure Curves for Reservoir Rock Using the Centrifuge
E. A. Spinler
B. A. Baldwin
Phillips Petroleum Company
Bartlesville, Oklahoma, U.S.A.
ABSTRACT
A method is developed for direct experimental determination of capillary pressure
curves from saturation distributions produced while centrifuging fluids in a rock plug. A
free-water level is positioned along the length of the plugs to enable simultaneous
determination of both positive and negative capillary pressures. Octadecane, as the oil
phase, is solidified by temperature reduction while centrifuging to prevent fluid
redistribution upon removal from the centrifuge. The water saturation is then measured via
magnetic resonance imaging. The saturation profile within the plug and the calculation of
pressures for each point of the saturation profile allow for a complete capillary pressure
curve to be determined from one experiment. Centrifuging under oil with a free-water level
into a 100% water saturated plug results in the development of a primary drainage
capillary pressure curve. Centrifuging similarly at initial water saturation in the plug
results in the development of an imbibition capillary pressure curve. Examples of these
measurements are presented for Berea sandstone and chalk rocks.
