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Abstract
There is no consensus about the proper theory and equation of
permeability of porous media in spite of the numerous
investigations conducted to date. Many different expressions
have been proposed in the literature for permeability
prediction and/or correlation. The presently available and
frequently used models, including the popular KozenyCarman equation, have certain limitations and are inadequate
for applications involving the geological porous media. The
bottom-line question is just what is the equation of
permeability of the geological porous formations?
This paper provides some insights into the
relationship of the porosity and permeability. The bundle of
leaky capillary hydraulic tubes with cross-flow model of
porous media by Civan1-7 is shown to alleviate the deficiencies
of the present models. This model adequately approximates
the actual flow schemes in porous media because it allows for
interactions between the capillary hydraulic paths. The
porosity-permeability data of various core samples are
analyzed with this model. It is demonstrated that the power
law exponent of the leaky-tube model deviates significantly
from the unity. Therefore, the Kozeny-Carman8-9 equation
having a constant exponent of unity cannot describe such core
data.
Introduction
Permeability is a primary characteristic parameter of porous
materials involving fluid flow. The permeability of geological
porous formations depends on many variables in a
complicated manner. The proper modeling of the permeability
of porous materials is instrumental in the applications
involving porous materials encountered in the nature and
engineering. Predictability of permeability is essential for the
development of accurate methods for monitoring and
describing the transport of various fluid phases and species,
such as pollutants, water, oil, and gas, in large subsurface
geological porous formations, ordinarily referred to as
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SPE 94271
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SPE 94271
K / K o = f ( xi / xio ) .......................................................(1)
i =1
mi
K / K o = a ( xi / xio ) ......................................................(2)
i =1
=
.............................................................. (4)
where K and are the permeability and porosity,
K
respectively,
(7)
1
1
)max (
)min
max
min
C /A
min
min max
; <0
( 2 + 1)
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= log
( )
log
(9)
SPE 94271
min , max ,
( )
1
min
( )
1
max
Eqs.(7) and (8) or (9) are estimated by means of the leastsquares method to match the measurements of the
permeability and porosity of the core samples. Then, the
fractal dimension d (dimensionless) is calculated by
(Civan4,6,7):
d = 3(1 + 2 ) .......................................................................(10)
The value of d depends on the constriction of the hydraulic
tubes in a porous medium. The value is d < 3 for a porous
medium containing constricted tubes. The value is close to the
value d = 3 for a porous medium containing non-constricted
tubes.
Applications
The above-mentioned parameters of the leaky-tube model of
porous media are correlated in order to develop an accurate
equation of permeability. The core data of Sakurai et al.16,
Archie17, and Cinar et al.18 are analyzed in order to
demonstrate the application and accuracy of the equation of
permeability based on the leaky-tube model. Applications of
Eq. (8) are provided elsewhere by Civan7. Equation (9) is used
here. The results obtained by these equations are identical for
the same data. However, the coefficient of the least-squares
linear regression is closer to 1.0 for Eq.(9) than Eq.(8).
Veracruz Basin Formation. As described by Sakurai et al16,
the lithologies in the Veracruz Basin in Mexico include sand,
shale, conglomerate, limestone, and igneous rock. Fig. 2
shows the linear regression of these data with the power-law
flow unit equation using Eq.(9). Fig. 3 shows that the powerlaw flow unit equation satisfactorily represents the data trends
except for a few outliers. The best estimates of the parameter
values input to Fig. 2 and the coefficient of regression R 2 are
presented in Table 1, column 2. The value of d = 2.2 implies
that the porous medium is effectively open for flow. This
fractal porous medium is very close to the theoretical case of d
= 3 for a non-fractal 3-dimensional medium. Fig. 4 shows the
variation of and with described by Eq.(7). The
interconnectivity function varies in the range of 0 200 .
The cement exclusion factor is = 0.5 . This is an indication
that the formation contains some permeability- and porosityreducing constituents and/or features. The power-law
exponent varies in the range of 1.55 < .
Upper Wilcox (Mercy) Sandstone Formation. Archie17
describes the upper Eocene Wilcox formation in Mercy, Texas
as friable and partly cemented sandstone, containing poorly
sorted grains and grading to shaly sandstone in the lowpermeability range. Figure 5 shows the linear regression of
these data with the power-law flow unit equation using Eq.(9).
Figure 6 shows that the power-law flow unit equation
represents the data trends satisfactorily. The best estimates of
the parameter values input to Fig. 5 and the coefficient of
regression R 2 are presented in Table 1, column 3. The value
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SPE 94271
wide range for all the data analyzed and is much greater than
the constant = 1.0 value indicated by the Kozeny-Carman
equation. Therefore, the Kozeny-Carman equation cannot
represent the data analyzed in this paper. It is concluded that
the leaky-tube model provides a practical and accurate
equation of permeability.
The present applications of the equation of
permeability based on the leaky-tube model resorted to the
determination of the relevant parameter values by the leastsquares linear regression method. Because the present model
is nonlinear, the uniqueness of the determined parameter
values may be questioned. This inverse parameter estimation
approach has been applied here because the only information
available for the core samples consisted from the porositypermeability cross-plots. However, the uniqueness in the
parameter values can be achieved by direct measurements of
their values. This requires the special core analysis using the
tedious and expensive petrographical and petrophysical
techniques. For example, the cementation factor, the fractal
dimension, and the minimum and maximum values of the
porosity can be determined directly by means of the wellestablished computer-aided tomography and thin-section
analysis methods. Such detailed analyses are recommended
for future studies. Nevertheless, the present least-squares
linear regression method provides a reasonable correlation of
the porosity-permeability data of the various core samples.
3.
Nomenclature
a = empirical constant, dimensionless
C/A = combined parameter
d = fractal dimension
K = permeability, L2
Ko = reference permeability, L2
mi = exponent, dimensionless
n = number of independent variables
= cement exclusion parameter, fraction
c = fractional bulk volume occupied by cementation
materials, fraction
= exponent, dimensionless
= exponent, dimensionless
= interconnectivity function, L
= interconnectivity coefficient, L
= porosity, fraction
o = reference porosity, fraction
b = total pore surface per bulk volume, L2/L3
g = total pore surface per grain volume, L2/L3
o =
reference value
min= minimum value
max= maximum value
12.
References
1.
2.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
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SPE 94271
Sakurai
et al.16
Veracruz
Basin
Archie17
Upper
Wilcox
(Mercy)
Archie
Nacatoch
(Bellevue)
Cinar et
18
al.
Compacted
Salt
-0.14
-0.27
-0.25
-0.40
2.2
1.4
1.5
0.6
0.5
0.422
0.6
0.248
min
0.0001
0.00047
0.0001
0.00005
max
( )
min
( )
max
0.645
0.398
0.222
0.571
min
max
200
270
106.
0.00006
C/A
70
100
50.
50.
R2
0.85
0.66
0.88
0.94
17
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SPE 94271
0.5
1.0
y=x
R = 0.8465
0.8
or / max
0.0
max
-0.5
-1
0.4
-1
-1.0
0.2
-1.5
-1.5
-1.0
-0.5
0.0
0.0
0.00
0.5
0.25
0.50
0.75
1.00
Porosity, , fraction
log10 [/()]
1.0E+03
0.5
y=x
2
R = 0.6612
(2+1) 1 log10 {K/[()2]}
1.0E+02
Permeability, K, mD
0.6
1.0E+01
1.0E+00
1.0E-01
0.0
-0.5
1.0E-02
1.0E-03
0.00
-1.0
0.05
0.10
0.15
0.20
0.25
0.30
-1.0
Porosity, , fraction
-0.5
0.0
0.5
log10 [/()]
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SPE 94271
0 .4
1.0E+03
y= x
(2+1 ) 1 log10 {K/[( ) 2]}
0 .3
Permeability, K, mD
1.0E+02
1.0E+01
1.0E+00
R2 = 0.879
0 .2
0 .1
0 .0
- 0 .1
1.0E-01
- 0 .2
1.0E-02
0.05
- 0 .2
0.10
0.15
0.20
0.25
- 0 .1
0 .0
0 .2
0 .3
0 .4
log10 [/ ( )]
0.30
Porosity, , fraction
0 .1
1.0E+03
1.0
1.0E+02
Permeability, K, mD
-1 -1
/ max or /max
0.8
0.6
0.4
1.0E+01
1.0E+00
0.2
1.0E-01
0.20
0.0
0.00
0.25
0.50
0.75
1.00
0.30
0.35
0.40
0.45
Porosity, , fraction
Porosity, , fraction
Fig. 7- Variation of the interconnectivity parameter
and exponent with porosity for the Upper Wilcox
(Mercy) data of Archie.
0.25
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SPE 94271
1.0E-11
1.0
Permeability, K, mD
0.8
-1 -1
/ max or /max
1.0E-12
0.6
0.4
1.0E-13
1.0E-14
1.0E-15
1.0E-16
0.2
1.0E-17
1.0E-18
0.00
0.0
0.00
0.25
0.50
0.75
1.00
0.05
0.10
0.15
0.20
Porosity, , fraction
Porosity, , fraction
0.5
1.0
0.8
or / max
0.0
-1
max
-0.5
0.6
0.4
-1
y=x
2
R = 0.9405
-1.0
0.2
-1.5
0.0
0.00
-1.5
-1.0
-0.5
0.0
0.5
0.25
0.50
0.75
1.00
Porosity, , fraction
log10 [/()]
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