1

Slide 11 Dr Elena Pasternak

2
) ln (ln
i
Slide 12 Dr Elena Pasternak
The effective permeability:
Calculate the geometric mean of the natural log of the core-
derived permeability values
The arithmetic average of the natural log of the 14 permeability
values (5.067 mD) is practically equal to the geometric mean of the
same permeability values (5.058 mD). This further indicates that
this particular formation is practically homogeneous.
2
Slide 13 Dr Elena Pasternak
Standard deviation is compared with E(X). Coefficient of
variation
) ( X E

=
%) 6 ( 059 . 0
067 . 5
3 . 0
) (
3 . 0 =

=
X E
<0.2 (20%) OK for data to be smooth
In the example considered
Using the geometric mean of the natural log of values, the
effective permeability is
mD e
e
55 . 159 28 . 157 01 . 1
6
0869 . 0
1
058 . 5
= =

+ =
The effective permeability (159.55 mD) is essentially equal to
the geometric mean (158.7 mD) of core-derived permeability
data. This should be expected, since the variance is very small.
Slide 14 Dr Elena Pasternak
Effective permeability
(upscaling) exact solutions
3
Slide 15 Dr Elena Pasternak
http://www.answers.com/topic/darcy-s-law?cat=technology
permeability (m
2
~10
12
darcy)
Q discharge or flow rate (m
3
/sec)
P
a
, P
b
- pressures (Pa)
A area (m
2
)
dynamic viscosity (Pa sec)
Pressure increment P=P
a
-P
b
>0, Px (pressure drop)
Flow occurs from high pressure P
a
to low pressure P
b
x
x
P kA
Q
L
P P kA
Q
b a

=
Slide 16 Dr Elena Pasternak
Permeability of layered rock
Permeability parallel to the layers
Permeability normal to the layers

n
v
1
v
2
v
n
Permeability Volumetric fraction
4
Slide 17 Dr Elena Pasternak
Permeability parallel to the
layers

n
Q
Q
P
a
P
b
v
1
v
2
v
n
Q
1
Q
2
Q
n

= = =

=
n
k
b a k k
n
k
b a k k
n
k
b a k k
L
P P v
A
L
P P
AL
L A
A
L
P P A
Q
1 1 1

=
=
n
k
k k
v
1
h
k

=
= =
n
k
k
k k
k
h
h
AL
L A
1
-volume fraction
- effective permeability
Slide 18 Dr Elena Pasternak
p
k
=
k
p
k
probability that a layer k has a permeability
k
;
the same as the volume fraction (geometric
probability)

=
=
n
k
k
k
k
h
h
p
1
h
k
width of the layer k.
5
Slide 19 Dr Elena Pasternak
In the case of linear flow parallel to a stratified
medium, typical of shallow marine sheet sands for
example, the effective permeability of the region is the
expected value of the layer permeabilities.
Clearly, permeability is additive in this case.
Slide 20 Dr Elena Pasternak
Permeability normal to the
layers
Q
Q
P
a
P
b

n
v
1
v
2
v
n
P
1
P
2
P
n

=
= =
=

=
=

n
k k
k
n
k k
k
n
k k
k
k
n
k
k
b a
v
A
Q
A
Q
h
H h
P
h
H
P
H H
P P
1
1 1
1
1 1
1

=

=
n
k
k k
v
1
1 1

=
=
=
n
k
k
k
k
h H
H
h
1
-volume fraction
- effective
permeability
h
k
6
Slide 21 Dr Elena Pasternak
When linear flow is orthogonal to the layers (eg, dune
crossbeds), permeability is no longer additive.
However, its inverse is additive. (Resistance to flow is
additive.)
The effective resistance to flow
-1
is the expected
value of the layer resistances to flow.
Slide 22 Dr Elena Pasternak
Permeability of heterogeneous
(isotropic) rock
Permeabilities
1
,
2
,..
n
Effective permeability

=

n
k
k k
n
k
k k
v v
1
1
1
1
7
Slide 23 Dr Elena Pasternak
Representation through
general averaging
( )

=
=
0 ln exp
0
1
1
1
p v
p v
n
k
k k
p
n
k
p
k k
p
Effective permeability
1 1 , = p
p
Generally, p depends upon the permeability distribution
Slide 24 Dr Elena Pasternak
Particular case
Two phase rock:
1
,
2
Equal volumetric fractions: v
1
=v
2
=0.5
Effective permeability
2 1
=
(Dykhne, 1970) exact solution!
(p=0)
8
Slide 25 Dr Elena Pasternak
Dykstra-Parsons coefficient
Dykstra and Parsons (1950) used the normal
distribution of permeability to define the coefficient
of permeability variation V
K
) (
) (
2
=

=

E
n
s
s
V
i
K
n is the total number of data points,
i
is the permeability of individual core
samples.
In a normal distribution, the value of is such that 84.1% of the permeability
values are less than E()+s and 15.9% of the values are less than E()-s.
Standard deviation
The mean value of ,
arithmetic average of
permeability
Slide 26 Dr Elena Pasternak
The Dykstra-Parsons coefficient of permeability variation
can be obtained graphically by plotting permeability
values on log-probability paper and using the following
eqn
50
1 . 84 50

=
K
V
where

50
=permeability value with 50% probability

84.1
=permeability at 84.1% of the cumulative sample
The Dykstra-Parsons coefficient of permeability
variation is an excellent tool for characterising the
degree of reservoirs heterogeneity. The term V
K
is also
called the Reservoir Heterogeneity Index.
9
Slide 27 Dr Elena Pasternak
Dykstra and Parsons (1950)

50
=10,
84.1
=3, V
K
=0.7 reservoir is very heterogeneous
log
Slide 28 Dr Elena Pasternak
10
Slide 29 Dr Elena Pasternak
Example
Given the permeability data in Table for well HBK5
(Chatzis et al, 1997), see sl. 9, calculate the Dykstra-
Parsons coefficient
Slide 30 Dr Elena Pasternak
The procedure for graphically
determining the Dykstra-Parsons
coefficient
a) Arrange permeability data in descending order (column 2, sl.
32)
b) Determine the frequency of each permeability value (column
3)
c) Find the number of samples with larger permeability
(column 4)
d) Calculate the cumulative frequency distribution by
dividing values in column 4 with the total number of
permeability points, n (n=14 in this example) (column 5)
e) Plot permeability data (column 2) versus cumulative
frequency data on a log-probability paper (natural log of
permeabilities vs. percent of samples with larger probability)
11
Slide 31 Dr Elena Pasternak
f) Draw the best straight line through the data, with more weight
placed on points in the central portion where the cumulative
frequency is close to 50%. This straight line reflects a
quantitative, as well as a qualitative, measure of the
heterogeneity of the reservoir rock.
g) From graph (sl. 33) read the values
50
=158.7 mD and

84.1
=117.2 mD. Otherwise these values can be interpolated
from Table (sl. 32).
h) Calculate the Dykstra-Parsons coefficient
26 . 0
7 . 158
22 . 117 7 . 158
50
1 . 84 50
=

=
K
V
This formation is slightly heterogeneous, but it can be treated as
homogeneous for reservoir simulation purposes.
Slide 32 Dr Elena Pasternak

=1-cumulative
frequency
distribution,
since
permeabilities
are arranged in
descending
order (not
ascending as
required for the
cumulative
distribution
function)
12
Slide 33 Dr Elena Pasternak
log
Slide 34 Dr Elena Pasternak
log-probability paper
Notes
Vertical axis - Plot natural log of permeabilities
Horizontal axis - cumulative frequency data (percent of
samples with larger probability). Observe that the ends (0,
0.1) and (0.9, 1) (or (0, 10%) and (90%, 100)) are stretched
and the middle (0.1, 0.9) (or (10%, 90%)) is shrunk.
Log-probability paper is used to make graph look like a
straight line in the middle. If standard coordinates are used
we will get a curve! Interpolation of values is required to get

50
and
84.1
.