PROPERTIES OF CRUDE OIL

SYSTEMS

Fundamental of petroleum Engineering course

Peyman Maroufi
Petroleum Engineering department
LOGO
Soran
university

PROPERTIES OF CRUDE OIL SYSTEMS

An accurate description of physical properties of crude oils is of a considerable
importance in the fields of both applied and theoretical science and especially in the
solution of petroleum reservoir engineering problems.

Physical properties of primary interest in petroleum engineering studies include:
 Fluid gravity
 Specific gravity of the solution gas
 Gas solubility
 Bubble-point pressure
 Oil formation volume factor
 Isothermal compressibility coefficient of undersaturated crude oils
 Oil density
 Total formation volume factor
 Crude oil viscosity
 Surface tension

PROPERTIES OF CRUDE OIL SYSTEMS

 Crude Oil Gravity:
 The crude oil density is defined as the mass of a unit volume of the crude at a
specified pressure and temperature.
 The specific gravity of a crude oil is defined as the ratio of the density of the oil to
that of water. Both densities are measured at 60F and atmospheric pressure:

 The density of the water is approximately 62.4 / , or:

PROPERTIES OF CRUDE OIL SYSTEMS

 Although the density and specific gravity are used extensively in the petroleum
industry, the API gravity is the preferred gravity scale.
 This gravity scale is precisely related to the specific gravity by the following
expression:

 The API gravities of crude oils usually range from 47 API for the lighter crude
oils to 10 API for the heavier asphaltic crude oils.

 Example 1
Calculate the specific gravity and the API gravity of a crude oil system with a
measured density of 53 lb/ft3 at standard conditions.

PROPERTIES OF CRUDE OIL SYSTEMS

 Gas Solubility or Solution Gas-Oil Ratio:
 The gas solubility Rs is defined as the number of standard cubic feet of gas which
will dissolve in one stock-tank barrel of crude oil at certain pressure and
temperature.
 The solubility of a natural gas in a crude oil is a strong function of the pressure,
temperature, API gravity, and gas gravity.


For a particular gas and crude oil to exist at a constant temperature, the solubility
increases with pressure until the saturation pressure is reached.

PROPERTIES OF CRUDE OIL SYSTEMS

 At the saturation pressure (bubble-point pressure) all the available gases are
dissolved in the oil and the gas solubility reaches its maximum value.
 Rather than measuring the amount of gas that will dissolve in a given stock-tank
crude oil as the pressure is increased, it is customary to determine the amount of
gas that will come out of a sample of reservoir crude oil as pressure decreases.

PROPERTIES OF CRUDE OIL SYSTEMS

 A typical gas solubility curve, as a function of pressure for an undersaturated crude
oil, is shown in Figure 2-7.
 As the pressure is reduced from the initial reservoir pressure pi, to the bubble-point
pressure pb, no gas evolves from the oil and consequently the gas solubility remains
constant at its maximum value of Rsb.
 Below the bubble-point pressure, the solution gas is liberated and the value of Rs
decreases with pressure.

PROPERTIES OF CRUDE OIL SYSTEMS

The following five empirical correlations for estimating the gas solubility are given
below:
Standings correlation
The Vasquez-Beggs correlation
Glasos correlation
Marhouns correlation
The Petrosky-Farshad correlation

PROPERTIES OF CRUDE OIL SYSTEMS

Standings Correlation:
Standing (1947) proposed the following correlation for determining the gas solubility
as a function of pressure, gas specific gravity, API gravity, and system temperature.

with

It should be noted that Standings equation is valid for applications at and below
the bubble-point pressure of the crude oil.

PROPERTIES OF CRUDE OIL SYSTEMS

Example2 :
The following experimental PVT data on six different crude oil systems are
available. Results are based on two-stage surface separation.

Using Standings correlation,

estimate the gas solubility at the
bubble point pressure

PROPERTIES OF CRUDE OIL SYSTEMS

 Formation Volume Factor, Bo:
 The oil formation volume factor, Bo, is defined as the ratio of the volume of oil
(plus the gas in solution) at the prevailing reservoir temperature and pressure to
the volume of oil at standard conditions.
 Bo is always greater than or equal to unity.


The oil formation volume factor can be expressed mathematically as:

PROPERTIES OF CRUDE OIL SYSTEMS

 A typical oil formation factor curve, as a function
of pressure for an undersaturated crude oil (pi >
pb), is shown in Figure 2-8.
 As the pressure is reduced below the initial
reservoir pressure pi, the oil volume increases due
to the oil expansion. This behavior results in an
increase in the oil formation volume factor and will
continue until the bubble-point pressure is reached.

 At Pb, the oil r\eaches its maximum expansion and consequently attains a maximum value of Bob for
the oil formation volume factor.
 As the pressure is reduced below pb, volume of the oil and Bo are decreased as the solution gas is
liberated.
 When the pressure is reduced to atmospheric pressure and the temperature to 60F, the value of Bo is
equal to one.

PROPERTIES OF CRUDE OIL SYSTEMS

Most of the published empirical Bo correlations utilize the following generalized
relationship:

Six different methods of predicting the oil formation volume factor are presented
below:
Standings correlation
The Vasquez-Beggs correlation
Glasos correlation
Marhouns correlation
The Petrosky-Farshad correlation
Other correlations

PROPERTIES OF CRUDE OIL SYSTEMS

 Standings Correlation:
Standing (1981) showed that the oil formation volume factor can be expressed
more conveniently in a mathematical form by the following equation: