Lecture 4: EOS (vdW /PR)

Reservoir Fluid Properties

Petroleum Chemistry Module

MSc. Petroleum Engineering

2015/16
Dr. Tannaz Pak
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Learning Outcomes
By the end of this session you should be able to:
Analyse fluid phase behaviour using vdW and PR EOS.
Explain the concept of reservoir Fluid Properties:
Oil/Gas Formation Volume Factor

Cubic EOS van der Waals

=
2

Multiply the two sides of the equation by ( ) 2

( ) 2 = 2 ( )
3 + 2 + = 0
Divided by P

+ 2 +

=0

This is a cubic equation of state that needs solving!

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Solving a Cubic Equation - Root Finding

For a cubic equation there may be one, two, or three distinct real roots.

=0

=0

3= 0

One real root : =

Two complex roots

If = 2 4 < 0,

, the roots of the form: u

2 + + = 0
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PT and PV Diagrams Pure Substance

Following the isotherm path, i.e. T:constant and P: variable
1

Pressure
Pressure

Critical Point
Solid

Liquid

Triple Point

Pressure

Critical Point

Pdew
Pbubble

Two-phase

Vapour

Temperature
Temperature

Liquid

Liquid

T<Tc
V

Tc

Liquid

Gas

V+V

Gas

Volume

Gas

Liquid

P1

P2

Pbubble

Pbubble=Pdew

Pdew

P3
5 5

At Critical Point
At P=Pc and T=Tc: intensive properties of the liquid and vapour are equal, i.e. the
two phases are not distinguishable.
The PV curve shows an inflection point, i.e. its 1st and 2nd derivatives are equal to
zero.

=0

2
=0
2

and

Critical Point
Solid

Liquid

Triple Point

Pressure

Pressure
Pressure

1 2 3 4

4
Critical Point

T>Tc
Two-phase

Pbubble

T=Tc

Pdew

Vapour

T<Tc
Temperature
Temperature

Tc

V+V

T<Tc

Volume

Cubic EOS van der Waals

Pressure

=
2

Iso-pressure lines for P>0

T> Tc
T=Tc
T<Tc
Vliquid

Vvapour

Volume

For P > 0:
T > Tc:

T = Tc:

T < Tc:

PV curve: Monotonous
decreasing

PV curve: Decreasing with an

inflection point

PV curve shows a minimum and a

maximum

P = constant > 0 intersects

the curve only once

P = constant > 0 and P Pc

intersects the curve only once.

P = constant > 0 intersects the curve at 3

points

one real root for cubic EOS

At P=Pc there are 3 equal roots The smallest V Sat liquid at T and P
of Vc
The largest V Sat vapor at T and P 7

PT and PV Diagrams
Following the path from 1 to 3 under, T:constant and P: variable

P2
Solid

P1
Critical Point

Liquid

Pbubble = Pdew
P3

Triple Point
Vapour

Pressure

Pressure
Pressure

P1

P2

Pbubble

Pdew
P3
T< Tc

T
VSat Liq

Temperature
Temperature

Liquid

Liquid

Liquid

Gas

VSat Vap

Volume

Gas

Gas

Liquid

P1

P2

Pbubble
First gas bubble emerges

Pbubble=Pdew

Pdew
Last droplet of liquid exists

P3
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van der Waals EOS Constants Derivation of a and b constants:

At critical point:

=0

2
2

2
=0
2

and

( )2

( )3

2
3

=
2

=0

3
4

=
=0

1
3

, =

9

8

However, the best practise is to eliminate the factor vc and replace it with , since the values
of , are more accurately known.

Expanding van der Waals equation we get:

At critical point we have:

( )3 = 0

3 - (

3 2 + 3 2 3 = 0

3 2 =

3 =

+
)

2 + ( )

3 3 =b+

3 =

= 3 2
3 =

3 2

= 3 (3 ) =
2

= 3

=0
1

b=8

27 2 2
64

Page 93 Smith-van Ness book

Peng-Robinson EOS
Peng-Robinson (PR) (1976) EOS provides higher accuracy but at the cost of
more complex calculations.
They modified the attraction between molecules term and included the effect of
molecular shape in the equation.

=
2
2 + 2

R 2Tc2
a 0.45724
Pc

b 0.07780

RTc
Pc

= 1 + 0.37464 + 1.54226 0.26992 2 (1 0.5 )

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Acentric factor,
, known as acentric factor, is used to account for the shape of molecules

of the non-ideal gas.

Pitzers correlation (1955)

= log - 1 at =0.7

For simple spherical molecules such as argon, krypton and xenon = 0.

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Exercise 8 and 9

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The Virial Equation of State

Read more on page 70-72 from the Smith-van Ness book
uploaded to BB.

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Classification of Reservoir Fluids

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Classification of Reservoir Fluids

The classification is based on the:
composition of the reservoir fluid

reservoir P and T

Liquid
Critical Point

surface facilities P and T

The location of the reservoir T with
respect to the critical temperature
and cricondentherm.

Pressure

C
100%
85%

75%
65%

The location of the separator P and

T with respect to the phase diagram
of the reservoir fluid.

0%

Gas

Temperature

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Classification of Reservoir Fluids:

Hydrocarbon reservoirs are usually classified into the following five main types, after
Cronquist, 1979:

Dry gas
Pressure

Wet gas

Wet Gas

Initial Reservoir Pressure

Gas condensate

Initial Reservoir Pressure

Pressure

Dry Gas

Wellbore

Volatile oil

Wellbore
Separator

Black oil

Separator

Temperature

Temperature

Initial Reservoir Pressure

Single-Phase

Initial Reservoir
Pressure
Single-Phase

Black Oil
Initial Reservoir
Pressure
Single-Phase

Pressure

Two-Phase

Volatile Oil

Pressure

Pressure

Gas
Condensate

Two-Phase
Wellbore

Wellbore
Separator

Temperature

Two-Phase

Separator

Wellbore
Separator

Temperature

Temperature

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Classification of Reservoir Fluids:

Question:
A
In this example what would be the fluid
phase classified as for the three reservoirs of
A , B and C?

B
C

A: T > Tcricon
Dry gas if follows path A-A1
Wet gas if follows A-A2
B: Tc < T < Tcricon
Gas condensate

A2

A1

C: T < Tc
Black or volatile oil reservoir

http://ptgmedia.pearsoncmg.com/images/chap1_9780133155587/elementLinks/01fig04_alt.jpg

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Properties of Hydrocarbon Fluids

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Reservoir Simulation

Two approaches are used:

Black oil Model (In Eclipse this is E100)
Simplistic approach,
The hydrocarbon is composed of two-components :oil and gas
The oil and gas phases are characterised by a set of properties:
Formation volume factor
Solution gas oil ratio
Viscosity
Compositional Model (In Eclipse this is E300)
More advanced approach,
The hydrocarbon is composed of multiple-components
The fluid models are based on compositional analysis of the reservoir
fluid samples
EoS are solved for phase behaviour analysis at each point,
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Compositional Model:
In this class of reservoir models the reservoir fluids are described by multicomponent models created based on the laboratory analysis of the reservoir
fluid samples produced.
A compositional model is capable of taking into account the effects of
compositional variations on the reservoir fluids.
Example:
o Gas-condensate reservoirs where the amount and composition of oil and gas
phases display significant dependence on the reservoir pressure.
o Enhance oil recovery processes such as gas injections (hydrocarbon gas or CO2):
o Hydrocarbon gases mostly display miscibility with the crude oil and hence make it
lighter, which would in turn change the transport properties of the oil phase.
o CO2 is also miscible in the reservoir brine, which can be modelled.

o Asphaltene component of the crude oils is subject to precipitation as a result of

changes in reservoir fluid composition or pressure of the reservoir.
Compositional models provide the chance to account for asphaltene precipitation
and its effect on the relative permeability of the rock.
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Black Oil Model:

The simplest reservoir simulation approach is called black oil model.
In this model the reservoir fluid is considered to be composed of only two main
components :
the stock tank oil
the dissolved gas
P > Pb : At reservoir conditions where the fluid
is saturated i.e. the gas phase is dissolved in the
oil, so the system contains only one single
hydrocarbon phase

Gas

Oil

P < Pb As pressure drops the dissolved gas starts

to emerge out of the oil, the system has two
hydrocarbon phases of oil and gas

Stock tank condition (surface condition): P = 14.7 psi and T = 60F (288K)

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Two phase

Two phase Single phase

well
P > Pb

Close to the wellbore the pressure is lower than distances away

from the wellbore,

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Black Oil Model:

The pressure and temperature of the system determine how much gas is
dissolved in oil. Since reservoir temperature changes are negligible the
properties of oil and gas are function of pressure.

Oil and gas phases are defined by their properties including:

Solution gas-oil ratio, Rs
Oil formation volume factor, Bo

Gas Formation volume factor, Bg

Oil and gas viscosity, o, g
Oil and gas specific gravity, o, g

The black oil model is successful in modelling the oil reservoirs for the
processes in which the composition of the two phases does not alter
significantly.
For processes such as gas injection the model has shown to fail. For such
cases a more detailed understanding of the two fluid phases is essential.

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Properties of Reservoir Fluids:

Ideally: an engineer would like to have all the reservoir fluid samples
characterized in laboratories to have realistic and accurate measurements of fluid
properties.
In reality: laboratory characterization can be very costly and time-consuming.
Therefore, some properties are calculated (predicted) based on other available (or
more readily measurable) laboratory measurements, for example, gas critical P
and T can be calculated based on gas specific gravity (Sutton, 1985):
= 756.8 131.07 3.6 2
= 169.2 + 349.5 74.0 2
Any correlation comes with its assumptions and its applicability range. (Suttons
correlation only valid for 0.57< <1.68)

The values predicted by the correlation are only valid if the input fluid properties
are within the specified range .

The predictions offered by correlations are always subject to limitations and

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errors.

HW

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Oil Properties
Reservoir oil contains dissolved (solution) gas under high pressures and
temperatures. Therefore, the oil properties are dependent on temperature and
pressure.
In oil production process, the pressure and temperature of the reservoir fluid
drops from Treservoir and Preservoir to Tsurface and Psurface.

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Hydrocarbon Production
Effect of P and T drop on the produced phases:

The fluid is stored under high pressure and temperature (HPHT) in the reservoir,

Depending on the Tsep , Psep and the fluid composition, some gas is released in the separator.

The residual oil left in the stock-tank is mainly the heavier fractions of crude oil with higher
gravity and viscosity,

"Stock-tank barrel" is volumetrically equivalent to a normal barrel

The term Stock-tank indicates that the volume is based on surface conditions
(temperature and pressure), and not reservoir conditions.

Gas
Preservoir > Psep > PST =14.7 psi

Reservoir
Treservoir, Preservoir

Separator

Treservoir > Tsep > TST = 60F

Tsep, Psep

Gas
Stock-tank
PST = 14.7 psi
TST = 60F
(288K)
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Oil Formation Volume Factor, BO

Defined as the ratio between the oil volumes at reservoir condition relative to
stock-tank condition below:
is a conversion factor between the oil volume at reservoir conditions and the
oil volume at stock-tank conditions.

Bo

P > Pbubble ?
P < Pbubble ?

where:

P (psi)

Vres: Volume of oil at reservoir conditions, (reservoir barrel, rb or bbl)

Vstb: Volume of oil at stock-tank barrel conditions, (stb)

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Oil Formation Volume Factor, BO

Defined as the ratio between the oil volumes at reservoir condition relative to
stock-tank condition below:
is a conversion factor between the oil volume at reservoir conditions and the
oil volume at stock-tank conditions.

P > Pbubble increases due to oil expansion

P < Pbubble decreases due to gas release

where:

Vres: Volume of oil at reservoir conditions, (reservoir barrel, rb or bbl)

Vstb: Volume of oil at stock-tank barrel conditions, (stb)

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T.Pak@tees.ac.uk

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