PVT Properties

RESERVOIR ROCK AND FLUID
CHARACTERIZATION
PVT PROPERTIES OF RESERVOIR FLUIDS

LABORATORY TEST
• Characterize the phase behavior and properties of reservoir fluids at
simulated reservoir conditions.
• Reservoir fluid studies are conducted in the absence of water.
• Almost all reservoir fluid studies are conducted in the absence of a
porous medium.
• The laboratory tests are mostly depletion experiments, increasing the
fluid volume.
• Differential liberation (DL) - all the gas expelled in the test
• Constant volume depletion (CVD) - only some gas expelled in
test.
• The reduction of pressure results in the formation of a second phase
and various physical properties are measured
PVT EQUIPMENT
• Specialized equipment capable of handling high-pressure and high-
temperature conditions.
• PVT cell - the most essential component of it
• Cylindrical, special grade stainless steel or titanium
• Equipped with a mechanism to increase or decrease the cell volume
by altering the pressure.
• Housed in a thermostatic enclosure or an air bath.
• The volume of the PVT cell, ranging from 50 to about 5000 cc.
• It can be gas condensate PVT, black oil PVT, multipurpose or dual
cell PVT equipment.
PVT EQUIPMENT
CONSTANT COMPOSITION
EXPANSION (CCE) TEST
The most common test type, performed for all fluids type, also called:
• flash vaporization,
• flash liberation,
• flash expansion,
• PV relation.
CONSTANT COMPOSITION EXPANSION
(CCE) TEST - PROCESS
1. The loaded sample is pressurized to a value equal to or greater than
the initial reservoir pressure, and the air-bath temperature is set at
reservoir temperature.
2. After the pressure and temperature conditions are stabilized, a
pressure depletion experiment is carried out by increasing the
volume in increments. The cell contents are agitated regularly to aid
the equilibration process.
3. The total and phase volumes of the hydrocarbon system are
recorded at each pressure step.
CONSTANT COMPOSITION EXPANSION
(CCE) TEST - PROCESS
4. The depletion process continues in this fashion until a
predetermined low pressure or the capacity of the cell is reached.
5. In case of windowed PVT cells, saturation pressures can also be
determined by visual observation of cell contents.
6. After completion of the test, the PV data are plotted.
Additionally, some properties can be measured below the saturation
pressure.
• densities,
• compositions,
• volumes,
• viscosities of the equilibrated phases,
• surface tensions
The equilibrium phase data are valuable in the calibration or tuning of
equations of state models.
• CCE is the only main PVT test carried out for dry and wet gases.
• In case of wet gases, separate additional tests are necessary to
determine the amount and properties of produced fluids at the
surface conditions.
• In case of dry gases, the measured PV data are used to calculate the
Z factor and the gas formation volume factor. The coefficient of
isothermal compressibility factor can be calculated using the PV
relationship or from Z factor values.
• A combination of produced fluid data and the PV relationship can be
used to determine the required properties of wet gases.
DIFFERENTIAL LIBERATION (DL)
TEST
• The classical depletion experiment carried out on reservoir oils at
reservoir temperature to evaluate the volumetric and compositional
changes that take place in the oils during the primary production
process (pressure depletion).
• The process is also called:
• differential vaporization,
• differential depletion,
• differential expansion.
• As opposed to the CCE test the solution gas that is liberated from an
oil sample during a decline in pressure is continuously removed
from contact with the oil.
TEST
TEST - PROCESS
1. Pressure is reduced by increasing the cell volume at a pressure less
than the bubble-point pressure.
2. After achieving stabilization of pressure and temperature conditions
and the equilibrated volumes of the gas and the liquid phases, all the
evolved gas is expelled isobarically by reducing the cell volume.
3. The procedure is repeated in 10–15 pressure stages down to the
atmospheric pressure. At each pressure stage, the remaining oil
volume, the expelled gas volume at the cell conditions and standard
conditions, and the gas specific gravity are measured.
4. In the final step, cell temperature is reduced to 60°F, and the volume
of remaining liquid is measured. This volume of oil is called the
residual oil volume by DL.
TEST
• The properties determined from DL experiments:
• gas deviation factor Z,
• formation volume factor BoD,
• total formation volume factor BtD,
• the solution GOR, RsD as a function of pressure.
(D denotes determined based on DL test)
CONSTANT VOLUME DEPLETION
(CVD) TEST
• CVD test is a classical test performed gas condensate fluids.
• The CVD test is performed to simulate the pressure depletion of the
actual reservoir, under the assumption that the retrograde liquid
appearing during production remains immobile in the reservoir.
• The test consists of a series of expansion or pressure reduction steps
in which some excess gas is expelled at constant pressure but in such
a way that the cell volume remains constant at the end of each step.
• The CVD test differs from the DL test in that not all the equilibrium
gas is removed at each pressure stage!
(CVD) TEST
(CVD) TEST - PROCESS
1. The experiment starts with a single-phase reservoir fluid sample of
known volume and composition at reservoir temperature and
pressure.
2. The pressure is reduced stepwise resulting in an expanded volume
for the fluid at each stage. At some point during the pressure
reduction, the fluid passes through the dew point. The volume at the
dew point is called the saturation volume and is considered as the
reference (constant) volume in this test.
3. At later stages, the cell pressure is reduced further below the dew-
point pressure and the excess gas is removed from the top of the cell
at constant pressure to return to the reference volume, hence the
name CVD.
(CVD) TEST - PROCESS
5. The gas phase removed at each stage is flashed to near-standard
conditions and analyzed to determine the composition, volume, and
compressibility factor.
6. The condensate volume in the cell is also measured at each pressure
step below the dew point. The entire CVD process is accomplished
in 5–10 pressure reduction steps down to atmospheric.
7. On termination of the test, the liquid remaining in the cell is
analyzed.
Properties of the condensate accumulated in the cell during CVD are not
measured, except in the last stage when the condensate is also expelled
from the cell. However, the condensate compositions at various pressure
stages of the CVD test can be determined from a material balance
approach.
(CVD) TEST

PVT Properties

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RESERVOIR ROCK AND FLUID

PVT PROPERTIES OF RESERVOIR FLUIDS

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