Patent Description:
Shale matrix permeability is an important parameter for characterizing a source rock reservoir and predicting hydrocarbon production from it. However, accurately measuring permeability of source rocks is a challenge for the oil and gas industry. Currently available methods for laboratory permeability measurement include steady state flow method on core plugs, transient pulse-decay on core plugs, and pressure decay on crushed rock samples. The preferred method is the pressure pulse-decay method given that the steady state measurement takes very long time and the pressure decay method generates results that are very sensitive to the particle size of crushed rock samples and the method itself is limited to the unconfined stress condition.

The pulse-decay test setup generally consists of two gas reservoirs and a sample holder with controlled confining stress for test samples. Then a pressure pulse is introduced from the upstream gas reservoir and pressure evolution in the upstream and downstream reservoirs are monitored. The permeability is estimated by fitting the corresponding analytical solution to pressure signals for a given core porosity and other parameters.

A commonly used pulse-decay method considers a core sample as a single continuum system and thus uses the total porosity in estimating permeability. Flow in a shale core is more accurately described by a dual-continuum system owing to its wide spread pore size distributions and property differences between organic and inorganic components of the shale matrix. A dual-continuum system includes a globally connected pore network, or mobile continuum, and an immobile continuum that consists of pores that are only locally connected to the globally connected pore network. The mobile continuum in the dual-continuum system contributes to core permeability while the immobile continuum generally contributes to the local storage. Some studies have theoretically shown that the analytical solutions for a single continuum can be used to estimate permeability for a dual-continuum system as long as the porosity for the mobile continuum, rather than the total porosity, is employed for permeability estimation. Prior art relevant to the invention is represented by the following patent documents: <CIT>, <CIT>, and <CIT>.

However, a practical technique for estimating the porosity for the mobile continuum and using it for permeability calculation in pulse decay experiments has not been developed yet. Example embodiments disclosed relate to improved methods and systems for estimating the porosity for the mobile continuum and using it for permeability calculation in pulse decay experiments.

Accordingly, in example embodiments a method according to claim <NUM>, a system according to claim <NUM> and a computer program according to claim <NUM> are provided.

Another example embodiment provided for understanding is a method for determining core permeability of a subsurface formation by estimating the porosity for the mobile continuum and using it for permeability calculation in pulse decay experiments. The method includes connecting an upstream reservoir to one end of a sample holder comprising a core sample of a subsurface formation. The method further includes connecting a downstream reservoir connected to another end of the sample holder. The method further includes providing a constant confining pressure (Pc) within the sample holder. The method further includes saturating the sample holder and the core sample with nitrogen at a saturation pressure, Psaturation. The method further includes applying a pressure pulse, Ppulse, to one end of the sample holder, and determining core permeability using the porosity of mobile continuum when the pressure in the upstream reservoir, the downstream reservoir, and the mobile continuum is in equilibrium.

Another example embodiment provided for understanding is a system for determining core permeability of a subsurface formation by estimating the porosity for the mobile continuum and using it for permeability calculation in pulse decay experiments. The system includes a sample holder comprising a core sample of the subsurface formation, an upstream reservoir connected to one end of the sample holder, and a downstream reservoir connected to another end of the sample holder. The system also includes an inlet pump connected to the upstream reservoir, an outlet pump connected to the downstream reservoir, and a plurality of pressure sensors connected to the upstream reservoir, the downstream reservoir, and the sample holder. The system also includes a processor configured to receive signals from the plurality of pressure sensors, and determine the core permeability based on the pressure in the upstream reservoir and the pressure in the downstream reservoir.

Another example embodiment provided for understanding is a computer program stored in a computer readable medium for determining core permeability of a subsurface formation by estimating the porosity for the mobile continuum and using it for permeability calculation in pulse decay experiments. The non-transitory computer-readable media may have, for example, computer executable instructions that when executed by a processor, cause the processor to determine core permeability of the subsurface formation. This method may include connecting an upstream reservoir to one end of a sample holder comprising a core sample of a subsurface formation, connecting a downstream reservoir to another end of the sample holder, providing a constant confining pressure (Pc) within the sample holder, saturating the sample holder and the core sample with nitrogen at a saturation pressure, Psaturation, applying a pressure pulse, Ppulse, to one end of the sample holder, and determining core permeability of the subsurface formation using the general formula: <MAT> where 'Φf' is the porosity of the sample from the mobile continuum, 'L' is the sample length, 'A' is the cross-sectional area of the sample, 'Vbulk' is the bulk volume of the sample (where Vbulk= L A; and Φf = Vf/Vbulk), 'c' is the gas compressibility, 'µ' is the gas viscosity, 'Vf' is the pore volume of the sample from the mobile continuum, 'Vu' is the upstream reservoir volume, 'Vd' is the downstream reservoir volume, 'Pu(t)' is the pressure of the upstream side, 'Pd(t)' is the pressure of the downstream side, 'k' is the sample permeability, and `t' is time. All units of the variables are in metric units.

The term "core" as used in this disclosure refers to a sample of a subsurface formation, such as a rock, obtained using a process commonly referred to as "coring" in the oil and gas industry. Such a rock sample or core sample generally has a major dimension and a minor dimension, where the major dimension is greater than the minor dimension, such as a cylinder.

<FIG> illustrates a system <NUM> for determining core permeability of a subsurface formation, according to one example embodiment of the disclosure. System <NUM> includes sample <NUM>, such as a shale sample, a limestone sample, or a sandstone sample, in the form of a cylinder or column that may be extracted from the subsurface for determining characteristics of the formation. The sample <NUM>, after properly packaging, called sleeving, is placed in a sample holder <NUM> that may contain a confining fluid <NUM>, such as gas, a water-based fluid, or an oil-based fluid. The sample holder <NUM> is coupled to pumps <NUM>, <NUM> through pressure lines <NUM>, and provides the confining pressure to the sample <NUM>.

System <NUM> includes an inlet pump <NUM> configured to pump fluid from a first gas tank <NUM>, for example, an upstream reservoir, into sample <NUM>. The system also includes an outlet pump <NUM> configured to pump fluid from a second gas tank <NUM>, for example, a downstream reservoir, into sample <NUM>. Both pumps may include one or more pressure, temperature, and flowrate sensors <NUM> on the upstream side, and one or more pressure, temperature, and flowrate sensors <NUM> on the downstream side to measure and control the pressure inside the core sample assembly. Additional pressure and temperature sensors <NUM> and <NUM> may be installed for monitoring the gas pressure closer to the sample upstream and downstream end faces, respectively. Sample holder <NUM> may be equipped with a hydraulic pump <NUM>, which may also be referred to as the confining pump, which may pump the confining fluid <NUM> into sample holder <NUM>. The sample holder <NUM> may include an apparatus that monitors and regulates the pressure within the sample holder <NUM>. Pressure, temperature, and flowrate gauges <NUM>, <NUM> are coupled to the pressure lines <NUM> and the pumps <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>. Both gauges may include transducers to measure temperature and pressure, respectively, in real-time, and may include an apparatus to measure and record the flowrate going out or coming into the pumps. The inlet to the core sample assembly may be diverted at one or more points using bypass valves <NUM> and an outlet pipe <NUM> in order to regulate the pore gas pressure (for example, the establishment of the initial pore pressure) in sample <NUM> which is placed in the sample holder <NUM>.

One example embodiment is a method for determining porosity of a mobile continuum of a subsurface formation sample and using that porosity value in pulse-decay experiments to accurately determine core permeability. In one embodiment, the pulse-decay test setup may include two gas reservoirs and a sample holder with controlled confining stress for the test samples. A confining pressure ranging between <NUM>,<NUM> psi (pounds per square inch) and <NUM>,<NUM> psi is applied to the test sample in the sample holder. All of the components of the sample holder and the sample are saturated with nitrogen at a specified pressure, Psaturation (for example, about <NUM>,<NUM> psi), for an extended time period so that all pores inside the test sample are filled with the nitrogen. Then, a pressure pulse Ppulse (for example, about <NUM> psi) is applied on the upstream side and the pressure changes on both the upstream and downstream gas reservoirs is monitored and recorded.

The measured pressure signals, as a function of time, are fitted with an analytical solution. The pre-existing analytical solution can be written in a general form as: <MAT> where 'Φt' is the total porosity of the sample, 'L' is the sample length, 'A' is the cross-sectional area of the sample, 'Vbulk' is the bulk volume of the sample (where Vbulk = L * A; and Φt = Vt/Vbulk), 'c' is the gas compressibility, 'µ' is the gas viscosity, `Vc' is the total pore volume of the sample, 'Vu' is the upstream reservoir volume, 'Vd' is the downstream reservoir volume, 'Pu(t)' is the pressure of the upstream side, 'Pd(t)' is the pressure of the downstream side, 'k' is the sample permeability, and 't' is time. All variables are in metric units except the dimensionless ones. A few intermediary variables are given as follows: <MAT> <MAT> <MAT> where the θ equation has many solutions θm (m = <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>,.

The left-hand side of Equation (<NUM>) is measured pressure signals and the righthand side represents a function of both time and related parameters. All these parameters are known except permeability 'k'. Thus Equation (<NUM>) can be solved for determining 'k'. The estimated 'k' value is determined by a set of given parameters, including the total porosity. However, flow in a source rock core is more accurately described by a dual-continuum system. The porosity for the mobile continuum, rather than the total porosity, should be employed for permeability estimation.

<FIG> shows a schematic diagram for a pulse-decay experiment for a core sample <NUM> characterized by a dual-continuum system. Initially, upstream gas reservoir <NUM>, downstream gas reservoir <NUM>, and pores in the core sample <NUM> are in equilibrium at a gas pressure of Psaturation. Then, the pressure in the upstream gas reservoir <NUM> is increased by Ppulse (for example, <NUM> psi), which is generally a few percentages of Psaturation (for example, <NUM>,<NUM> psi). After that, the upstream gas reservoir <NUM> is connected to the core sample <NUM> and gas flows through the core sample to the downstream gas reservoir along arrow <NUM>. After gas flow occurs, the gas reservoirs are connected to core sample. Within the core sample, gas flows from the mobile continuum <NUM>, which determines permeability, to the immobile continuum <NUM>, which has a much lower permeability than the mobile continuum, along arrow <NUM> because of the pressure difference between the two continua.

Therefore, there is a need to differentiate the fraction of pores of the mobile continuum (that determines permeability) and the fraction of pores constituting the immobile continuum (that has much lower permeability than the mobile continuum) to better calculate the permeability in the pulse decay experiments.

<FIG> shows a typical plot for upstream and downstream pressures as a function of time from a pulse-decay experiment. When gas starts to flow from the upstream gas reservoir to the core sample, the pressure in the upstream gas reservoir declines. When gas flow reaches the downstream gas reservoir, pressure in the downstream gas reservoir starts to increase. At a certain time (tA) corresponding to point A in <FIG>, both gas reservoirs have the same pressure. At the corresponding time tA and earlier, gas flow in the mobile continuum is the dominant flow mechanism because the gas exchange between the two continua is a slow process. After tA, the gas exchange between the two continua become relatively important because flow in the mobile continuum is close to the zero as a result of the lack of pressure gradient between the two gas reservoirs. Since gas pressure in the mobile continuum is greater, flow occurs from the mobile continuum to the immobile continuum. Thus, the pressure in <FIG> keeps declining with time to the right of point A. At Point B, pressure will not change with time anymore when both gas reservoirs, the upstream reservoir and the downstream reservoir, and both continua, the mobile continuum and immobile continuum, are in equilibrium.

Because at time tA both gas reservoirs and the mobile continuum have the same gas pressure, PA, and the immobile continuum may still be at pressure, Psaturation. as a result of negligible gas exchange between the two continua, the following mass balance equation would apply: <MAT> where Vf is the pore volume of the mobile continuum, Φf is the porosity purely from the mobile continuum, Φf = Vf/Vbulk, and ρsaturation. Ppulse, ρA are gas densities corresponding to pressures of Psaturation, Ppulse, and PA, respectively; φt is the total porosity including the porosity from both the mobile and immobile continua.

From Equation (<NUM>), the porosity φt is determined. The porosity from the mobile continuum, rather than total porosity φt, is used to estimate permeability using Equation (<NUM>). It should be noted that Equation (<NUM>) can be applied to Point B in <FIG> and the form is shown in Equation (<NUM>). Because both gas reservoirs, mobile continuum and immobile continuum, are in equilibrium, the calculated Vt from Equation (<NUM>) will be the total pore volume of the core sample. Thus the calculated φt becomes the total porosity.

This method was applied to four rock samples used in pulse-decay experiments, as shown in Table <NUM>. The knew method is estimated with the disclosed method and kprevious method is the permeability estimated with total porosity. The relative difference in the table is defined as the ratio of the absolute difference between the two permeability values to knew method value. The relative difference is as large as <NUM>%, indicating the importance to use an improved method to determine permeability.

To validate the accuracy of the disclosed method, the estimated permeability values from the steady-state flow method are compared to those from the pulse-decay experiments based on the proposed method for the same rock samples, as shown in <FIG>. Here, the values obtained from the disclosed method are plotted on the Y-axis (k_ust, in nano Darcies or nD), and the values from the steady-state flow method are plotted on the X-axis (k_st, in nD) of the graph. In the steady-state flow method, a steady-state flow is established for a core sample and then permeability is calculated with Darcy's law based on the observed fluid flux and pressure gradient along the core. Thus, permeability estimation in the steady-state flow method does not involve porosity. As indicated in <FIG>, the permeability estimated with the disclosed method and that determined from the steady-state flow method for each core sample are very close and their relative difference is generally within a range of ± <NUM>%. This indicates the validity and reliability of the disclosed method.

<FIG> shows a flow chart illustrating example operations in a method <NUM> for determining core permeability of a subsurface formation, according to one example embodiment of the disclosure. At step <NUM>, the method <NUM> includes connecting an upstream reservoir to one end of a sample holder comprising a core sample of a subsurface formation. At step <NUM>, the method includes connecting a downstream reservoir connected to another end of the sample holder. At step <NUM>, the method includes providing a constant confining pressure (PA) within the sample holder. At step <NUM>, the method includes saturating the sample holder and the core sample with nitrogen at a saturation pressure, Psaturation. At step <NUM>, the method includes applying a pressure pulse, Ppulse, to one end of the sample holder. At step <NUM>, the method includes determining core permeability when the pressure in the upstream reservoir, the downstream reservoir, the mobile continuum, and the immobile continuum is in equilibrium. The step of determining core permeability of the subsurface formation may be performed using the formula: <MAT> where 'Φf' is the porosity of the sample from the mobile continuum, 'L' is the sample length, 'A' is the cross-sectional area of the sample, 'Vbulk' is the bulk volume of the sample (where Vbulk= LA; and φ = Vs/Vbulk), 'c' is the gas compressibility, 'µ' is the gas viscosity, 'Vf' is the pore volume of the mobile volume, 'Vu' is the upstream reservoir volume, 'Vd' is the downstream reservoir volume, 'Pu(t)' is the pressure of the upstream side, 'Pd(t)' is the pressure of the downstream side, 'k' is the sample permeability, and 't' is time.

Another example embodiment is a special purpose computer configured to execute specific computer instructions in a computer program stored in computer readable media. Referring to <FIG>, the foregoing process as explained with reference to <FIG> can be embodied in computer-readable code. The code can be stored on, for example, a computer readable medium, such as a floppy disk <NUM> which may be read by a disk drive <NUM>, CD-ROM <NUM> which may be read by a disk drive <NUM>, or a magnetic (or other type) hard drive <NUM> forming part of a general purpose programmable computer. The computer, as known in the art, includes a central processing unit <NUM>, a user input device such as a keyboard <NUM> and a user display <NUM> such as a flat panel LCD display or cathode ray tube display. According to this aspect, the computer readable medium includes logic operable to cause the computer to execute acts as set forth previously and explained with respect to the previous figures.

Claim 1:
A method (<NUM>) for determining core permeability in pulse decay experiments, the method comprising the steps of:
connecting (<NUM>) an upstream reservoir (<NUM>) to one end of a sample holder (<NUM>) comprising a core sample (<NUM>, <NUM>) of a subsurface formation;
connecting (<NUM>) a downstream reservoir (<NUM>) to another end of the sample holder (<NUM>);
providing (<NUM>) a constant confining pressure (Pc) within the sample holder (<NUM>);
saturating (<NUM>) the sample holder (<NUM>) and the core sample (<NUM>, <NUM>) with nitrogen at a saturation pressure, Psaturation;
applying (<NUM>) a pressure pulse, Ppulse, to one end of the sample holder (<NUM>);
determining porosity purely from the mobile continuum (<NUM>) when the pressure in the upstream reservoir (<NUM>), the downstream reservoir, and the mobile continuum (<NUM>) within the core sample (<NUM>, <NUM>), is in equilibrium, and the pressure in the upstream reservoir (<NUM>) and the pressure in the downstream reservoir (<NUM>) are equal; wherein the method is characterised in that the porosity purely from the mobile continuum (<NUM>) is determined by the formulas: <MAT> <MAT> <MAT>
where 'Φf' is the porosity of the sample purely from the mobile continuum (<NUM>), 'Φt' is the total porosity, 'Vf' is the pore volume of the mobile continuum (<NUM>), and 'Vbulk' is the bulk volume of the sample (<NUM>, <NUM>) (where Vbulk = L * A; 'L' is the sample length, and 'A' is the cross-sectional area of the sample (<NUM>, <NUM>)), and ρsaturation, ρpulse, ρA are gas densities corresponding to pressures of Psaturation, Ppulse, and PA, respectively, and subscript A indicates the time when the pressure inside the upstream reservoir (<NUM>), the downstream reservoir (<NUM>), and the mobile continuum (<NUM>) reaches equilibrium ; and
determining core permeability using the porosity purely from the mobile continuum (<NUM>), wherein the core permeability is determined by solving the following formulas for "k": <MAT> <MAT> <MAT> <MAT> <MAT> where 'c' is the gas compressibility, 'µ' is the gas viscosity, 'Vu' is the upstream reservoir volume, 'Vd' is the downstream reservoir volume, 'Pu(t)' is the pressure of the upstream side, 'Pd(t)' is the pressure of the downstream side, 'k' is the core permeability, and `t' is time.