Klinkenberg-Corrected Permeability Measurements in Tight Gas Sands: Steady-State Versus Unsteady-State Techniques Conference Paper uri icon

abstract

  • Abstract This paper presents results from a laboratory study comparing Klinkenberg-corrected permeability measurements in tight gas sands using both a conventional steady-state technique and two commercially-available unsteady-state permeameters. We also investigated the effects of various rate and pressure testing conditions on steady-state flow measurements. Our study shows the unsteady-state technique consistently overestimates the steady-state permeabilities, even when the steady-state measurements are corrected for gas slippage and inertial effects. The differences are most significant for permeabilities less than about 0.01 md. We validated the steady-state Klinkenberg-corrected permeabilities with liquid permeabilities measured using both brine and kerosene. Although gas slippage effects are more pronounced with helium than with nitrogen, we also confirmed the steady-state results using two different gases. Moreover, we show results are similar for both constant backpressure and constant mass flow rate test conditions. Finally, our study illustrates the importance of using a finite backpressure to reduce non-Darcy flow effects, particularly for ultra low-permeability samples.

name of conference

  • All Days

published proceedings

  • All Days

author list (cited authors)

  • Rushing, J. A., Newsham, K. E., Lasswell, P. M., Cox, J. C., & Blasingame, T. A.

citation count

  • 82

complete list of authors

  • Rushing, JA||Newsham, KE||Lasswell, PM||Cox, JC||Blasingame, TA

publication date

  • January 2004