CHAPTERTWO

REVIEWOFTHEFLUIDPROPERTIES
A basic knowledge of physics and chemistry of subsurface waters and petroleum is essential for
petroleum engineers because many problem associated with exploration, formation damage or
production problems, enhanced oil recovery, wettability, and others are directly associated with the
physical and chemical behavior of subsurface waters and petroleum as a whole, or as groups of
constituentssuchasParaffins,Asphaltenes,etc.

DEFINITIONS
Todecidewhatwemeanbytheword"fluid"wefirsthavetoconsidertheideaofshearstress.Astressis
the ratio of a given force to the area over which it is exerted. It is easiest to discuss shear stress in
comparisonwithtensilestressandcompressivestressascanbeseeninFigure21.

a)Theropeisintensilestress

b)Thecolumnisincompressivestress

c)Theglueisinshearstress

Figure21:ComparisonorTensile,Compressive,andShearStresses

In Figure 21(a), a rope is holding up a weight. The weight exerts a force which tends to pull the rope
apart.Thusthestressintheropeistheforceexertedbytheweightdividedbythecrosssectionalareaof
therope.Theforcewhichtriestopullthingsapartiscalledatensileforceandthestressitcausesiscalled
atensilestress.

InFigure21(b),asteelcolumnisholdingupaweight.Theweightexertsaforcewhichtendstocrushthe
column.Thiskindofforceiscalledacompressiveforce,andthestressinthecolumn,theforcedividedby
thecrosssectionalareaofthecolumniscalledacompressivestress.

In Figure 21(c), some glue is holding up a weight. The weight exerts a force which tends to pull the
weight down the wall and thus to shear the glue. This force, which tends to make one surface slide
paralleltoanadjacentsurface,iscalledashearforceandthestressintheglue,theforcedividedbythe
areaofthegluejoint,iscalledashearstress.

21

Amoredetailedexaminationortheseexampleswouldshowthatallthreekindsorstresswerepresentin
eachcase,butthosewehaveidentifiedarethemainones.

Inourattempttodifferentiatebetweenfluidsandsolidswecannowsaythatsolidsaresubstanceswhich
canpermanentlyresistverylargeshearforces.Whensubjecttoashearforce,theymoveashortdistance
(elasticdeformation),therebysettingupinternalshearstresseswhichresisttheexternalforceandthen
they stop moving. Materials which obviously are fluids cannot permanently resist a shear force, no
matterhowsmall.Whensubjecttoashearforce,theystarttomoveandkeeponmovingaslongasthe
forceisapplied.Substancesintermediatebetweenthetwoarematerialswhichcanpermanentlyresista
small shear force but cannot permanently resist a large one. For example, if we put a blob of any
obviousliquidonaverticalwall,itwillrundownthewallowingtothepullofgravity.Ifweattachapiece
of steel or diamond securely to a wall, it will remain there, no matter how long we wait. If we attach
some peanut butter to a wall, it will probably stay, but if we increase the shear stress of the peanut
butterbyspreadingitwithaknife,itwillflowlikeafluid.Wecannot,ofcourse,spreadsteelwithaknife.
If, as shown above, the relevant difference between peanut butter and steel is the magnitude of the
shearstresswhichthematerialcanresist,thenthedifferenceisoneofdegree,notofkind.Atveryhigh
shearstressessteelcanbemadetoflowlikeafluid;thisiscalledplasticdeformationinbooksonthe
strengthofmaterials.

CLASSIFICATIONOFTHEFLUID
Fluidsareoftwotypes,liquidsandgases.Onthemolecularleveltheyarequitedifferent.Inliquidsthe
molecules are close together and are held together by significant forces of attraction; in gases the
moleculesarerelativelyfarapartandhaveveryweakforceofattraction.Astemperatureandpressure
increase, these differences become less and less, until the liquid and gases become identical at critical
temperature and pressure. The differences between the behavior of liquids and gases is most marked
whenthesefluidsareexpanded.Supposethatsomefluidcompletelyfillsthespacebelowthepistonin
Figure22

Whenweraisethepiston,thevolumeoccupiedbythefluidisincreased.Ifthefluidisgas,itwillexpand
readily, filling all the space vacated by piston; gases can expand without limit to occupy space made
availabletothem.Ifontheotherhand,thefluidisaliquid,thenasthepistonisraised,theliquidcan
expand only a small amount, and thereafter it can expand no more. What fills the space between the
pistonandliquid?Partsofliquidmustturnintoagasbyboiling,andthisgasexpandstofillthevacant
space. This can be explained in molecular level by saying that there is maximum distance between
molecules over which the attractive forces hold them together to form a liquid and that, when the
moleculesseparatemorethanthisdistancetheyceasetobehavingasaliquidandbehaveasagas.

22

Piston

Piston

Gas

Fluid

Liquid

Figure22:ExpansionofFluidinaCylinder

Theisothermalcompressibility,cdefinedbelowisusedinreservoirengineeringtocategorizethefluidsas
follows:

1 V
c
V p T

2.1

A.IncompressibleFluids
An incompressible fluid is one which experiences no change in volume (or density) with pressure
and/or temperature change. Actually, there are no incompressible fluids; some fluids, however,
approximate this behavior and can be assumed incompressible for certain types of engineering
calculations.

B.SlightlyCompressibleFluids
These are fluids which exhibit small changes in volume (or density) with changes in pressure or
temperature.Allliquidsfitintothiscategory.Liquiddensityis,ingeneral,afunctionoftemperature
andpressure.However,sinceareservoirisanisothermalsystem,densitywillbeafunctiononlyof
pressure;thus,theEquation2.1canbewrittenas:

1 d
dp

2.2

Ifthecompressibility,c,isassumedtobeconstantovertherangeofpressuresconsidered,Equation
2.2canbeintegratedas:

oec ( p po )

2.3

Where,oisthedensityatthearbitraryreferencepressure,po.

C.HighlyCompressibleFluids
Thesearefluidswhichexperiencelargechangesinvolume(ordensity)asafunctionofpressureand
temperature.Allgasesfallintothiscategory.

23

FLUIDPROPERTIES
Amongpropertiesoffluidswhichwillenterourcalculationsmostoftenaredensity,viscosity,andsurface
tension.Theyarediscussedbelow.

A.Density
Thedensityisdefinedastheratiobetweenmassandvolume:
m

2.4
V
Weareallawareofthedifferencesindensitybetweenvariousmaterials,suchasthatbetweenlead
andwood,howcanwemeasurethedensityofamaterial?Ifwewishtoknowthedensityofliquid,
wecanweighabottleofknownvolume(determineitsmass),fillitwiththeliquid,weighitagain,and
computethedensitywiththeaidofEquation2.4.Thisisoneofthestandardlaboratorymethodsof
determining liquid density; the special weighing bottles designed for this purpose are called
pycnometers.Ifwewishtoknowthedensityofacubicblock,wecanmeasurethelengthofitssides,
computeitsvolume,weighit,andapplytheseresultstoEquation2.2.

Arelatedproperty,specificgravity,isdefinedasfollows:

2.5
( water )P ,T
This definition has the merit of being a ratio and, hence a pure number which is the same for any
givenmaterial,regardlessofthesystemofunitschosen.Itoccasionallyleadstoconfusion,because
somespecificgravitiesarereferredtowaterat60oF,sometowaterat70oF,andsometowaterat
39oF(allatapressureof1atm).Thedifferencesaresmallbutgreatenoughtocausetrouble.Ifthe
temperatureofthewaterisspecifiedas39oF(4oC),thenthedensityofwateris1.000g/cm3.Thus,if
this basis of measurement is chosen, then specific gravities become numerically identical with
densitiesexpressedingramspercubiccentimeter.Themostcommonlymeasuredphysicalproperty
of crude oils and its fractions is the API gravity. It is an arbitrary scale adopted for simplified
measurement by hydrometers, because it enables a linear scale for gravity measurement. The API
gravityisdirectlyrelatedtothespecificgravityasfollows:
O

141.5
API
131.5
oF
60

2.6

The API gravity does not have a linear relationship to the physical properties of petroleum or its
fractions; therefore, it is not a measure of the quality of petroleum. The measurements are
important,however,becausetheAPIgravityisusedwithotherparametersforcorrelationofphysical
properties. Also, the price of petroleum is commonly based on its API gravity. Specific gravities of
gases also are used; they are based on air at 1 atm and a specific temperature as the reference
density.

B.Viscosity
Theviscosityisameasureofresistancetoflow.Ifwetipoveraglassofwateronthedinnertable,the
waterwillspilloutbeforewecanstopit.IfwetipoveraJarofhoney,weprobablycansetitupright
24

againbeforemuchhoneyflowsout;thisispossiblebecausethehoneyhasmuchmoreresistanceto
flow,moreviscosity,thanwater.

Amoreprecisedefinitionofviscosityispossibleintermsofthefollowingexperiment.Considertwo
long,solidplatesseparatedbyathinfilmoffluidasillustratedinFigure22.

Figure22:TheSlidingPlateExperiment

IfweslidetheupperplatesteadilywithvelocityV0,aforcewillberequiredtoovercomethefriction
in the fluid between the plates. This force will be different for different velocities, different plate
sizes, different fluids, and different distances between the plates. We can eliminate the effect of
differentplatesizes;howeverbymeasuringtheforceperunitareaoftheplate,whichwedefineas
the shear stress . It has been demonstrated experimentally that for most fluids the results of this
experimentcanbeshownmostconvenientlyonaplotversus dV dy asillustratedinFigure23.

Figure23:OutcomesoftheSlidingPlateExperiment

dV dy ,asshownhere,simplyisvelocitydividedbyadistance, V0 y 0 .Inmorecomplexgeometriesit

isthelimitingvalueofsucharatioatapoint.Itiscommonlycalledtherateofstrain,shearrate,and
rateofsheardeformation,allofwhichmeanexactlythesamething.

25

Four different kinds of curve are shown as experimental results in Figure 23. All these results are
observedinnature.Thebehaviormostcommoninnatureisthatrepresentedbythemiddlestraight
line through the origin. This line is called Newtonian because it is described by Newton's law of
viscosity:
dV

2.7
dy
This equation indicates that the shear stress, , is linearly proportional to the velocity gradient,
dV dy .Itisalsothedefinitionofviscosity,becausewecanrearrangeitasfollows:

dV

dy

2.8

Here,iscalledtheviscosityorthecoefficientofviscosity.Forfluidssuchasairthevalueofisvery
low: therefore, their observed behavior is represented in Figure 23 by a straight line through the
origin,veryclosetothe dV dy axis.Forfluidssuchascornsyrupthevalueofisverylarge,andthe
straight line through the origin is close to the axis. Fluids that exhibit this behavior in the sliding
plateexperimentarecalledNewtonianfluids.AlltheothersarecallednonNewtonianfluids.Which
fluidsareNewtonian?AllgasesareNewtonian.Allliquidsforwhichonecanwriteasimplechemical
formula are Newtonian, such as water, benzene, ethyl alcohol, carbon tetrachloride, and hexane.
MostsolutionsofsimplemoleculesareNewtonian,suchassolutionsofinorganicsalts,andofsugar.
Complexmixturessuchasslurries,pastes,gels,polymersolutions,etc.,aregenerallynonNewtonian
fluids.

C.SurfaceTension
Liquidsbehaveasiftheyweresurroundedbyaskinwhichtendstoshrink,orcontract,likeasheetof
stretched rubber. This phenomenon is known as surface tension. Surface tension is caused by the
attractiveforcesinliquids.Allofthemoleculesattracteachother;thoseinthecenterareattracted
equallyinalldirectionsbutthoseatthesurfacearedrawntowardthecenterbecausethereareno
liquidmoleculesintheotherdirectiontopullthemoutward;seeFigure24.

Figure24:SurfaceTensionCausedbytheAttractiveForcesbetweenMolecules

26

Theeffortofeachmoleculetogetintothecentercausesthefluidtotrytotakeashapethatwould
havethegreatestnumberofmoleculesnearestthecenter,inotherwords,asphere.Anyothershape
has more surface area per unit volume; therefore, regardless of the shape of a fluid the attractive
forces tend to pull the fluid into a sphere. The fluid thus tries to decrease its surface area to a
minimum.ThetendencyofasurfacetocontractcanbemeasuredwiththedeviceshowninFigure2
5.

FilmofLiquid

Weight

Figure25:WireFrameUsedtoMeasureSurfaceTension

Awireframewithonemovablesideisdippedintoafluidandcarefullyremovedwithafilmoffluidin
thespaceformedbytheframe.Thefilmtriestotakeupasphericalshape,butsinceitadherestothe
wire, it draws the movable part or the frame inward. The force necessary to resist this motion is
measuredbymeansoraweight.Itisfoundexperimentallythattheratiooftheforcetothelengthor
theslidingpartorthewireisalwaysthesameforagivenfluidatagiventemperature,regardlessof
thesizeoftheapparatus.Thisforceisveryslightlyinfluencedbywhatthesurroundinggasis,airor
watervapororwhatever.

Fluidsadherestronglytosomesolidsandnottoothers.Forexample,wateradheresstronglytoglass
but very weakly to polyethylene. Two other effects due to surface tension are the capillary rise of
liquidsinsmalltubesandporouswicks(withoutwhichkerosenelanternswouldntworkatall)and
thetendencyofjetsorliquidtobreakupintodrops(asfromagardenhose).Surfacetensioneffects
are very important in systems involving large surface areas such as emulsions (mayonnaise, cold
cream)andmultiphaseflowthroughporousmedia(oilfields).

PETROLEUM
Petroleum is a complex mixture containing thousands of different compounds, most of which are
composed exclusively of hydrogen and carbon (hydrocarbons). Included in the mixture are compounds
containing nitrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and metals compounds. In 1927, the American Petroleum Institute
(API) initiated Research Project 6, The Separation, Identification, and Determination of the Chemical
Constituents of Commercial Petroleum Fractions; which was designed to elucidate the structure of
27

compounds in crude oil from the Ponca City Oilfield, Oklahoma. By 1953, 130 hydrocarbons had been
identified. The number of compounds clearly identified has increased greatly since then after
introductionofgaschromatographyandmassspectroscopy.Petroleumisfrequentlycharacterizedbythe
relative amounts of four series of compounds. The members of each series are similar in chemical
structureandproperties.Thefourseries(orclassesofcompounds)thatarefoundinpetroleumare:

(1)ParaffinicseriesNormalandbranchedalkaneseries
(2)NaphthenicseriesCycloalkanes
(3)Aromaticseries
(4)AsphalticComplex,highmolecularweightpolycycliccompoundscontainingnitrogen,sulfur,and
oxygenatomsintheirstructures.

The petroleum is generally classified as paraffinic, naphthenic, aromatic and asphaltic according to the
relativeamountsofanyoftheseries.Crudeoilsderivedprincipallyfromterrestrialplantorganicmaterial
contain high amounts of alkanes, whereas the oils generated from marine organic materials generally
contain greater amounts of cyclic saturated and unsaturated compounds. A crude oil that has been
exposedtoaerobicbacterialdegradationwillbechieflycomposedofaromatics,asphalts,andresins.

PVTPROPERTIESOFTHERESERVOIROIL
One of the best means of obtaining an understanding of the phase behavior and volume changes that
takeplaceinthereservoirduringitsdepletionistostudythesimilarbehaviorthattakesplaceinaPVT
cell in the laboratory during the measurement of the PVT characteristics of a reservoir hydrocarbon
systemasillustratedinFigure26.

Figure26:TypicalLaboratoryPVTAnalysisoftheOilSample

28

Ideally, a reservoir is sampled immediately following the discovery well in a reservoir. The bottomhole
samplingofthereservoirfluidthenoccursatorabovethesaturationpressure.Thissampleistakeninto
thelaboratoryandtransferredtoahighpressurePVTcell.Thepressure,temperature,andvolumeofthis
cellcanbecontrolledinsuchawayastopermitmeasurementoftheoilformationvolumefactorandthe
gas in solution at the various pressures to be encountered during the producing life of the reservoir.
Ordinarily,thepressureandinitialreservoirpressureandthereservoirtemperatureofthecellarefirst
adjustedtothetemperature.Thevolumeofthefluidinthecellatthistimeisofsomearbitraryvalue,
dependingonthesizeofthesampletaken,thesizeofthecell,andtheanticipatedPVTanalysis.

To obtain a reduction in pressure in the cell, the cell volume is increased slightly. This increase is
accomplishedphysicallyinthelaboratorybyeitherremovingmercuryfromthecellorsimplymovinga
piston. If the reservoir is initially above the saturation pressure, the initial change in volume, V, with
pressureisverysmall.However,oncethepressurehasbeenloweredbelowthesaturationpressure,pb,
gasisliberatedandthetotalvolumeofthecellbeginsincreasingmorerapidly.Useofavisualcellwitha
windowpermitsobservationofthegasliquidinterfaceandevaluationoftheamountofoilandgasinthe
cellatanyparticularpressure.Itcanthenbeobservedthattheoilvolumeisamaximumatthesaturation
pressure (bubble point). It declines as more of the oil changes to gas as the pressure in the cell is
decreased.Oncethecellhasreachedthestocktank(atmospheric)pressure,itispermittedtocooltoa
stocktanktemperature,whichresultsinfurtherthermalshrinkageoftheoiltoavolume.

ThestandardvolumeofthegasinsolutionatanypressureisreferredtoasSolubility,Rs,whichhasthe
unitsofstandardcubicfeetperstocktankbarrel(SCF/STB).Theoilformationvolumefactor,Bodefined
asthevolumeofoilanditsoriginalsolutiongasatreservoirconditionsperstocktankbarrelofoil:
Bo FormationVolumeFactor FVF

Vo

Vo ST

,RB/STB

2.9

Itcanbedeterminedforanypressurebycalculatingtheratiobetweenthevolumeofoilinthecellatany
pressure and the stocktank volume that results when this oil reaches stocktank conditions. The two
phaseformationvolumefactoristhetotalvolumeofoilandtheliberatedgasperstocktankbarrelofoil:
V V
Bt TwophaseFVF o g ,RB/STB
2.10
Vo ST
Thegasformationvolumefactor,Bg,canbesimilarlydefinedasthevolumeofgasatreservoirconditions
pervolumeofthesamegasatstandardconditions:is
V
Bg
2.11
Vsc
Combiningequations2.9,2.10,and2.11willprovide:

Bt Bo Rsi Rs Bg ,RB/STB

2.12

Where, Rsi, isthesolubilityatinitialreservoirpressure.Figure27illustratestheschematicrelationship

betweentheoilformationvolumefactor,gassolubility,andviscositywiththereservoirpressure.Inthese
diagramspiistheinitialreservoirpressure,pbisthebubblepointpressure.

29

Figure27:TheRelationshipbetweentheOilPropertiesandtheReservoirPressure

210

NaturalGasProperties
The group of hydrocarbons comprising natural gas is the most volatile paraffin or alkane compounds.
AlmostallpetroleumengineeringproblemsusethePVTbehaviorofgasesinoneformoranother.

IdealGasLaw
ThebasicequationexpressingthePVTbehaviorofgasesistheidealgaslaw:
PV nR T
2.12
Where:

P=pressure

V=totalvolumeofgas
n=numberofmoles
T=absolutetemperature
R=gasconstant

The value of the gas constant, R, depends on the system of units used in Equation 2.12. Table 21
providesthevaluesofRfordifferentsetofunits.Anidealgasisafluidinwhichthevolumeoccupied
bythemoleculesisinsignificantwithrespecttothevolumeoccupiedbythetotalfluid,thereisno
attractive or repulsive forces between the molecules or between the molecules and walls of the
container,andallcollisionofmoleculesisperfectlyelastic.Atlowpressure,mostgasesbehavelike
ideal gas. In practice, it has been found that no gas obeys this simple law over all pressures and
temperatures.

TABLE21:ValuesofGasConstants
P
V
n
T
R
o
atm
liter
gmol
K
0.082057
3
o
atm
cm
gmol
K
82.057
o
mmHg
liter
gmol
K
62.364
o
bar
liter
gmol
K
0.083145
3
o
kg/cm
liter
gmol
K
0.084784
o
kPa
m3
gmol
K
0.0083145
o
kPa
m3
kmol
K
8.3145
3
o
bar
m
kmol
K
0.083145
3
o
atm
ft
Ibmol
R
0.73024
3
o
inHg
ft
Ibmol
R
21.850
3
o
mmHg
ft
Ibmol
R
554.98

psi

ft3

lb/ft

ft

Ibmol

Ibmol

211

R
R

10.732
1445.3

RealGasLaw
Hydrocarbons deviate widely from ideal gas law at the elevated pressures and temperatures of
petroleumreservoirs.InordertoexpressamoreexactrelationshipbetweenthevariablesP,V,andT,
acorrectionfactormustbeintroducedtoEquation2.12whichiscalledgasdeviationfactor,z,orz
factor:

2.13

PV znR T

Equation2.13isknownasRealGasEquationofState.Astudyofpuregasesconsistingofonlyone
component showed that there was a wellestablished relationship between the zfactors and
pressure,temperature,criticalpressure,andcriticaltemperatureofpuregas.Thisrelationshiptakes
the form of Figure 28 which consists of plots of gas deviation factor versus the reduced pressure,
PR P Pc ,forvariousreducedtemperatures, TR T Tc .

Natural gas is a mixture of different hydrocarbons and consequently the critical pressure and
temperaturelosemuchoftheirsignificanceascomparedtopurecomponent.Thisthenwouldmean
thatthezfactorcorrelationofFigure28couldnotbeusedforamixtureofgasesexceptthatitwas
foundthatuseofapseudocriticalpressureandtemperaturewouldpermittheapplicationofthez
factor data to a mixture of gases as though the critical pressure and temperature where equal to
pseudocritical pressure and temperature. The pseudocritical pressure and temperature are mole
frictionweightedcritical pressureandtemperature.Wemaystatethepseudocriticalpressureand
temperatureas:
n

ppc yi pci ,

Tpc yiTci

i 1

2.14

i 1

Where:y=molefraction
Pc=criticalpressureofpurecomponent
Ppc=pseudocriticalpressureofmixture
i=subscript,referringtocomponenti

Tc=criticaltemperatureofpurecomponent
Tpc=pseudocriticaltemperatureofmixture
n=totalnumberofcomponentsinmixture

The logical nature of Equations 2.14 can be recognized when we compare the equations with the
mannerusedtocalculatethemolecularweightofcombinationofcompounds:
n

Ma yi Mi

2.15

i 1

Thepseudocriticalpressureandtemperatureandmolecularweightcouldbeevaluatedaccordingto
these equations when a compositional analysis is available for a gas. Table 22 lists the critical
pressuresandtemperaturesofvarioushydrocarboncompounds.

The hexanes, heptanes, and heavier constituents of natural gas contain several hydrocarbon
compounds as well as the normal and isomeric paraffins. In fractional analyses, these individual
constituents are difficult to identify, and often they are collected as a liquid with the molecular
weightandspecificgravitydeterminedthereon.Figure29showstherelationshipbetweenpseudo
critical conditions and molecular weight, and specific gravity for C7+ components of natural gas
systems.

212


Figure28:GasDeviationFactorforNaturalGases(AfterStandingandKatz)

213

TABLE22:CriticalPropertiesoftheSimpleHydrocarbons
Formula

TC,oR

PC,psia

CarbonDioxide

CO2

547.7

1073.0

44.01

Nitrogen

N2

227.0

493.0

28.01

HydrogenSulfide

H2S

672.0

1306.0

34.08

Methane

CH4

343.3

673.1

16.04

Ethane

C2H6

549.8

708.3

30.07

Propane

C3H8

666.0

617.4

44.10

IsoButane

iC4H10

734.7

529.1

58.12

NormalButane

nC4H10

765.3

550.7

58.12

IsoPentane

iC5H12

830.0

482.0

72.15

NormalPentane

nC5H12

847.0

485.0

72.15

C6H14

914.0

439.7

86.18

Compound

Hexanes

Figure29CorrelationsforPseudocriticalPropertiesofC7+

214

GasGravity
In the absence of gas compositional analysis, empirical correlations are available that provide the
pseudocriticalpressureandtemperatureasafunctionofthegasgravity.Gasgravityisdefinedas
theratioofgasdensitytoairdensityatthestandardpressureandtemperatureconditions.Itcould
beshownthat:

M
M
g g a a
air SC Mair 29

2.16

Where:g=gasgravity
g=gasdensity

Theempiricalcorrelationsforobtainingpseudocriticalpressureandtemperaturearegivenbelow:

2.17

Ppc 709.604 58.718 g

2.18

Tpc 170.491 307.344 g

GasFormationVolumeFactor

Thegasformationvolumefactorrelatesthevolumeofgasatthereservoir(formation)tothevolume
atstandardconditionsandwasgivenbyequation2.11.Wecanusetherealgasequationtoderivean
expressionforgasformationvolumefactor:
Bg 0.0283

zT
P

ft 3 SCF 0.0054

zT
P

RB SCF

2.19

GasDensity
Therealgasequationcanalsobeusedtoderiveanexpressionforgasdensity:
2.7 gP lbm

,
2.20
zT
ft 3
Equation2.21canbeusedtocalculatethegasdensityatanypressure(psia)andtemperature(oR)
afterfirstevaluatingthegasdeviationfactor(z)atthoseconditions.

GasCompressibility
Anexpressionforgascompressibilitycanbederivedusingrealgasequation:
1 1 z
cg
2.21
P z p
Inordertoobtainthegascompressibilityatparticularpressureandtemperatureusingequation2.21,
zfactorand z / p mustbeevaluated.AsimplerapproachistouseFigure210whichprovidesthe
reducedcompressibility, cr cg Pc ,asafunctionofreducedpressureandtemperature.

GasViscosity
The only accurate way to obtain the viscosity of a gas is to determine it experimentally. However,
experimental determination is difficult and slow. Usually, the petroleum engineer must rely on
viscosity correlation. The viscosity of a pure gas depends on the temperature and pressure but for

215

cr Tr

Pr

Figure210:VariationofcrTrwithReducedTemperatureandPressure

216

gasmixturesitisalsoafunctionofcompositionofthemixture.Fornaturalgases,thechartsofFigure
211and212canbeusedtodeterminetheviscosity.Figure211providesviscositiesofmixturesof
hydrocarbongasesatatmosphericpressure(1),givenknowledgeofgravityandtemperatureofgas.
Theinsertsarecorrectionsforpresenceofthenonhydrocarbonsgases N2, CO2,and H2S.Theeffect
of the nonhydrocarbons is to increase the viscosity of gas mixture. At pressure higher than
atmospheric,chartsofFigure212canbeusedtocalculatetheviscosityratio(/1)asafunctionof
pseudoreducedpressureandtemperature.

Figure211:ViscosityofParaffinHydrocarbonGasesatAtmosphericConditions

Figure212:ViscosityRatioversusPseudoreducedPressureandTemperature

217