q

Core Analysis of Unconsolidated and Friable Sands

C. C. Mattax, SPE-AIME, xxonProduction E Research Co. R. M. McKinley, SPE-AIME, xxonproduction E Research Co. A. T. Clothier, ExxonProduction Resesrch Co.

Introduction
During the past decade the rubber-sleeve core barrel has been used very effectively in recovering. cores from unconsolidated and friabIe formations, 11112 omplete C core analyses of incompetent sands are now possible with either plugs or full-diameter samples using techniques that, for the most part, are simple extensions of techniques used for consolidated core plugs. This paper dscusses typical results of a complete set of analyses run on a large number of cores during the last several years. Both friable and unconsolidated samples, including a wide assortment of rock types ranging from well sorted sands through conglomerates, were included in the test samples, Although no particular set of data can be considered typicaI of a specific unconsolidated? formation, it seems desirable to have readily available in the literature a complete set of test results for comparison with other d~fi or for use in the absence of other data. In addition to a number of well known uncertainties that remain in the interpretation of core tests, even on competent cores, there are some uncertainties that are unique to unconsolidated sands. This paper alerts the engineer to these uncertainties, clarifies some of them, and discusses the over-all reliability of data obtained in the measurement of the properties of unconsolidated and friable sands. The most difficult question to resolve is simply, ,are consolidated sand cores recovered without significant disturbance, or are sand grains dislocated to the extent that no laboratory technique is capable of reestablishing conditions acceptably close to actual reservoir conditions? This questicn is addressed in the discussion of compressibility. Only brief descriptions of test procedures are presente~ these are included to insure understanding of any special tediniques needed in unconsolidated sand tests. Procedures not described in uetail either are referenced or may be assumed to be identical with those used in tests of competent cores.

Core HandIing and Test Procedures

Other than the actual coring operation, the most critical step in collecting unconsolidated cores is the removal of the core, encased in the rubber sleeve, from the core barrel. Care must be taken to prevent the flexible rubber sleeve from buckling and seriously damaging the core. When the core is safely out of the barrel, it can be cut into sections that can be handled conveniently for shipment. The cut sections should be at least 2 to 3 ft long because the sand in the vicinity of the cut will be disturbed and some material will be lost. Rubber caps, taped in place as soon as the core is cut, adequately seal the ends of the cut sections and prevent exposure to air and 10SS of core fluids. The sections of the rubber sleeve core, properly boxed for protection, should be shipped to the laboratory without delay. will produce acceptable test plugs Two procedures 6s20 from unconsolidated core material in nearly all cases. If the sand is completely unconsolidated it can be plugged with a thin-wallecl tube. First, however, the

Techniques for handling and testing unconsolidated sands are discussed. Evidence from acoustic and pressure-pulse jield tests suggests that highfirst-cycle compressibility observed in laboratory experiments is a realistic reservoir phenomenon.
DECEMBER. 1975 1423

SCREEN VITON RUBBER SLEEVE CORE

GROOVED

END PLATE N

Fig. 1

Triaxial core holder for unconsolidated sands.

9s @ = 0.33 Al 3500 PSI NOSP 90

9

4 -6

85 -

80~

2000 3000 NST OVERBURDEN PRESSURE - PSI

1000

J 4000

Fig.

2 Effect of net overburden pressure on porosity of I typical ,unconsolidated sand.

sleeve-encased core must be adequately sup$orted. This is done by completely surrounding it by pouring melted paraffin into. the shipping container. The solidified paraffin prevents deformation of the sand as samples are cut from it with a thin-walled steel cylinder or cookie cutter. A window is cut in the rubber sleeve at the point where a sample is to be taken, the mud cake is carefully scraped away, exposing the surface of the sand, and the sharpened cutter is forced completely through the core with a press. The cutter containing the sample is removed from the core and placed in a bath of liquid nitrogen. This solidifies and consolidates the core plug so that it can be removed from the cutter. This is done by warming the exterior of the cutter with a propane torch and pushing the core out. When this operation is performed quickly, essentially no thawing of the core itself occurs. The ends of the frozen core are faced off, using a diamond saw or a belt sander, and the plug is placed in a plastic bag and stored in a conventional deep-freeze. The remainder of the core inside the rubber sleeve is again sealed off by lining the hole from which the sample was taken with a plastic sheet and filling it with melted paraffin, which is also permitted to fill and seal the window cut in the rubber sleeve. A second procedure6 must be used if the cores are slightly consolidated or if they contain large grains or shale Iaminae. In this case, the core is immersed in liquid nitrogen to freeze the entire section of core, still intact in the sleeve. Samples are cut i!h a conventional laboratory core drill using liquid niwugen as the cutting fluid. Plugs, still frozen, are stored in a freezer, When a plug is selected for testing, it is removed from the freezer and again immersed in liquid nitrogen to provid: maximum handling time. The frozen core is inserted in a Viton sleeve; a screen is placed at each end and the assembly is loaded in a core holder of the type shown in Fig. 1. With the confining sleeve pressure set at no more than a few hundred pounds per square inch, the core is warmed to room temperature and the sleeve pressure is slowly adjusted to the desired iriitial confining pressure. At this time the core can be tested as if it were a consolidated sample. The core holder is a triaxial type with rubber washers at each end of the core that deform as they are subjected to the sleeve pressure and that transmit the confining pressure to the ends of the core while the sleeve confines the sides. Plasticity of the washers is sufficient that, in this environment, the core is triaxially loaded. This type of cell can be used to apply confining pressure up to 10,000 psi at reservoir, temperature. When it is necessary to remove the unconsolidated core from the core holder, the core can be protected from damage by saturating it with melted paraffin and a!lowing it to cool while still under sleeve pressure before removing it from the core holder. If additional tests of the paraffin-saturated core are required, it is simply mounted again in a tnaxial cell and heated to melt the paraffin, which is flushed from the core. Effective Net Overburden Pressure in Triaxial Testa

I 800

1000

1200

1400

AXIAL COMPRESSIVESTRESS, PSI Fig. 3 Hysteresis in compressibility of Chandler coreS.

The triaxial cell imposes an almost hydrostatic load (lateral as well as axial) on test samples. Consequently, at equivalent values of net Ioad (load pressure minus pore fluid pressure), stress on the test sample is greater JOURNAL OFPETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY

1424

than that on the fo~ation in situ. In tests of consoli~ dated rock, an adjustment to convert from hydrostatic to uniaxial load can be made reliabIy3*1e1[s>i9 the samif ple is reasonably isotropic and if the elastic moduli are measured or estimated with reasonable accuracy. Proper interpretation of test results on unconsolidated sands is not obvious, especially at low compaction pressures, because the sands are much more deformable than competent rock. In this paper, net overburden pressure (NOBP) means the full pressure difference between overburden and pore fluids in unconsolidated sands. According to this definition, stresses impressed in triaxial cells at NOBP are undoubtedly higher than true reservoir stresses. In our opinion, values of porosity and permeability will not be appreciably in error if effective reservoir NOBP is assumed to be hydrostatic (that is, triaxial),

Compressibility
Before proceeding with a discussion of porosity, permeability, and fluid displacement test results, it is necessary to describe and explain the compressibility behavior that invariably is observed in pressure loading of unconsolidated and friable sands. Fig. 2 is a plot of typical test results when ~.: unconsolidated sand is pressure-loaded in a triaxial core holder of the type described above. First-cycle compaction is always large and the samples always exhibit mechanical hysteresis. The first-cycle hysteresis loop does not close while the experiments are conducted, although in the second and subsequent cycles, hysteresis is almost eliminated and compaction of the sample is neady reversible. For the example shown in Fig. 2, porosity was 0.33 at 3,400psi NOBfi at this NOBP during the first cycle, pore volume compressibility (C+) is 17 X 10-8/psi; buIk compressibility (CJ is 5.5 X 10-G/psi. At 4,000-psi NOBP during the second cycle for this sample, Cd = 7 x 10+/psi and Cm = 2.3 X 10+/psi. Results of this type are ambiguous. In the past, the large first-cycle compressibility has been attributed to grain crushing that would occur in laboratory tests but not under reservoir conditions. Our measurements suggest that grain crushing is not significant. Thin sections prepared before and after compaction seldom revealed cracked sand grains. Grain-size analysis (although too coarse a technique for this purpose) does not support the grain-crushing hypothesis. This leaves the following twc questions unanswered. 1. Is reservoir compaction more nearly represented by the first cycle or the second, or by neither? 2. If first-cycle loading is not realistic in the tests, does the test procedure sc disturb the sample that compressibility, porosity, and permeability measurements are all significantly in error? We have found strong evidence from acoustic transmission measurements and pressure pulse tests (described below) that first-cycle compaction is a realistic reservoir phenomenon. The tests were made in the Chandler, Okla., pilot area, which has been a test site for a number of rock and fluid mechanics experiments. 4 Although the reservoir formation at the Chandler test site is a consolidated sandstone, its compaction behavior under test is qualitatively similar to that shown in Fig. 2. Results of DECEMBER, 975 1

laboratory tests on one sample are shown in Fig. 3. The initial compaction cycle shows considerable nonelastic behavior, and the rock does not immediately return to its original bulk volume at the end of the unloading step in the first cycle, If the sample is stressed by several rapid cycles of compaction, the hysteresis loop closes and compaction is nearly elastic, as in the last cycle shown in Fig. 3, After being unloaded for a time, the rock regresses to its initial, unloaded state, indicating that multiple-cycle compression does little or no permanent damage to these samples. Thus, the Chandler rock has a: least two components of compaction: a purely elastic strain that is instantaneously recoverable, and a time-dependent, viscoelastic component that is recoverable, but only very slowly. In-situ acoustic transmission and pressure pulse tests were run at Chandler in an attempt to detect these two components of compressibility, The acoustic velocity and pressure pulse tests were conducted between a number of well pairs in the Chandler test site. Although neither of thes$ tests produces a value of compressibility directly, it is possible to derive compressibilities from test results if other properties of the system are known .7>13 For example, the pulse tests permit calculation of the product @C4h, the compressible storage of the formation between the pulsing and the responding wells. If porosity, thickness, fluid saturation, and fluid compressibilities areknown, the va!ues of the effective rock compressibility can be deduced from values of the storage term. Acoustic velocities allow checking of the consistency of measured values of elastic modtdi that can be used to calculate a compressibility that is effective in spreading acoustic waves. Acoustic signals were generated with blasting caps with signals in the 300 to 1,500-cycles/sec range. Pressure pulses were generated by intermittent production of water from the water-saturated formation; a production cycle was about 1 hour. Formation compressibilities consistent with results of the two types of between-well tests were as follows. Cm from acoustic tests: 1.1 X 10-Ypsi 5.3 X 10+/psi. Cm from pulse tests: In each case, Cm is bulk formation compressibility. The pulse-test value was approximately corrected for pore fluid compressibility, Compressibilities consistent with the acoustic test are several-fold lower than those derived from the pulse test. This difference is readily .explained by Iaboratoxy compressibility test results, such as those in Fig. 3, if it is assumed that the acoustic signals are propagated only by the eiastic component of compressibility, but tiat the pressure pulses are propagated by total compressibility, including both elastic and viscoelastic components. Values of the purely efastic component appropriate to acoustic tests at Chandler are consistent with compressibilities measured on Chandler cores after cycling to close the hysteresis loop (see Appendix). Total compressibility consistent with that derived from the Chandler pulse tests is measurable in the laboratory only during the first cycle. (Laboratory tests give about 10+/psi for the elastic component and from 2.5 to 6 X, 10+/psi for total compressibility of Chandler rock samples.) Thus, for relatively soft rock of the type in the Chandler test site, first-cycle compressibility is the most realistic 1425

measure of in-situ response to changes in NOBP that occur during reservoir depletion. The Chandler test formation is shallow; it probably never has been buried deeper than at present and likely is now in its first cycle of compaction, Although no similar field tests in deeper formations have been adequately analyzed, the above results can be extrapolated to suggest that appropriately measured first-cycle compressibilities are generally the best values to use in reservoir performance calculations. There is no reason to suppose that unconsolidated sands should be an exception. Having shown that first-cycle compaction must not be ignored, we must now point out that erroneously high values of first-cycle compressibility are obtained in laboratory tests of unconsolidated sands, Techniques used to obtain sample plugs from the core, freezing and thawing of the samples, setting of the elastomer sleeve against the surface of the sample, and some grain crushing all contribute to a positive error in measured compressibility. The significance of each contribution to experimental error has been investigated, but precise measurements are not possible. As an indirect means of estimating the error, first-cycle pore volume changes were measured on many samples. Some of the results are presented in Fig. 4, whit shows porosity measured during the first cycle at 60-$ si hydrostatic compaction pressure vs porosity at4 ,500 lb net hydrostatic load. The following linear pression fits these data reasonably well. f p~l. +3,500 ml = 0.013 -t 0.950 @]51J The intercept on the low-pressure axis is a rough measure of the systematic error in porosity. As a qualitative correction, compaction curves such as in Fig. 2 should be adjusted by tying the low-pressure end to a porosity reduced by the intercept value (1.3 porosity percent in this case). In these tests, about one-third the total firstcycle compressibility is systematic error. It is amarent that there is no firm basis for recommending ~ quantitative correction factor for the high first-cycle compressibilities measured in laboratory tests of unconsolidated sands. Part of the extra compressibility in addition to the purely elastic component seems to be real, and part seems to be systematic experimental error. In the absence of more definitive data, we recommend the correction derived above (that is, that about two-thirds the first-cycIe compressibility is real).

)0

Permeability and Porosity

The application of overburden pressure has greater effect on permeability than on porosity. Fig. 5 shows permeability vs overburden pressure measured in the same test as in Fig. 2. The average permeability decreased by almost 40 percent as the hydrostatic compac= tion pressure increased from 65 to 3,500 psi. Because permeability is more sensitive to changes in pore structure than is porosity, some assurance is needed that gross disturbance of the samples does not occur before permeability is measured. To obtain a qualitative measurement of the effect of disturbance on permeability, a number of samples were deliberately c! -bed (by stirring the sand) after an initial measureJOURNAL OFPETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY

ment at NOBP, were remounted in the triaxial core holder, and were retested, again at NOBP. Results of six such tests are shown in Table 1. A large decrease in permeability occurred when the sand was deliberately disturbed but there was little change in porosity. In one of the six cases, permeability was low initiaily and was not reduced by deliberate stirring, We take this to mean that the sand had been grossly dkturbed during coring. Disturbance is a matter of degree, of course, but the fact that very large changes in permeability result from deliberate disturbance of the unconsolidated samples suggests that negligible disturbance of the grain st~cture occurred during coring and sampling. However, because of its extreme sensitivity to disturbance, measured permeability likely will be lower than the actual field value. Correlation of Permeability and Porosity Since well logs can be used to estimate formation porosity, and since unconsolidated and friable cores are expensive to retrieve and test, it is especially desirable to have an acceptable correlation between porosity and permeability. With well sorted sands or with samples having very similar grain-size distributions, reasonable correlations are sometimes possible. Fig. 6 shows such a correlation for a group of unconsolidated and friable sands that are moderately well sorted but contain varying amounts of fines. The data in Fig. 7 were obtained on cores with grain distributions similar to those in Fig. 6, but which contained a sufficient percentage of pebble-size grains to be typed as conglomeratic sandstones. The correlations in Figs. 6 and 7, although obviously poor, are acceptable in the absence of direct measurement of permeabilities on undisturbed cores. If grain-size distribution becomes too broad, or if distributions are markedly different from sampIe to sample, correlation of permeability with porosity likely will not be successful. lS For example, Fig. 8 shows the data obtained on conglomeratic sandstone samples, some of which had large percentages of both fines and pebbles. In this case, the scatter is so great that a correlation is probably no better than an outright guess. Correlation With Grain-Size Distribution A number of attempts214$7 have been made to develop a method for predicting porosity (and sometimes permeability) from grain-size distribution. These attempts have met with only limited success, appearing to be applicable only for samples with relatively narrow grain-size distributions. On the other hand, information on grain-size distribution can be a useful guide, especially in evaluating validity of what may appear to be
,

unusual test results. For example, a large percentage of fines combined with a broad size distribution is an indication that both permeability and porosity should be low, Permeability Measurements on Fuil-Diameter Cores Unconsolidated sands having Iarge pebbles usually must be tested as full-diameter samples since representative test plugs cannot be obtained. When these samples are mounted in the tnaxial holder only vertical perineability can be measured. This leads aimost invariably to erroneously low estimates of horizontal permeability. Vertical permeability measurements give the lengthweightxl, harmonic average permeabilities, whereas effective horizontal permeability is better represented by the length-weighted, arithmetic average of the permeabilities of the individual zones or layers. We used a simple permeability profiling technique as an indirect means of making rapid qualitative comparisons of vertical and horizontal permeabilities in full-diameter cores that were cut t-mically perpendicular to formation bedding planes. The technique is valid if stratification is the only reason for k. and kh to differ. The experimental procedure consists of injecting viscous oil at constant

1~
POROSITY AT NET OVERBURDEN PRESSURE - % Fig. 7 Porosity-permeability correlation for conglomeratic sands.

# 1,000 9 .9

TABLE 1- EFFECT OF DELIBERATE CORE DISTURBANCE ON PERMEABILITY AND POROSITY Permeability (red) Before . 469 813 15 106 1,745 951
q

100q

::*%: , ** %** q
q
*

q
q

:*

q q

Porosity* (percent PV)

Before . 32.7 23.4 27.8 29.0 32.7 29.6

**

q we=* qq #
q

*** %* w

o%.

After 59 34 12 21 721 169

3,000

After 30.1 24.5 26.6 29.3 34.0 29.4

10 q

q

9 * i

11
6

I
10 14 18 22 26 30 POROSITYAT NET OVERBURDEN PRESSURE - %

At NOBF et

to ~,000 psi.

Fig. 8 Variable grain-size distribution in conglomerates makes permeability-porosity correlation unlikely. 1427

DECEMBER, 1975

60

~z & oo ~+
go 4s40

~=800md

kb ~ .

1.3s

&# v
~:20 -

=> an 0 10
20 30 40 50 60 70 VOLUME INJECTED - Z P.V. 80 90 100

Fig. 9 Permeability profiie of a fuli-diameter core.

rate into the test sample after it has been extracted to remove fluids and has been evacuated to remove gas. It is assumed that the advancing oil front remains sharp and that the volume of oil injected is a direct measure of the distance the front has advanced into the core. Fig. 9 summarizes a typical test result on a full-diameter core that had four zones detectable in the test, The measured permeability of the entire length of the sample was 800 mm the length-weighted, arithmetic average permeabllity derived from the profile test was 1,100 md, suggesting that the effective horizontal permeability is at least 1,100/800, or about 1.35 times the vertical permeability in this section of the formation.

Fluid Displacement Tests

1
q q q

m
q q q q

e
q

Water-oil and gas-oil displacement tests on unconsolidated sands may be conducted using almost the same test procedures as used on consolidated plugs. Special caution should be exercised in interpreting water-oil displacement tests because permeability damage may occur during the tests as a result of movement of the fines at the water-oil interface. This type of permeability damage is not clay swelling or a face plugging phenomenon. Permeability plugging by migration of loose particles occurs internally throughout the length of the test core. Whh some cores, internal plugging can seriously restrict the amount of data obtainable, as shown in Table 2. Drainage Capillary Pressure Fig. 10 summarizes results of drainage capillary-pressure tests run on 20 samples from various reservoirs.
I

20

40

60

80

WATER SATURATION - % PORE VOLUME

Fig. 10 Drainage capiiiary pressure for
unconsolidated sands.

L \ h

AVERAGE OF 20 TESTRESULTS

t,

30

50

70

90

30 Ftg. 12

WATER SATURATION
unconsolidated 142s

- % PV
ratios for

I 1 70 90 50 LIQUID SATURATION - % PV
1 1 1 I

fig. 11 Typicai oii/water relative permeability

sands.

Typicai oil/gas reiative permeability

ratios for

unconsolidated

eands.

JOURNAL OFPETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY

TABLE 2 EFFECT OF PERMEABIUTY DAMAGE ON THE AMOUNT OF DATA OSfTAiNED IN 34 WATERFLOODS

Data Obtained Number of Floods Permeability Damage During Floods Recovery Behavior Relative Relative Permeabili~

Injectivity

Ratio

Individual

6 : 22 12

None Very slight Moderate Severe Very severe (fiood was not completed)

Yes
Yes Yes Yes
No

Yes Yes
No No No

Yes Yes Yes Yes

No

Yes Yes
No No

No

Permeabllities varied from 20 md to 1.5 darcies; porosities were from 15 to 28 percent. Results correlated reasonably well using the Leverett J-function.0 Although it is not apparent from the limited data presented in the figure, irreducible water saturations were not identical, being higher in the iower-porosity samples. This suggests that a better correlation would have been obtained if the J-function were plotted vs water saturation as percent of total displaceable wate~ how-~ ever, there were too few data to attempt the modified correlation. Two-Phase Relative Permeabilities Typical water-oil and gas-oil relative permeability ratios 6&ained in water and gas floods from the 20 samples mentioned above are summarized in Figs. 11 and 12. The test samples were moderately to strongly water-wet during the tests. The spread in relative permeability characteristics clearly shows that there are no obvious short-cuts in obtaining multiphase relative permeability data on unconsolidated sands. The number of tests required and the variability of test results will be similar to those for competent cores. Influence of Trapped Gas on Water-Oil Displacement . The potential benefits of a trapped gas saturation on the displacement of oil by water from consolidated water-wet rock has been defined adequately in the Iiterature.sg A qualitatively similar behavior can be expected in unconsolidated sands. Fig. 13 shows results of a series of water-oil displacement tests obtained with a water-wet sample of unconsolidated sand. Irreducible water saturation was established by an oil flush of the sample before each of the four tests: Subsequently, in three of the four tests a mobile gas saturation was established by a slow gas drive of the oil-and-water saturated core and the sample was again oil-flushed to trap a fraction of the gas, In all four tests, conventional waterflood were then run to obtain the relative permeability ratios plotted in the figure. Presence of trapped gas increased the oil-water relative permeability ratio at a given oil saturation.

voir phenomenon. 3. Laboratory measurements of permeability are srmsitive to grain disturbance and are likely to be Iower than actual field values. 4. There are no reliable short cuts, such as correlation of properties with grain-size distribution, in core analysis of unconsolidated sands.

Acknowledgments
We would like to thank R. A. Kirby, B. J. Propst, F. M. Bower, C. 1?, Johnson, and E. G. Woods of Exxon Production Research Co. for their help in the three experimental programs described in the AppendIx. References 1. Austin,B. L.: RubberSleeveCore Barrel Increases Recovery, WorM Oil (1959) 14S, No. 6. 2. Fumas,C. C.: Flow of Gss ThroughBeds of Broken Solids,
Bull. 307, USBM (1929). 3. Geertsma, J.: Effect of Fluid Pressure Decline on Volumetric Changes cf Porous Rocks, 7rans., AIME (19S7) 210,331-339. 4. Greenkom, R. A., Johnson, C. R., and Haring, R. E.: Miscible Dkplacement in a Controlled Natural System, J. Per. Tech. (Nov. 1965) 1329-1335; Tram., AIME, 234. 5. Holmgren, C. R. and Morse, R. A.: Effectof FreeGasSaturaT tionon Oil Recovery Waterftooding, rans., by AME (1951)

192, 135-140.

.\

lot krO km 1.0GAS SATN - % PV

Conclusions
Although the reliability and accuracy of tests on unconsolidated and friable cores needs to be improved, enough consistent laboratory and independent field data have been obtained in recent years to conclude the following. 1. Complete analysis of unconsolidated sand cores is possible with available techniques and equipment. 2. High first-cycle compressibility is a realistic reserDECEMBER, 975 1

0.1-

MOBILE 00
q

TRAPPED

11

0 5
9 12

25 A 33

1 r 1 r I 1 t 1 t 0.01 1009080 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 OIL SATURATION, % PORE VOLUME

Fig. 13 A trapped gas phase Improves water-oil relative permeability ratio.

..

1429

6. Jennings, H. Y., Jr.: How to Handle and Process Soft and Unconsolidated Cores, Worfd Oil (June 1965). 7, Johnson, C. R., Greenkom, R, A., and Woods, E. G.: PulseTesting A New Method for Describing Flow Properties Between Wells, J. Per. Tech. (Dec. 1966) 1599-1604; Trans., AIME, 237. 8, Kelton, F. C.: Effect of Quick-Freezing on Saturation of Oilwell C&es, Trans., AIME (1953) 198, 21-22. 9. Kyte, J. R., Stanclift, R. J., Jr,, Stephen, S. C., Jr., and Rapoport, L. A.: Mechanism of Waterftooding in the Presence of Free Gas, Trans., AIME (1956) 207, 215-221. 10. Leverett, M. C.: Capillay Behavior in Porous Solids, Trans., AIME (1941) 142, 152-16S. 11. Lhrdsey, H. E., Jr., Courter, C. N., and LeBourg, M. P.: A New Tool for Recovety of Soft Consolidated Formations, paper SPE 3603 presented at the SPE-AIME 4fhtr Annuat Fall Meeting, New Orleans, La., Oct. 3.6, 1971. 12. McCullough, C. N.: Innovations in Handling and Processing Unconsolidated Cores, J. Pet. Tech. (Oct. 1972) 1191-1195. 13. McKinley, R. M., Vela, S., and Carlton, L. A.: A Field Application of Pulse-Testing for Detailed Reservoir Description, J. Per. Tech. (March 1968) 313-321; Trans., AIME, 243. 14. Morrow, N. R., Huppler, J. D., and Simmons, A. B.: Poropity and Pemteability of Unconsolidated Upper Miocene Sands From Grain Size Analysis, J. Sediment. Petrology (1969) 39, No. 1. 15. Newman, G. H.: Pore-Volume Compressibility of Consolidated, Friable, and Unconsolidated Reservoir Rocks Under Hydrostatic Loading, J. Pet. Tech. (Feb. 1973) 129-134. )6. Teeuw, D.: Laboratory Measurement of Compaction Properties of Groningen Reservoir Rock, Trans., Royal Dutch Society of Geologists and Mining Engineers (1973) 28. 17. Thomere, R., Potter, P. E., and Steinberg, W. M.: iPemteability, Cementation, and Grain Size: A Deductive Inquiry, paper SPE 3606 presented at the SPE-AIME 46th Annual Fail Meeting, New Orleans, La., Oct. 3-6, 1971. 18. van der Knaap, W.: Nonlinea Behavior of EIastic Porous Media, Trans., AIME (1959) 216, 179-187. 19. van Kestem, J.: Estimate of Compaction Data Representative of the Groningen Field, Trans., Royal Dutch Society of Geologists and Mining Engineers (1973) 28. 20. Wisenbaker, J. D.: Quick Freezing of Cores, Oil and Gas J. (Jan. 25, 1947).

force depends not only on the magnitude of the force but also-on (1) the p&t stress his~ory of the element, including the state of stress existing when the force is applied, and (2) the frequency of the applied force, has significant relevancy to our measurements on unconsolidated samples. The demonstration uses results from three experimerttal programs devoted to both in-situ and laboratory measurements of the mechanical properties of the formation. These programs are discussed below. Horizontal Acoustical Veloeity Measurements Since the Chandler sandstone is overlain and underlain by lower-velocity shales, accurate determination of lateral compressional wave velocities is possible in the formation. For this work, we used a small test pattern, 150 x 150 ft, that contained 25 test wells that had been cored extensively. The procedure consisted of detonating an electric blasting cap at a selected point in one test well and recording the transmitted wave-train at the corresponding elevation in a second test well. These measurements were made at 2-ft intervals until the sandstone was traversed. When averaged, the resulting velocities gave a value for lateral velocity that we assumed to apply at a location halfway between the two wells. Fig. 14 is a contour map of the data from the test pattern with the wells shown as solid circles. The velocities are represented in thousands of feet per second and the wells are numbered for reference. The velocity distribution of Fig. 14 correlates well with the relative preponderance of each Iithotype in the formation with velocity decreasing from Type 1 to Type 2B. The velocities also provide a check on the accuracy of mechanical properties measured on cores. Laboratory Measurements of Stress-Strain Response on Chandler Cores Consider a cylindrical core of sandstone subjected to an axial compressive stress pa=, a confining pressure pc; and a pore pressure pP. Then the corresponding elastic strains axially, e ~=, and transversely, e ~p,are related to the stress level by Eqs. A-1 and A-2.

APPENDIX

Mechanical Properties of the Chandler Formation

The Chandler formation (described in detail in Ref. 4) is a slightly friable, upper Penns~lvanian sandstone with a thickness of 6 to 14 ft, whose composition can be described by three lithotypes referred to here as Types 1, 2A, and 2B. Type 1 White sandstone, fine- to medium-grain+, clean interstices. Type 2A Light reddish-brown sandstone, finegrained, moderately silty interstices. Type 2B Dark reddish-brown sandstone, finegrained, silty interstices. Although each Iithotype is consolidated, the sandstone appears to behave under stress similarly to unconsolidated sand. We believe this is because of the following. 1. The formation is shaIlow (210 ft) and in a state of stress corresponding to hydrostatic loading (this is demonstrated later). 2. The fo~ation shows no significant degree of bedding. Values for Youngs modulus and Poissons ratio measured on cores cut vertically to the plane of the formation are not significantly different from those values for cores cut horizontally. Consequently, our demonstration that the mechanical response of a localized element of the formation to a
1430

6=X= Je~r =

[ Pax

2vpc - (1-2v)pP

, . ..(A-I)

JE

Vpaz (IV),

, + (12V)~p 1

, . .(A-2)

34

; ~

where E *and v are Youngs modulus and Poissons ratio, respectively. The strains in these equations are instantaneously recoverable upon unloading, however, Fig, 3 shows that Chandler cores, like most earth materials, exhibit severe loading hysteresis with the loop remaining open until after several cycles of loadingunloading, collectively referred to as stress working. An ideal method of loading, then, would be to select a state of stress and allow the strains to equilibrate. Then a small, incremental increase is made in the stress and held until strains equilibrate, where upon the incremental load is quickly released and the immediate drop in strain is observed. A new stress level is selected and the procedure is repeated. Each increment provides a value for ,E and v; however, this is a time-consuming process and, at least for Chandler cores, the values of E and v
JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY

so obtained are equal within experimental error to values obtained from stress-worked loading curves such as Cycle 3 of Fig, 3. In selecting an initial state of stress at which to start the loading curve, one usuaIly uses an axial stress equal to the stress created by the overburden, which for the Chandler formation is pa = 240 psi. It is also common to assume that formation transverse strains are zero (that is, Ctr = O). Eq. A-2 then provides the res@ lip =p, - pp = * (pa= P*J

At Chandler; the pore pressure is pP = 65 psi, which gives the initial stresses
pe-pR. 0.2

(240 - 65) = M psi.

1-0.2 pa. = 240 psi, In our Ioading chamber, the stresses pa, p,, and PP could be varied independently within the constraint
Paz ~

second, the density pm is in pounds per cubic foot, and Youngs modulus, E, is in pounds per square inch. A few measurements showed that a net confining pressure of lip = 44 psi was insufficient to account for the insitu velocity of 9,000 ft/sec measured near Well 25. We then made a series of runs at different values of Ap to determine the value that would reproduce the correct velocity. Results of these runs appear in Fig. 15, where the calculated acoustical velocities are plotted as a function of net confining pressure. Averages of values from five horizontal and five vertical cores are represented as closed circles and triangles, respective y. We also made direct velocity measurements on one core under conditions of zero pore pressure and hydrostatic external loading to obtain the dashed line of Fig. 15. Whiie this core is not representative of the entire thickness, it does show the same type dependence on confining pressure. From Fig,, 15, we see that a net confining pressure Ap = 180 psi is required to give a velocity of 9,000 ft/sec. For a pore pressure of 65 psi, this implies
Pc = 180+

65=

245 psi,

3(Pc Pp) > 0,

which includes the above initial stress. Strains were measured with sets of appropriately oriented strain gauges attached to the cores by adhesive. The fhst such measurements were made on cylindrical cores 1 in. in diameter and 2*A. n. long cut horizoni tally and vertically at 1.5-ft intervals over the length of a 6-in. core taken from Well 25. From measured values for E, v, and bulk density pm, one can calculate the compressional velocity V=by Eq. A-3.
Vc = [

which is very nearly equal to the axial, overburden stress of 240 psi. To confirm this, we took additional cores at 2-ft intervals from WeIls 1, 4, and 13 and made strain measurements at a net confining pressure of 180 psi with the following resuIts. Well 1. 4 13 25 Calculated Sonic Velocity (ft/see) . 8,600 7,800 9,900 9,000

l~k~-~ pm (I+ V)(l2V)

,1

2 , . . . . . . ..(A-3)

where gc = 32.2 ft.kecz, the velocity Vc is in feet per

Comparing these vaIues with the trends of Fig. 14, we must conclude that the formation is in a state of ,hydro-

em g eoooiii

iw~ ~-

q -VERTICAL CORES
A - HORIZONTAL COREEEI ___~~aRED vELoc~

040

S01Z01SOZO0 NfZr CONFINING PRESSURE, AP=Pc-PP

mm

Fig. 14-

Acoustical velocities (thoueand feet per eecond)in small test pattern at Chandier teet cite.

Fig. 15 Aoouetical velocities for cores from Weii 25.

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DECEMBER, 197S

1.

TABLE 3 MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF CHANDLER SANDSTONE ~ 1 Nu,nber of Sample$ 28 24 16 Porosity T@# 22 20 Density Youngs Modulus (miilions of psi) 2.31 *0.13 1.54 A 0.11 1.54 * 0.17 Poissons Ratio Jdimensioniess) 0.21 *0.02 0.21 *0.02 0.21 *0.02

2A
2B

127 137

static loading with equal stresses in all directions. Unfortunately, our loading chamber, with a net confining pressure of 180 psi, required a minimum axial stress of pa S 600 psi. But Fig. 3 shows that values of E and v will be relatively independent of the level of axial stress provided that stress working at higher stresses does not permanently damage the core. We found that a core left unloaded for 15 hours after stress working would, upon reloading, give a large hysteresis loop on the first load-unload cycle with an area 75 to 90 percent as large as the original first cycle. Permanent damage, therefore, was minimal. We subsequently used the chamber to establish properties representative of each lithotype, as shown in Table 3. From the values in Table 3, one can calculate the elastic bulk compressibility by Eq. A-4. C.= ~ E , (psi)-. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..(A-4)

TABLE 4 BULK COMPRESSIBILITIES OF CHANDLER SANDSTONE Compressibliity (p$i1) First C@& Elastic =x 10+ 0.75 x 10-a 1.13 x 10-a 3.21 x 10+ 5.35 x 10+ 1.13 x 10+ PULSE-TEST RESULTS FROM THE CHANDLER TEST SITE Puise-Test Vaiue @r, (psi-) (2.79 A 0.13) x 10+ 3.26 A 0.08 x 10+ 6.63 A 0.25 x 10+ Calculated Buik Compressibility .s1-1) (P 2.40 X 10+ 2.93 X 10+ 6.34 X 10+

? 2A 2B TABLE 5Number of 12 15 6 0.24 0.22 0.20

Litho-

-9PL_EQLJtL
L 2B

s@ilities would be more appropriate for low-frequency disturbances such as the pulse tests described next. Pulse Tests on Chandler Test Site Pressure pulse:test responses between all 60 possible well pairs were measured; each test provides values for between-well permeability k and for the product @ct, where $ is the porosity and Ct is the total compressibility given by Eq. A-6. c~= where Cf= fluid compressibility
Cf 1;Cm -. . . . . . . . . . . . . . (A-6)

Furthermore, bulk compressibilities for the first load cycle can be determined from measured strains by Eq. A-5.

cm=AJc L =--& V A~
where

A~

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . (A-5)

P = +

(p.= + 2PC) PP

= 1,5 x 10-8 (Chandler salt water) cm= bulk compressibility of the formation. By selecting those well pairs for which one of the three lithotypes is dominant, we can use pulse-test results with Eq. A-6 to give estimates of bulk compressibilities for each Iithotype. These are shown in Table 5. While the values for bulk compressibilities in Table 5 are larger than those of Table 4, there can be no doubt that the lower-frequency pressure pulses (-0.0 1 cycles/see) cause formation expansion and subsidence more nearly like the response to a first-cycle loading not like the response to a cycle after stress working. XJ?T , .

Results of these calculations are shown in Table 4, where one thing is clew the elastic compressibilities, not the first-cycle compressibilities, are the appropriate values to use in estimating formation response to the higher-frequency forces of a sonic wave train. On the other hand, we would expect that first-cycle compresOriginal manuscript racelvad in $crcletyof Petroleum Englnears offiaa July 31, 1974. Revised manuscript raoaivad Oot. 10, 1975. Papw (SPE 4986) was first praaarrtadat the SPE-AIME 49th Annual Fall Meeting, held In Houston, Oct. 0-9, 1974. @ Copyright 1975 American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineera, Inc.

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