CAPILLARY PRESSURE

- DEFINITION -
• Perbedaan tekanan yang ada di
antarmuka memisahkan dua cairan
bercampur dalam kapiler
Pc = pnwt - pwt

Where:

Pc = capillary pressure
• One fluid wets the surfaces of the formation
rock (wetting phase) in preference to the other Pnwt = pressure in nonwetting phase
(non-wetting phase).
• Gas is always the non-wetting phase in both
oil-gas and water-gas systems.
pwt = pressure in wetting phase
• Oil is often the non-wetting phase in water-oil
systems.
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• Definisi kapilaritas. Kapilaritas adalah gejala zat cair melalui celah-celah sempit atau
pipa rambut. Celah-celah sempit atau pipa rambut ini sering disebut pipa kapiler.
Gejala kapilaritas disebabkan adanya gaya adhesi atau kohesi antara zat cair dengan
dinding celah itu. Akibatnya, bila pembuluh kaca dimasukkan dalam zat cair,
permukannya menjadi tidak sama.
Kapilaritas merupakan peristiwa naik atau turunnya zat cair pada bahan yang terdiri
atas beberapa pembuluh halus akibat gaya adhesi atau kohesi, misal naiknya minyak
pada sumur.
Contoh kapilaritas dalam kehidpuan sehari-hari
1. Menyebabnya air yang menetes di ujung kain
2. Minyak tanah naik melalui sumbu kompor
3. Air meresap ke atas tembok
4. Naiknya air melalui akar pada tumbuhan
5. Menyebarnya tinta di permukaan kertas
Sumber:
http://id.shvoong.com/exact-sciences/physics/2119912-pengertian-kapilaritas/#ixzz1f
fcEhxYl

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 Applications of Capillary
Pressure Data
• Determine fluid distribution in reservoir (initial conditions)
• Accumulation of HC is drainage process for water wet reservoirs (max possible HC
saaturation)
• Sw= function of height above OWC (oil water contact)

• Determine recoverable oil for water flooding applications

• Imbibition process for water wet reservoirs

• Pore Size Distribution Index, 

• Absolute permeability (flow capacity of entire pore size distribution)
• Relative permeability (distribution of fluid phases within the pore size distribution)

• Reservoir Flow - Capillary Pressure included as a term of flow potential

for multiphase flow
• Input data for reservoir simulation models

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• Menentukan distribusi fluida dalam reservoir (kondisi awal)
Akumulasi HC adalah proses untuk drainase air basah reservoir (maks mungkin HC
saaturation)
Sw = fungsi dari ketinggian di atas OWC (minyak kontak air)
Tentukan minyak dipulihkan untuk aplikasi banjir air
Imbibition proses untuk penampungan air basah
Ukuran pori Distribusi Indeks, 
Permeabilitas absolut (aliran kapasitas distribusi ukuran pori keseluruhan)
Relatif permeabilitas (distribusi fase cairan dalam distribusi ukuran pori-pori)
Arus Reservoir - Tekanan kapiler dimasukkan sebagai istilah potensi aliran untuk
aliran multifasa
Input data untuk model simulasi reservoir

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 Capillary Tube - Conceptual Model
Air-Water System

 Air
h

Water

• Considering the porous media as a collection of capillary tubes provides useful

insights into how fluids behave in the reservoir pore spaces.
• Water rises in a capillary tube placed in a beaker of water, similar to water (the
wetting phase) filling small pores leaving larger pores to non-wetting phases of 5
reservoir rock.
• Mengingat media berpori sebagai kumpulan
tabung kapiler memberikan wawasan yang
berguna bagaimana cairan berperilaku dalam
ruang pori reservoir.
Air meningkat dalam tabung kapiler
ditempatkan dalam sebuah gelas kimia air,
mirip dengan air (fase pembasah) mengisi pori-
pori kecil pori-pori yang lebih besar untuk
meninggalkan non-pembasahan fase batuan
reservoir.
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Rise of Wetting Phase Varies with
Capillary Radius

1 2 3 4

AIR

WATER

Ayers, 20017
 CAPILLARY TUBE MODEL
AIR/WATER SYSTEM

pa1
pw1 Air
h
pa2
pw2

Water

Water rise in capillary tube depends on the density

difference of fluids.
Pa2 = pw2 = p2
pa1 = p2 -  a g  h
pw1 = p2 -  w g  h
Pc = pa1 - pw1
= w g h - a g h
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=  g  h
CAPILLARY PRESSURE – OIL / WATER
SYSTEM
• From a similar derivation, the equation for
capillary pressure for an oil/water system is

2  ow cos 
Pc 
r

Pc = Capillary pressure between oil and water, dyne/cm2

ow = Interfacial tension between oil and water, dyne/cm
 = Oil/water contact angle, degrees
r = Radius of capillary tube, cm
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DRAINAGE AND IMBIBITION CAPILLARY DRAINAGE

PRESSURE CURVES • Fluid flow process in which the saturation

of the nonwetting phase increases

• Aliran fluida proses di mana saturasi dari

fase nonwetting meningkat
Mobilitas nonwetting fasa fluida meningkat
sebagai fase saturasi meningkat nonwetting

• Mobility of nonwetting fluid phase

increases as nonwetting phase saturation
Drainage increases

IMBIBITION
Pc • Aliran fluida proses di mana saturasi dari
fase pembasahan meningkat
•
Pd Mobilitas meningkat pembasahan
pembasahan fase sebagai fase saturasi
meningkat
Imbibition
Si Sm

0 0.5 1.0
Swt 10
Modified from NExT, 1999, after …
• Four Primary ParametersFluid flow
process in which the saturation of the
wetting phase increases

• Mobility of wetting phase increases as

wetting phase saturation increases

Si = irreducible wetting phase saturation

Sm = 1 - residual non-wetting phase saturation
Pd = displacement pressure, the pressure
required to force non-wetting fluid into
largest pores
 = pore size distribution index; determines
shape
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 DRAINAGE PROCESS

• Fluid flow process in which the saturation of the nonwetting

phase increases
• Examples:
• Hydrocarbon (oil or gas) filling the pore space and
displacing the original water of deposition in water-wet rock
• Waterflooding an oil reservoir in which the reservoir is oil
wet
• Gas injection in an oil or water wet oil reservoir
• Pressure maintenance or gas cycling by gas injection in a
retrograde condensate reservoir
• Evolution of a secondary gas cap as reservoir pressure
decreases 12
 IMBIBITION PROCESS
IMBIBITION
•Fluid flow process in which the
saturation of the wetting phase increases

•Mobility of wetting phase increases as

wetting phase saturation increases
Examples:
Accumulation of oil in an oil wet reservoir
Waterflooding an oil reservoir in which the reservoir is
water wet
Accumulation of condensate as pressure decreases in
a dew point reservoir
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Effect of Permeability on Shape
20

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Decreasing
Capillary Pressure

Permeability,
Decreasing 
12

A B
8

0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0

Water Saturation
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Modified from NExT 1999, after xx)
 Effect of Grain Size Distribution on Shape

Poorly sorted
Capillary pressure, psia

Well-sorted

Decreasing 

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Modfied from NExT, 1999; after …) Water saturation, %
 AVERAGING CAPILLARY PRESSURE DATA USING
THE LEVERETT J-FUNCTION

• The Leverett J-function was originally an attempt

to convert all capillary pressure data to a
universal curve
• A universal capillary pressure curve does not
exist because the rock properties affecting
capillary pressures in the reservoir have extreme
variation with lithology (rock type)
• BUT, Leverett’s J-function has proven valuable
for correlating capillary pressure data within a
lithology (see ABW Fig 3-23).

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• Para Leverett J-fungsi awalnya upaya untuk mengkonversi semua data
tekanan kapiler ke kurva yang universal
Sebuah kurva tekanan kapiler yang universal tidak ada karena sifat batu
yang mempengaruhi tekanan kapiler dalam reservoir memiliki variasi
ekstrim dengan litologi (batuan jenis)
NAMUN, Leverett J-fungsi telah terbukti berharga untuk menghubungkan
data tekanan kapiler dalam litologi (lihat Gambar 3-23 ABW).

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 DEFINITION OF LEVERETT J-FUNCTION

C Pc k
J Sw 
 cos  
• J-Function is DIMENSIONLESS, for a particular rock type:
• Same value of J at same wetting phase saturation for
any unit system, any two fluids, any values of k,
•(k/)1/2 is proportional to size of typical pore throat
radius (remember k can have units of length2)
•C is unit conversion factor (to make J(Sw) dimensionless)
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• J-Fungsi berdimensi, untuk jenis batuan
tertentu:
Sama nilai J pada tahap pembasahan
saturasi sama untuk setiap sistem unit, setiap
dua cairan, setiap nilai k, f
(k / f) 1 / 2 sebanding dengan ukuran jari-jari
pori tenggorokan khas (ingat k dapat memiliki
unit length2)
C adalah faktor konversi satuan (untuk
membuat J (Sw) berdimensi)
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 LEVERETT J-FUNCTION FOR CONVERSION OF
Pc DATA

 C Pc k  C Pc k
J(Sw )    
 σ cosθ   Lab  σ cosθ   Reservoir

Pc 
 w  o  h 2  ow cos 
144 Pc 
r
Pc = psia
h = ft
 = lb/cuft
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