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Measurement and Quantification of Diffusion-Induced Compositional Variations in Absence of Convective Mixing at Reservoir Conditions

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Abstract

We present numerical and experimental investigation on the existence of diffusion-induced compositional variations in a reservoir fluid in the absence of convective mixing. New pressure-decay experimental data are presented for ethane in contact with stock tank oil, and the values of diffusivity and solubility parameters are obtained by using the one-dimensional transient diffusion model and integral-based regression method. We show the variation in oil composition through composition-height measurements at the end of the experiment. Finally, the diffusion model with estimated parameters is used to predict the compositional variations, where comparisons show excellent agreement with the measurements, validating the parameter estimation technique and quantifying the compositional variations in the oil phase caused by diffusion.

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Abbreviations

STO:

Stock tank oil

GC:

Gas chromatography

LTS:

Late transient solution

ET:

Early transient solution

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Shell International Exploration and Production Inc. for granting the permission to publish the work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Shell International Exploration and Production Inc., Houston, TX, 77082, USA

    Ram R. Ratnakar, Birol Dindoruk, Greg Odikpo & Edward J. Lewis

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  1. Ram R. Ratnakar
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  2. Birol Dindoruk
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  3. Greg Odikpo
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  4. Edward J. Lewis
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Correspondence to Ram R. Ratnakar.

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Appendix: Composition and PVT Properties of the Oil

Appendix: Composition and PVT Properties of the Oil

Here, we list the PVT and other key properties of the STO used in the study.

See Table 3.

Table 3 Composition, API and viscosity of stock tank oil (STO)
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Ratnakar, R.R., Dindoruk, B., Odikpo, G. et al. Measurement and Quantification of Diffusion-Induced Compositional Variations in Absence of Convective Mixing at Reservoir Conditions. Transp Porous Med 128, 29–43 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11242-019-01233-x

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