Title: A study of absolute permeability dependence on pore-scale characteristics of carbonate reservoirs using artificial intelligence

Authors: Basar Basbug, Zuleima T. Karpyn

Addresses: Department of Energy & Mineral Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, 127 Hosler Building, University Park, PA, 16802, USA. ' Department of Energy & Mineral Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, 151 Hosler Building, University Park, PA, 16802, USA

Abstract: An artificial neural network (ANN) was designed and tested in the present study to examine the correlation between permeability estimations and porous medium properties, such as porosity, specific surface area, and irreducible water saturation. The network developed in this work uses soft computing techniques to investigate the absolute permeability dependence on pore-scale characteristics of carbonate reservoirs. The present study indicates that ANN generated permeability values are consistent with those obtained from core analysis. Results from this study confirm the complex relationship among permeability, porosity, specific surface area and irreducible water saturation of carbonate reservoirs, and suggest that variations in specific surface area affect the magnitude of irreducible water saturations, thus creating an apparent dependence of permeability on irreducible water saturation. Additional observations support a direct relationship between porosity and permeability, and an inverse relationship between specific surface area and permeability. [Received: March 5, 2008; Accepted: May 16, 2008]

Keywords: artificial neural networks; ANNs; absolute permeability dependence; pore-scale characteristics; carbonates; carbonate reservoirs; porosity; specific surface area; irreducible water saturation; soft computing.

DOI: 10.1504/IJOGCT.2008.020369

International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Technology, 2008 Vol.1 No.4, pp.382 - 398

Published online: 19 Sep 2008 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article