Estimation of Capillary Pressure and Relative Permeability Functions From Centrifuge Experiments

Abstract

Summary A method to estimate capillary pressure and relative permeability curves simultaneously from transient, multirate centrifuge experiments performed on homogeneous rock is presented. The unknown functions are represented with B-splines, and the number of knots and coefficient values are selected through a regression-based procedure. The method is demonstrated by use of experimental data for dolomite and sandstone samples with air/water and oil/water fluid systems. An analysis of the accuracy of the estimates is presented. The capillary pressure curve and regions of both relative permeability curves can be estimated accurately.