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Conversion Factors For Oilfield Units

This document provides conversion factors and examples for converting between common oilfield units and other unit systems used in petroleum engineering. It discusses the need for unit conversions in the international oil and gas industry. Examples are given for converting Darcy's law and static pressure gradient equations between Darcy units, SI units, and standard oilfield units. A handout on the Darcy equations for real gas flow is also referenced.

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340 views12 pages

Conversion Factors For Oilfield Units

This document provides conversion factors and examples for converting between common oilfield units and other unit systems used in petroleum engineering. It discusses the need for unit conversions in the international oil and gas industry. Examples are given for converting Darcy's law and static pressure gradient equations between Darcy units, SI units, and standard oilfield units. A handout on the Darcy equations for real gas flow is also referenced.

Uploaded by

md_mohshin
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Conversion Factors

for
Oilfield Units
Need for Unit Conversions
• Petroleum Engineers must be able to work with various unit
systems
– International scope of industry
• Unit systems used varies geographically
• Team members may not all be located in same geographical location
• Joint ventures between companies
– Particular units may be required at your location
• Legislated units for reporting and regulatory compliance
• Company protocol
Oilfield Units
• Oilfield units are non-coherent
– Newton’s 2nd Law (F=ma)
• SI: Force (Newton) is a derived unit to make equation coherent
• USCS: Mass (slugs) is a derived unit to make equation coherent
• AES, Oilfield Units: A unit conversion constant required (F=ma/gc )
– Darcy’s Law
• Darcy units: Permeability is a derived unit to make equation coherent
• SI: coherent (permeability unit is m2 )
• Oilfield Units: A unit conversion constant is required
– The constant may include geometry terms (integrated form)
– For gas flow, the constant may include standard temperature and pressure, even for
Darcy and SI units

q  C k dΦ
vs  
A μ ds
Learning Objectives
• Deriving unit conversion constants
– Given
• A physical relationship expressed as an equation, using coherent units or with a
correct conversion constant supplied
• and appropriate unit conversion factors between unit systems
– Find
• The required unit conversion constant (including its units) to express the
equation in a different unit system

• Correctly apply Darcy Equations for incompressible fluid and real


gas, using oilfield units
– See handout, “Darcy Equations”
• Note definitions of standard temperature and pressure for the Real Gas cases
Darcy’s Law - Darcy Units
• Linear (1-D) flow of an incompressible fluid
kA
q  Δp
μL
– where,
• q cm3/s
• k darcies
• A cm2
 p atm
 cp
• L cm

– The Darcy a derived unit of permeability, defined to make this equation


coherent (in Darcy units)
Darcy’s Law - Oilfield Units
• Linear (1-D) flow of an incompressible fluid
CkA
q  Δp
μL
– where,
• q bbl/D
• k millidarcies
• A ft2
 p psia
 cp
• L ft

– The approach demonstrated will be to convert each term back to Darcy


units, restoring the coherent equation, then collecting the conversion factors
to obtain the oilfield unit constant, C
Darcy’s Law - Oilfield Units
q [cm3/s] = q [bbl/D] · 5.61458 [ft3/bbl] · (30.48)3 [cm3/ft3] · (1/86400) [D/s]
= 1.84013 [(cm3/s)/(bbl/D)] · q [bbl/D]

k [d] = k [md] · (1/1000) [d/md]

A [cm2] = A [ft2] · (30.48)2 [cm2/ft2]

p [atm] = p [psia] · (1/14.6959) [atm/psia]

L [cm] = L [ft] · 30.48 [cm/ft]

k[md] 0.001[d/md] A[ft 2 ]  929.03[cm2 /ft 2 ]


q[bbl/D] 1.84013[(cm /s)/(bbl/D)] 
3

μ[cp] L[ft]  30.48[cm/ft]

  Δp[psia] 0.068046[atm/psia]
Darcy’s Law - Oilfield Units
– Collecting the constants and canceling

0.001127 k[md] A[ft 2 ]


q[bbl/D]   Δp[psia]
μ[cp] L[ft]

• The unit of the constant is defined from the above equation


[bbl/D]  [cp]  [ft]
C  0.0011271
[md][ft 2 ][psia]

• We were able to cancel leaving the units of C as shown above because,


[cm3 /s]  [cp]  [cm]
1[d]  1
[cm 2 ][atm]
Static Pressure Gradient - SI Units
• Static pressure gradient of a fluid

dp  ρ g dh

– where,
• p Pa = N/m2 = (kgm/s2)/(m2) = kg/(ms2)
 kg/m3
• g 9.80665 m/s2
• h m

– Coherent for SI units


Static Pressure Gradient - Oilfield Units
• Static pressure gradient of a fluid

ρg
dp  dh
D
– where,
• p psi = lbf/in2
 lbm/ft3
• g 32.174 ft/s2
• h ft
Static Pressure Gradient - Oilfield Units
p [Pa] = p [psi] · 6894.757[Pa/psi]

 [kg/m3] =  [lbm/ft3] · 16.01846 [kg/m3)/(lbm/ft3)]

h [m] = h [ft] · 0.3048 [m/ft]

dp[psi]  6894.757[Pa/psi]  ρ[lb m /ft 3 ]  16.01846[(kg/m3 )/(lb m /ft 3 )]


 g[ft/s2]  0.3048[m/ft]
 dh[ft]  0.3048[m/ft]
• Because the constant D is on the bottom, collect terms on left and cancel using
definition of Pascal [Pa]
D=4633.06 [(lbm /ft3)(ft/s2)(ft)/(psia)]

• Alternate derivation from dimensional homogeneity (self study)


D=(144 [in2/ft2]) · (32.174[(lbm·ft)/(lbf·s2)])
– OR
D=4633.06 [(in2/ft2)·(lbm·ft)/(lbf·s2)])
Handout - Darcy Equations
• Darcy Equations for Real Gas
• For pseudopressure, m(p), the unit conversion constant, C, is the
same as for p2 equation (Constant (z g))
 (p12  p22 ) 
  Replaced by  m(p1 )  m(p2 )
 z μ g 

– A single term of the equation is replaced with the term in brackets having the
same units and meaning:

p
 Term   2 p
p1
dp
2 zμ
g

• Note that in oilfield units, m(p) has units of [psia2/cp]


• Note the constant, C, includes the 1/2 from integration

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