peer reviewed ceti 14-045: experimental investigation of wet gas dew point pressure change with...

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January 2016 Volume 2 Number 3 9 Experimental Investigation of Wet Gas Dew Point Pressure Change With Carbon Dioxide Concentration U. ODI ENI Petroleum H. EL HAJJ Halliburton Technology Center Saudi Arabia A. GUPTA Aramco Research Center Houston Abstract Dew point pressure is a critical measurement for any wet gas reservoir. Condensate blockage is likely when the reservoir pres- sure drops below the dew point pressure, which can result in a re- duction of gas productivity. One possible treatment fluid—carbon dioxide—has the ability to lower dew point pressure, and thus delay the onset of condensate blockage. Errors in measuring dew point pressure can lead to errors in the estimation of the onset of condensate blockage and be detrimental to the management of wet gas fields. This work presents experimental verification of a new method of determining dew point pressure for wet gas fluids. This method was applied to determine the experimental dew point pressure of several wet gas mixtures as a function of carbon dioxide concentration. Results obtained from this method are compared to calculated values based on the Peng Robinson equation of state. Experimental results also support the general observation that carbon dioxide has the ability to lower the dew point pressure of wet gas fields. The results of this work are applicable to Enhanced Oil/Gas Recovery processes that utilize carbon dioxide and for the CO 2 Huff and Puff process that uses carbon dioxide to remove and prevent further build-up of condensate banks around wells in wet gas reservoirs. This work investigates experimental conditions showing the change in dew point pressure as a function of carbon dioxide concentration. This dynamic relationship can be used to tune equation of state models which, in turn, allows more accu- rate reservoir modelling of the hydrocarbon recovery process. Introduction Condensation is a critical factor in determining the perfor- mance of wet gas fields. Condensation in the near wellbore region can lead to a dramatic reduction in gas flow due to the reduction of effective permeability to gas. Gas relative permeability reduc- tion in the near wellbore region is caused by an increase in liquid saturation due to condensation. This can be obser ved by studying a typical gas relative permeability relationship, as illustrated in Figure 1. In a gas condensate system, a small reduction of gas phase saturation can correspond to an exponential decrease in gas relative permeability. Figure 1 illustrates that as the liquid saturation increases, and the gas phase decreases from the max- imum saturation value, there is a dramatic decrease in its relative permeability. In wet gas reser voirs, an increase in liquid saturation, which is the primary reason for reduction of gas relative permeability, is caused when the bottomhole pressure drops below the dew point pressure. Gas reservoir operators often allow this in absence of accurate values for dew point pressure or in order to main- tain economic gas production rates from the wells. In order to accurately identify a minimum pressure level that must be main- tained in a gas reservoir, dew point pressure measurements can be conducted using a representative sample of the reser voir fluid in a pressure, volume and temperature (PVT) apparatus. For a wet gas reservoir, PVT experiments and analysis are needed to measure the dew point pressure at the known reservoir tempera- ture. The simplest conventional method of determining the dew point pressure of a hydrocarbon gas mixture is a visual test that requires collection of a representative wet gas sample at reser- voir conditions and testing it in a PVT cell chamber with a glass window. During the dew-point experiment, the sample is first equilibrated at the initial reservoir conditions of pressure and temperature, and then starting from a high pressure gas phase, it is gradually depressurized in the PVT cell to observe physical changes through the glass window into the cell. The first instant of condensation, seen as slight clouding of the window, is re- ferred to as the dew point pressure for the sample. The limitation of this method is that the obser vation of condensation can be sub- jective and contribute to erroneous estimation of dew point pres- sure leading to inaccurate wet gas characterization. Another method of dew point measurement involves using the acoustic signature of the sample fluid. The acoustic method relies on acoustic theory that states that the acoustic response (resonance frequency) is proportional to the velocity of the signal through the fluid (1) . To determine the dew point using the acoustic method requires using an apparatus that is capable of transmitting an acoustic signal through a reservoir fluid and re- ceiving and analyzing the signal that transmits through the res- er voir fluid. The travel time and alteration in signal during transit through the reservoir fluid is used to characterize the physical phase of the reser voir fluid. Determination of the dew point pres- sure using this method requires performing a constant composi- tion expansion test similar to the visual method. The first instance FIGURE 1: Relative permeability relationship between gas and condensate phase. Relative Permeability S g (gas saturation) Small decrease in S g Large decrease in k rg k rg (gas relative permeability) k ro (condensate relative permeability)

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January 2016 • Volume 2 • Number 3 9

Experimental Investigation of Wet Gas Dew Point Pressure Change With Carbon Dioxide ConcentrationU. ODI ENI Petroleum

H. EL HAJJ Halliburton Technology Center Saudi Arabia

A. GUPTA Aramco Research Center Houston

AbstractDew point pressure is a critical measurement for any wet gas

reservoir. Condensate blockage is likely when the reservoir pres-sure drops below the dew point pressure, which can result in a re-duction of gas productivity. One possible treatment fluid—carbon dioxide—has the ability to lower dew point pressure, and thus delay the onset of condensate blockage. Errors in measuring dew point pressure can lead to errors in the estimation of the onset of condensate blockage and be detrimental to the management of wet gas fields. This work presents experimental verification of a new method of determining dew point pressure for wet gas fluids. This method was applied to determine the experimental dew point pressure of several wet gas mixtures as a function of carbon dioxide concentration. Results obtained from this method are compared to calculated values based on the Peng Robinson equation of state. Experimental results also support the general observation that carbon dioxide has the ability to lower the dew point pressure of wet gas fields.

The results of this work are applicable to Enhanced Oil/Gas Recovery processes that utilize carbon dioxide and for the CO2 Huff and Puff process that uses carbon dioxide to remove and prevent further build-up of condensate banks around wells in wet gas reservoirs. This work investigates experimental conditions showing the change in dew point pressure as a function of carbon dioxide concentration. This dynamic relationship can be used to tune equation of state models which, in turn, allows more accu-rate reservoir modelling of the hydrocarbon recovery process.

IntroductionCondensation is a critical factor in determining the perfor-

mance of wet gas fields. Condensation in the near wellbore region can lead to a dramatic reduction in gas flow due to the reduction of effective permeability to gas. Gas relative permeability reduc-tion in the near wellbore region is caused by an increase in liquid saturation due to condensation. This can be observed by studying a typical gas relative permeability relationship, as illustrated in Figure 1. In a gas condensate system, a small reduction of gas phase saturation can correspond to an exponential decrease in gas relative permeability. Figure 1 illustrates that as the liquid saturation increases, and the gas phase decreases from the max-imum saturation value, there is a dramatic decrease in its relative permeability.

In wet gas reservoirs, an increase in liquid saturation, which is the primary reason for reduction of gas relative permeability, is caused when the bottomhole pressure drops below the dew point pressure. Gas reservoir operators often allow this in absence of accurate values for dew point pressure or in order to main-tain economic gas production rates from the wells. In order to

accurately identify a minimum pressure level that must be main-tained in a gas reservoir, dew point pressure measurements can be conducted using a representative sample of the reservoir fluid in a pressure, volume and temperature (PVT) apparatus. For a wet gas reservoir, PVT experiments and analysis are needed to measure the dew point pressure at the known reservoir tempera-ture. The simplest conventional method of determining the dew point pressure of a hydrocarbon gas mixture is a visual test that requires collection of a representative wet gas sample at reser-voir conditions and testing it in a PVT cell chamber with a glass window. During the dew-point experiment, the sample is first equilibrated at the initial reservoir conditions of pressure and temperature, and then starting from a high pressure gas phase, it is gradually depressurized in the PVT cell to observe physical changes through the glass window into the cell. The first instant of condensation, seen as slight clouding of the window, is re-ferred to as the dew point pressure for the sample. The limitation of this method is that the observation of condensation can be sub-jective and contribute to erroneous estimation of dew point pres-sure leading to inaccurate wet gas characterization.

Another method of dew point measurement involves using the acoustic signature of the sample fluid. The acoustic method relies on acoustic theory that states that the acoustic response (resonance frequency) is proportional to the velocity of the signal through the fluid(1). To determine the dew point using the acoustic method requires using an apparatus that is capable of transmitting an acoustic signal through a reservoir fluid and re-ceiving and analyzing the signal that transmits through the res-ervoir fluid. The travel time and alteration in signal during transit through the reservoir fluid is used to characterize the physical phase of the reservoir fluid. Determination of the dew point pres-sure using this method requires performing a constant composi-tion expansion test similar to the visual method. The first instance

FIGURE 1: Relative permeability relationship between gas and condensate phase.

Rel

ativ

e Pe

rmea

bilit

y

Sg (gas saturation)

Small decrease in Sg

Large decrease in krg

krg (gas relative permeability)kro (condensate relative permeability)

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CANADIAN ENERGY TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION

When analyzing the results of the constant composition expan-sion (CCE) experiment—a general test used to estimate bubble and dew points using the visual method—it is important to un-derstand the thermodynamic changes that occur to the reservoir fluid during phase change. Determination of bubble points using the graphical method based on CCE tests is made possible by the large differences between the isothermal compressibility of the liquid phase less the dense gas phase.

Determination of phase changes involved in the transition from the gas phase to the liquid phase is much more difficult due to in-distinguishable slope changes. Such is the case when looking at dew points of gas condensates. This can be illustrated by con-sidering an isotherm in the pressure and temperature phase dia-gram of an example wet gas/condensate as illustrated by Figure 2. Starting from the super critical gas region, as the pressure drops isothermally, there is an expansion of the system volume as the wet gas/condensate transitions from the supercritical gas re-gion to the gas region and finally past the dew line. When the res-ervoir fluid undergoes decompression, there is a gradual change in the total isothermal compressibility of the reservoir fluid. This can be understood by considering the total isothermal compress-ibility of the reservoir fluid inside the PVT cell, which can be de-scribed by the following equation.

= −∂∂

c

V

V

p1

Tt

t

.......................................................................................(1)

Where cT is the total isothermal compressibility, Vt is the total volume of the fluid mixture in the PVT cell, and p is the pres-sure of the fluid. The partial derivative, Vt/p, is at isothermal conditions. Above the dew point line, the total isothermal com-pressibility represents the isothermal compressibility of the su-percritical gas phase. Below the dew point, the total isothermal compressibility can be derived using material balance between the gas and liquid phases (see Appendix). The final derived form of the total isothermal compressibility for all stages of isothermal compression is represented in the following expression for the PVT cell.

= + +ρ

−ρ

∂∂

c c f c f

V

m

p1 1 1

T G G L Lt L G

G

................................................(2)

Where cG is the gas compressibility, fG is the gas saturation in the PVT cell, cL is the liquid compressibility, fL is the liquid saturation in the PVT cell, ρL is liquid density in the PVT cell, ρG is the gas density in the PVT cell, and mG is the mass of the gas phase of the PVT cell. The partial derivative, mG/p, is at isothermal con-ditions. In addition, fG + fL = 1 is valid because of material balance within the PVT cell. The total isothermal compressibility expres-sion has important implications at saturation pressures and in the two-phase region.

For example, consider black oil bubble points. Above the bubble point pressure, black oils have small, approximately con-stant compressibility(3). At and below the bubble point, the black oil exhibits large increases in total isothermal compressibility. This is because the gas released from the black oil at or below the bubble point is extremely compressible. Additionally, gas density is generally smaller than liquid density. Combining these obser-vations with the fact that black oil CCEs have a negative mG/p for changes in pressure, it is evident that at the bubble point black oils experience sharp increases in total isothermal com-pressibility as illustrated in Figure 3. This increase is caused by the product of the (1/ρL-1/ρG) which is negative and the mG/p

of a liquid signature in the vibrational response during this test is defined as the dew point pressure. The limitation of this method is that it still requires the visual method to validate the estimated dew point. Thus, any PVT apparatus that is designed to imple-ment the acoustic method must have a window cell to ensure accuracy, in addition to the equipment that can transmit and re-ceive the acoustic signal. The capital investment needed for the acoustic method can be significantly higher than for the standard PVT cell used for the visual method.

Potsch et al.(2) presented a method to determine the dew point pressure graphically. Their method involved using the real gas equation of state to calculate the total moles in the reservoir fluid sample for several measurements of pressure above the dew point pressure. They proposed that below the dew point pres-sure, condensation will cause calculated moles in the gas phase to be different from the actual number of moles. They proposed that the first instance from the deviation from the true amount of moles indicates dew point pressure. Their work may be in error because the real gas equation of state is not valid for fluids near saturation pressure, as indicated by their plots of the calculated molar quantity changing with pressure above dew point pressure. For a valid method, the calculated amount of moles would have remained constant because of the conservation of mass in the PVT cell (no mass exits or leaves the PVT cell). Potsch et al.’s at-tempt to characterize the dew point pressure appears to be theo-retically inaccurate.

The method proposed in this paper is based on tracking changes in isothermal compressibility to pinpoint dew point pres-sure measurements in wet gas fluid samples. Using this method, this work demonstrates the potential of using CO2 to lower the dew point pressure as a solution to condensate blockage. Com-parisons with Peng Robinson equation of state are used to vali-date the approach illustrated in this work.

Saturation Pressure TheoryDew point pressure can be described as the pressure at which

a gas starts condensing into a liquid phase. Pressure and tem-perature phase diagrams are generally used to describe bubble points and dew points as functions of pressure and temperature. For example, Figure 2 illustrates a pressure and temperature phase diagram for a wet gas. The dew-point line (the line that is to the right of the critical point in Figure 2) can be used to describe variation of dew point pressure with temperatures.

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

40,000

100 200 300 400 500 600

Pres

sure

(kPa

)

Temperature (K) 366 K (200˚F) CCE

Critical Point

Liquid Phase

Bubble Line Dew Line

Gas & Liquid Phases

Gas Phase

Supercritical Gas Phase

CCE Isotherm

FIGURE 2: Pressure and temperature diagram for wet gas/condensate with cce isotherm going from the supercritical gas phase region to the two-phase gas and liquid region.

January 2016 • Volume 2 • Number 3 11

CANADIAN ENERGY TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION

term, which is also negative (caused by the increased gas mass for decreasing pressures associated with typical black oils).

The behaviour of a condensate contrasts from a black oil. At above the dew point the condensate exists as a supercritical fluid. At and below the dew point pressure the supercritical portion par-titions into a wet gas with some liquid dropout. This gas below the dew point pressure has an isothermal compressibility slightly larger than the supercritical fluid. In addition, the liquid conden-sate that drops out of the wet gas exhibits initial large increases of liquid saturation at the dew point, followed by decrease in liquid saturation as the pressure decreases below the upper dew point. This observation can be seen in Figure 4 for the sample wet gas.

The liquid saturation decreases because lighter components vapourize out of the liquid phase leaving heavier components be-hind to make up the majority of the liquid phase. The evidence is seen in Figure 5, which indicates an increase in liquid density as the pressure drops.

For gas condensates, the liquid density increases corre-sponding to the liquid phase becoming richer in heaver com-ponents. Figure 5 illustrates a negative ρ/p relationship. A consequence of this is that the liquid isothermal compressibility, represented by cL = (1/p)*ρ/p, results in a negative value. For gas condensates, these liquid compressibilities are necessary in maintaining the material balance detailed in the total isothermal compressibility equation. This material balance is essential be-cause it is one of the reasons why total isothermal compress-ibility does not change sharply. Combining this observation with the fact that gas condensate CCEs have a positive ∂mG/∂p as

the pressure reduces towards the dew point, it is evident that at the dew point pressure gas condensates experience gradual in-creases in total compressibility (when compared to black oils). This speed of increase in total compressibility is less than for the black oil because of the product of (1/ρL – 1/ρG) which is nega-tive and the mG/p term which is positive (caused by the de-creased gas mass for decreasing pressures at the dew point). Therefore, the product, (1/ρL – 1/ρG)* mG/p is negative at the dew point and thus is one of the factors that reduces the inflection seen in the total isothermal compressibility plot. To illustrate this, the simulated gas isothermal compressibility and total isothermal compressibility for the sample wet gas are illustrated in Figure 6.

It can be seen that the total and gas isothermal compressibil-ities track one another below the dew point (34,600 kPa) and eventually deviate from one another at pressures less than the dew point. At the dew point, the gas isothermal compressibility is slightly larger than the total isothermal compressibility. This difference occurs because of the negative product (1/ρL – 1/ρG)* mG/p and the negative oil isothermal compressibility which are a result of the retrograde behaviour of the gas condensate. In ad-dition to this, the impact of the oil isothermal compressibility is tempered by the low oil volume fraction at the dew point pres-sure. Similarly, the impact of the 1/ρL – 1/ρG)* mG/p term is tempered by the total volume (i.e., the 1/Vt factor). A summary of the impact of each term is listed in Table 1.

Determining the increase in the total isothermal compress-ibility with pressure is the main premise of the method used in this work. For both black oils and gas condensates the total iso-thermal compressibility increases at the saturation point. It can be seen that before the saturation pressure, the total isothermal

0.000001

0.00001

30,000 35,000 40,000 45,000 50,000

Isot

herm

al C

ompr

essi

bilit

y (1

/kPa

)

Pressure (kPa)

FIGURE 3: CCE of example 34.9 API black oil at 400 K (bubble point at 33,500 psia) that illustrates sharp compressibility contrast at the bubble point.

0

0.05

0.1

0.15

0.2

0.25

0.3

0 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000

Liqu

id S

atur

atio

n

Pressure (kPa)

FIGURE 4: Liquid saturation for wet gas/condensate system during CCE at 366 K (retrograde behavior).

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

0 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000

Den

sity

(kg/

m3 )

Pressure (kPa)

Liquid Gas

FIGURE 5: Density for wet gas/condensate system during CCE at 366 K.

0.000001

0.00001

0.0001

0.001

0.01

0 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000

Isot

herm

al C

ompr

essi

bilit

y (1

/kPa

)

Pressure (kPa)

Total Gas

FIGURE 6: Comparison between total compressibility and gas compressibility of wet gas sample at 366 K.

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CANADIAN ENERGY TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION

same analysis is applied to experimental wet gas/condensate fluids.

Experimental DesignTo test the new dew point determination method several con-

densate mixtures were created. These condensate mixtures in-clude a base condensate mixture with a 1% molar composition of CO2. The other condensate mixtures contained 10% and 15% molar concentrations of CO2. The base condensate mixture com-ponents can be seen in Table 2. Critical properties were based on values reported in literature. Acentric factor values were obtained from Winnick(4) and Poling et al.(5). Density values were obtained from the API data book. The purpose of using these condensate mixtures was to understand the effect of adding CO2 to the base concentration and to also illustrate the methodology of the new dew point determination method.

To load, mix, and observe the hydrocarbon phase transitions of the proposed condensate mixtures, a pressure, volume and temperature (PVT) system (illustrated in Figure 8) was used. As an example of the process used to create and transfer a mixed condensate, consider the base condensate in Table 2. To calcu-late the necessary molar amounts of each component requires determination of the volumetric amount of each component at ambient conditions. At atmospheric pressure and room tempera-ture the only components that are in the liquid phase are octane

compressibility is linear with respect to pressure on a semi log plot. An example of this is illustrated in Figure 7 for a wet gas. When the total isothermal compressibility deviates from the linear isothermal compressibility behaviour during the CCE pro-cess, it is theorized that this is the dew point pressure. The gen-eral procedure to use isothermal compressibility for determining saturation points involves completing the following tasks.

1. Use the CCE experimental data (pressure and volume data) to calculate the central difference approximation of the iso-thermal compressibility as indicted in Equation (1).

2. Create a plot of the calculated isothermal compressibility versus the experimental pressure of the CCE experiment.

3. Starting from the highest pressure of the isothermal com-pressibility versus pressure plot, locate the first linear line and draw a line through it.

4. Find the nearest linear line next to the first linear line and draw a line through it.

5. The intersection between the first and second linear line is the observed saturation point (dew point for gas conden-sates; bubble point for black oils).

As an example of this novel analysis, consider the typical wet gas/condensate system. Its total isothermal compressibility plot can be seen in Figure 7. Using the previously described com-pressibility analysis, it can be seen that the dew point of this fluid at 366 K is 34,500 kPa which matches with the Peng Robinson ap-proximation of 34,600 kPa.

This example was based on a Peng Robinson equation of state of the example wet gas/condensate fluid described earlier. This

TABLE 1: Total isothermal compressibility components at saturation pressures (sign change and total isothermal compressibility response).

m

p1 1

L G

G

ρ−

ρ

∂∂

Total

cGfG cLfL Compressibility Response

Bubble Point “positive” “positive” “positive” Sharp IncreaseDew Point “positive” “negative” “negative” Gradual Increase

0.000001

0.00001

0.0001

0.001

0.01

0 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000

Isot

herm

al C

ompr

essi

bilit

y (1

/kPa

)

Pressure (kPa)

1st linear line

2nd linear line

Dew Point Pressure = 34,500 kPa

0.000001

0.00001

0.0001

0.001

0.01

0 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000

Isot

herm

al C

ompr

essi

bilit

y (1

/kPa

)

Pressure (kPa)

FIGURE 7: Wet gas/condensate sample dew point determination at 366 K: a) isothermal compressibility before analysis; b) isothermal compressibility after analysis.

a) b)

TABLE 2: Base composition for experimental studies. Composition Molecular Critical Temperature Critical Pressure Acentric Liquid Density at Component (mol %) Weight (˚K) (kPa) Factor [289 K (60˚F), kg/m3]

Methane 83 16.04 191 4,600 0.007 300 Carbon Dioxide 1 44.01 304 7,370 0.225 817 Ethane 4 30.07 305 4,870 0.099 356 Propane 3 44.1 370 4,250 0.153 507 Octane 3 114.23 580 2,920 0.398 706 Dodecane 6 170.34 675 2,170 0.576 752

January 2016 • Volume 2 • Number 3 13

CANADIAN ENERGY TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION

and dodecane. The volumetric amount of these liquid compo-nents can be found by using the following equation.

VMW y n

ii i t

i .........................................................................................(3)

Where Vi is the ith liquid component’s feed liquid volume, ρi is the ith liquid component’s density at standard conditions, MWi is the ith liquid component’s molecular weight, and yi is the ith compo-nent’s mole fraction in the gas condensate mixture.

The remaining components in the condensate mixture are gases at standard conditions. To feed the required number of moles of each gas component into the PVT system requires loading the gas components at a target pressure and corre-sponding volume. Setting the volume of each gas is much easier to control than pressure, therefore the loading pressure of each gas component was determined using the Virial equation of state. The following steps can be used to determine the feed pressure of a component using the Virial equation of state.

1. Guess a working pressure of the component, Pi, and loading volume of the component, Vi.

2. For the component, determine the reduced pressure, Pr, and reduced temperature, Tr.

=TTTrc ...................................................................................................(4)

=PPPrc ...................................................................................................(5)

Where Tc and Pc are the critical temperature and critical pressure of the component.

3. Calculate the Virial coefficients(4) using the following equations.

= − −B T0.083 0.422 r(0) 1.6

.......................................................................(6)

= − −B T0.139 0.172 r(1) 4.2

.......................................................................(7)

= + ωB B Br(0) (1)

....................................................................................(8)

Where ω is the acentric factor of the component.4. Calculate the compressibility factor of the component, zi.

= +zB P

T1i

r r

r ...........................................................................................(9)

5. Recalculate the working pressure, Pi, using the gas law.

=Pz y n RT

Vii i t

i .......................................................................................(10)

6. Repeat steps 2 – 5 using the calculated Pi from step 5. Iterate until the value of Pi converges.

The procedure to calculate the feed pressure of each compo-nent is based on the Virial equation state and assumes that the reduced pressure and reduced temperature are within the low density region. This region corresponds to a reduced tempera-ture and reduced pressure relationship that results in reduced temperatures greater than approximately Tr = 0.436Pr + 0.6(4).

Once the feed liquid quantities and feed gas components are calculated it is important to ensure that the total mixture can reach system pressures larger than the expected dew point pressure of the condensate system. This is important because the CCE ex-periments are begun at pressures much larger than the dew point pressure. Using this assumption, values of the compressibility factor were calculated using an empirical version of the standing correlation described by Cronquist(6) which is dependent on the pseudo critical properties of the mixed condensate. The pseudo critical temperature and pressure were calculated using a correla-tion by Piper et al(7) which accounts for reservoir impurities such as nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide. As an example

FIGURE 8: PVT System for dew point measurement: a) oven; b) computer gathering equipment; c) top pump B; d) PVT visual cell; e) bottom pump A.

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CANADIAN ENERGY TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION

of this process, consider the base condensate listed in Table 2. The phase diagram of this condensate is illustrated in Figure 9.

From the phase diagram, it can be seen that for a CCE experi-ment at 366 K, the dew point pressure is approximately 34,500 kPa. Therefore, at 366 K the initial pressure of the system is set to 41,400 kPa, which is greater than the dew point pressure. Using this and the volume of the PVT cell it is possible to calculate the total amount of moles that will ensure that the PVT cell reaches the initial starting pressure. These steps are listed here.

1. Calculate the gas specific gravity, γg, of the gas condensate sample.

∑γ =

y MW

29g

i ii

6

.....................................................................................(11)

2. Calculate the pseudo critical temperature, Tpc, and pseudo critical pressure, Ppc, using Piper et al.(7) correlation. As-sume a pressure larger than the dew point pressure, Pt, and a temperature, Tt, used for the CCE experiments.

∑= η + η

+ η γ + η γ

=

J yT

Pff

fc

c fg g0

1

3

4 52

................................................(12)

∑= β + β

+β γ +β γ

=

K yT

Pf

ff

c

c f

g g01

3

4 52

.............................................(13)

=TKJpc

2

..............................................................................................(14)

=PT

Jpcpc

..............................................................................................(15)

The parameter, f, corresponds to the reservoir fluid impuri-ties in the following order H2S, CO2 and N2. Values for ηf and βf are shown in Table 3.

3. Calculate the compressibility factor, zt, of the condensate sample at the expected experimental conditions above the dew point pressure using the Standing correlation(6).

=TT

Tprt

pc ..............................................................................................(16)

=PP

Pprt

pc .............................................................................................(17)

( )= − − −A T T1.39 0.92 0.36 0.101pr pr

0.5

.............................................(18)

( ) ( )= − +

−−

+−

B T PT

PP

T0.62 0.23

0.0660.86

0.0370.32

10 1pr pr

prpr

pr

pr

26

9

.......(19)

= −C T0.132 0.32log pr ........................................................................(20)

= ( )− − +D 10

T T0.3106 0.49 0.1824pr pr2

..............................................................(21)

( )= + − +z A A e CP1tB

prD

....................................................................(22)

4. Recalculate the pressure of the cell at the CCE conditions using the expanded volume of the cell, Vt, and the gas law.

=Pz n RT

Vtt t t

t .........................................................................................(23)

5. Repeat steps 3 – 4 using the calculated Pt from step 4. Keep doing this until the difference between each iterative Pt is minimized.

The preceding procedure is dependent on the total amount of moles, nt, in the PVT cell which is also a necessary component in the calculation of the volumetric amount of liquid needed and the calculation of the loading pressure for the gas components.

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

40,000

45,000

100 200 300 400 500 600

Pres

sure

(kPa

)

Temperature (K)

FIGURE 9: Pressure-temperature phase diagram for base condensate.

TABLE 3: Piper et al.(7) parameters for pseudo critical temperature pressure calculation.

f ηf βf

0 0.11582 3.82161 -0.45820 -0.0653402 -0.90348 -0.421133 -0.66026 -0.912494 0.70729 17.4385 -0.099397 -3.2191

TABLE 4: Calculated Liquid Volumes for Base Case

Component Feed State Vi, cm3

Methane gas n/a Carbon Dioxide gas n/a Ethane gas n/a Propane gas n/a Octane liquid 6.64 Dodecane liquid 18.6

January 2016 • Volume 2 • Number 3 15

CANADIAN ENERGY TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION

Therefore, any changes made to the total amount of moles in the preceding procedure have to be followed by recalculations of liquid volumes and gas component loading pressures (at specified loading volumes). As example of these considerations, consider the base condensate mixture in Table 2. For a CCE experiment at 366 K for a PVT cell with 18 cm3 volume (with a value of 100 cm3 out of a possible 200 cm3 of additional adjustable volume used for compression and expansion) the calculation of the necessary pa-rameters are listed in Tables 4 and 5.

The Peng Robinson equation of state was used to check the ac-curacy of the loading pressure calculation. This was done by es-timating the loading volume using the Peng Robinson equation of state. Then, by using the molar amounts of the gaseous com-ponent, the calculated loading pressure from Table 5, and a feed temperature of 294 K. The Peng Robinson check is illustrated in Table 6 and shows approximate agreement with the Virial equa-tion of state.

The total amount of moles needed to bring the system to 41,400 kPa was found to be 1.4 moles. This quantity is verified because it can be used to calculate the 41,400 kPa desired pressure at 366 K and 118 cm3 of available volume (Table 7). This quantity is also verified by the Peng Robinson equation of state that determined that the molar volume of the experimental wet gas fluid was 77.4 cm3/mol. This corresponds to a Peng Robinson estimate of 1.5 moles, which is comparable to the amount determined using the Standing correlation. This quantity was also found to satisfy the

procedure of determining the gas loading pressures (Table 5) and the required liquid volumes (Table 4).

Experimental ResultsDew points were determined for the synthetically designed

condensate mixtures by observing changes in compressibility from constant composition expansion experiments and verified by equation of state models such as the Peng Robinson equation of state. As an example of the process of using the isothermal compressibility to determine the dew point pressure, consider the 15% CO2 case at 366 K. Its CCE isotherm (Figure 10) illus-trates the pressure volume relationship for this fluid. The total isothermal compressibility of this fluid was calculated for each pressure point (Figure 11) using a central finite difference ver-sion of Equation (1).

Figure 11 illustrates a substantial increase in the isothermal compressibility at approximately 29,000 kPa. This large increase is attributed to the first instance of liquid saturation in the PVT cell. According to Equation (2), the mass transfer from the gas phase to the liquid phase can cause substantial increases in the total isothermal compressibility. Using this large rise in

TABLE 5: Gas calculations for loading pressures, Pi, using specified loading volumes, Vi, for base case. Feed Pi guess Vi Pi calculated Component State (kPa) Tr Pr B(0) B(1) Br zi (cm3) (kPa)

Methane gas 18,600 1.55 0.718 -0.13 0.111 -0.13 0.669 100 18,600 Carbon Dioxide gas 331 0.968 0.144 -0.36 -0.0580 -0.37 0.983 100 331 Ethane gas 1210 0.964 0.202 -0.36 -0.0613 -0.37 0.904 100 1,210 Propane gas 862 0.796 0.124 -0.52 -0.309 -0.57 0.855 100 862 Octane liquid n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a Dodecane liquid n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a

TABLE 6: Loading pressure by comparing virial equation of state and calculated volume vs. volume calculated from Peng Robinson equation of state.

Vi Peng Molar Pi Robinson Feed Vi Amount Calculated Estimate

Component State (cm3) (moles) (kPa) (cm3)

Methane gas 100 1.14 18,600 118 Carbon Dioxide gas 100 0.0137 331 99 Ethane gas 100 0.0548 1,210 98 Propane gas 100 0.0411 862 97 Octane liquid n/a n/a n/a n/a Dodecane liquid n/a n/a n/a n/a

TABLE 7: Parameters used to calculate 1.4 total moles needed to reach 41,400 kPa at 366 K (Volume used for calculation is 118 cm3).

γg 1.03 J 0.736 K 18.3 Tpc (K) 254 Ppc (kPa) 4,280 Tpr 1.16 Ppr 9.67 A 0.163 B 20.5 C 0.111 D 0.972 zt 1.17 Pt (kPa) 41,400

FIGURE 10: CCE isotherm for 15% CO2 in base case at 366 K.

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

40,000

45,000

50 60 70 80 90 100 110

Pres

sure

(kPa

)

Volume (cm3)

15% CO2 in Base: Pressure vs. Volume at 366˚K

FIGURE 11: Dew points determination using isothermal compressibility vs. pressure plot for 15% CO2 in base case at 366 K.

0.000001

0.00001

0.0001

0.001

0 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000 Isot

herm

al C

ompr

essi

bilit

y (1

/kPa

)

Pressure (kPa)

15% CO2 in Base: IsothermalCompressibility vs. Pressure at 366 K

Dew Point Pressure = 29,000 kPa

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CANADIAN ENERGY TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION

isothermal compressibility, the dew point for the 15% CO2 case is approximately 29,000 kPa.

The isothermal compressibility methodology was applied to the base case, 10% CO2 case and the 15% CO2 case. Results of the dew point measurement of each case can be seen in Table 8 and Figure 12. Plots of the matched experimental data for each case superimposed on the Peng Robinson theoretical data and the ideal gas approximation are shown in Figure 13.

When comparing the theoretical dew point pressure among each case at 366 K it can be seen that CO2 has the unique ability in reducing the dew point pressures. The experimental results show some deviation from the theoretical observation. This error is attributed to preparing the wet gas samples and running the experiments in a high pressure environment. Minute leaks can occur in high pressure environments. The possibility of these minute leaks are an inescapable obstacle in running these experi-ments. Nonetheless, it is observed that CO2 theoretically reduces the dew point pressure of wet gas/condensate fluids as is veri-fied by the Peng Robinson equation of state. This is observed in Figure 12 and Figure 14, which is a plot of the relative volume (PVT volume divided by the volume at the dew point).

The relative volume plot in Figure 14 indicates that CO2 de-creases the corresponding pressures observed during CCE. In addition to this, the overall phase diagram of the gas condensate

illustrates that the phase envelope decreases as a function of CO2 concentration. This is conveyed in Figure 15. These results can be explained by analyzing previous studies of CO2 with hydro-carbon systems. Monger et al.(8) were able to illustrate in their Appalachian crude oil system that the crude oil aromaticity cor-related with improved hydrocarbon extraction into a CO2 rich

TABLE 8: Comparison of dew point pressure measurements at 366 K.

Theoretical % absolute Experimental (Peng Robinson) Error

Base Case 38,800 kPa 34,600 kPa 1210% CO2 in Base 25,500 kPa 32,000 kPa 2015% CO2 in Base 29,000 kPa 30,600 kPa 5

a)

0.000001

0.00001

0.0001

0.001

10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000 Isot

herm

al C

ompr

essi

bilit

y (1

/kPa

)

Pressure (kPa)

Base Composition

Dew Point Pressure = 38,800 kPa

PengRobinson Experimental Ideal Gas

0.000001

0.00001

0.0001

0.001

0.01

0 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000 Isot

herm

al C

ompr

essi

bilit

y (1

/kPa

)Pressure (kPa)

10% CO2 Composition

Dew Point Pressure = 25,500 kPa

PengRobinson Experimental Ideal Gas

0.000001

0.00001

0.0001

0.001

0 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000 Isot

herm

al C

ompr

essi

bilit

y (1

/kPa

)

Pressure (kPa)

15% CO2 Composition

Dew Point Pressure = 29,000 kPa

PengRobinson Experimental Ideal Gas

FIGURE 13: Match experimental data and theoretical data comparison: a) base case; b) 10% CO2 in base; c) 15% CO2 in base.

b)

c)

0.000001

0.00001

0.0001

0.001

0.01

0 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000

Isot

herm

al C

ompr

essi

bilit

y (1

/kPa

)

Pressure (kPa)

Base Dew Point = 34,600 kPa

10% CO2 in Base Dew Point = 32,000 kPa

15% CO2 in Base Dew Point = 30,600 kPa

Base 10% CO2 in Base 15% CO2 in Base

2,000

7,000

12,000

17,000

22,000

27,000

32,000

37,000

42,000

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16

Pres

sure

(kPa

)

CO2 mol%

Theoretical (Peng Robinson) Experimental

FIGURE 12: Dew point comparison as function of CO2 concentration in base composition at 366˚K: a) experimental vs. theoretical comparison; b) theoretical compressibility indicating dew point pressures.

a)

b)

12,000

17,000

22,000

27,000

32,000

37,000

42,000

47,000

52,000

0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2 2.2

Pres

sure

(kPa

)

Relative Volume

Base

10% CO2 in Base15% CO2 in Base

FIGURE 14: Theoretical relative volume of base condensate as function of CO2 at 366 K.

January 2016 • Volume 2 • Number 3 17

CANADIAN ENERGY TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION

phase. In addition to this, Monger et al. observed that CO2 has the ability to lower miscible pressures for paraffin fluids that do not contain large amounts of aromatic content. In terms of gas condensate systems, this means that CO2 forces the lighter end hydrocarbons into the CO2 rich phase. This is beneficial because the CO2 rich phase is a supercritical gas in typical reservoir con-ditions, implying that CO2 is lowering the hydrocarbon’s dew point pressure.

In terms of liquid compressibility, the Peng Robinson approxi-mation of the liquid saturation during CCE (Figure 16) gives an in-dication that there is less liquid dropout occurring as the amount of CO2 increases. With regard to production from gas condensate reservoirs, this is beneficial because it shows that increasing the CO2 concentration can decrease the maximum amount of liquid saturation that can occur in the reservoir.

Thermodynamic Justification of Using CO2

CO2 injection into condensate banks has a theoretical justifica-tion. Consider a wet gas above the dew point and a wet gas below the dew point. Gibbs free energy is a thermodynamic property that describes thermodynamic equilibrium. For a mixture, the change in Gibbs free energy is as follows(4):

∑= − + + µdG SdT Vdp dni ii .................................................................(24)

Where G is the Gibbs free energy, S is the entropy, V is the volume, T is the temperature, n is moles, µi is the chemical po-tential of component i. The chemical potential of component i is the rate of change of Gibbs free energy when moles are added at constant T and P at its current phase. At equilibrium between the liquid (subscript l) and vapour (subscript v) phases the change in Gibbs free energies are equal.

∑ ∑− + + µ

= − + + µ

SdT Vdp dn SdT Vdp dni ii l

i ii v ............................(25)

In addition to this the chemical potentials of each component in the mixture are equal at equilibrium and the transport of each species is equal therefore the expression can be reduced further.

− + = − + SdT Vdp SdT Vdpl v ............................................................(26)

( ) ( )− = −V V dp S S dTl v l v ....................................................................(27)

=dpdT

dSdV ..............................................................................................(28)

From the previous expression the right side’s numerator and denominator can be divided by the total number of moles, n, of the system. This leaves the expression to be a function of molar entropy, s, and molar volume, v.

=

∆= ∆

∆dpdT

SnVn

sv

....................................................................................(29)

The previous expression can be reduced to a useful form by using the definition of Gibbs free energy which is the expression, ∆g = ∆h – T∆s, where ∆h is the change in enthalpy. At equilibrium the difference in free energy between the two phases is 0 there-fore the change in molar entropy of the system is ∆s = ∆h/T. This reduces the previous expression into the following form.

= ∆∆

dpdT

hT v ............................................................................................(30)

0

0.05

0.1

0.15

0.2

0.25

0.3

0 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000

Liqu

id S

atur

atio

n

Pressure (kPa)

Base 10% CO2 in Base15% CO2 in Base

FIGURE 16: Peng Robinson liquid saturation of base condensate as function of CO2 at 366 K.

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

40,000

0 100 200 300 400 500 600

Pres

sure

(kPa

)

Temperature (K)

0

10

20

30

40

50

CO2 mol%

CriticalPoint

366 K isotherm

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

40,000

0 20 40 60 80 100

Pres

sure

(kPa

)

mol % CO2

FIGURE 15: Peng Robinson phase envelope of gas condensate as function of CO2 concentration: a) pressure temperature phase envelope; b) pressure composition phase envelope at 366 K.

a) b)

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CANADIAN ENERGY TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION

The previous expression is the Clausius-Clapeyron rela-tionship(4). Solving for the enthalpy term leaves the following expression.

∆ = −h RT Plncondensation dew ....................................................................(31)

Where Pdew is the dew point of the wet gas and ∆hcondensation is the heat of enthalpy due to condensation.

The impact of the heat of condensation expression can be un-derstood by considering a reservoir fluid that has been studied in literature. This fluid description can be seen in Table 9.

Adding CO2 to this wet gas shrinks the phase envelope and thus the dew point pressure for a corresponding reservoir tem-perature as indicated by Figure 17.

The dew point pressure (Table 10) of each phase envelope (shown by Figure 17) can be obtained using the Peng Robinson equation of state. From there, the enthalpy of condensation can be calculated. The enthalpy of condensation is illustrated in Figure 18.

The heat of condensation is a measure of the heat released in bringing a fluid from the gas phase to the liquid phase. An increase in the enthalpy of condensation corresponds to a gas having difficulty in condensing to a liquid. In the context of CO2’s interaction with wet gases, the increase in CO2 concentration re-sults in wet gas fluid having a greater difficulty of having liquid dropout. This concept is illustrated in Figure 18 and is the ther-modynamic justification of injecting CO2 to remove condensate blocking and for CO2 Enhanced Gas Recovery.

TABLE 9: Wet gas composition for compositional simulation(9).

zi Molecular Tc Pc Accentric Tb Zc Component (%mol) Weight (˚K) (kPa) Factor Vshift (˚K) SG (Visc) Pchor

N2 3.349 28.01 126 3,398 0.037 0.0009 77 0.2724 0.2918 59.1 CO2 1.755 44.01 304 7,374 0.225 0.2175 185 0.751 0.2743 80 H2S 0.529 34.08 373 8,963 0.09 0.1015 212 0.8085 0.2829 80.1 C1 83.265 16.04 191 4,599 0.011 0.0025 112 0.1398 0.2862 71 C2 5.158 30.07 305 4,872 0.099 0.0589 185 0.3101 0.2792 111 C3 1.907 44.1 370 4,248 0.152 0.0908 231 0.499 0.2763 151 iC4 0.409 58.12 408 3,640 0.186 0.1095 262 0.5726 0.282 188.8 nC4 0.699 58.12 425 3,796 0.2 0.1103 273 0.5925 0.2739 191 iC5 0.28 72.15 460 3,381 0.229 0.0977 301 0.6312 0.2723 227.4 nC5 0.28 72.15 470 3,370 0.252 0.1195 309 0.6375 0.2684 231 C6 0.39 82.32 513 3,387 0.2373 0.1341 337 0.7036 0.2703 232.6 C7 0.486 95.36 549 3,152 0.2714 0.1429 366 0.7367 0.265 263.9 C8 0.361 108.77 580 2,915 0.3094 0.1522 393 0.7594 0.2652 296.1 C9 0.266 121.9 608 2,689 0.35 0.1697 419 0.7761 0.2654 327.6 C10 0.201 134.78 633 2,494 0.39 0.1862 443 0.7896 0.2655 358.5 C11 0.153 147.59 655 2,324 0.4295 0.2018 465 0.8009 0.2657 389.2 C12 0.116 160.3 675 2,174 0.4684 0.2165 486 0.8107 0.2658 419.7 C13 0.089 172.91 694 2,043 0.5067 0.2302 505 0.8193 0.266 450 C14 0.068 185.42 711 1,926 0.5444 0.243 524 0.827 0.2661 480 C15 0.052 197.82 728 1,824 0.5814 0.2548 541 0.834 0.2662 509.8 C16 0.04 210.11 742 1,731 0.6178 0.2657 557 0.8404 0.2664 539.3 C17-19 0.073 233.39 768 1,581 0.6857 0.2843 587 0.8513 0.2666 595.1 C20-29 0.063 299.51 830 1,273 0.8712 0.3239 658 0.8764 0.2672 753.8 C30+ 0.012 477.34 898 1,156 1.0411 0.1154 728 0.9215 0.2677 1,180.6

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

40,000

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700

Pres

sure

(kPa

)

Temperature (K)

Reservoir Temperature is 220˚F = 378 K

1.75 16.9 28.9 37.9 44.9 50.4 83.6 98.1

CO2 mole %

CriticalPoint

FIGURE 17: Phase envelope of sample wet gas composition used for compositional simulation as function of CO2 concentration.

TABLE 10: Dew Point of sample wet gas used for compositional simulation as function of CO2 concentration at 378 K Dew Point Pressure mol% CO2 (kPa)

02 33,300 17 29,000 29 26,000 38 24,000 45 22,500 50 21,400 84 15,100

-20

-19.5

-19

-18.5

-18

-17.5

-17

-16.5

-16

-15.5

-15

0.00 0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80 1.00

Enth

alpy

of C

onde

nsat

ion

(kJ/

mol

)

CO2 mol Fraction in Wet Gas Sample

FIGURE 18: Enthalpy of condensation of sample wet gas used for compositional simulation as function of CO2 concentration at 378 K.

January 2016 • Volume 2 • Number 3 19

CANADIAN ENERGY TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION

ConclusionsThe general conclusions are the following:1. The isothermal compressibility method can be used to dis-

cern the onset of liquid saturation. This method relies on distinguishing between changes in slope in isothermal com-pressibility versus pressure plots. The isothermal com-pressibility method is dependent on the assumption that small amounts of liquid at the onset of condensation can cause increases in liquid isothermal compressibility, which conversely increases the total isothermal compressibility.

2. CO2 has the unique ability of reducing the dew point of gas condensates. This is evident when observing the experi-mental and Peng Robinson approximation of the relative volume. This is also evident when analyzing the Peng Rob-inson approximation of the pressure temperature diagram that illustrates that CO2 reduces the phase envelope.

3. CO2 can reduce liquid dropout. This is beneficial because it can reduce liquid blockage in the near well bore region for wet gas wells that have significant liquid drop out.

AcknowledgementsThis paper was made possible by NPRP grant # 4-007-2-002

from the Qatar National Research Fund (a member of Qatar Foundation). The statements made herein are solely the respon-sibility of the author.

NOMENCLATUREA = parameter in Standing correlationB = parameter in Standing correlationB(0) = virial equation coefficientB(1) = virial equation coefficientBr = virial equation parameterC = parameter in Standing correlationcG = gas compressibility, 1/kPacL = liquid compressibility, 1/kPacT = total isothermal compressibility, 1/kPaD = parameter in Standing correlationJ = parameter in Piper et al.(7) correlationK = parameter in Piper et al.(7) correlationmG = mass of the gas phase of the PVT cell, kgmL = mass of the liquid phase of the PVT cell, kgMWi = ith liquid component’s molecular weightp = pressure of the PVT cell, kPaPi = loading or working pressure of the ith component, kPaPpc = pseudo critical temperature, kPaPr = reduced pressurePt = pressure larger than the dew point pressure, kPafG = gas saturationfL = liquid saturationTpc = pseudo critical temperature, KTr = reduced temperatureTt = temperature used for the CCE experiments, KVG = gas volume, cm3

Vi = ith liquid component’s feed liquid volume, cm3

Vi = loading volume of the ith component, cm3

VL = liquid volume, cm3

Vt = total volume of the PVT cell, cm3

yi = ith component’s mole fraction in the gas condensate mixture

zG = compressibility factor of the gas phasezi = compressibility factor of the ith component

zt = total compressibility factor for condensate mixtureβf = parameter in Piper et al.(7) correlationγg, = specific gravity of the gas condensate sampleηf = parameter in Piper et al.(7) correlationρG = gas density in the PVT cell, kg/m3

ρi = ith liquid component’s density at standard conditions, kg/m3

ρL = liquid density in the PVT cell, kg/m3

ω = acentric factor of the componentG = Gibbs free energy, kJS = entropy, kJ/KV = volume, cm3 T = temperature, Kn = molesµi = the chemical potential of component i, kJ/mols = molar entropy, kJ/mol%Kv = molar volume, cm3/molh = molar enthalpy, kJ/molg = molar gibbs free energy, kJ/moll = subscript for liquid phasev = subscript for vapour phase∆ = changeR = ideal gas constant, J/mol%K z = compressibility factorPdew = dew point pressure of the wet gas, kPa∆hcondensation = heat of enthalpy due to condensation, kJ/mol

REFERENCES 1. SIVARAMAN, A., HU, Y., THOMAS, F.B., BENNION, D.B. and JAM-

ALUDDIN, A.K.M., Acoustic Dew Point and Bubble Point Detector for Gas Condensates and Reservoir Fluids; Paper CIM 97-80, Petro-leum Society of Canada, 1997.

2. POTSCH, K.T. and BRAEUER, L., A Novel Graphical Method for Determining Dewpoint Pressures of Gas Condensates; Paper SPE 36919 presented at the European Petroleum Conference, Milan, Italy, 22-24 October 1996.

3. MCCAIN, W.D., The Properties of Petroleum Fluids; Second Edi-tion, PennWell Books, 1990.

4. WINNICK, J., Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics; John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1997.

5. POLING, B., PRAUSNITZ, J. and O’CONNELL, J., The Properties of Gases and Liquids; Fifth Edition, McGraw-Hill, 2001.

6. CRONQUIST, C., Estimation and Classification of Reserves of Crude Oil, Natural Gas, and Condensate; Society of Petroleum Engi-neers, 2001.

7. PIPER, L.D., MCCAIN, W.D. and HOLDITCH, S.A., Compressibility Factors for Naturally Occurring Petroleum Gases; Paper SPE 26668 presented at the 68th Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, Houston, TX, 3-6 October 1993.

8. MONGER, T.G. and KHAKOO, A., The Phase Behaviour of CO2- Appalachian Oil Systems; Paper SPE 10269 presented at the 56th Annual Fall Technical Conference and Exhibition, San Antonio, TX, 5-7 October 1981.

9. WHITSON, C.H. and KUNTADI, A., Khuff Gas Condensate Devel-opment; Paper IPTC 10692 presented at the International Petroleum Technology Conference, Doha, Qatar, 21-23 November 2005.

AppendixDerivation of Total Compressibility

The following is derivation of the mass balance version of the total isothermal compressibility expressed in Equation (2). This derivation starts with the total isothermal compressibility defini-tion expressed in Equation (A.1) (Figure 19) and uses the ma-terial balance between the liquid and gas phases [Equations (A.2) through Equations (A.19)] at an isothermal temperature,

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CANADIAN ENERGY TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION

T, to come up with the final expression seen in Equation (A.20) (Figure 20).

= −∂∂

c

V

V

p1

Tt

t

................................................................................... (A.1)

The total volume is the sum of the volume of each phase as ex-pressed in the following equation.

= +V V Vt G L ........................................................................................ (A.2)

The total mass is the sum of the mass of each phase as ex-pressed in the following expression.

= +m m mt G L ...................................................................................... (A.3)

For a constant composition expansion (CCE), the total mass is constant. Therefore, when differentiating the total mass with re-spect to pressure results in the following expression.

`=

∂∂

+∂∂

m

p

m

p0 G L

................................................................................. (A.4)

The volumes of each phase can be put in terms of density and mass using the following expressions.

Vm

GG

G ............................................................................................ (A.5)

Vm

LL

L ............................................................................................. (A.6)

Equations (A.5) and (A.6) substituted into Equation (A.2) re-sults in the following expression for the total volume.

Vm m

tG

G

L

L ..................................................................................... (A.7)

The total volume expressed by Equation (A.7) differentiated with respect to pressure results in the expression described in Equation (A.8).

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

40,000

45,000

20 22 24 26 28 30 32

Pres

sure

(kPa

)

Volume (cm3)

Base Composition

FIGURE 19: CCE isotherm for base case at 366 K.

∂∂

= −ρ

∂ρ∂

∂∂

−ρ

∂ρ∂

∂∂

V

p

m

p

m

p

m

p

m

p1 1t G

G

G

G

G L

L

L

L

L2 2

............................... (A.8)

Equation (A.8) can be further simplified by solving for the change in mass with respect to pressure in Equation (A.4).

∂∂

= −∂∂

m

p

m

pL G

..................................................................................... (A.9)

Substituting Equation (A.9) into Equation (A.8) results in Equation (A.10).

∂∂

= −ρ

∂ρ∂

∂∂

−ρ

∂ρ∂

−ρ

∂∂

V

p

m

p

m

p

m

p

m

p1 1t G

G

G

G

G L

L

L

L

G2 2

............................. (A.10)

Equations (A.5) and (A.6) can be used to further simply Equa-tion (A.10) into the following expression.

∂∂

= −ρ

∂ρ∂

∂∂

−ρ

∂ρ∂

−ρ

∂∂

V

p

V

p

m

p

V

p

m

p1 1t G

G

G

G

G L

L

L

L

G

................................ (A.11)

The definition of gas and oil compressibility as illustrated in Equations (A.12) and (A.13) respectively can be used to further simplify Equation (A.11) into Equation (A.14).

∂ρ∂

c

p1

GG

G

................................................................................. (A.12)

∂ρ∂

c

p1

LL

L

.................................................................................. (A.13)

∂∂

= − +ρ

∂∂

− −ρ

∂∂

V

pV c

m

pV c

m

p1 1t

G GG

GL L

L

G

........................................ (A.14)

Equation (A.14) can be further simplified by grouping density terms with the change in gas mass with respect to pressure as il-lustrated in Equation (A.15).

∂∂

= − − +ρ

−ρ

∂∂

V

pV c V c

m

p1 1t

G G L LG L

G

............................................. (A.15)

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

40,000

45,000

50 60 70 80 90 100

Pres

sure

(kPa

)

Volume (cm3)

10% CO2 in Base: Pressure vs. Volume at 366 K

FIGURE 20: CCE isotherm for 10% CO2 in base case at 366 K.

January 2016 • Volume 2 • Number 3 21

CANADIAN ENERGY TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION

Equation (A.15) can be substituted into Equation (A.1) to create Equation (A.16).

= − − − +ρ

−ρ

∂∂

cV

V c V cm

p1 1 1

Tt

G G L LG L

G

................................... (A.16)

Equation (A.16) can be further simplified into Equation (A.17).

= + +ρ

−ρ

∂∂

c

V

Vc

V

Vc

V

m

p1 1 1

TG

tG

L

tL

t L G

G

........................................ (A.17)

Using the definition of oil and gas saturation, represented by Equations (A.18) and (A.19), Equation (A.17) can be further sim-plified to Equation (A.20).

=fV

VGG

t ........................................................................................... (A.18)

=fV

VLL

t ............................................................................................ (A.19)

= + +ρ

−ρ

∂∂

c c f c f

V

m

p1 1 1

T G G L Lt L G

G

.......................................... (A.20)

CETI 14-045. Experimental Investigation of Wet Gas Dew Point Pressure Change with Carbon Dioxide Concentration. CETI January 2016 2(3): pp. 9-21. Submitted 26 April 2014; Revised 27 June 2015; Accepted 21 January 2016.

Dr. Uchenna Odi is a Research Scientist at ENI Petroleum and a Visiting Scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on behalf of ENI. He holds a B.S. degree in chemical engineering from the University of Oklahoma, in addition to M.S. and Ph.D. de-grees in petroleum engineering from Texas A&M University. His interests are in opti-mization algorithms, risk analysis, emulsion systems, enhanced oil recovery, CO2 seques-tration and reservoir fluids.

Dr. Anuj Gupta is currently a Petroleum Engineering Consultant at Aramco Research Center-Houston. Prior to that, for 21 years he was a member of various petroleum en-gineering faculties at various universities in-cluding Texas A&M at Qatar, University of Oklahoma and Louisiana State University. He earned M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in pe-troleum engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and is a registered Profes-sional Engineer.

Dr. Hicham El Hajj is principal scientist at Halliburton Technology Center-Saudi Arabia. He joined Halliburton in 2013 and he is team lead of the acidizing and corrosion and scaling team.  Dr. El Hajj received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in biochemistry and his Ph.D. degree in material sciences from the School of Mines, France. He worked as a researcher in the G2R laboratory in France, as well as for Texas A&M University at Qatar.

Authors’ Biographies