METU NCC

DEPARTMENT OF PETROLEUM AND

NATURAL GAS ENGINEERING

PNGE 216: Reservoir Rock and Fluid

Properties
Pore Compressibility

Name: Ismail Morsy

ID: 2042299
Date: 22/4/2015
Assistant: Jores N. Dongmo

Aim of the experiment

To determine the compressibility of a core plug of known diameter using an
apparatus called a hydraulic confiner.
Apparatus
Core Plug
Hydraulic confiner
Hand pump
Ruler
Rubber Sleeve
Procedure
At first, we placed a core plug of known diameter in the rubber sleeve in a manner
that allows it to fit seamlessly into the rubber sleeve such that there is no empty
space between the core plug and the walls of the sleeve. If the core plug diameter is
less than that of the sleeve, then this situation could be achieved by using Teflon to
fill the space between the edges of the core plug and the sleeve. This had to be
ensured in order to rule out the possibility of fluid accumulation in that empty
space. A metal cover was fitted to the bottom of the rubber sleeve and the sleeve
was immersed and filled with water to make sure that there would be no fluid
contained in the sample whilst applying pressure, which would make us unable to
see the fluid coming out of the hydraulic confiner. After controlling the previously
mentioned potential problems such there that would be no disturbance during the
rest of the procedure, the core plug was inserted in the confiner and the confiner
was closed tightly. The confiner consisted of a metal pipe that was straightly linked
to the top cover in order to separate the core plug from the hydraulic oil. The
confiner was closed tightly to prevent any contact between its inner pressure and
the outer atmospheric pressure. A valve on the confiner was opened and we were
allowed to exert pressure on the core plug using a hand pump. After increasing the
pressure, the oil flow started to become more continuous, which allowed us to infer
that there was no more air left inside the confiner. After reaching the level of steady
flow, we closed the valve leading to the container to be filled for oil so no pressure
reading could yet be inferred. We then continued pumping to increase the pressure,
and the pressure increase came out in the form of expelled oil from the pores of the
core plug, which we read using the ruler. This represented the pore volume of the
core plug.

Figure 1-Hydraulic confiner with hand pump

Measurements
Pressure (psi)

Length of oil in
column (cm)
(also illustrated in cc
as volume)

350

11.3 cm (0.70625 cc)

630

14.1 cm (0.88125 cc)

1000 psi

17.1 cm (1.06875 cc)

1600 psi

20 cm (1.25 cc)

2100 psi

22.9 cm (1.43125 cc)

2600 psi

25.7 cm (1.60625 cc)

2850 psi

29.4 cm (1.8375 cc)

Porosity = 30%
Bulk Volume = 76.569 cc

volume vs. pressure (cc vs .psi)

2
f(x) = 0x + 0.6
R = 0.98

1.5

Volume (cc)

Linear ()

0.5
0
0

1000

2000

3000

Pressure (psi)

Figure 2-Volume vs. Pressure chart

compressibility=

d ( porosity)
1

=1.33 105
porosity d ( pressure)

Results and Discussion

In this experiment, we learned how to determine the pore volume in yet a new way,
which may be deemed as convenient and more accurate. We also use this aspect in
calculating the pore compressibility, which is a very important reservoir rock
property.