Applicability Analysis of Klinkenberg Slip Theory in the Measurement of Tight Core Permeability

Abstract

The Klinkenberg slippage theory has widely been used to obtain gas permeability in low-permeability porous media. However, recent research shows that there is a deviation from the Klinkenberg slippage theory for tight reservoir cores under low-pressure conditions. In this research, a new experimental device was designed to carry out the steady-state gas permeability test with high pressure and low flowrate. The results show that, unlike regular low-permeability cores, the permeability of tight cores is not a constant value, but a variate related to a fluid-dynamic parameter (flowrate). Under high-pressure conditions, the relationship between flowrate and apparent permeability of cores with low permeability is consistent with Klinkenberg slippage theory, while the relationship between flowrate and apparent permeability of tight cores is contrary to Klinkenberg slip theory. The apparent permeability of tight core increases with increasing flowrate under high-pressure conditions, and it is significantly lower than the Klinkenberg permeability predicted by Klinkenberg slippage theory. The difference gets larger when the flowrate becomes lower (back pressure increases and pressure difference decreases). Therefore, the Klinkenberg permeability which is obtained by the Klinkenberg slippage theory by using low-pressure experimental data will cause significant overestimation of the actual gas seepage capacity in the tight reservoir. In order to evaluate the gas seepage capacity in a tight reservoir precisely, it is necessary to test the permeability of the tight cores directly at high pressure and low flowrate.