Engineering Research - Permeability Studies of Pennsylvania Oil Sands

The permeability of an oil or gas sand is its capacity for transmitting fluids, either liquids or gases, under pressure. The permeability of a sand depends upon the size and shape of the openings in it and the extent to which these communicate with one another, as well as upon the ratio of their volume to the total volume of the sand. The apparatus employed and the method of procedure used by the authors in conducting the permeability tests have been described in a previous pub1ication.l For the tests described here 1/2-in. cubes were used. They were set in the lower end of a 1-in. union, inserted in a square hole cut in a hard rubber stopper which fitted into the lower end of the union. In the tests with air, volumes were measured with a wet American gas meter of 100 cu. ft. capacity. In those with water, distilled water at room temperature was employed, unless otherwise noted. DescRiption of Sands Tested The tests described in this paper were performed upon 18 samples representing typical oil and gas sands from 7 localities in northwestern Pennsylvania. For purposes of identification, the cores from which the samples came have been designated by capital letters, the sequence of the samples in the cores by numerals, and the individual cubes by small letters. All cubes from the same samples came from adjacent portions parallel to the bedding. Core A of the Bradford sand came from the north central part of the Bradford field, from an area where water-flooding operations have proved highly successful. Core B of the same sand was obtained from the southern part of the field. This core contained a so-called "loose streak," 7.5 ft. thick, in the middle portion of which B2 is a representative sample. The "loose streak" has given trouble in water-flooding but responded favorably to an air-drive, using a pressure of 300 lb. The natural production was increased approximately five times over a period of three years in which the air-drive was in operation. Core C, also of the Brad-