Experimental research of critical condensate saturation and flow characteristics of gas condensate reservoir

The critical condensate saturation is a key parameter to reflect condensate flow capacity. The authors propose an experimental method to determine the critical condensate saturation and analyze the flow characteristics of gas condensate by coreflooding and chromatography. Using this method, they perform two sets of experiments with real-core of a gas condensate reservoir and a binary mixture fluid of methane and n-pentane under 84 degrees C. Experimental results show that the critical condensate saturation is 3.04% and 4.66% when irreducible water saturation is 40% and 27%, respectively. The results also indicate porous media will raise the dew point pressure. The irreducible water and capillary number effect is conducive to the flow of condensate. Based on experimental researches, the authors theoretically analyze the distribution and mobilization characteristics of condensate. Although critical condensate saturation is low, it doesn't mean the condensate will be able to flow freely when it achieves the value, and condensate saturation will continue to increase. Compositional simulation is performed to demonstrate that the critical condensate saturation is low, which is important for the high effective development of a gas condensate reservoir.