ABSTRACT
Direct experimental measurement to determine relative permeability of porous rock has long been recorded in petroleum related literature. However, empirical methods for determining relative permeability are becoming more widely used, particularly with the advent of digital reservoir simulators. Capillary models ignore the interconnected nature of porous media and frequently do not provide realistic results. The hydrodynamic laws generally bear little use in the solution of problems concerning single-phase fluid flow through porous media, let alone multiphase fluid flow, due to the complexity of the porous system. Fatt and Dykstra developed an expression for relative permeability following the basic method of Purcell for calculating the permeability of a porous medium. They considered a lithology factor to be a function of saturation. Corey combined the work of Purcell arid Burdine into a form that has considerable utility and is widely accepted for its simplicity.
