Methods and apparatus for the downhole characterization of formation fluids

• Main Authors: ELSHAHAWI HANI, POP JULIAN, GOODWIN ANTHONY, JIANG LI, RAMAKRISHNAN TERIZHANDUR S, BETANCOURT SORAYA S, FUJISAWA GO, MULLINS OLIVER C
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 12.10.2006
• Subjects: ARRANGEMENT OF BRAKING ELEMENTS ON VEHICLES IN GENERAL; BRAKE CONTROL SYSTEMS OR PARTS THEREOF, IN GENERAL; DETECTING MASSES OR OBJECTS; EARTH DRILLING; EARTH DRILLING, e.g. DEEP DRILLING; FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS; GEOPHYSICS; GRAVITATIONAL MEASUREMENTS; INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIRCHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES; MEASURING; MINING; OBTAINING OIL, GAS, WATER, SOLUBLE OR MELTABLE MATERIALS OR ASLURRY OF MINERALS FROM WELLS; PERFORMING OPERATIONS; PHYSICS; PORTABLE DEVICES FOR PREVENTING UNWANTED MOVEMENT OFVEHICLES; TESTING; TRANSPORTING; VEHICLE BRAKE CONTROL SYSTEMS OR PARTS THEREOF; VEHICLE MODIFICATIONS TO FACILITATE COOLING OF BRAKES; VEHICLES IN GENERAL

Methods and apparatus for investigating a hydrocarbon bearing geological formation traversed by a borehole are disclosed. A borehole tool is used to acquire a sample of fluid in the formation. Compositional analysis of the fluid sample is conducted to provide a determination of the composition of the sample. The sample composition is then related to a model of the thermodynamic behavior of the fluid; i.e., the mass fractions of the fluid components are used as inputs to an equation of state (EOS) to predict the phase behavior of the fluid.