Getting Done with OLGA Input

in PVTsim Nova

Getting Done with OLGA Input

This document describes a fast track to preparing OLGA PVT tables. It is intended to give new PVTsim
Nova users a fast route to generating OLGA PVT input. The OLGA interface can be accessed by clicking
the OLGA drop-down menu on the Interfaces tab and selecting OLGA Tab.
If the fluid composition for which an OLGA fluid table is to be made is already stored in the PVTsim Nova
fluid database, it can be selected for generating an OLGA table. Otherwise start by entering the
composition.
On the OLGA menu, if the fluid composition is already selected in PVTsim Nova, the checkbox next to
Use Selected fluid is selected, and this fluid is used to generate the OLGA tab file. In order to select a
different fluid(s) from the database, uncheck the checkbox for Use Selected Fluid and select the desired
fluid from the drop-down menu, or use the Add Fluid button to select multiple fluids.
Input of Composition

Water free composition

Whenever possible, it is recommended to take the composition from a PVT report. PVT labs report the
compositions as plus fraction compositions. When entering a new plus fluid composition in PVTsim the
default is the classical input type. For example, in the table below, a C10+ fluid is reported. The C10+
fraction contains C10 components and higher. PVTsim Nova will split up the C10+ fraction into pseudo-
components and will estimate all the components properties needed to afterwards make an OLGA fluid
property table.

Example of plus fraction composition.

Component Mol% Mol Wgt Density (g/cm3)
N2 0.546
CO2 2.826
C1 55.565
C2 8.594
C3 5.745
iC4 1.009
nC4 2.435
iC5 0.895
nC5 1.24
C6 1.581
C7 2.552 91.5 0.738
C8 2.747 101.2 0.765
C9 1.699 119.1 0.781
C10+ 12.564 254.9 0.870

More plus fluid input options are described in the Getting Started PVTsim Nova 6 document.

The OLGA user may alternatively have the composition in an already characterized form, which type of
composition may look like the one in the table below. Such a composition is entered as described in the
Getting Done with Input of Characterized Compositions document.
If a composition has already been selected before opening the OLGA input window, this composition will
be the default choice and there is no need to select a fluid composition locally unless a different
composition or more compositions are wanted.
Example of already characterized composition.
Component Mol% Density Tc Pc
Mol Wgt 
(g(cm3) (C) (bara)
N2 0.546 28.014 -146.95 33.94 0.040
CO2 2.826 44.010 31.05 73.76 0.225
C1 55.566 16.043 -82.55 46.00 0.008
C2 8.594 30.070 32.25 48.84 0.098
C3 5.745 44.097 96.65 42.46 0.152
IC4 1.009 58.124 134.95 36.48 0.176
NC4 2.435 58.124 152.05 38.00 0.193
IC5 0.895 72.151 187.25 33.84 0.227
NC5 1.24 72.151 196.45 33.74 0.251
C6 1.581 86.178 234.25 29.69 0.296
Pseudo_1 9.487 112.013 0.7723 293.622 28.75 0.5232
Pseudo_2 4.881 193.605 0.8323 392.521 18.80 0.7437
Pseudo_3 3.273 294.377 0.8772 483.08 15.43 0.9794
Pseudo_4 1.921 492.051 0.9357 638.351 13.85 1.2555

Water and Inhibitors

Water and hydrate inhibitors may be entered in the Fluid Composition menu by selecting the appropriate
component from the components list in the Fluid View screen. These components may alternatively be
entered locally in the OLGA interface menu. This is often more convenient as it makes it easy to generate
OLGA fluid tables for varying water cuts and/or varying amounts of hydrate inhibitor.
If the fluid selected already contains water, the Produced Water fields will be disabled. Otherwise the
amount of water phase may be entered as either:
• %Water cut
Water volume% of the total liquid at standard conditions. If the water contains salts, the entered
salt concentrations are for the water phase at standard conditions.

• Mol produced water/mol feed

Feed refers to the selected fluid.

• Mole% of feed + produced water

Feed refers to the selected fluid.

• Weight% of feed + produced water

Feed refers to the selected fluid.
Hydrate inhibitors may optionally be specified. If the selected fluid contains inhibitors, the Inhibitor
Specification fields are disabled. The inhibitor amount may otherwise be specified as
• Mol inhibitor/mol produced water
• Mole% of produced water+inh(ibitor)
• Mass inhib(itor)/mass produced water
• Weight% of produced water+inh(ibitor)

The Produced Water is input water, not equilibrium water phase. Note that the inhibitor can contain water
if it is not 100% water free.

Water Phase Salinity

The salinity of a water phase may be input as mg/l. If a water phase exists at a given pressure and
temperature, the density and viscosity of the water phase will be calculated considering the specified
salinity. The salinity will not be considered when adding molar or weight amounts of Produced Water and
it will not influence phase amounts and compositions. If salinity is input, it is not possible to input salt
components in the fluid.

Water Properties
The properties of a possible water phase may either be calculated using the selected equation of state (EoS)
and Polar models or using a Water Package. The Water Package is the more accurate for pure water while
it is inappropriate for mixtures containing a hydrate inhibitor as for example methanol or glycol. For such
mixtures it is recommended to use the PC-SAFT equation, which will give better results than both the
Water Package and the selected cubic EoS. Water densities and viscosities will be corrected for a possible
salt content no matter whether the EoS, Water Package or PC-SAFT equation is selected.

Pure Components
PVTsim Nova should not be used to generate OLGA tables for fluids consisting of only a pure component.
This is because the vapor phase fraction cannot be determined from pressure and temperature when
crossing or following the vapor pressure curve.
P & T input

Equidistant
Enter the minimum and maximum pressures and temperatures to be covered in the table and the number of
pressure and temperature tabulation points (2-200). The OLGA table will cover the entered pressure and
temperature range and write out a property table equidistant in P and T and containing the number of P and
T points entered.

Alternative P&T input

Leave the input fields for Pressure and Temperature blank or click <Clear> to blank the fields. Unselect the
option for IntelliGrid, and select the option for Specific Pressure and Temperature. Enter the pressure and
temperature points to be covered in the OLGA table. The Table will cover all combinations of pressure and
temperature entered by the user. The numbers of pressure and temperature entries do not have to be the
same.

Intelligent Grid
Checking the field IntelliGrid will make it possible to make a table with non-equidistant points in pressure
and temperature. This option works with 50-200 points in both pressure and temperature. Enter a grid
factor >1 to make a tighter net in the P&T region with two hydrocarbon phases (inside phase envelope)
than in the P&T region with only one hydrocarbon phase. The higher the grid factor the tighter the grid
inside the phase envelope. Legal entries for the grid factor are 1-10. Enter the minimum and maximum
pressures and temperatures in the P&T fields.

Standard Conditions
Fixed standard pressure (1 atm) and standard temperature (288.710K) are automatically inserted in the
pressure and temperature grid if standard temperature or pressure is within the specified pressure and
temperature grid boundaries.

The standard conditions used in the table are equal to those used in OLGA irrespective of the universal
standard conditions set under Tools and Settings in PVTsim. If standard temperature and standard pressure
are inserted, the table is always returned as non-equidistant. Standard temperature and standard pressure
will be inserted if they are not explicitly contained in the pressure-temperature specification entered by the
user. If a 50x50 table is specified by the user and standard temperature or standard pressure need to be
inserted, the table dimensions are reduced by 1 in the temperature direction, or the pressure direction or
both directions before calculating the location of the remaining temperature and pressure points.
Extrapolated Properties
OLGA requires properties of all phases (gas, liquid and possibly water) for all tabulation points. At
conditions where a phase is missing, artificial properties are generated by extrapolation using the value of
the property and the pressure derivative of the property at the phase boundary.
Determining a property for a non-existing phase does not make sense from a strict thermodynamic point of
view, and problems with these properties occasionally occur. If a problem occurs with a PVT property and
it is for an artificial phase, it may often be sufficient to replace the erroneous value by something that looks
reasonable based on the properties in a region where that phase actually exists. It is generally recommended
to compare the PT grid to the phase envelope of the fluid in case problems with PVT properties occur, as
illustrated in the figure below.

Comparing PT grid to phase envelope

The OLGA Data Plotting Tool is also available to plot all phase property data from an OLGA table file and
help identify trends between existing and non-existing phase properties in the table. If illegal/non-
numerical values are present in the OLGA Tab file, the total number of illegal/non-numerical values will
appear in the “Summary for Fluid” frame below the 3D plot and the button <Correct all illegal values> will
be activated. To identify the properties for which illegal values are occurring, click the <Details…>
button. Illegal values can be corrected all at once by clicking the <Correct all illegal values>
button. Alternatively, it is possible to view each property on the 3D plot and correct illegal values
individually for each property using the “Summary” frame to the left of the “Summary for Fluid” frame.
Output Table
Click <Output File> to specify the OLGA fluid table file name. It must have the extension *.TAB. This file
extension is automatically added if not entered.

The OLGA interface option supports two OLGA fluid table formats.

Two phase
The two phases considered are gas and liquid. The liquid phase may consist of oil, water or oil + water. If
both oil and water are present, the output liquid properties are average properties of oil and water.

If the mixture contains water, it is possible by checking Emulsion to have water-in-oil emulsion viscosities
output for the liquid. The emulsion viscosity is by default calculated using a correlation of Rønningsen,
which requires no further input. Alternatively, a correlation of Pal and Rhodes may be used. It requires
input of an experimental data point for the water volume fraction and the corresponding relative viscosity
(emulsion viscosity/viscosity of water-free oil). Inversion point specifies the volume fraction of water for
which the emulsion changes from a water-in-oil emulsion to an oil-in-water emulsion.

Three phase
This option will only be accessible if the fluid contains aqueous components. The output table gives
properties of gas, oil and water (aqueous).

Table Format
Two table formats are supported:

• Key (keyword based format, default)

• Fixed (fixed format)

An identifying text must be entered in the Fluid Label field if Key format is selected.
OLGA Network
Fluid files consisting of multiple compositions may be generated. The input specifications for Fluid 1 are
entered in the current fluid sheet. For additional fluids, click the Add Fluid button in the bottom left of the
menu. This opens a new frame for Fluid 2. Select the fluid using the dropdown panel on the top. Enter the
input required to generate OLGA file for fluid 2. These steps should be repeated for the number of fluids to
be included in the OLGA network.
The Fluid Label field must be filled out with an identifying text for each fluid.
The output table supports the OLGA network format.