Prediction of formation water properties using a novel predictive tool approach and Vandermonde matrix

Production of wet crude due to the raise in oil-water contact in many oil fields has been a growing field problem and consequently production of salty wet crude affects the quality of crudes. In this work a simple method using Arrhenius-type function and Vandermonde matrix is presented for estimation of formation water properties for temperatures above 30 °C and salt contents between 5 and 25% by mass. Estimations are found to be in excellent agreement with the reliable data in the literature with average absolute deviation varying between 0.08 to 2.7%. The method developed in this study is of immense practical value for petroleum engineers and practice engineers for a quick check on the formation water properties at various conditions without opting for any experimental measurements. In particular chemical and petroleum engineers would find the proposed approach to be user-friendly with transparent calculations involving no complex expressions.