An efficient correlation for calculating compressibility factor of natural gases

Compressibility factor (z-factor) values of natural gases are necessary in most petroleum engineering calculations. Necessity arises when there are few available experimental data for the required composition, pressure and temperature conditions. One of the most common methods of calculating z-factor values is empirical correlation. Firstly, a new correlation based on the famous Standing-Katz (S-K) Chart is presented to predict z-factor values. The advantage of this correlation is that it is explicit in z and thus does not require an iterative solution as is required by other methods. Secondly, the comparison between new one and other correlations is carried out and the results indicate the superiority of the new correlation over the other correlations used to calculate z-factor.