Distribution of the Oil Phase Obtained Upon Imbibition of Water

1964 ◽  
Vol 4 (01) ◽  
pp. 49-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pietro Raimondi ◽  
Michael A. Torcaso

Abstract The distribution of the oil phase in Berea sandstone resulting from increasing and decreasing the water saturation by imbibition was investigated Three types of distribution were recognized: trapped, normal and lagging. The amount of oil in each of these distributions was determined as a function of saturation by carrying out a miscible displacement in the oil phase under steady-state conditions of saturation. These conditions were maintained by flowing water and oil simultaneously in given ratios and by using a displacing solvent having essentially the same density and viscosity as the oil.A correlation shows the amount of trapped oil at any saturation to be directly proportional to the conventional residual oil saturation Sir The factor of proportionality is related to the fractional permeability to the water phase. Part of the oil which was not trapped was displaced in a piston- like manner (normal part) and part was eluted gradually (lagging part). The observed phenomena are more than of mere academic importance. Oil which is trapped may well provide the fuel essential for forward combustion and thus be beneficial. On the contrary, in tertiary recovery operations, it is this trapped oil which seems to make current techniques uneconomic. Introduction A typical oilfield may initially contain connate water and oil. After a period of primary production water often enters the field either from surrounding aquifers or from surface injection. During primary production evolution and establishment of a free gas saturation usually occurs. The effect and importance of this third phase is fully recognized. However, this investigation is limited to a two- phase system, one wetting phase (water) and one non-wetting phase (oil). The increase in water content of a water-wet system is termed imbibition. In a relative permeability-saturation diagram such as the one shown in Fig. 1, the initial conditions of the field would he represented by a point below a water saturation of about 35 per cent, i.e., where the imbibition and the drainage curves to the non-wetting phase nearly coincide. When water enters the field the relative permeability to oil decreases along the imbibition curve. At watered-out conditions the relative permeability to the oil becomes zero. At this point a considerable amount of oil, called residual oil, (about 35 per cent in Fig. 1) remains unrecovered. Any attempt to produce this oil will require that its saturation be increased. In Fig. 1 this would mean retracing the imbibition curve upwards. In addition, processes like alcohol and fire flooding, which can be employed at any stage of production, involve the complete displacement of connate water and an increase, or imbibition, of water saturation ahead of the displacing front. Thus, in several types of oil production it is the imbibition-relative permeability curve which rules the flow behavior. For this reason a knowledge of the distribution of the non-wetting phase, as obtained through imbibition, whether "coming down" or "going up" on the imbibition curve, is important. SPEJ P. 49^

1970 ◽  
Vol 10 (01) ◽  
pp. 75-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
F.N. Schneider ◽  
W.W. Owens

Abstract Three-phase relative permeability characteristics applicable to various oil displacement processes in the reservoir such as combustion and alternate gas-water injection were determined on both outcrop and reservoir core samples. Steady-state and nonsteady-state tests were performed on a variety of sandstone and carbonate core samples having different wetting properties. Some of the tests were performed on preserved samples. Some of the three-phase tests were performed on samples that contained two flowing phases and a third nonflowing phase, either gas or oil. These were classed as three-phase flow tests because the third phase played an important role in the flow behavior which was determined. The three-phase relative permeability test results are directly compared with the results of two-phase gas-oil and water-oil test. Wetting-phase relative permeability was found to be primarily dependent on its own saturation, i.e., relative permeability to the wetting phase during three-phase flow was in agreement with and could be predicted from the tow-phase data. Nonwetting-phase relative permeability-saturation relationships were found to be more complex and to depend in some cases on the saturation history of both nonwetting phases and on the saturation ratio of the second nonwetting phase and the wetting phases. Trapping of a given nonwetting phase or mutual flow interference between the two nonwetting phases when both are flowing accounts for most of the low relative permeabilities observed for three-phase flow tests. However, in special cases nonwetting-phase relative permeabilities at a given saturation are higher than those given by two-phase flow data. Despite these complexities some types of three-phase flow behavior can be predicted from two-phase flow data. Through its effect on the spatial distribution of the phases, wettability is shown to be a controlling factor in determining three-phase relative permeability characteristics. however, despite the importance of wettability the present data shown that for both water-wet and oil-wet systems oil recovery can be improved by several different injection processes, but the additional oil recovery is accompanied by lower fluid mobility. Introduction The increasing emphasis on optimizing recovery and the rapid and extensive development and use of mathematical modes for predicting reservoir performance are together creating a widespread need for reliable basic data on rock flow behavior. The two-phase imbibition or drainage flow relationships common to conventional oil recovery processes (depletion, gas or water injection, gravity drainage) are not applicable to some of the newer secondary and tertiary recovery techniques. This is because the reservoir displacement process may differ from that easily simulated in laboratory relative permeability studies. in some situations, data are needed fro a three-phase system where almost any combination of two fluids or even all three fluids may be flowing. In other, however, only two flowing phases are present, but the saturation history of the system is unique. Leverett and Lewis were the first to collect experimental relative permeability data on a three-phase system. Corey et al. were similarly leaders in efforts to define three-phase flow relationships using empirical approaches. Space does not permit a critical review of these earlier works. For those interested, a recent article by Saraf and Fatt provides a brief discussion of the experimental techniques used by earlier investigators. Suffice it to say that both experimental and empirical approaches have been used, but the applicability of both has been limited because in only one case have three-phase relative permeability data been obtained on reservoir rock material. SPEJ P. 75ˆ


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Filipe Smith Buarque ◽  
Cleide Mara Faria Soares ◽  
Ranyere Lucena de Souza ◽  
Matheus Mendonça Pereira ◽  
Álvaro Silva Lima

Two-phase water-free systems containing high ethanol content in the coexisting phases can selectively partition hydrophobic molecules from natural biomass.


1985 ◽  
Vol 25 (06) ◽  
pp. 945-953 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark A. Miller ◽  
H.J. Ramey

Abstract Over the past 20 years, a number of studies have reported temperature effects on two-phase relative permeabilities in porous media. Some of the reported results, however, have been contradictory. Also, observed effects have not been explained in terms of fundamental properties known to govern two-phase flow. The purpose of this study was to attempt to isolate the fundamental properties affecting two-phase relative permeabilities at elevated temperatures. Laboratory dynamic-displacement relative permeability measurements were made on unconsolidated and consolidated sand cores with water and a refined white mineral oil. Experiments were run on 2-in. [5.1-cm] -diameter, 20-in. [52.-cm] -long cores from room temperature to 300F [149C]. Unlike previous researchers, we observed essentially no changes with temperature in either residual saturations or relative permeability relationships. We concluded that previous results may have been affected by viscous previous results may have been affected by viscous instabilities, capillary end effects, and/or difficulties in maintaining material balances. Introduction Interest in measuring relative permeabilities at elevated temperatures began in the 1960's with petroleum industry interest in thermal oil recovery. Early thermal oil recovery field operations (well heaters, steam injection, in-situ combustion) indicated oil flow rate increases far in excess of what was predicted by viscosity reductions resulting from heating. This suggested that temperature affects relative permeabilities. One of the early studies of temperature effects on relative permeabilities was presented by Edmondson, who performed dynamic displacement measurements with crude performed dynamic displacement measurements with crude and white oils and distilled water in Berea sandstone cores. Edmondson reported that residual oil saturations (ROS's) (at the end of 10 PV's of water injected) decreased with increasing temperature. Relative permeability ratios decreased with temperature at high water saturations but increased with temperature at low water saturations. A series of elevated-temperature, dynamic-displacement relative permeability measurements on clean quartz and "natural" unconsolidated sands were reported by Poston et al. Like Edmondson, Poston et al. reported a decrease in the "practical" ROS (at less than 1 % oil cut) as temperature increased. Poston et al. also reported an increase in irreducible water saturation. Although irreducible water saturations decreased with decreasing temperature, they did not revert to the original room temperature values. It was assumed that the cores became increasingly water-wet with an increase in both temperature and time; measured changes of the IFT and the contact angle with temperature increase, however, were not sufficient to explain observed effects. Davidson measured dynamic-displacement relative permeability ratios on a coarse sand and gravel core with permeability ratios on a coarse sand and gravel core with white oil displaced by distilled water, nitrogen, and superheated steam at temperatures up to 540F [282C]. Starting from irreducible water saturation, relative permeability ratio curves were similar to Edmondson's. permeability ratio curves were similar to Edmondson's. Starting from 100% oil saturation, however, the curves changed significantly only at low water saturations. A troublesome aspect of Davidson's work was that he used a hydrocarbon solvent to clean the core between experiments. No mention was made of any consideration of wettability changes, which could explain large increases in irreducible water saturations observed in some runs. Sinnokrot et al. followed Poston et al.'s suggestion of increasing water-wetness and performed water/oil capillary pressure measurements on consolidated sandstone and limestone cores from room temperature up to 325F [163C]. Sinnokrot et al confirmed that, for sandstones, irreducible water saturation appeared to increase with temperature. Capillary pressures increased with temperature, and the hysteresis between drainage and imbibition curves reduced to essentially zero at 300F [149C]. With limestone cores, however, irreducible water saturations remained constant with increase in temperature, as did capillary pressure curves. Weinbrandt et al. performed dynamic displacement experiments on small (0.24 to 0.49 cu in. [4 to 8 cm3] PV) consolidated Boise sandstone cores to 175F [75C] PV) consolidated Boise sandstone cores to 175F [75C] with distilled water and white oil. Oil relative permeabilities shifted toward high water saturations with permeabilities shifted toward high water saturations with increasing temperature, while water relative permeabilities exhibited little change. Weinbrandt et al. confirmed the findings of previous studies that irreducible water saturation increases and ROS decreases with increasing temperature. SPEJ P. 945


SIMULATION ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 003754971985713 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhenzihao Zhang ◽  
Turgay Ertekin

This study developed a data-driven forecasting tool that predicts petrophysical properties from rate-transient data. Traditional estimations of petrophysical properties, such as relative permeability (RP) and capillary pressure (CP), strongly rely on coring and laboratory measurements. Coring and laboratory measurements are typically conducted only in a small fraction of wells. To contend with this constraint, in this study, we develop artificial neural network (ANN)-based tools that predict the three-phase RP relationship, CP relationship, and formation permeability in the horizontal and vertical directions using the production rate and pressure data for black-oil reservoirs. Petrophysical properties are related to rate-transient data as they govern the fluid flow in oil/gas reservoirs. An ANN has been proven capable of mimicking any functional relationship with a finite number of discontinuities. To generate an ANN representing the functional relationship between rate-transient data and petrophysical properties, an ANN structure pool is first generated and trained. Cases covering a wide spectrum of properties are then generated and put into training. Training of ANNs in the pool and comparisons among their performance yield the desired ANN structure that performs the most effectively among the ANNs in the pool. The developed tool is validated with blind tests and a synthetic field case. Reasonable predictions for the field cases are obtained. Within a fraction of second, the developed ANNs infer accurate characteristics of RP and CP for three phases as well as residual saturation, critical gas saturation, connate water saturation, and horizontal permeability with a small margin of error. The predicted RP and CP relationship can be generated and applied in history matching and reservoir modeling. Moreover, this tool can spare coring expenses and prolonged experiments in most of the field analysis. The developed ANNs predict the characteristics of three-phase RP and CP data, connate water saturation, residual oil saturation, and critical gas saturation using rate-transient data. For cases fulfilling the requirement of the tool, the proposed technique improves reservoir description while reducing expenses and time associated with coring and laboratory experiments at the same time.


2014 ◽  
Vol 1010-1012 ◽  
pp. 1676-1683 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bin Li ◽  
Wan Fen Pu ◽  
Ke Xing Li ◽  
Hu Jia ◽  
Ke Yu Wang ◽  
...  

To improve the understanding of the influence of effective permeability, reservoir temperature and oil-water viscosity on relative permeability and oil recovery factor, core displacement experiments had been performed under several experimental conditions. Core samples used in every test were natural cores that came from Halfaya oilfield while formation fluids were simulated oil and water prepared based on analyze data of actual oil and productive water. Results from the experiments indicated that the shape of relative permeability curves, irreducible water saturation, residual oil saturation, width of two-phase region and position of isotonic point were all affected by these factors. Besides, oil recovery and water cut were also related closely to permeability, temperature and viscosity ratio.


SPE Journal ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (03) ◽  
pp. 0799-0808 ◽  
Author(s):  
H.. Shahverdi ◽  
M.. Sohrabi

Summary Large quantities of oil usually remain in oil reservoirs after conventional waterfloods. A significant part of this remaining oil can still be economically recovered by water-alternating-gas (WAG) injection. WAG injection involves drainage and imbibition processes taking place sequentially; therefore, the numerical simulation of the WAG process requires reliable knowledge of three-phase relative permeability (kr) accounting for cyclic-hysteresis effects. In this study, the results of a series of unsteady-state two-phase displacements and WAG coreflood experiments were used to investigate the behavior of three-phase kr and hysteresis effects in the WAG process. The experiments were performed on two different cores with different characteristics and wettability conditions. An in-house coreflood simulator was developed to obtain three-phase relative permeability values directly from unsteady-state WAG experiments by history matching the measured recovery and differential-pressure profiles. The results show that three-phase gas relative permeability is reduced in consecutive gas-injection cycles and consequently the gas mobility and injectivity drop significantly with successive gas injections during the WAG process, under different rock conditions. The trend of hysteresis in the relative permeabilty of gas (krg) partly contradicts the existing hysteresis models available in the literature. The three-phase water relative permeability (krw) of the water-wet (WW) core does not exhibit considerable hysteresis effect during different water injections, whereas the mixed-wet (MW) core shows slight cyclic hysteresis. This may indicate a slight increase of the water injectivity in the subsequent water injections in the WAG process under MW conditions. Insignificant hysteresis is observed in the oil relative permeability (kro) during different gas-injection cycles for both WW and MW rocks. However, a considerable cyclic-hysteresis effect in kro is observed during water-injection cycles of WAG, which is attributed to the reduction of the residual oil saturation (ROS) during successive water injections. The kro of the WW core exhibits much-more cyclic-hysteresis effect than that of the MW core. No models currently exist in reservoir simulators that can capture the observed cyclic-hysteresis effect in oil relative permeability for the WAG process. Investigation of relative permeability data obtained from these displacement tests at different rock conditions revealed that there is a significant discrepancy between two-phase and three-phase relative permeability of all fluids. This highlights that not only the three-phase relative permeability of the intermediate phase (oil), but also the three-phase kr of the wetting phase (water) and nonwetting phase (gas) are functions of two independent saturations.


1980 ◽  
Vol 20 (03) ◽  
pp. 206-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.K. Garg

Pressure Transient Analysis for Two-Phase Pressure Transient Analysis for Two-Phase (Water/Steam) Geothermal Reservoirs Abstract A new diffusivity equation for two-phase (water/steam) flow in geothermal reservoirs is derived. The geothermal reservoir may be initially two-phase or may evolve into a two-phase system during production. Solutions of the diffusivity equation for a continuous line source are presented; the solutions imply that the plot of bottomhole pressure vs. loglot (t=time) should be a straight pressure vs. loglot (t=time) should be a straight line. The slope of the straight line is inversely proportional to the total kinematic mobility. proportional to the total kinematic mobility. Comparison of the theory with a limited number of computer-simulated drawdown histories shows excellent agreement. Introduction In petroleum engineering and groundwater hydrology, well tests are conducted routinely to diagnose the well's condition and to estimate formation properties. Well test data may be analyzed to yield quantitative information regarding (1) formation permeability, storativity, and porosity, (2) the presence of barriers and leaky boundaries, (3) the condition of the well (i.e., damaged or stimulated), (4) the presence of major fractures close to the well, and (5) the mean formation pressure. Well testing procedures (and the quality of information obtained) procedures (and the quality of information obtained) depend on the age of the well. During temporary completion, testing involves producing the reservoir using a temporary plumbing system (e.g., drillstem testing), and the estimates obtained for the formation parameters are not very accurate. After completion, parameters are not very accurate. After completion, testing usually is performed in the hydraulic mode. In hydraulic testing, one or more wells are produced at controlled rates, and pressure changes within the producing well itself or nearby observation wells producing well itself or nearby observation wells (interference tests) are monitored.A major concern of well testing is the interpretation of pressure transient data. Much of the existing literature deals with isothermal single-phase (water/oil) and isothermal two-phase (oil with gas in solution, free gas) systems. In general, there is a lack of methodology for analyzing nonisothermal reservoir systems, either single- or two-phase (water/steam). Geothermal reservoirs commonly involve nonisothermal two-phase flow during well testing. This paper presents a theoretical framework for analyzing multiphase pressure transient data in geothermal systems. Two-Phase Flow in Geothermal Systems Consider a fully penetrating well located in an infinite reservoir of thickness h. We neglect any variations in either formation or fluid properties in the vertical direction. (This is a common assumption in pressure transient analysis.) The geothermal system may be two-phase before production or may evolve into a two-phase system as a result of fluid production. In the latter case, a boiling front will production. In the latter case, a boiling front will propagate outward from the wellbore. The boiling propagate outward from the wellbore. The boiling front may be treated as a constant-pressure boundary (p=saturation pressure corresponding to the local reservoir temperature).For the sake of simplicity, consider a reservoir that is initially two-phase everywhere. Furthermore, it is convenient to assume that the pressure (and, hence, temperature) is uniform throughout the system. In radial geometry, the pressure response is governed by the following diffusivity equation (see Appendix for a derivation of Eq. 1). (1) SPEJ P. 206


2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 165-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryszard Korycki ◽  
Halina Szafranska

Abstract Let us next analyse the coupled problem during ironing of textiles, that is, the heat is transported with mass whereas the mass transport with heat is negligible. It is necessary to define both physical and mathematical models. Introducing two-phase system of mass sorption by fibres, the transport equations are introduced and accompanied by the set of boundary and initial conditions. Optimisation of material thickness during ironing is gradient oriented. The first-order sensitivity of an arbitrary objective functional is analysed and included in optimisation procedure. Numerical example is the thickness optimisation of different textile materials in ironing device.


2020 ◽  
Vol 146 ◽  
pp. 05001
Author(s):  
Denis Dzhafarov ◽  
Benjamin Nicot

Relative permeability is a concept used to convey the reduction in flow capability due to the presence of multiple fluids. Relative permeability governs the multiphase flow, therefore it has a significant importance in understanding the reservoir behavior. These parameters are routinely measured on conventional rocks, however their measurement becomes quite challenging for low permeability rocks such as tight gas formations. This study demonstrates a methodology for relative permeability measurements on tight gas samples. The gas permeability has been measured by the Step Decay method and two different techniques have been used to vary the saturations: steady state flooding and vapor desorption. Series of steady-state gas/water simultaneous injection have been performed on a tight gas sample. After stabilization at each injection ratio, NMR T2, NMR Saturation profile and low pressure Step Decay gas permeability have been measured. In parallel, progressive desaturation by vapor desorption technique has been performed on twin plugs. After stabilization at each relative humidity level the NMR T2 and Step Decay gas permeability have been measured in order to compare and validate the two approaches. The techniques were used to gain insight into the tight gas two phase relative permeability of extremely low petrophysical properties (K<100 nD, phi < 5 pu) of tight gas samples of Pyrophyllite outcrop. The two methods show quite good agreement. Both methods demonstrate significant permeability degradation at water saturation higher than irreducible. NMR T2 measurements for both methods indicates bimodal T2-distributions, and desaturation first occurs on low T2 signal (small pores). Comparison of humidity drying and steady-state desaturation technique has shown a 12-18 su difference between critical water saturation (Swc) measured in gas/water steady-state injection and irreducible saturation (Swirr) measured by vapor desorption.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed Mehdi El Faidouzi

Abstract Water-alternating-gas (WAG) injection, both miscible and immiscible, is a widely used enhanced oil recovery method with over 80 field cases. Despite its prevalence, the numerical modeling of the physical processes involved remains poorly understood, and existing models often lack predictability. Part of the complexity stems from the component exchange between gas and oil and the hysteretic relative permeability effects. Thus, improving the reliability of numerical models requires the calibration of the equation of state (EOS) against phase behavior data from swelling/extraction and slim-tube tests, and the calibration of the three-phase relative permeability model against WAG coreflood experiments. This paper presents the results and interpretation of a complete set of two-phase and thee-phase displacement experiments on mixed-wet carbonate rocks. The three-phase WAG experiments were conducted on the same composite core at near-miscible reservoir condition; experiments differ in the injection order and length of their injection cycles. First, the two-phase water/oil and gas/oil displacement experiments and first cycles of WAG were used to estimate the two-phase relative permeabilities. Then, a synchronized history-matching procedure over the full set of WAG experiments and cycles was carried out to tune Larsen ans Skauge WAG hysteresis model—namely the Land gas traping parameter, the gas reduction exponent, the residual oil reduction factor and three-phase water relative permeability. The second part of this paper deals with the multiphase upscaling of microscopic displacement properties from plug to coarse grid reservoir scale. The two-phase relative permeability curves and three-phase WAG parameters were upscaled using a sector model to preserve the displacement process and reservoir performance. The result of the coreflood calibration indicate that the two-phase displacement and first cycles of WAG yield a consistent set of two-phase relative permeabilities. Including the full set of WAG experiments allowed a robust calibration of the hysteresis model.


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