Deformations in Cement Pastes during Capillary Imbibition and Their Relation to Water and Isopropanol as Imbibing Liquids

The traditional approach for evaluating capillary imbibition, which describes the phenomena as a linear relationship between mass gain and the square root of time, considers a rigid pore structure. The common deviation from the linearity when using the square-root law (manifested in a downward curvature, i.e., slower water ingress) can be explained by considering a changing pore structure during the process caused by the swelling of calcium silicate hydrate (C-S-H) during water ingress. Analysing how the combination of deforming phase (C-S-H), non-deforming phase, and porosity affects the capillary water ingress rate is relevant for a deeper understanding of concrete durability. In this research, the C-S-H content was quantified by means of XRD diffraction coupled with Rietveld + PONKCS, dynamic water sorption (DVS), and SEM/BSE images coupled with phase mapping using PhAse Recognition and Characterization (PARC) software. The porosity was assessed by mercury intrusion porosimetry, water absorption under vacuum, and DVS. Furthermore, to assess deformations occurring with water and a non-aqueous imbibant, capillary imbibition tests with water and isopropanol as invading liquids were performed along with simultaneous deformation measurements. The relation between the relative C-S-H content and porosity has a great impact on the transport process. Samples exposed to isopropanol presented a much larger liquid uptake but significantly fewer deformations in comparison to imbibition with water. The effects of the changing pore structure were also evaluated with the Thomas and Jennings model, from which calculations indicated that pore shrink during imbibition. A comprehensive description of the relation between deformations and capillary imbibition in cement pastes reveals that liquid ingress is highly influenced by deformations.

A Study of Seepage Characteristics of Unsteady Waterflooding Development for Fractured Ultra-Low-Permeability Reservoir

Unconventional fractured ultra-low-permeability reservoirs play an important role in continental sedimentary basins in China, and their formation characteristics and seepage laws are greatly different from that of traditional reservoirs. In this paper, the influence of microfractures and unsteady waterflooding on the productivity of fractured ultra-low permeability reservoirs are studied deeply. The reservoir parameters used in the study are from an actual fractured ultra-low-permeability reservoir in Ordos Basin, where microfractures are developed but macroscopic fractures are not. The microfractures have a small opening and are widely distributed in the reservoir, so the reservoir numerical simulation model adopts the equivalent continuous matrix model to simulate waterflooding. On one hand, the physical model of micro-fractured reservoir and the permeability tensor model of the equivalent continuous matrix are established. The results show that the existence of microfractures can increase the permeability of matrix by 1.4 times. On the other hand, an ideal heterogeneous numerical simulation model composed of pure matrix and equivalent continuous matrix considering microfracture is established according to actual geological parameters of the fractured ultra-low-permeability reservoir. To simulate and compare the unsteady waterflooding and continuous waterflooding development in 10-year development under the condition of constant annual injection rate, the results indicate that unsteady waterflooding development make higher productivity and lower water cut and lower formation water saturation than that of continuous waterflooding. By conducting unsteady waterflooding development simulation for sensitivity analysis, the results demonstrate that the greater the capillary force, the better the role of capillary imbibition in a certain range, meanwhile, the unsteady waterflooding has the best exploitation effect when the value of water injection cycle time is 100 days and the fluctuation amplitude of water injection rate is 1. At the above situation, the displacement and capillary imbibition and pressure disturbance achieve the desired effect of reducing water cut and increasing oil production.

Spontaneous Capillary Imbibition of Water and Nonaqueous Liquids into Dry Quarry Limestones

Rates of spontaneous imbibition of water and nonaqueous liquids into dry limestones have been measured at 25 °C. Thirteen English and French limestones were used, with eight liquids (water, decane, dodecane, sec-butanol, iso-propanol, tetrahydrofuran, perfluorodimethylcyclohexane, ethanediol). For the nonaqueous liquids, the measured sorptivity generally scales as (surface-tension/viscosity)$$^{1/2}$$ 1 / 2 (here called F-scaling). Water sorptivities deviate from F-scaling, indicating partial wetting. A wetting coefficient (wetting index) is derived. Data show that there is little difference in the Hirschwald saturation coefficient measured with the different liquids, although there is a large variation between stones. Results suggest that physicochemical alteration of exposed pore surfaces strongly (and unpredictably) influences the capillary absorption of water by limestones.