Pore-scale investigation of the effect of connate water on water flooding behavior
Water flooding is one of the most important processes in oil production. Water is injected into an oil reservoir to maintain the reservoir's pressure and sweep some of the oil toward the production well. In an actual oil reservoir, in situ water, or connate water, is usually present and sig...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers
2014-07-01
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| Series: | Journal of Fluid Science and Technology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jfst/9/2/9_2014jfst0012/_pdf/-char/en |
| _version_ | 1818943134352015360 |
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| author | Arief SETIAWAN Tetsuya SUEKANE Yoshihiro DEGUCHI Koji KUSANO |
| author_facet | Arief SETIAWAN Tetsuya SUEKANE Yoshihiro DEGUCHI Koji KUSANO |
| author_sort | Arief SETIAWAN |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Water flooding is one of the most important processes in oil production. Water is injected into an oil reservoir to maintain the reservoir's pressure and sweep some of the oil toward the production well. In an actual oil reservoir, in situ water, or connate water, is usually present and significantly impacts the water flooding process. We developed a visualization scheme utilizing a microfocused X-ray CT scanner to three-dimensionally observe the effects of connate water during water flooding at the pore scale. The water phase was injected upward into packed glass beads containing an oil phase both with and without connate water, and the process was scanned every minute until steady state was reached. Three-dimensional images were then constructed from X-ray CT data to clearly show the phenomena. Connate water significantly reduces oil recovery. In the porous medium without connate water, water flooding was able to produce approximately 1.5 times more oil than in the medium with connate water because of steadier interface movement. When injected water came in contact with connate water, the displacement front suddenly expanded into the pores containing connate water, thereby creating a jump-like movement leading to fingering. The pressure gradient between the inlet and outlet forced water to select the shortest route to the outlet. Water reached the outlet earlier when connate water exists. Short-circuiting due to fingering leads to formation of entrapped oil pockets and oil recovery yields. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-20T07:22:30Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-79476fa5d2a54d93a55492b0dd44ebe1 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1880-5558 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-20T07:22:30Z |
| publishDate | 2014-07-01 |
| publisher | The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Fluid Science and Technology |
| spelling | doaj.art-79476fa5d2a54d93a55492b0dd44ebe12022-12-21T19:48:39ZengThe Japan Society of Mechanical EngineersJournal of Fluid Science and Technology1880-55582014-07-0192JFST0012JFST001210.1299/jfst.2014jfst0012jfstPore-scale investigation of the effect of connate water on water flooding behaviorArief SETIAWAN0Tetsuya SUEKANE1Yoshihiro DEGUCHI2Koji KUSANO3Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of TokushimaDepartment of Energy Sciences, Tokyo Institute of TechnologyDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, The University of TokushimaDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, The University of TokushimaWater flooding is one of the most important processes in oil production. Water is injected into an oil reservoir to maintain the reservoir's pressure and sweep some of the oil toward the production well. In an actual oil reservoir, in situ water, or connate water, is usually present and significantly impacts the water flooding process. We developed a visualization scheme utilizing a microfocused X-ray CT scanner to three-dimensionally observe the effects of connate water during water flooding at the pore scale. The water phase was injected upward into packed glass beads containing an oil phase both with and without connate water, and the process was scanned every minute until steady state was reached. Three-dimensional images were then constructed from X-ray CT data to clearly show the phenomena. Connate water significantly reduces oil recovery. In the porous medium without connate water, water flooding was able to produce approximately 1.5 times more oil than in the medium with connate water because of steadier interface movement. When injected water came in contact with connate water, the displacement front suddenly expanded into the pores containing connate water, thereby creating a jump-like movement leading to fingering. The pressure gradient between the inlet and outlet forced water to select the shortest route to the outlet. Water reached the outlet earlier when connate water exists. Short-circuiting due to fingering leads to formation of entrapped oil pockets and oil recovery yields.https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jfst/9/2/9_2014jfst0012/_pdf/-char/envisualizationimbibitionoil trappingconnate waterx-ray ct scanner |
| spellingShingle | Arief SETIAWAN Tetsuya SUEKANE Yoshihiro DEGUCHI Koji KUSANO Pore-scale investigation of the effect of connate water on water flooding behavior Journal of Fluid Science and Technology visualization imbibition oil trapping connate water x-ray ct scanner |
| title | Pore-scale investigation of the effect of connate water on water flooding behavior |
| title_full | Pore-scale investigation of the effect of connate water on water flooding behavior |
| title_fullStr | Pore-scale investigation of the effect of connate water on water flooding behavior |
| title_full_unstemmed | Pore-scale investigation of the effect of connate water on water flooding behavior |
| title_short | Pore-scale investigation of the effect of connate water on water flooding behavior |
| title_sort | pore scale investigation of the effect of connate water on water flooding behavior |
| topic | visualization imbibition oil trapping connate water x-ray ct scanner |
| url | https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jfst/9/2/9_2014jfst0012/_pdf/-char/en |
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