Experiments on imbibition mechanisms of fractured reservoirs by microfluidic chips

  • Fuwei YU ,
  • Zhendong GAO ,
  • Wenhao ZHU ,
  • Chuan WANG ,
  • Fan LIU ,
  • Fei XU ,
  • Hanqiao JIANG ,
  • Junjian LI
Expand
  • 1. State Key Laboratory of Petroleum Resources and Prospecting, China University of Petroleum, Beijing 102249, China
    2. Yanchang Oilfield Corporation, Yan’an 716000, China
    3. Sinopec International Petroleum Exploration & Production Corporation, Beijing 100083, China
    4. State Key Laboratory of Offshore Oil Exploitation, Beijing 100028, China
    5. CNOOC Research Institute Ltd., Beijing 100028, China

Received date: 2020-10-22

  Revised date: 2021-07-29

  Online published: 2021-10-25

Supported by

China National Science and Technology Major Project(2017ZX05009-005-003);Strategic Consulting Project of Chinese Academy of Engineering(2018-XZ-09);the Science Foundation of China University of Petroleum, Beijing(2462019QNXZ04)

Abstract

To solve the problems of long experiment period and difficult measurement in core imbibition experiments, fracture-matrix microfluidic chips of different sizes, boundary conditions and wettability regulated by surface property modification were designed to research the imbibition mechanisms of oil-water, oil-surfactant solution and oil-Winsor Ⅲ type surfactant solution. In the oil-water, and oil-wettability modification system imbibition process, oil was replaced from the matrix through Haines jump, the capillary back pressure was the main resistance blocking the flow of oil, the reduction of interfacial tension caused the weakening of Haines jump, reduction of oil discharge rate, and increase of oil recovery. The imbibition of oil-water or oil-surfactant solution with low interfacial tension was a counter- current imbibition process dominated by capillary force, in which all boundaries had similar contribution to imbibition, and the recovery data obtained from this experiment fit well with the classic imbibition scaling equation. The imbibition of oil and Winsor III type surfactant solution was a co-current imbibition process dominated by gravity under super-low interfacial tension, and is essentially the formation and re-balance of neutral microemulsion. The imbibition dynamics obtained from this experiment fit well with the modified imbibition scaling equation.

Cite this article

Fuwei YU , Zhendong GAO , Wenhao ZHU , Chuan WANG , Fan LIU , Fei XU , Hanqiao JIANG , Junjian LI . Experiments on imbibition mechanisms of fractured reservoirs by microfluidic chips[J]. Petroleum Exploration and Development, 2021 , 48(5) : 1162 -1172 . DOI: 10.1016/S1876-3804(21)60099-X

References

[1] ZOU Caineng, ZHAI Guangming, ZHANG Guangya, et al. Formation, distribution, potential and prediction of global conventional and unconventional hydrocarbon resources. Petroleum Exploration & Development, 2015, 42(1):13-25.
[2] HU Suyun, ZHAO Wenzhi, HOU Lianhua, et al. Development potential and technical strategy of continental shale oil in China. Petroleum Exploration and Development, 2020, 47(4):819-828.
[3] DU Y J, XU K, MEJIA L, et al. Microfluidic investigation of low-salinity effects during oil recovery: A no-clay and time-dependent mechanism. Society of Petroleum Engineers Journal, 2019, 24(6):2841-2858.
[4] YOU Qing, WANG Huan, ZHANG Yan, et al. Experimental study on spontaneous imbibition of recycled fracturing flow-back fluid to enhance oil recovery in low permeability sandstone reservoirs. Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, 2018, 166:375-380.
[5] LIU He, JIN Xu, DING Bin. Application of nanotechnology in petroleum exploration and development. Petroleum Exploration and Development, 2016, 43(6):1014-1021.
[6] DING Bin, XIONG Chunming, GENG Xiangfei, et al. Characteristics and EOR mechanisms of nanofluids permeation flooding for tight oil. Petroleum Exploration and Development, 2020, 47(4):756-764.
[7] YU Fuwei, JIANG Hanqiao, FAN Zhen, et al. Features and imbibition mechanisms of Winsor I type surfactant solution in oil-wet porous media. Petroleum Exploration and Development, 2019, 46(5):950-958.
[8] YU Fuwei, JIANG Hanqiao, XU Fei, et al. New insights into flow physics in the EOR process based on 2.5D reservoir micromodels. Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, 2019, 181:106214.
[9] LIU Y, IGLAUER S, CAI J C, et al. Local instabilities during capillary-dominated immiscible displacement in porous media. Capillarity, 2019, 2(1):1-7.
[10] GHASEMI F, GHAEDI M, ESCROCHI M. A new scaling equation for imbibition process in naturally fractured gas reservoirs. Advances in Geo-Energy Research, 2020, 4(1):99-106.
[11] SHEN Anqi, LIU Yikun, FAROUQ A. A model of spontaneous flow driven by capillary pressure in nanoporous media. Capillarity, 2020, 3(1):1-7.
[12] GAO Linhu, YANG Zhengming, SHI Yue. Experimental study on spontaneous imbibition characteristics of tight rocks. Advances in Geo-Energy Research, 2018, 2(3):292-304.
[13] YANG Zhengming, LIU Xuewei, LI Haibo, et al. Analysis on the influencing factors of imbibition and the effect evaluation of imbibition in tight reservoirs. Petroleum Exploration and Development, 2019, 46(4):739-745.
[14] LI Y X, POPE G A, LU J, et al. Scaling of low-interfacial-tension imbibition in oil-wet carbonates. Society of Petroleum Engineers Journal, 2017, 22(5):1349-1361.
[15] YANG Zhengming, LI Ruishan, LI Haibo, et al. Experimental evaluation of the salt dissolution in inter-salt shale oil reservoirs. Petroleum Exploration and Development, 2020, 47(4):750-755.
[16] LI Junjian, LIU Yang, GAO Yajun, et al. Effects of microscopic pore structure heterogeneity on the distribution and morphology of remaining oil. Petroleum Exploration and Development, 2018, 45(6):1043-1052.
[17] LI Junjian, JIANG Hanqiao, WANG Chuan, et al. Pore- scale investigation of microscopic remaining oil variation characteristics in water-wet sandstone using CT scanning. Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering, 2017, 48:36-45.
[18] YU Fuwei, JIANG Hanqiao, XU Fei, et al. A multi-scale experimental study of hydrophobically-modified polyacrylamide flood and surfactant-polymer flood on enhanced heavy oil recovery. Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, 2019, 182:106258.
[19] LIANG Tianbo, XU Ke, LU Jun, et al. Evaluating the performance of surfactants in enhancing flowback and permeability after hydraulic fracturing through a microfluidic model. SPE Journal, 2019, 25(1):268-287.
[20] YU Fuwei, JIANG Hanqiao, FAN Zhen, et al. Formation and flow behaviors of in situ emulsions in heavy oil reservoirs. Energy & Fuels, 2019, 33(7):5961-5970.
[21] YU Fuwei, JIANG Hanqiao, MA Mengqi, et al. Visualization the surfactant imbibition at pore scale by using of fractured micromodels. SPE 200349, 2020.
[22] HUH C. Equilibrium of a microemulsion that coexists with oil or brine. SPE 10728, 1983.
[23] SUN Zhonghao, SANTAMARINA J C. Haines jumps: Pore scale mechanisms. Physical review E, 2019, 100(2):023115.
[24] CAI Jianchao, YU Boming. Advances in studies of spontaneous imbibition in porous media. Advances in Mechanics, 2012, 42(6):735-754.
[25] MA S X, MORROW N R, ZHANG X Y. Generalized scaling of spontaneous imbibition data for strongly water-wet systems. Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, 1997, 18(3/4):165-178.
[26] STANDNES D C. A single-parameter fit correlation for estimation of oil recovery from fractured water-wet reservoirs. Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, 2010, 71(1/2):19-22.
[27] MEJIA L, TAGAVIFAR M, XU K. Surfactant flooding in oil-wet micromodels with high permeability fractures. Fuel, 2019, 241:1117-1128.
Outlines

/