Petroleum Exploration and Development >

2021 , Vol. 48 >Issue 5: 1162 - 1172

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S1876-3804(21)60099-X

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
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  • 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)

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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.

Key words： fractured reservoirs; imbibition mechanism; microfluidic chip; microemulsion

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

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