Lecture 6: Microscopic Displacement in Porous Media (Part 2)

Role of Pc in Displacement
 Large tube Water (Pw)  Oil (Po)
Equilibrium: Pw= Po
Displacement: Pw= Po + ε (oil is displaced by water)

 Capillary tube (WW)

Oil (Po)  Water (Pw)

Equilibrium: Po – Pw = Pc  Po = Pw + Pc
Displacement: Po= Pw + Pc + ε (Water is displaced by oil)
2
Lecture 6: Microscopic Displacement in Porous Media (Part 2)

Role of Pc in Displacement
 Capillary tube (WW)

Oil (Po)  Water (Pw) r  Pc 

In WW system, Pc is an impediment factor for

displacing of water by oil.

3
 Lecture 6: Microscopic Displacement in Porous Media (Part 2)

Role of Pc in Displacement
 Capillary tube (WW)

Water (Pw)  Oil (Po)

Equilibrium: Po – Pw = Pc  Pw = Po - Pc
Displacement: Pw= Po - Pc + ε (oil is displaced by water)

In WW system, Pc helps us for displacing of oil by

water.

4
 Lecture 6: Microscopic Displacement in Porous Media (Part 2)

Role of Pc in Displacement

Grain
Po(psi) Pc Sw So
Pc=5 psi
Oil  105 5 0.5 0.5
(Po) Pc=10 psi 110 10 0.2 0.8

Pc=15 psi 115 15 0 1

Water (Pw=100 psi)

5
 Lecture 6: Microscopic Displacement in Porous Media (Part 2)

Role of Pc in Displacement

Grain
Pw(psi) Pc Sw So
Pc=5 psi
Water  85 15 0.2 0.8
(Pw) Pc=10 psi 90 10 0.5 0.5

Pc=15 psi 95 5 1 0

Oil (Po=100 psi)

6
Lecture 6: Microscopic Displacement in Porous Media (Part 2)
Drainage displacement-
Bundle of capillary tube model

7
Lecture 6: Microscopic Displacement in Porous Media (Part 2)
Drainage displacement-
Bundle of capillary tube model

8
Lecture 6: Microscopic Displacement in Porous Media (Part 2)

Viscous Forces
Laminar flow in a capillary tube (Hagen-Poiseuille eq.)

8  Lv ΔP [=] psi; r [=] ft; v [=] ft/D

P  (6.22  10 )
r 2 gc μ [=] cp; L [=] ft

Viscous forces in a porous medium can be expressed

in terms of Darcy’s law:

v L ΔP [=] psi; r [=] ft; v [=] ft/D

P  (0.158) μ [=] cp; L [=] ft; k [=] darcy
k
9
Lecture 6: Microscopic Displacement in Porous Media (Part 2)

Viscous Forces
For a bundle of equal size capillaries:

k  20  106 d2

k [=] darcy
d [=] in.

10
Lecture 6: Microscopic Displacement in Porous Media (Part 2)

Example: Calculation of pressure gradient

for water flow in a capillary tube
P1 P2 r = 0.002 in.

Water  v = 1 ft/D
μ = 1 cp

ΔP -8 μv psi
=-(6.22×10 ) 2 =-0.048
L r gc ft
6 2
k=20×10 d φ=3.2 darcies
11
Lecture 6: Microscopic Displacement in Porous Media (Part 2)

Phase Trapping & Mobilization

Phase trapping depends on:

 Pore structure

 Fluid/rock interactions related to wettability

 Fluid/fluid interactions reflected in IFT

12
Lecture 6: Microscopic Displacement in Porous Media (Part 2)

Trapping in a Single Capillary

2 cos
Pc  PB  PA 
r

 2 ow cos   2 ow cos 
PB  PA      0
 r A  r B 13
 Lecture 6: Microscopic Displacement in Porous Media (Part 2)
Different conditions
of trapping of a
droplet in a capillary

The static pressure

differences between
Points A and B must be
exceeded to initiate flow.

14
 Lecture 6: Microscopic Displacement in Porous Media (Part 2)

 1 1
PB  PA  2 ow cos     
 rA   rB 

2 ow
PB  PA 
r
 cos A  cos B 

2

PB  PA   gw cos A   go cos B
r

15
Lecture 6: Microscopic Displacement in Porous Media (Part 2)

Example: Pressure required to force an oil

drop through a pore throat
IFT = 25 dynes/cm
15 6.2 µm
µm
θA = θB = 0

 1   1  dynes
PB -PA =2×25  -  =-47,300 2
=-0.68 psi
 0.00062   0.0015  cm
For drop ΔP -0.68 psi 30.48 cm psi
length = 0.01 cm: = × =-2073
L 0.01 cm ft ft
16
Lecture 6: Microscopic Displacement in Porous Media (Part 2)

Trapping in a Single Capillary with Fluid Bypassing

17
Lecture 6: Microscopic Displacement in Porous Media (Part 2)

Trapping in a Single Capillary with Fluid Bypassing

18
Lecture 6: Microscopic Displacement in Porous Media (Part 2)
Trapping in Porous Rocks
Swr Snwr

Wetting trapped phase: Concave contacts between the rock

grains and other crevices in the pore body.
Non-wetting trapped phase : Trapped in large pores in globules
19
 Lecture 6: Microscopic Displacement in Porous Media (Part 2)
Visualization of Trapped Phase in Porous Media
Blob cast method: Large oil blobs in bead packs

Chatzis et al. (1983), Magnitude and Detailed Structure of

Residual Oil Saturation, SPE Journal, 23(2), 311-326.
20
 Lecture 6: Microscopic Displacement in Porous Media (Part 2)
Visualization of Trapped Phase in Porous Media
Blob cast method: Large oil blobs in Berea sandstone

21
 Lecture 6: Microscopic Displacement in Porous Media (Part 2)
Visualization of Trapped Phase in Porous Media
Glass micromodel method

Feali, M., Pinczewski, W.V., Cinar, Y. et al. 2012. Qualitative and Quantitative
Analyses of the Three-Phase Distribution of Oil, Water, and Gas in Bentheimer
Sandstone by Use of Micro-CT Imaging. SPE Res Eval & Eng 15 (6): 706-711.
SPE-151609-PA. http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/151609-PA 22
Lecture 6: Microscopic Displacement in Porous Media (Part 2)

Revolution in Petroleum Engineering !

3D High Resolution Micro-Computed
Tomography (µ-CT) Imaging

23
 Lecture 6: Microscopic Displacement in Porous Media (Part 2)

X-Ray Computed Tomography (CT) Scan

• CT scan is a medical imaging technique first developed in the UK in
1972 by Hounsfield.
• In CT scan, an x-ray machine is used:
– produces large series of 2D images
– Digital geometry processing

generate a 3D image of the

inside of an object

• CT is also used in other fields, such as study of the porous rocks.

• X-ray CT is a method that can measure
density, atomic composition, porosity,
etc inside opaque objects.
Wellington, S.L. and Vinegar, H.J. (Aug. 1987). JPT, 885-898 24
Lecture 6: Microscopic Displacement in Porous Media (Part 2)

3D High Resolution µ-CT Imaging

• 3D imaging of the structure at the pore scale
• High resolution (few microns) image.

X-ray camera Sample +

X-ray source
Rotation Stage

Latham, S., Varslot, T., and Sheppard, A.P. (2008). Society of Core Analysts, Paper No. 35, 1-12 25
Lecture 6: Microscopic Displacement in Porous Media (Part 2)

3D High Resolution µ-CT Imaging

Qajar, J., Francois, N., and Arns, C.H. 2013. Microtomographic Characterization
of Dissolution-Induced Local Porosity Changes Including Fines Migration in
Carbonate Rock. SPE J. 18 (3): 545-562. SPE-153216-PA.
http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/153216-PA 26