Effect of interfacial viscosities upon displacement in sinusoidal capillaries

Abstract

This quantitative analysis shows the relative effects of interfacial tension, interfacial viscosities, and wetting during displacement in a capillary whose radius is a sinusoidal function of axial position. The effect of the interfacial viscosities is to increase the resistance to displacement regardless of the wetting condition. The results are consistent with a previous qualitative analysis and with a previous quantitative analysis for displacement in capillaries whose radii are independent of axial position.In screening surfactant systems for potential use in tertiary oil recovery, it is recommended that the interfacial tension be minimized first, since it determines whether oil displacement will occur, and that the interfacial viscosities be minimized second, since they influence the rate of oil displacement. R. M. Ciordano, J. C. Slattery Department of Chemical EngineeringNorthwestern University Evanston. IL 60201 IntroductionConventional production of light crudes usually concludes with a partial displacement of the oil remaining in the reservoir by either water or brine. For carefully selected, well-designed, good-performing operations, a t the end of conventional petroleum production there remains trapped 50-70% of the oil originally in place (Geffen, 1973).Residual oil is trapped in the form of blobs, each of which occupies possibly a large set of neighboring pores. Once such a blob has been isolated, it may or may not continue to be driven forward by the existing pressure gradient (Slattery, 1974;Oh and Slattery, 1979). If one of its many phase interfaces does advance, it will do so in an episodic fashion: it will slowly creep forward until an instability develops somewhere in the system, it will jump ahead a short distance, and it will begin another period of creeping motion. Since these Haines (1930) jumps take place very rapidly (Heller, 1968), the displacement of residual oil appears to be controlled by the period of slow advancement between jumps.Slattery (1974, 1979) developed a qualitative analysis for these periods of creeping motion. He was able to draw a number of conclusions, one of which is that, when the interfacial tension is less than the critical value required for displacement and the interfacial viscosities are large, equal percentage reductions of the interfacial tension and the interfacial viscosities are equallyThe current address of R. M. Giordano is ARC0 Oil and Gas Co.. Plano, TX 75075.important (Giordano and Slattery, 1983a). (When the interfacial viscosities are small, it is more important to reduce the interfacial tension.) This conclusion has been fully supported both by a quantitative analysis (Giordano and Slattery, 1983a) and by an experimental study (Stoodt and Slattery, 1984) of displacement in capillaries whose radii are independent of axial position.The pores in an oil-bearing rock are not that simple, and an exact solution to the equations of motion for such a porous medium is impractical. In order to simulate displacements under these conditions, we recommend speakin...

Surface Tension and Dilational Viscoelasticity of Water in the Presence of Surfactants Tyloxapol and Triton X-100 with Cetyl Trimethylammonium Bromide at 25 °C

“…The results also show that ultralow interfacial tension could be obtained by the Tyloxapol/CTAB/HPAM mixed system . Moreover, it is reported that interfacial rheology plays an important role in the oil displacement process except interfacial tension and bulk viscosity. − …”

“…37 Moreover, it is reported that interfacial rheology plays an important role in the oil displacement process except interfacial tension and bulk viscosity. [38][39][40] In the present study, surface tension and dilational viscoelasticity of water in the presence of surfactants Tyloxapol and TX-100 with CTAB at 25 °C are investigated. The surfactant/ surfactant interactions in the micelles and monolayers have been analyzed using the theories of Clint, Rubingh, Rosen, and Maeda with the aim to reveal the comparative performance of these mixtures.…”

Modeling soft interface dominated systems: A comparison of phase field and Gibbs dividing surface models

“…Effects of interfacial rheology on wetting phenomena, such as the one described above, are easier to account for in the Gibbs dividing surface model than in the diffuse interface model. Other examples of how surface rheological properties affect wetting processes have been presented in the literature, dealing for example with these effects in residual oil recovery [198]. Conversely, wetting properties may also affect the measurement of surface rheological properties using probe particles [199].…”