Evaluation of Three-Phase Relative Permeability Models for WAG Injection Using Water-Wet and Mixed-Wet Core Flood Experiments

Shahverdi, Hamid Reza; Sohrabi, Mehran; Fatemi, Md. Nawrose; Jamiolahmady, Mahmoud; Irelan, S..; Robertson, G. Philip

doi:10.2118/143030-ms

Cited by 20 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…It was observed that, in general, the irreversibility in relative permeabilities was more profound for the water‐wet core than the intermediate‐wet core. Shahverdi et al [, ] conducted several WAG experiments under water‐wet and mixed‐wet wettability conditions. Each experiment included three cycles of water injection and gas injection.…”

Section: Effects Of Saturation Historymentioning

confidence: 99%

Three-phase flow in porous media: A review of experimental studies on relative permeability

Alizadeh

Piri

2014

Rev. Geophys.

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We present a detailed, synthesized review of experimental studies on three-phase relative permeability published since 1980. We provide comprehensive, yet highly focused, analysis of critical aspects of the field and their evolution over the last three decades. In particular, we review the effects of saturation history, wettability, spreading, and layer drainage on the measured flow properties. We also list all the processes, rock types, fluid systems, and measurement techniques in order to provide a clear map for future studies. Behavior of the measured three-phase relative permeabilities with respect to fluid saturations, saturation histories, wettability of rock samples, spreading characteristics, interfacial tensions, and other pertinent properties are carefully discussed. Studies that use a diverse set of experimental techniques and data analysis to deduce relative permeability are included. The experimental techniques that should be utilized to reduce uncertainty are also explored. We interpret the measured properties and outcomes of different studies and compare them to substantiate distinct trends at various saturation ranges and provide ideas for new studies. This is intended to distill a clear image of where the field stands and to allow composition of possible paths for future investigations. The areas of critical relevance that have not been investigated or require further studies are highlighted.

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Section: Effects Of Saturation Historymentioning

confidence: 99%

Three-phase flow in porous media: A review of experimental studies on relative permeability

Alizadeh

Piri

2014

Rev. Geophys.

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“…The laboratory work of Akin and Demiral 1997 concluded that for 3-phase imbibition relative permeability the gas relative permeability increased with increasing flow rate. Irreversible hysteresis of oil in a water-wet system was found by Shahverdi et al, 2011, which they note contradicts other research and models. A standard approach is to apply a normalized Stone method.…”

Section: Hysteresis In 3-phase Relative Permeabilitymentioning

confidence: 80%

“…Larsen and Skauge, 1999 describe a method in which they determined the Lands coefficient experimentally by a gas flood followed by a water flood. Shahverdi et al, 2011 suggest that the Land equation approach is inadequate for non-water-wet applications.…”

Section: Recovery Mechanism Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Immiscible Water Alternating Gas (IWAG) EOR: Current State of the Art

Holtz¹

2016

SPE Improved Oil Recovery Conference

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Enhanced oil recovery (EOR) is a general application used in mature oil fields to generate additional reserve growth. Several types of EOR applications are implemented in the oil industry. One such application is the injection of gas into a reservoir as a gas displacement recovery (GDR) mechanism to induce additional reserve growth. A specific type of GDR application is the immiscible water-alternatinggas (IWAG) displacement process. In this application a slug of water is put into an injection well, followed by gas, which exists as a separate phase from the water and oil. Water and gas injection slugs are alternated until the designed amount of gas has been injected, or as field production dictates. Continuous water (case water) is typically injected after the IWAG process.Herein, the state-of-art of IWAG EOR is described from an extensive literature review. First, the theories of the recovery mechanisms that cause IWAG to produce incremental oil are described. These mechanisms include viscosity reduction, 3-phase relative permeability, oil swelling, and oil film flow, all of which are a function of fluid and rock-fluid interactions. Next, salient laboratory studies are summarized, including micromodel and core floods. These studies test pore-level characteristics, displaying ranges of residual non-wetting phase saturations (hydrocarbons) down to 0.13 to 0.25 and incremental oil recovery ranging from 14% to 20% of OOIP. Some experiments isolate a specific recovery mechanism in order to determine its validity and contribution to recovery. Studies generally point to the conclusion that the gas type shows no discernable difference in recovery character.The paper concludes with a synopsis of results from small-scale field trials and field-scale projects in both heavy and light oil. Both simulation modeling and field trials are summarized. Projects have been implemented with varying types of gases, WAG ratios, and gas slug sizes, resulting in incremental reserve growth being reported in the range of 2 to 9%. The fundamental immiscible recovery mechanisms in IWAG can produce lower cost and faster response EOR projects, with moderate recovery efficiency gains.• N 2 • CO 2 • Flue gas (a combination of several gases from combustion) • Hydrocarbon gas, lean and enriched • Air SPE-179604-MS

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“…It implies that the saturation-averaged interpolation method is a common choice in more-recent models in place of other mathematical models, such as capillary models, statistical models, and network models. Several investigators (Fayers and Matthews 1984;Delshad and Pope 1989;Baker 1988;Oak 1990Oak , 1991Hustad and Holt 1992;Skjaeveland and Kleppe 1992;Balbinski et al 1999;Pejic and Maini 2003;Spiteri et al 2008;Ahmadloo et al 2009) have identified various limitations of classical three-phase relative permeability models such as Stone I (Stone 1970) and Stone II (Stone 1973), especially for nonwater-wet rocks and/or at low oil saturation. Although the majority of three-phase relative permeability models found in Table 1 are applicable only to water-wet conditions, many oil reservoirs are not strongly water-wet and their wettability may be altered in various ways (Treiber and Owens 1972;Morrow 1990).…”

Section: Three-phase Relative Permeability Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Novel Three-Phase Compositional Relative Permeability and Three-Phase Hysteresis Models

et al. 2014

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Mobility-control methods have the potential to improve coupled enhanced oil recovery (EOR) and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) storage technique (CO 2 -EOR). There is a need for improved three-phase relative permeability models with hysteresis, especially including the effects of cycle dependency so that more-accurate predictions of these methods can be made. We propose new three-phase relative permeability and three-phase hysteresis models applicable to different fluid configurations in a porous medium under different wettability conditions. The relative permeability model includes both the saturation history and compositional effects. Three-phase parameters are estimated on the basis of saturation-weighted interpolation of two-phase parameters. The hysteresis model is an extension of the Land trapping model (Land 1968) but with a dynamic Land coefficient introduced. The trapping model estimates a constantly increasing trapped saturation for intermediatewetting and nonwetting phases. The hysteresis model overcomes some of the limitations of existing three-phase hysteresis models for nonwater-wet rocks and mitigates the complexity associated with commonly applied models in numerical simulators. The relative permeability model is validated by use of multicyclic threephase water-alternating-gas experimental data for nonwater-wet rocks. Numerical simulations of a carbonate reservoir with and without hysteresis were used to assess the effect of the saturation direction and saturation path on gas entrapment and oil recovery. Background and Literature ReviewThe fluid configuration and flow in porous media delineate regions in saturation space where commonly used three-phase relative permeability models fail to replicate the physical behavior. There are empirical correlations routinely used on the basis of an assumed fluid configuration and pore occupancy that are difficult to generalize to other fluid configurations. The pore-filling sequences and, consequently, the phase dependency of the three-phase isoperms-i.e., contours of constant phase relative permeability in the saturation space-are partly characterized by the pore-size distribution, the spreading preference of the liquids on the pore-solid surfaces, and the spreading preferences of one fluid between the other fluids.Wettability state and interfacial tension (IFT) play crucial roles in the spreading behavior in porous media. Three-phase displacement processes and pore-scale mechanisms in physical etched micromodels revealed that fluid configurations can be categorized depending on the phase-spreading coefficient (C s ), defined as a balance of IFT (Adamson 1960;Øren and Pinczewski 1995):

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Evaluation of Three-Phase Relative Permeability Models for WAG Injection Using Water-Wet and Mixed-Wet Core Flood Experiments

Cited by 20 publications

References 6 publications

Three-phase flow in porous media: A review of experimental studies on relative permeability

Three-phase flow in porous media: A review of experimental studies on relative permeability

Immiscible Water Alternating Gas (IWAG) EOR: Current State of the Art

Novel Three-Phase Compositional Relative Permeability and Three-Phase Hysteresis Models

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