Study on Flow Behaviors of Viscoelastic Polymer Solution in Micropore With Dead End

Abstract

TX 75083-3836, U.S.A., fax 01-972-952-9435. AbstractThe Upper-Convected Maxwell (UCM) model has been normally used to describe the rheological properties of polymer solutions. However, this model considers only viscosity and elasticity of a fluid without including the non-Newtonian power law behavior, a very important property to polymer solutions in reservoirs. Therefore, we present a Modified Upper-Convected Maxwell (MUCM) in this paper to take into account this property.The steady flow mathematical model of MUCM fluids is established. The flow characteristics of viscoelastic fluids in the dead ends of porous pores in reservoirs are simulated numerically. The contours of velocity and stream function are drawn and micro-scale sweep efficiency is calculated quantitatively. The various regularities, corresponding to the change in visco-elastic properties of the fluid, are studied.Numerical results show the visco-elasticity of polymer solutions is the main factor influencing sweep efficiency. With increasing elasticity, the flowing area in the dead end of pores is enlarged significantly, thus the area with immobile zones becomes smaller. Flow velocity is much larger than that for a Newtonian fluid, the sweep area and displacement efficiency increase as the elasticity increases. The visco-elastic nature of the displacing polymer fluids can in general improve the displacement efficiency in pores compared to using Newtonian fluids. This conclusion should be useful in selecting polymer fluids and designing polymer flooding operations.

Oil displacement mechanisms of viscoelastic polymers in enhanced oil recovery (EOR): a review

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Residual Oil Saturation from Polymer Floods: Laboratory Measurements and Theoretical Interpretation

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Deslocamento de óleo por água em um microcanal com cavidade de quinas arredondadas

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