Microtomography of Imbibition Phenomena and Trapping Mechanism |
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Authors: | Arief Setiawan Hidenori Nomura Tetsuya Suekane |
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Institution: | (1) Department of the Civil Engineering, National Chiao Tung University, Hsin Chu, Taiwan;(2) Department of the Civil Engineering, Min Hsin University Science Technology, Hsin Chu, Taiwan |
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Abstract: | Water imbibition during the waterflooding process of oil production only sweeps part of the oil present. After water disrupts
the oil continuity, most oil blobs are trapped in porous rock by capillary forces. Developing an efficient waterflooding scheme
is a difficult task; therefore, an understanding of the oil trapping mechanism in porous rock is necessary from a microscopic
viewpoint. The development of microfocused X-ray CT scanner technology enables the three-dimensional visualization of multiphase
phenomena in a pore-scale. We scanned packed glass beads filled with a nonwetting phase (NWP) and injected wetting phase (WP)
in upward and downward injections to determine the microscopic mechanism of immiscible displacement in porous media and the
effects of buoyancy forces. We observed the imbibition phenomena for small capillary numbers to understand the spontaneous
imbibition mechanism in oil recovery. This study is one of the first attempts to use a microfocused X-ray CT scanner for observing
the imbibition and trapping mechanisms. The trapping mechanism in spontaneous imbibition is determined by the pore configuration
causing imbibition speed differences in each channel; these differences can disrupt the oil continuity. Gravity plays an important
role in spontaneous imbibition. In upward injection, the WP flows evenly and oil is trapped in single or small clusters of
pores. In downward injection, the fingering phenomena determine the amount of trapped oil, which is usually in a network scale.
Water breakthrough causes dramatic decrease in the oil extraction rate, resulting in lower oil production efficiency. |
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