Experimental and Analytical Investigation of Spontaneous Imbibition in Water-Wet Carbonates

Alyafei, Nayef; Al-Menhali, Ali; Blunt, Martin J.

doi:10.1007/s11242-016-0761-4

Cited by 36 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…The term "diffusion" refers to the mathematical form of Eq. 2, although "capillary dispersion" is also used by some authors (Alyafei et al 2016, Schmid et al 2016. Many developments of that mathematical form of diffusion equation are used in the literature to study countercurrent transfers (Tecklenburg et al 2013, March et al 2016, Zhou et al 2017.…”

Section: Theoretical Basis Of Results Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

A Practical Methodology to Screen Oil Recovery Processes Involving Spontaneous Imbibition

et al. 2019

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We present a general novel technique to monitor saturation changes on small rock samples of only 15 mm in diameter and 20 mm in length for the purpose of assessing the kinetics of spontaneous imbibition processes. With a fully-3D imbibition configuration involving countercurrent flows through all faces of the sample, the method is based on a NMR technique in which the sole oil phase present within the sample is monitored. The experimental method is fast for two reasons that are i) the possibility to perform accurate measurements on tiny samples, ii) the adoption of a 3D flow geometry. The kinetics of oil desaturation during spontaneous imbibition is analyzed with the help of an analytical 3D diffusion model, according to which the kinetics is proportional to the value of a "capillary" diffusion coefficient. For the purpose of demonstrating our methodology, we used this technique to compare the spontaneous imbibition of restored sandstone miniplugs from a sandstone reservoir, with and without alkali in the imbibing brine. The imbibition kinetics was quantified as capillary diffusion coefficient values. The studied case results revealed mixed impacts of alkali on the spontaneous imbibition kinetics, involving both a brine-oil interfacial tension change and a wettability alteration of the rock, the latter requiring further investigation beyond the scope of this article.

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Section: Theoretical Basis Of Results Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

A Practical Methodology to Screen Oil Recovery Processes Involving Spontaneous Imbibition

et al. 2019

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“…Fluid transport in pores a few nanometers across is of relevance in many natural and technological processes [1][2] [3][4] [5], ranging from water transport in soils [6] [7], plants [8] [9] and biomembranes [10] to water filtration, catalysis [11], print [12] and Lab-on-a-Chip [13] [14] technologies. It is also of increasing importance in the synthesis of hybrid materials [15], [16] [17] by meltinfiltration [18].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Capillarity-Driven Oil Flow in Nanopores: Darcy Scale Analysis of Lucas–Washburn Imbibition Dynamics

Gruener

Huber

2018

Transp Porous Med

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We present gravimetrical and optical imaging experiments on the capillarity-driven imbibition of silicone oils in monolithic silica glasses traversed by 3D networks of pores (mesoporous Vycor glass with 6.5 nm or 10 nm pore diameters). As evidenced by a robust square-root-of-time Lucas-Washburn (L-W) filling kinetics, the capillary rise is governed by a balance of capillarity and viscous drag forces in the absence of inertia and gravitational effects over the entire experimental times studied, ranging from a few seconds up to 10 days. A video on the infiltration process corroborates a collective pore filling as well as pronounced imbibition front broadening resulting from the capillarity and permeability disorder, typical of Vycor glasses. The transport process is analyzed within a Darcy scale description, considering a generalized pre-factor of the L-W law, termed Lucas-Washburn-Darcy imbibition ability. It assumes a Hagen-Poiseuille velocity profile in the pores and depends on the porosity, the mean pore diameter, the tortuosity and the velocity slip length and thus on the effective hydraulic pore diameter. For both matrices a reduced imbibition speed and thus reduced imbibition ability, compared to the one assuming the nominal pore diameter, bulk fluidity and bulk capillarity, can be quantitatively traced to an immobile, pore-wall adsorbed boundary layer of 1.4 nm thickness. Presumably, it consists of a monolayer of water molecules adsorbed on the hydrophilic pore walls covered by a monolayer of flat-laying silicone oil molecules. Our study highlights the importance of immobile nanoscopic boundary layers on the flow in tight oil reservoirs as well as the validity of the Darcy scale description for transport in mesoporous media.

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“…The viscous resistance of nitrogen is negligible because of the very low imbibition rates and because the viscosity of nitrogen gas is several orders of magnitude lower than water. This condition has been justified by previous analysis of experimental and numerical spontaneous imbibition data that indicates that gas relative permeability has little influence on displacement rates (Alyafei et al, ) and that the pressure drop in the gas phase is negligible (Beckner et al, ; Handy, ; McWhorter & Sunada, ; Pooladi‐Darvish & Firoozabadi, ). By assuming that the nonwetting pressure is approximately constant throughout the core, the imbibition capillary pressure can be determined as a function of water saturation.…”

Section: Calculation Of Imbibition Capillary Pressurementioning

confidence: 88%

“…The relative permeability and calculated capillary pressure curves are also consistent with analytical solutions. A comparison of the numerically calculated capillary pressure and analytical solution described in Alyafei et al () is available in the SI.…”

Section: Calculation Of Imbibition Capillary Pressurementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Typical analytical imbibition scaling analysis (Alyafei et al, ; McWhorter & Sunada, ; Schembre & Kovscek, ; Zimmerman & Bodvarsson, ) relies on scaling the length dimension parallel to the direction of flow by the square root of time (

λ = x false/ \sqrt{t}

). Plotting the saturation profiles as a function of λ allows the tip of the imbibition front to collapse to a single value as demonstrated in Figure c.…”

Section: Computed Tomography Imaging Of Dynamic Spontaneous Imbibitiomentioning

confidence: 99%

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Spatial and Temporal Quantification of Spontaneous Imbibition

Zahasky

Benson

2019

Geophysical Research Letters

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Spontaneous imbibition—the process of a wetting fluid displacing a nonwetting fluid purely by capillary forces—is a ubiquitous phenomenon in porous and fibrous materials. Here we present a new experimental method for quantification of spontaneous imbibition in geologic materials. This method makes it possible to perform spontaneous imbibition under elevated pressure conditions relevant to environmental and energy resource applications. Computed tomography imaging reveals a new time‐independent scaling relationship that describes local imbibition rates as a function of water saturation. Imbibition capillary pressure curves are calculated with this wetting‐phase pressure and flow rate characterization, with no assumptions about the functional form, end point behavior, or scaling factors. Calculated end point capillary pressure is nonzero, in agreement with recent pore‐scale measurements of capillary pressure of trapped nonwetting phase. This work provides a new approach and insights into trapping and remobilization of nonwetting fluids in CO2 storage reservoirs and contaminated groundwater aquifers.

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Experimental and Analytical Investigation of Spontaneous Imbibition in Water-Wet Carbonates

Cited by 36 publications

References 29 publications

A Practical Methodology to Screen Oil Recovery Processes Involving Spontaneous Imbibition

A Practical Methodology to Screen Oil Recovery Processes Involving Spontaneous Imbibition

Capillarity-Driven Oil Flow in Nanopores: Darcy Scale Analysis of Lucas–Washburn Imbibition Dynamics

Spatial and Temporal Quantification of Spontaneous Imbibition

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