In-situ fines migration and grains redistribution induced by mineral reactions – Implications for clogging during water injection in carbonate aquifers

Wang, Yamin; Almutairi, Abdulmajeed Lafi Z.; Bedrikovetsky, Pavel; Timms, Wendy; Privat, Karen; Bhattacharyya, Saroj K; Le-Hussain, Furqan

doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2022.128533

Cited by 13 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 93 publications

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“…However, erosion will be finished rapidly if the rock and soil have good erosion conditions like wide pores, low confining pressure, and a high hydraulic gradient (L. Zhang, Peng, Chang, & Xu, 2016), but erosion may not occur at all if pore clogging is the dominant process. However, the permeability coefficient of rock and soil mass is greatly reduced by pore-clogging (Han & Kwon, 2023;Parvan et al, 2020;Wang et al, 2022), which both impedes fluid movement and causes soil subsurface erosion to develop relatively slowly, suggesting that the evolution process may account for the majority of the time during soil erosion. And because pore clogging easily occurs with a size ratio of the pore constriction to the particle of 3-5 (Gella et al, 2018;Valdes & Santamarina, 2008), the geometry of pores has an impact on fluid flow that can no longer be ignored (Dincau et al, 2022(Dincau et al, , 2023Jäger et al, 2017Jäger et al, , 2018Vani et al, 2022).…”

Section: Implications For the Calculation Of Subsurface Fines Transpo...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Clogging and Unclogging of Fine Particles in Porous Media: Micromechanical Insights From an Analog Pore System

Yin,

Cui,

Jing

2024

Water Resources Research

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Pore clogging and unclogging in porous media are ubiquitous in subsurface hydrologic processes, which have been studied extensively at various scales ranging from a single pore to porous‐medium samples. However, it remains unclear how fluid flow, particle rearrangement, and the arching effect typical of cone‐shaped pore geometry interact and how they are captured by a pressure drop model at the macroscopic scale. Here, we investigate the pore‐scale feedback mechanisms between fluid flow and pore clogging and unclogging using a fully resolved fluid‐particle coupling approach (lattice Boltzmann method‐discrete element method). We first propose to use a truncated‐cone pore to represent realistic pore geometries revealed by X‐ray images of prepared sand packing. Then, our simulations indicate that the pore cone angle significantly influences the pressure drop associated with the clogging process by enhancing particle contacts due to arching. A modified Ergun equation is developed to consider this geometric effect. At the microscale, clogging can be explained by the interparticle force statistics; a few particles in an arch (or a dome) take the majority of hydrodynamic pressure. The maximum interparticle force is positively proportional to the particle Reynolds number and negatively associated with the tangent of the pore cone angle. Finally, a formula is established utilizing fluid characteristics and pore cone angle to compute the maximal interparticle force. Our findings, especially a modified pressure drop model that accounts for pore geometry resistance, provide guidance for applying pore‐scale models of clogging and unclogging to large‐scale subsurface fines transportation issues, including seepage‐induced landslides, stream bank failure, and groundwater recharge.

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Section: Implications For the Calculation Of Subsurface Fines Transpo...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Clogging and Unclogging of Fine Particles in Porous Media: Micromechanical Insights From an Analog Pore System

Yin,

Cui,

Jing

2024

Water Resources Research

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“…With the use of dimensionless analysis, the findings of this study could become applicable to fluid injection events with fluids of various viscosities, such as the managed aquifer recharge (MAR) and aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) [1]. In such weak formations, on the one hand, the dislocation of the grains could clog the formation [15], and, on the other hand, fracture might not be the target. Other examples include the effects of soil-water repellency, which was conducted by Wang et al [80].…”

Section: Applicabilty Of the Findings In The Field Of Hydrologymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, numerical Hele-Shaw investigations and experiments have been conducted to study the hydraulics of a well pumped with a variable discharge [9], fluid drainage through fractured media [10], fingered flow through sand [3], fluid-soil interaction [11], and the characteristics of the gas-injection barrier in two-dimensional porous media to understand the unexpected inflow mechanisms of groundwater in an unwanted area [12]. The majority of experiments that examine the effects of flow at the grain scale and any potential alterations of the characteristics of the soil-groundwater system are usually conducted in small size experiments at the mesoscale [7,[13][14][15][16]. Transient flow problems are usually conducted in a similar scale [5,8,17].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental Investigation of the Effects of Porosity, Hydraulic Conductivity, Strength, and Flow Rate on Fluid Flow in Weakly Cemented Bio-Treated Sands

Konstantinou

Biscontin

2022

Hydrology

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Fluid injection in a porous medium is the underlying mechanism for many applications in the fields of groundwater hydraulics, hydrology and hydrogeology, and geo-environmental engineering and in the oil and gas industry. Fluid flow experiments in porous media with a viscous fluid at varying injection rates were conducted in a modified Hele-Shaw setup. The granular media were three-dimensional bio-cemented sands of various grain sizes across various cementation levels, generating a matrix of various hydraulic conductivities, porosities, and strengths. The fluid injection experiments showed that a cavity-like fracture developed, which transitioned to crack-like fractures at higher cementation levels (hence, higher strength). As the flow rate increased, less infiltration was evident and higher breakdown pressure was observed, with propagation pressure reducing to zero. It was harder to induce an opening in cemented specimens with higher hydraulic conductivity and a larger pore network despite their lower strength due to excessive infiltration dominance, which inhibited the build-up of pressure required to generate a fracture. The results of this study suggest that, when designing fluid injection programs, the combined effects of hydraulic conductivity and strength need to be carefully considered.

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“…The migration and deposition of coal fines are influenced by confining pressure, flow rate, , wettability of the proppant, size of the proppant, type of the proppant, and characteristics of coal fines (size, maceral composition, morphology, density, polarity, etc. ). ,− There exists a critical flow velocity (CFV) for the release of coal fines in proppant packs . The value of CFV decreases at first and then increases with particle size .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental Study on the Influence of Hydrochemical Properties on the Migration of Coal Fines Containing Kaolinite in Propped Fractures

et al. 2023

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Coal fines generation poses significant challenges to the efficient extraction of coalbed methane. This study aims to investigate the influence of various hydrochemical properties on the migration of coal fines containing kaolinite within propped fractures. Experimental tests are conducted using a coal sample from the No.3 coal seam in the Shanxi Formation of the Hancheng mining area. The fracture permeability, variation of mass concentration, particle size distribution, and morphology of the produced fines are analyzed. The results show that under the same hydrochemical conditions of both Na 2 SO 4 and MgCl 2 solutions, the increase of salinity leads to the increased mass concentration of the produced fines, the increased permeability of the core sample, and the decreased particle size of the produced fines. Under the same salinity (10,000 mg/L) conditions, the mass concentration of coal fines produced using the Na 2 SO 4 solution is higher than that of the MgCl 2 solution, the permeability of the sample is larger, and the particle size of the produced fines is smaller. Kaolinite added to coal fines increases the hydrophilicity and promotes coal fines migration. The presence of metal cations enhances the aggregation of particles. The average sizes of the produced fines exhibit an increase ranging from 14.81 to 49.41%. Similarly, the D90 values exhibit an increase within the range of 0.42−34.90%. The aggregation effect of Mg 2+ on coal fines is greater than that of Na + . Coal fines migration dredges the propped fractures, leading to an increase in permeability. Coal fines aggregate and block fractures, resulting in pressure rise, which yields a decrease in permeability. In cases where the fines aggregation effect dominates, the aggregated fines tend to remain in their initial position within the sample throughout the experiment. Conversely, if the fines migration effect prevails, the coal fines tend to migrate toward the end of the sample, causing end blockage. This research sheds light on potential strategies for effectively managing and controlling coal fines.

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In-situ fines migration and grains redistribution induced by mineral reactions – Implications for clogging during water injection in carbonate aquifers

Cited by 13 publications

References 93 publications

Clogging and Unclogging of Fine Particles in Porous Media: Micromechanical Insights From an Analog Pore System

Clogging and Unclogging of Fine Particles in Porous Media: Micromechanical Insights From an Analog Pore System

Experimental Investigation of the Effects of Porosity, Hydraulic Conductivity, Strength, and Flow Rate on Fluid Flow in Weakly Cemented Bio-Treated Sands

Experimental Study on the Influence of Hydrochemical Properties on the Migration of Coal Fines Containing Kaolinite in Propped Fractures

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