The effect of changes in surface wettability on two-phase saturated flow in horizontal replicas of single natural fractures

Bergslien, Elisa; Fountain, John C.

doi:10.1016/j.jconhyd.2006.06.009

Cited by 14 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…The fluid‐fluid displacement in rough‐walled rock fractures, on the other hand, has also been a topic of extensive research. Most research efforts were dedicated to the fluid occupancy and invasion morphology of one phase displacement by another [ Fernández et al ., ; Amundsen et al ., ; Glass et al ., ; Neuweiler et al ., ; Bergslien and Fountain , ; Karpyn et al ., ; Haugen et al ., ; Babadagli et al ., ], and the flow patterns/structures during the simultaneous flow of two fluids and the macroscopic hydraulic properties [ Frette et al ., ; Fourar and Bories , ; Persoff and Pruess , ; Liu et al ., ; Detwiler et al ., ; Chen and Horne , ; Detwiler , ; Alturki et al ., ; Yang et al ., ; Babadagli et al ., ; Ye et al ., ]. Fourar and Bories [] and Fourar et al .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Visualizing and quantifying the crossover from capillary fingering to viscous fingering in a rough fracture

Chen

Fang

et al. 2017

Water Resources Research

112

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Immiscible fluid‐fluid displacement in permeable media is important in many subsurface processes, including enhanced oil recovery and geological CO2 sequestration. Controlled by capillary and viscous forces, displacement patterns of one fluid displacing another more viscous one exhibit capillary and viscous fingering, and crossover between the two. Although extensive studies investigated viscous and capillary fingering in porous media, a few studies focused on the crossover in rough fractures, and how viscous and capillary forces affect the crossover remains unclear. Using a transparent fracture‐visualization system, we studied how the two forces impact the crossover in a horizontal rough fracture. Drainage experiments of water displacing oil were conducted at seven flow rates (capillary number log10Ca ranging from −7.07 to −3.07) and four viscosity ratios (M=1/1000,1/500,1/100 and 1/50). We consistently observed lower invading fluid saturations in the crossover zone. We also proposed a phase diagram for the displacement patterns in a rough fracture that is consistent with similar studies in porous media. Based on real‐time imaging and statistical analysis of the invasion morphology, we showed that the competition between capillary and viscous forces is responsible for the saturation reduction in the crossover zone. In this zone, finger propagation toward the outlet (characteristic of viscous fingering) as well as void‐filling in the transverse/backward directions (characteristic of capillary fingering), are both suppressed. Therefore, the invading fluid tends to occupy larger apertures with higher characteristic front velocity, promoting void‐filling toward the outlet with thinner finger growth and resulting in a larger volume of defending fluid left behind.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Visualizing and quantifying the crossover from capillary fingering to viscous fingering in a rough fracture

Chen

Fang

et al. 2017

Water Resources Research

112

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“…As is known to all, there is a large amount of residual oil in the formation after water flooding, especially in low permeability zone. As a result, long‐term interaction between the residual oil, water, and rock causes significant changes in the wettability of rock surfaces, and affects the adsorption capacity of anionic polymer and cationic polymer on the rock surface. In this case, it is possible that rock wettability have a markable effect on well treatment .…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The investigation of a new moderate water shutoff agent: Cationic polymer and anionic polymer

Dai

Zhao

You

et al. 2013

J of Applied Polymer Sci

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Cationic polymers and anionic polymers were selected as a moderate water shutoff agent for water production control. Due to the adsorption of polymers on the sand surface, the adsorption capacity under static condition, in porous media, and adsorption morphology on mica were investigated through starch–cadmium iodide method, core flow test, and atomic force microscopy measurement. The adsorption quantity on the sand surface increased with the high polymer concentrations and long adsorption time. With the increase of temperature and shearing time, the adsorption capacity slightly decreased. In addition, the adsorption capacity under water wettability condition was significantly larger than that under oil wettability condition. Alternate injection of cationic polymer and anionic polymer caused larger adsorption capacity in the core test. An adsorption multilayer was formed through alternate adsorption of cationic polymer and anionic polymer confirmed by atomic force microscopy. The visual simulation experiment was also conducted to illustrate adsorption and enhanced oil recovery mechanism. The polymers preferentially entered the high permeability zone and adsorbed on the sand surface, thus enhanced oil recovery. Furthermore, alternate injection of cationic and anionic polymers as a moderate water shutoff agent was successfully applied for water production control in oilfield test. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014, 131, 39462.

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“…The mechanism of NAPL residual in porous media has two types, namely, snap-off and by-passing (Wilson and Conrad, 1984). The rough surface of variable-aperture fracture could cause discrete blobs to remain through mechanisms that were similar to the trapping effects in porous media (Bergslien et al, 2006). However, the fractured medium also showed its particularity.…”

Section: The Mechanism Of Lnapl Entrapmentmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…Important mechanisms of immiscible fluid phase distribution and transport, such as preferential flow, fluid redistribution, snapping-off and by-passing, are observed in experiments, using micro-computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging (Becker et al, 2003;Karpyn et al, 2007;Werth et al, 2010;Weerakone et al, 2011). Moreover, several studies have been done focusing on the influences of wettability on fluid or interfacial area (Bergslien et al, 2006;Dou et al, 2013;Lee et al, 2010Lee et al, , 2014. NAPL tends to be trapped while it migrates in fractures, and the residuals present a long-term source of contamination.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The behaviors of LNAPL migration and entrapment in a rough-walled vertical fracture

Xie

et al. 2017

Geosci J

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The migration of light non-aqueous phase liquids (LNAPLs) and their entrapment in unsaturated vertical fractures exhibit complex behaviors, such as upward LNAPL migration that follows water level rise. In this study, behavior of LNAPL migration and entrapment in a vertical rough-walled fracture was investigated with optical measurement. A series of experiments were preformed, including fracture drainage, LNAPL infiltration and accumulation in an unsaturated fracture, and upward LNAPL migration with water level rise. Experimental results indicate that the fracture aperture significantly influences the LNAPL migration path and entrapped blobs distribution. The LNAPL-filled aperture follows a normal distribution, with the mean aperture ranging 0.253 mm to 0.287 mm, and the standard deviation around 0.13 mm. The characteristics of the entrapment blob morphology indicate that 80% of the individual blob areas are smaller than 20 mm 2 . The irregular structures of discrete blobs increase the 'LNAPL-water' interface, which will exacerbate contamination.

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The effect of changes in surface wettability on two-phase saturated flow in horizontal replicas of single natural fractures

Cited by 14 publications

References 37 publications

Visualizing and quantifying the crossover from capillary fingering to viscous fingering in a rough fracture

Visualizing and quantifying the crossover from capillary fingering to viscous fingering in a rough fracture

The investigation of a new moderate water shutoff agent: Cationic polymer and anionic polymer

The behaviors of LNAPL migration and entrapment in a rough-walled vertical fracture

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