Experimental Simulation on Imbibition of the Residual Fracturing Fluid in Tight Sandstone Reservoirs

Abstract

Fracturing is a fundamental technique for enhancing oil recovery of tight sandstone reservoir. The pores in tight reservoirs generally have small radii and generate tremendous capillary force; accordingly, the imbibition effect can significantly affect retention and absorption of the fracturing fluid. In this study, the imbibition behaviors of the fracturing fluid were experimentally investigated, and the effects of interfacial tension, (IFT) permeability, oil viscosity, and the salinity of the imbibition fluid were determined. In addition, combining with nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)-based core analysis, fluid distribution, and the related variations in imbibition and displacement processes were analyzed. Finally, some key influencing factors of imbibition of the residual fracturing fluid, the difference and correlation between imbibition and displacement, as well as the contribution of imbibition to displacement were explored so as to provide optimization suggestions for guiding the application of oil-displacing fracturing fluid in exploration. Results show that imbibition recovery increased with time, but the imbibition rate gradually dropped. There exists an optimal interfacial tension that corresponds to maximum imbibition recovery. In addition, imbibition recovery increased as permeability and salinity increases and oil viscosity decreases. Furthermore, it was found that extracted oil from the movable pore throat space was almost equal to that from the irreducible pore throat space during imbibition and their contribution in the irreducible pore throat space was greater than in the movable pore throat space in the displacement process. Hence, imbibition plays a more important role during the displacement process in the reservoirs with finer porous structure than previously thought.