Abstract
Fines migration is defined as separation of a Nano-sized particle by fluid flow in porous media and its migration along some distances and its entrapment in a narrow pore throat or its settlement on pore wall. Although this phenomenon happens in scales of Nano-meters, it can lead to sever irretrievable damages. This damage includes permeability reduction that causes drastic oil recovery reduction. There are several forces impacting a fine that is placed on a pore wall. Some of most important forces affecting settlement of a fine in porous media in presence of a fluid are electrical forces. Electrical forces consist of several long and short range forces. This study focuses on a long range force called Double Layer Force (DLF) that beside Van der Waals is one of most powerful electrical forces. DLF is a repulsive force that can repel a particle from pore wall and result separation of a Nano-sized solid which subsequently moves along with flowing fluid and clogs a throat. The DLF depends on the solid material (reservoir rock and fine) and fluid properties (i.e. ionic strength, pH). This study investigates how each of these parameters affects DLF and introduces proper conditions for reservoir water flooding for controlling fines migration.
Highlights
Presence of Nano-particles in porous media is responsible for many hydrocarbon reservoir damages [1]
These fines are loosely attached on pore walls and during fluid flow through pores they may be separated from their own places and move along with flowing fluid
This problem happens in Nano-meter scale fines and pores, but in a hydrocarbon reservoir scale, there are plenty of these fines and pores to cause extreme permeability reduction
Summary
Presence of Nano-particles in porous media is responsible for many hydrocarbon reservoir damages [1] These fines are loosely attached on pore walls and during fluid flow through pores they may be separated from their own places and move along with flowing fluid. These particles would be trapped in a narrower pore throat or settle on a pore wall and clog a path of fluid stream [2] This problem happens in Nano-meter scale fines and pores, but in a hydrocarbon reservoir scale, there are plenty of these fines and pores to cause extreme permeability reduction. Water flooding during secondary and tertiary recovery is one of main potentials for reservoir damage [4] [5] Considering this fact that these damages mainly are irretrievable, water flooding inevitably should be studied before any operation for evaluating magnitude of its damages. This means that repulsive force between fines and pore wall can be altered by changing composition of the flooding agent [7]
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