Abstract
Accurate monitoring of multiphase displacement processes is essential for the development, validation and benchmarking of numerical models used for reservoir simulation and for asset characterization. Here we demonstrate the first application of a chemically-selective 3D magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique which provides high-temporal resolution, quantitative, spatially resolved information of oil and water saturations during a dynamic imbibition core flood experiment in an Estaillades carbonate rock. Firstly, the relative saturations of dodecane (S_{mathrm{o}}) and water (S_{mathrm{w}}), as determined from the MRI measurements, have been benchmarked against those obtained from nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and volumetric analysis of the core flood effluent. Excellent agreement between both the NMR and MRI determinations of S_{mathrm{o}} and S_{mathrm{w}} was obtained. These values were in agreement to 4 and 9% of the values determined by volumetric analysis, with absolute errors in the measurement of saturation determined by NMR and MRI being 0.04 or less over the range of relative saturations investigated. The chemically-selective 3D MRI method was subsequently applied to monitor the displacement of dodecane in the core plug sample by water under continuous flow conditions at an interstitial velocity of 1.27times 10^{-6},hbox {m},hbox {s}^{-1} (0.4,hbox {ft},hbox {day}^{-1}). During the core flood, independent images of water and oil distributions within the rock core plug at a spatial resolution of 0.31,hbox {mm}times 0.39,hbox {mm} times 0.39,hbox {mm} were acquired on a timescale of 16 min per image. Using this technique the spatial and temporal dynamics of the displacement process have been monitored. This MRI technique will provide insights to structure–transport relationships associated with multiphase displacement processes in complex porous materials, such as those encountered in petrophysics research.
Highlights
Oil provides 32.9% of global energy consumption (British Petroleum Company 2016), and there, exists strong motivation to derisk the exploration and improve the efficiency of production of oil and gas, through a better understanding and optimization of the hydrocarbon recovery process
In order to demonstrate the quantitative nature of the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique, the relative oil (So) and water (Sw) saturations in the rock core plug during the core flood experiment were benchmarked against those obtained using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy
It has been shown that independent images of the hydrocarbon and aqueous phases can be obtained by exploiting their chemical shift separation in the NMR spectrum
Summary
Oil provides 32.9% of global energy consumption (British Petroleum Company 2016), and there, exists strong motivation to derisk the exploration and improve the efficiency of production of oil and gas, through a better understanding and optimization of the hydrocarbon recovery process. To date the DR approach has focused on the understanding of fluid–fluid displacement processes, but the longer-term ambition for the method is to inform production strategies in the field Before these numerical simulators can be deployed into practical applications, their predictive capabilities must be validated against experimental studies on both the pore and core length scales. It follows that experimental methods capable of providing dynamic, quantitative and spatially resolved information are required. The focus has been on the development and application of an MRI technique that can be applied to provide quantitative, spatially resolved information on the distributions of the hydrocarbon and aqueous phases during dynamic core flood experiments
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