Pressure behavior in deformable preformed particle gel during water flow: Modeling and experimental approach

Abstract

Preformed Particle Gel (PPG) is an efficient technology that is placed in high conductivity zones of the oil reservoir for conformance and water control. Many experiments and several field tests have been carried out to evaluate its performance in terms of properties such as salinity, particle size, storage modulus and temperature. However, there is not a simple theoretical model that describes the water flow control mechanism because of the media behavior. In this work, a simple, practical, and accurate model is proposed to predict and describe the pressure gradient evolution when water flows through a porous medium made of deformable granular PPG. The performance of the model was evaluated with own experiments and from the literature. Through the parameters of the model, it was found through the pressure behavior that the PPG developed two mechanisms, i. e., compaction and channeling. This model can be used to evaluate PPG capacity to divert flood water to oil rich unswept zones.