The Effect of Gas on the Injectivity of Particles in Sandstone

Abstract

Summary Many operations involve the injection of fluids into the formation around a well. In many cases, the fluids contain colloidal particles, either initially present or introduced during the operation through dirt or naturally occurring particles. Therefore, all injection schemes potentially suffer from injectivity decline. This injectivity decline is caused by clogging of the formation by particles, forming an external filter cake on the surface of the formation and blocking the pores inside the formation. This paper reports on the effects of gas on the injectivity of particles in sandstone. Experiments were performed in which water containing micron-sized particles (hematite) was injected into sandstone cores with or without small gas bubbles (nitrogen) present in the water. The position and amount of particle deposition could be determined both visually and by chemical analysis. It was found that the presence of gas reduces the external filter cake formed on the inlet surface of the core. Also, with gas, the particles penetrate deeper inside the core and more particles pass through the core and are detected in the effluent stream. The same effects are enhanced when the mixture of gas bubbles and water is replaced by foam. This suggests that the presence of gas/water interfaces has a major influence on the retention of particles in the sandstone. Possible mechanisms are discussed. The pressure drop across the core when gas or foam is present is initially higher than in an identical test without gas because of relative permeability effects or foam-flow resistance. However, because fewer particles are retained, ultimately the pressure drop is significantly less when gas is present. This effect may be significant in injection operations involving foam and offers ways to mitigate injectivity loss.