Fines Migration in
Two-Phase Flow
Summary. Fines migration is a
recognized source of permeability
reduction and productivity decline
in consolidated and unconsolidated
cores. Previous investigations have
shown that salinity, flow rate, pH, and
temperature significantly affect the
process. The presence of residual oil
saturation (ROS), fractional flow of oil
and water, polarity of oil, and core
wettability are other factors whose ef-
fects have not been studied syste-
matically. This experimental study
investigates the effect of these fac-
tors. Both oil saturation and the wet-
tability condition of the core are
shown to affect the extent and rate
of permeability impairment signifi-
cantly. Wettability determinations
made from endpoint relative perme-
abilities clearly show that oil-wet
cores sustained slower and less
damage than water-wet cores.
646
Amlt K. Sarkar, SPE, and Mukul M. Sharma, SPE, U. of Texas
Introduction
Formation fines may be defined as uncon-
fined solid particles made up of clay min-
erals or nonclay species deposited over
geologic time or introduced during comple-
tion or drilling operations.! Fines are al-
ways present in sandstone reservoirs, and
their migration with flowing fluids can cause
permeability impairment. More detailed
knowledge of fines mobilization, migration,
and plugging processes is necessary for a
complete understanding of the problem. To
investigate the potential for fines migration,
"water-shock" experiments are carried out.
These involve a sudden change from salt to
fresh water in flow through a sandstone core
sample. The major factors affecting the
fines-migration process are salinity, flow
rate, pH, temperature, rate of salinity
change, and adsorption of organic material
from oiP-lO In this study, additional fac-
tors that come into play when two fluid
phases are present in a core are investigated.
Corefloodlng Apparatus
Core samples (about 2.54 cm [l in.] in di-
ameter and 8.0 cm [3.1 in.] long) were cut
along the bedding plane from blocks of
Berea sandstone. The cores were placed in
a Hassler core holder. The difference be-
. tween core fluid pressure and the confining
pressure was kept at a minimum of 2.1 MPa
[300 psi]. Multiple pressure taps along the
length of the core were used for measuring
pressure drops across the inlet section (Sec-
tion 1, 1.5 cm [0.6 in.] long), middle sec-
tion (Section 2, 5.1 cm [2 in.] long), and
outlet section (Section 3, 1.7 cm [0.7 in.]
long). For thin-core studies, the cores were
carefully cut in slices perpendicular to the
bedding plane. Experiments on these cores
were conducted by "potting" them in
epoxy.
Two accumulators with internal pistons
were used for on-line storage of mineral-
oil/crude-oil and brine. In this way, it was
possible to avoid flowing brine or crude
through the pumps. Three sets of trans-
ducers (nine transducers in all) of increas-
ing pressure range (0 to 69, 0 to 1380, and
o to 6900 kPa [0 to 10, 0 to 200, and 0 to
Copyright 1990 Society of Petroleum Engineers
1,000 psi)) were used to monitor different
sections of the core to record differential
pressure with better accuracy.
The different fluids used. in the experi-
ments were brine (3 % NaCl), mineral oil
(Sontex 55™, viscosity 10.0 mPa·s at
24°C [10 cp at 75°F)), Crude Oil 1 (mix-
ture of 65.0% crude oil and 35.0% toluene,
viscosity 6.85 mPa·s at 24°C [6.85 cp at
75°F], asphaltene content 3.5%), Crude Oil
2 (viscosity 22.9 mPa·s at 24°C [22.9 cp
at 75°F], asphaltene content 6.5 %), Toluene
Extract 1 (3.0% asphaltene), Toluene Ex-
tract 2 (6.5% asphaltene), and pentane
extract.
Polar pentane extracts were prepared by
mixing crude oil in excess pentane, separat-
ing the lighter pentane-soluble part from the
heavier pentane-insoluble part by centrifug-
ing (at 10,000 rev/min for 20 minutes), and
collecting the top fraction by decanting. The
bottom fraction was recovered with toluene
and is described as the toluene extract.
Experimental Results
The experiments can be divided into the fol-
lowing categories: (1) single-phase experi-
ments, (2) two-phase experiments with
nonpolar oil, (3) two-phase experiments
with polar crude oil, (4) two-phase experi-
ments with polar compound extracts, (5)
steady-state two-phase experiments, and (6)
scanning electron microscope (SEM) study.
For the purpose of this discussion, the
single-phase permeability ratio (PR) is the
ratio of freshwater permeability to brine per-
meability. The two-phase PR is the ratio of
freshwater effective permeability to brine ef-
fective permeability. The two-phase PR (ab-
solute) is the ratio of freshwater effective
permeability to brine absolute permeability .
A damage time (DT) is defined as the PV
of fresh water injected after which the PR
remains unchanged. A particle discharge
time (PDT) is expressed as the PV's inject-
ed after which no particles were observed
in the effluent.
Porosity values for the cores ranged from
19.0 to 21.0% and PV's ranged from 8.0
to 9.0 mL, except in the thin-core studies.
DT ranged from 1.35 to 13.0 PV. Sop Swr'
and oil recovery were also calculated. Ef-
fluent particle concentration, for a size range
May 1990 • JPT
 TABLE 1-PERMEABILITY AND PR RESULTS FOR ALL EXPERIMENTS

Permeability
Single-Phase Two-Phase Water Ratio,
Shock Displacements Displacements Shock k. fw
k. w1o DT
Experiment Condition ~ ~ k fw k. w ~ k.w k.fw
1 Single-phase 65.43 0.093 0.0014 1.36
2 Sor(MO) 82.5 54.8 3.17 0.079 0.024 1.35
3 Swr(B) 82.94 58.65 0.059 0.019
4 Sor(MO)/IOW 117.0 6.92 0.059 0.008 1.40
5/1 Sor(C) 96.13 58.38 31.45 0.193 0.0068 4.30
5/2 Sor(C) 122.0 103.0 103.5 3.62 0.08 0.022
6 Sor(C)/IOW 103.5 10.5 6.72 0.64 13.0
7 Sor(pE)/IOW 103.5 67.97 12.43 0.18 4.8
8/1 Sor(TE)1I0W 135.2 35.3 1.18 0.033 9.0
8/2 Sor(TE)/IOW 138.42 25.22 2.09 0.148
9 Aged core 98.4 67.29 48.73 3.11 0.478
10/1 Thin core 83.0 0.153 0.0018
10/2 Thin core 83.0 6.45 0.078
11 Fractional flow 112.5 12.7 0.017 0.0047

IOW=initiallyoil-wet, MO= mineral oil, B=brine, C=crude oil, PE= pentane extract, and TE =toluene extract.

from 0.5 to 25.0 p.m, are expressed in units
of 10 10 particles/25 mL of solution. Most
effluent particles (80%) are found in the
lower size ranges, and no particle size ex-
ceeded 15.0 jLm. Table 1 shows the perme-
ability and PR results for all the experi-
ments. Table 2 gives the qualitative wetta-
bility results for the two-phase experiments.
Single-Phase Experiments. In the single-
phase experiment (Experiment 1), the core
was initially saturated with brine and flow
was established with brine to measure the
base permeability. The brine was then dis-
placed with fresh water. The PR was 0.001
and the DT was 1.36 PV. Figs. 1 and 2
show the plots for PR and effluent particle
concentration, respectively. The maximum
effluent particle concentration was 1.49 units
and the PDT was 2.89 PV.
In the single-phase thin-core study, water-
shock experiments were performed with two
core samples measuring 0.5 and 0.25 cm
[0.2 and 0.1 in.] in length (Experiments lOll
and 10/2, respectively). These experiments
show (Table 1) that even a 0.5-cm [0.2-in.]
-thick core suffers complete damage when
compared with an 8.3-cm [3.3-in.] -long
core. A 0.25-cm [0. I-in.] -long core, how-
ever, suffers only partial damage. This
clearly indicates that the capture length de-
fined by Sharma et al. 11 is about 2.5 rum
[0.1 in.] for this Berea sample.
Two-Phase Experiments With Nonpolar
Oil. Core at ROS. In Experiment 2, the core
was initially saturated with brine and flow
was established with brine. The brine was
displaced with mineral oil until Swr was at-
tained. Mineral oil was then displaced with
brine to establish a residual mineral oil satu-
ration. Finally, brine was displaced by fresh
water in the presence of residual mineral oil.
The PR was 0.024 and the DT was 1.35 PV.
Fig. 3 shows the plot of PRo The maximum
effluent particle concentration was 2.47
units, and the PDT was 2.5 PV.
Dynamic Displacement. In Experiment 3,
the core was initially saturated with brine
and flow was established with brine. The
brine was displaced with mineral oil to es-
tablish an interstitial water saturation. Fi-
nally, the mineral oil, at residual brine
saturation, was displaced with fresh water.
This type of experiment resembles a water-
flood. The PR was 0.019, the maximum ef-
fluent particle concentration 1.38 units, and
the PDT 2.26 PV.
Initially Oil-Saturated Core. In Experi-
ment 4, the core was initially saturated with
mineral oil and flow was established with
mineral oil. The mineral oil was then dis-
placed with brine to establish residual min-
eral oil saturation. Finally, brine was
displaced with fresh water in the presence
of residual mineral oil. The PR was 0.008,
and $e DT was 1.4 PV. The PR plot is simi-
lar to Fig. 3.
Two-Phase Experiments With Polar Oil.
Core at ROS. In Experiment 511, the core
was initially saturated with brine and flow
was established with brine. The brine was
displaced with Crude Oil 1 until Swr was at-
tained. Crude Oil 1 was then displaced with
brine to establish a residual Crude Oil 1 satu-
ration. Finally, brine was displaced by fresh
water in the presence of residual Crude Oil

TABLE 2-QUALIT ATIVE WETTABILITY RESULTS FOR TWO-PHASE EXPERIMENTS

Permeability
Ratio, Residual Maximum
Shock k. fw Saturations Oil Qualitative Effluent
Experiment Condition k. w1o Swr ~ Recovery kO
_ro_ ~
kO Wettability Concentration PDT
2 Sor(MO) 0.024 0.253 0.367 0.507 0.664 0.038 WW 2.47 2.51
3 Swr(B) 0.019 0.212 0.26 0.668 0.7 WW 1.38 2.26
4 Sor(MO)1I0W 0.008 0.356 0.643 0.059 WW
5/1 Sor(C) 0.0068 0.199 0.36 0.645 0.607 0.327 OW 2.61 4.13
5/2 Sor(C) 0.022 0.84 0.Q3 WW
6 Sor(C)/IOW 0.64 0.426 0.57 0.1 WW
7 Sor(PE)1I0W 0.18 0.31 0.689 0.67 OW 0.68 2.00
8/1 Sor(TE)/IOW 0.033 0.24 0.76 0.26 OWIWW
812 S or(TE)/IOW 0.148 0.18 0.31 0.689 0.1 OW/WW
9 Aged core 0.478 0.17 0.684 0.495 OW
11 Fractional flow 0.0047 0.113 WW

lOW = initially oil wet, MO =mineral oil. B=brine. C =crude, PE =pentane extract, TE =toluene extract, WW =water·wet, and OW =oil-wet.

JPT • May 1990 647

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PV PV PV

Fig. 1-PR vs. PV injected for single- Fig. 2-Effluent particle concentration vs. Fig. 3-PR vs. PV injected for core at
phase flow (Experiment 1). PV injected for single-phase flow (Experi- residual mineral oil saturation (Experiment
ment 1). 2).

1. The PR was 0.006, and the DT was 4.3
PV. Figs. 4 and 5 show the plots ofPR (ab-
solute) and effluent particle concentration,
respectively. The maximum effluent parti-
cle concentration was 2.61 units, and the
PDT was 4.13 PV. In Fig. 4, the PR de-
creases and then increases slightly. This may
occur as a result of pressure buildup that
causes some of the bridges at pore throats
to be broken or sheared away. Consequent-
ly, a fluctuation occurred in the plot of ef-
fluent particle concentration as well.
Dynamic Displacement. In Experiment
5/2, the core was initially saturated with
brine and flow was established with brine.
The brine was displaced with Crude Oil 2
to establish an interstitial water saturation.
Next, a displacement with brine, followed
by an oilflood and, finally, a fresh water-
flood were carried out. The plots of kr vs.
Sw, obtained by the Johnson-Bossler-
Naumann technique for the damaged and un-
damaged cores, are available in Ref. 12. The
final PR was 0.022.
Initially Oil-Saturated Core. In Experi- and finally, the brine was displaced with
ment 6, the core was initially saturated with fresh water in the presence of residual Crude
Crude Oil 1 and flow was established with Oil 1. Fig. 6 is a plot of the PRo It is evi-
Crude Oil 1. Crude Oil 1 was then displaced dent that, during the initial water shock, the
with brine to establish residual Crude Oil permeability in the first two sections of the
1 saturation. Finally, brine was displaced core is not significantly impaired. In fact,
with fresh water in the presence of a residual it is clear that after an initial decrease, the
saturation of Crude Oil 1. The PR was as permeabilities in both sections are restored
high as 0.64, and the DT was 13.0 PV. to close to their original values. If the flow
When the freshwater flow was stopped for is stopped for a few hours and then resumed,
a few hours and restarted, the PR declined however, a large decrease in permeability
to 0.0083. The results indicate a slow release is observed. Because of the slow release of
of particles, with the accumulated particle particles, a high concentration of particles
concentration being sufficient to cause per- is achieved only by waiting long enough for
meability decline when flow is resumed. a large number to be released.
Core Aged With Crude Oil I. In Experi-
ment 9, the core was initially saturated with Two-Phase Experiments With Polar Ex-
brine and flow was established with brine. tracts. Initially Pentane-Extract-Wet Core.
Then brine was displaced with Crude Oil 1 In Experiment 7, the core was initially satu-
to establish an interstitial water saturation. rated with pentane extract and flow was es-
The core was then aged in an oven at 70°C tablished. The pentane extract was displaced
and 6900 kPa [158°F and 1,000 psi] for 40 with brine to establish residual pentane ex-
days. Crude Oi11 was displaced with brine tract saturation, and finally, brine was dis-
to establish residual Crude Oil 1 saturation, placed with fresh water. The PR was 0.18,

100~-------------------~

2.5
Legend
o SECTION 1
4 SECTION 2
+ SECTION 3
10·1 E 2.0
I/)
I:'!

i
~
e e,;e~e""e.......;-e-O!Mr~.-I

10.2 e
~
CI>
E
CI>
a..

10-3
~
0.5

O.O"'-____...L...._ _ _- ' -_ _ _--'--_ _--'-_ _ _---'-_ _ _ _ ~~

1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0

PV

Fig. 4-PR vs. PV injected for core at residual Crude Oil 1 satu- Fig. 5-Effluent particle concentration vs. PV injected for core
ration (Experiment 5/1). at residual Crude Oil 1 saturation (Experiment 5/1).

648 May 1990 • JPT

 Legend
o SECTION 1
lJ. SECTION2
1 + SECTION3
10
SHOCK PAUSE EFFECT
10 0
0 .~
&!
~10'1
~
E
Q)
II.
10 ·2
10~~--~--L-~----L---~--__~~__L-__~
0.0 2.0 4.0 6.0 8.0
PV
Fig. 6-PR vs. PV injected for core aged with Crude Oil 1 (Ex-
periment 9).
and the DT was 4.8 PV. Fig. 7 shows the
PR plot. The maximum effluent particle
concentration was 0.68 units, and the PDT
was 2.00 PV. It was observed that the PR
was much higher, the DT was longer, the
maximum effluent particle concentration
was smaller, and the rate of particle release
was slower than in single-phase flow. There-
fore, initially wetting the core with the pen-
tane extract has an effect on the
fines-migration process.
Initially Toluene-Extract-Wet Core.
These experiments were carried out with
two different asphaltene concentrations in
toluene. In both cases, the core was initial-
ly saturated with toluene extract and flow
was established. The toluene extract was dis-
placed with brine to establish residual
toluene extract saturation, and finally, brine
was displaced with fresh water in the pres-
ence of residual toluene extract.
For the first case with Toluene Extract 1,
the PR was 0.033 and the DT was 9.0 PV.
In the case with Toluene Extract 2, the PR
was 0.148 (at the flow rate of 0.448
mLlmin). Fig. 8 shows the PR plot. The ef-
fect of change in flow rates is shown on the
plot. As the flow was increased from 0.112
to 0.448 rnL/min, the permeability increased
in all three sections. When the flow rate was
reduced again (Region III), the permeabil-
ity remained unchanged. As the flow rate
was again increased sharply (Region IV), the
permeability increased in Section 1 and de-
creased in Sections 2 and 3. This may be
a result of particles in Section 1 being
released and captured in Sections 2 and 3.
Finally, the core was extracted with
toluene and a mixture of chloroform and
acetone in succession. The permeability in
all three sections increased significantly. The
system at this point had only one fluid phase.
The core was then shocked again with fresh
JPT • May 1990
100~------------------------------------,
RATEEFFCT
~
~
Q)
E
Q)
a..
10.0 12.0 14.0
Flg_ 7-PR vs. PV injected for initially pentane-extract-wet core
(Experiment 7).
water at a flow rate of 0.112 mLimin
(Region VI). The permeabilities for all three
sections decreased sharply. The fines that
were previously coated with toluene extract
became free to flow and caused significant
permeability impairment. The flow rate was
increased further to 1.12 mLimin, and as
a result, the permeability decreased slight-
ly, indicating that in single-phase flow the
bridges are firmly made and permeability
decreases with an increase in flow rate.
Steady-State Two-Phase Flow. In these ex-
periments, the core was initially saturated
with brine and flow was established with
brine. The brine was displaced with Crude
Oil 2 to establish interstitial water satura-
tion. Next, water and oil were flowed
together at different fractional flows to ob-
serve permeability impairment with a gradu-
al increase in the freshwater fractional flow.
The experiment was done in several stages.
In the first stage, 35.0% brine and 65.0%
oil were flowed together. After steady state
was established, fresh water was flowed in-
stead of brine. When the pressure drops be-
came steady, damage at that particular
fractional flow was assumed to be complete.
In the next stage, a fractional flow was es-
tablished and the damage process was car-
ried out at 50.0% brine/water and 50.0%
oil. Finally, the core was shocked with
freshwater fractional flows of 0.8 and 1.0.
The plots of effective oil and water per-
meabilities and relative permeability damage
ratios as a function of fractional flow of
water are shown in Figs. 9 and 10, respec-
tively. The undamaged oil and water rela-
tive permeability values are taken from the
dynamic displacement experiment with polar
crude oil (Experiment 5/2). The final PR
was 0.0047, which is similar to the result
obtained with an initially water-wet core
Legend
o SECTION 1
6. SECTION 2
o SECTION 3
0
shocked at residual Crude Oil 1 saturation
(Experiment 5/1), where the water shock
was given in a single stage.
SEM Study. Scanning electron micrographs
were taken of cores from different experi-
ments. The samples were prepared by
breaking the cores across the middle and
coating them with gold. An energy-
dispersive X-ray analysis was carried out on
different locations of the sample to obtain
qualitative information on the types of min-
erals present. 12 The single-phase damaged
core sample shows that the fines are dis-
persed and less compact at the pore throat.
Fines jammed at the pore throat mainly
range from 5 to 15 /-tm. The core aged with
crude oil (after damage) also shows that
fines are dispersed and that fines of the same
size are blocking pore throats. The rock sur-
faces coated with organic matter were seen
to retain the clays in a compact form while
the water-wet fines were dispersed. No
quantitative conclusions can be made from
these micrographs.
Discussion
Single-Phase Results. Fines migration in
single-phase flow has been investigated by
several researchers. 4·6 In our case, single-
phase experiments were carried out to serve
as a comparison with two-phase experi-
ments. Our results show that permeability
ofthe Berea sandstone decreased by a factor
of 1,000 within 1.3 PV of freshwater injec-
tion. Previous researchers 5 have reported
permeability decline ratios ranging from 100
to 25,000. The variation in results is possi-
bly because of differences in initial perme-
ability, clay composition, and clay content
of the different cores used.
Fig. 11 shows a plot of the effluent
particle-size distribution. The plot shows
649
 <> SECTION 3
o 0YEIWl.

10
1
SHOCK RATE EFFECT
- FlONRA~

TOlUENE CIC.OIOOFOAM
10 1
'--,--, ... , L!gend
IEXTRACTION EXTAACTtC)N ,,
,, o OIL
,

10°
II
IIm IV
0 0 0

V
0
<:>
VII
,, @ WATER

.~ 10 0

0 0 0 0
0 0 0 ~
0 0 §
~ ~
~
j
.,E
i=
w 10 -1
Q.
0 0 0

<> ,./
<> <> <>
., ~

",.,,-,
10 -2
10.3 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
0.0 4.0 8.0 12.0 16.0 20.0 24.0 Fractional Flow of Water
PV

Fig. 8-PR vs. PV injected for initially toluene-extract-wet core Fig. 9-Effective permeability vs. fractional flow of water for
(Experiment 812). steady-state two-phase flow with Crude Oil 2 (Experiment 11).

"The presence of polar
crude 011 .•• has a
tendency to change
the nature of the core
surface. It tends to
slow the fines-release
process but cannot
prevent it."
-~----------------------.
~~--~----~--~~~----+
0.00 020
fRACTIONAL
Fig. 1O-Relatlve permeability damage ra-
tio vs. fractional flow of water for steady-
state two-phase flow with Crude Oil 2 (Ex-
periment 11).
that smaller particles are produced at longer
time. This may be owing to gradual block-
age of larger pore throats that initially al-
low the larger particles to be produced. The
plot of effluent particle concentration (Fig.
2) shows that a high concentration of parti-
cles was discharged for a short time period.
Effect of Nonpolar Oil. Two-phase experi-
ments with nonpolar oil show that the per-
meability reduction is lower by a factor of
10 compared with single-phase flow. The
DT, the maximum particle concentration,
and the PDT, however, are similar. Fig. 12
compares plots of the PR' s for single-phase
and two-phase flow with mineral oil (Ex-
periment 2). The smaller reduction in per-
meability in the presence of a residual oil
phase may be a result of the immobilization
.of particles in the pores occupied by the dis-
connected ganglia of mineral oil. It should
also be noted that in Fig. 3,the permeabil-
ity reduction in the upstream section of the
eon
._t(1I
core is not as severe as in the downstream
sections. This is because there are not
enough particles in this section to plug all
the small pores. In the terminology of Shar-
m'a and Yortsos,l1 B< I-a, where
B=ratio of particle to pore concentrations
and a = fraction of pores with radius great-
er than the particle radius. Sections 2 and
3. see larger concentrations of particles and
are damaged to the same extent.
When the core was initially saturated with
mineral oil, similar results were obtained.
now OF' WA.T£A
This clearly suggests that the nonpolar min-
eral oil cannot cause any change in the na-
ture of the pore surface of the core even
when initially saturated with the oil. Again,
no particles are released from the regions
where oil is present as an immobile phase.
The residual saturations and endpoint rela-
tive permeabilities for these experiments,
listed in Table 2, also show that the core still
behaves like a water-wet system even if con-
tacted by mineral oil first.
Results of the dynamic displacement ex-
periments carried out with fresh water are
shown in Table 2. Note that the cumulative
oil recovered during waterflooding was
slightly higher when fresh water was used.
This may be a result of the high pressure
gradients in the continuous water phase. The
permeability reduction ratio at the end of the
freshwater flood was the same as that ob-
tained when the core was initially at ROS.
This suggests that the displacement process
occurs ahead of the damage front and is rela-
tively unaffected by it, at least in a homo-
geneous core sample. The pressure drops
required for the freshwater flood are of
course enormous and will very quickly be-
came impractical to achieve in a field. The
effluent particle concentration profile indi-
cates that the suspended particles break
through immediately after the oil bank is
produced. 12
Effect of Polar Crude Oil. The shock ex-
periments with polar crude oil show results
that are significantly different from those
with mineral oil. For initially water-wet
cores, the permeability reduction ratio is
similar but the DT is longer. The maximum
effluent particle concentration is similar, but
the PDT is longer. The presence of polar
crude oil therefore has a tendency to change
the nature of the core surface. It tends to
slow the fines-release process but cannot
prevent it.
When the core is initially saturated with
crude oil, the PR is much higher and the DT

650 May 1990 • JPT

 10 3
10 2
:§
1 • PV.' 1.77
'"0 10
C
0
~ ~
c: 10 0
2lc:
0
()
Q)
10-1
~ 10 -2
~
10-2
10.3
0.0 4.0 8.0 12.0
Particle size, Micron
Fig. 11-Particle·size distribution for single-phase flow (Experi-
ment 10/1).
is much longer. When the flow was stopped
for a while, additional damage occurred.
The results indicate that the release of fines
does occur but at a much slower rate. There-
fore, the concentration of particles was not
sufficient to cause the formation of stable
bridges. When the flow is stopped, the par-
ticle concentration builds up locally. Any
subsequent flow causes a logjam effect; i.e.,
stable bridges form and permeability is re-
duced. This indicates that at extremely slow
rates-i.e., rate of release much greater than
rate of convective particle transport-
sufficient particle concentration can be built
up to form bridges. Among all the experi-
ments conducted, the crude oils were the
most successful at preventing damage. This
indicates that crude oils containing polar
compounds are most effective in causing ad-
sorption of these compounds on dry rock
surfaces and therefore in preventing fines
release.
The shock experiment with the aged core
shows that the adsorption of polar ends to
the rock surface is a slow process. Over geo-
logic time at reservoir temperatures and
pressures, this process may well cause the
fines to become immobile by adsorbing on
them. For the short contact time allowed in
the experiment (40 days), the adsorption of
polar compounds caused the fines release to
be slowed but not prevented. It is difficult
to conjecture how significant this effect will
be for a given reservoir. It is clear, how-
ever, that this is a significant factor that must
be considered. The wettability of the core
also seems to have been altered by aging,
as indicated by the endpoint relative perme-
abilities (Table 2).
Effect of Polar Extracts. Two-phase ex-
periments with polar compound extracts
show that the pentane-extract-wet core has
less fines migration than the toluene-extract-
wet core. Similar results are reported in the
JPT • May 1990
10 0
lEGEND
o Pv .... O
d PV-l0.3g
• PV.26.77
X PV_6.1
o PV_I.27
~ PV_17.18 10 -1
~
Z PV-33.27
i
Q)
~
CL
0
16.0 20.0 10 -3
0.0
Fig. 12-PR vs. PV injected for Experiments 1 and 2_
literature 13 and explained by the fact that
asphaltene particles by themselves cover less
pore surface area. Resin particles, on the
other hand, do not flocculate and cover the
surface of the medium more evenly to pre-
vent the release of fines. For the toluene-
extract-wet cores, the higher the concentra-
tion of asphaltene, the lower the extent of
permeability reduction. All the cores treated
with the extracts showed a tendency toward
becoming more oil-wet, as shown in Table
2. The extent ofwettability alteration toward
oil-wetness generally appears to be related
to the degree to which fines migration is
prevented.
Effect of Fractional Flow _ Two-phase ex-
periments at fixed fractional flow with po-
lar crude oil show that with an increase in
fractional flow of water, the permeability of
the medium declines gradually. Both oil and
water relative permeability curves shift
down in equal proportion such that the ratio
of damaged to undamaged relative permea-
bilities is the same for both oil and water.
The damaging fines are mobile only in the
water phase. 1 As such, the effective per-
meability to water should decrease as plug-
ging occurs. Why then does the effective
permeability to oil decrease? The reason can
be found in the condition of local capillary
equilibrium. The pressure difference be-
tween the continuous water and oil phases
must be equal to the capillary pressure. As
such, if the pressure gradient in one phase
increases owing to pore plugging, the phases
must redistribute microscopically to enforce
equal pressure gradients in each phase along
the core's length. This redistribution of
phases causes the oil permeability to drop.
This experiment, therefore, shows that
both oil and water relative permeability
values decrease in equal proportion at a par-
ticular fractional flow. These results may be
expected on the basis of fractional flow
Legend
o 1-PHASE
® 2-PHASE
1.0 2.0 3.0
PV
equations, neglecting capillary pressure. We
can show that 12 for iw=iwd, krodlkro=
krwdlkrw'
Conclusions
1. In single-phase flow, the permeability
reduction ratio (ratio of permeability re-
tained to initial permeability) is on the or-
der of 1/1,000 and the rate of permeability
decline is very high. Dispersed fines move
a distance of <0.5 cm [<0.2 in.] before
being trapped at pore throats. A high con-
centration of fines is observed in the effluent
for a short period of time, indicating a high
rate of release. 11
2. In two-phase flow with nonpolar min-
eral oil, the permeability reduction is on the
order of 1150. This shows the effect of the
presence of a residual oil phase. The result
is the same whether the medium is initially
saturated with oil or water. Initially saturat-
ing the core with a nonpolar mineral oil does
not make the core oil-wet. The effluent par-
ticle concentration profile is similar to that
obtained with single-phase flow.
3. In the case oftwo-phase flow with po-
lar crude oil, the permeability reduction ratio
is similar to that for nonpolar oil. But when
the core is initially saturated with oil, the
permeability reduction is on the order of
111.5 and the rate of permeability decline
is slow, indicating that fines release is
slowed but not prevented.
4. As a result of low particle concentra-
tions and localized pressure fluctuations ow-
ing to capillary instabilities, the bridges
formed -in two-phase flow are unstable at
high pressure gradients, as indicated by both
the effluent particle concentration proflle and
the permeability reduction plots.
5. When the core i~ aged with polar crude
oil at 70°C [158°F] for 40 days, permea-
bility does not decline, but with a pause in
flow, the permeability reduction obtained is
in the range of 1115. This indicates a very
651

Authors
Sarkar Sharma
Amit K. Sarkar is a doctoral candidate
In petroleum engineering at the U. of
Texas in Austin. He is currently work-
ing on microbial EOR mechanisms and
simulation. He previously worked with
the Oil & Natural Gas Commission in In-
dia in well testing and workover opera-
tions. He holds a BS degree in chemical
engineering from the U. of Burdwan, In-
dia, and an MS degree in petroleum en-
gineering from the U. of Texas. Mukui
M. Sharma, assistant professor of petro-
leum engineering at the U. of Texas, has
research interests in petrophysics, for-
mation damage, and surface phenome-
na. He holds a BS degree in chemical
engineering from the Indian Inst. of
Technology and MS and PhD degrees in
chemical and petroleum engineering
from the U. of Southern California,
where he was 1986-87 SPE student
chapter faculty sponsor.
652
slow release of particles for such cores,
perhaps caused by a mixed-wettability con-
dition.
6. In the case of two-phase flow with the
core initially wet with polar compound ex-
tracts, the permeability reduction is higher
than for a core initially saturated with min-
eral oil, but lower than for a core saturated
with crude oil. Permeability decline is higher
in the case of toluene-extract- than with
pentane-extract-treated cores. Higher con-
centrations of asphaltene in the toluene
extract caused smaller reductions in perme-
ability.
7. The effluent particle concentrations
from the core indicate that the rate and du-
ration of fines release depend on the fluids
saturating the core. The fines observed in
the effluent are always < 15.0 /tm in size.
8. When both oil and fresh water flow si-
multaneously, the permeability declines
gradually with an increase in f W' At a par-
ticular fractional flow, both oil and water
relative permeabilities decrease in equal
proportion when compared with an un-
damaged core. This indicates that fluid
redistribution occurs within the pores to
maintain equal pressure gradients in the
water and the oil phases.
Nomenclature
f w = fractional flow of water
k = permeability, md
keJw1kew = two-phase-flow permeability
ratio
kfw = single-phase permeability
with fresh water, md
kfwlko = single-phase-flow
permeability ratio
ko,kw = single-phase oil and water
permeability, md
kr = relative permeability
k7o,kRv = endpoint relative
permeabilities to oil and
water
!!..p = pressure drop over section
of core, psi
Sor = ROS, fraction
Swr = residual water saturation,
fraction
Subscripts
d = damaged core
e = effective
fw = freshwater
o = oil
w = water
Acknowledgments
The authors thank the sponsors of the Stimu-
lation, Logging, and Formation Damage Re-
search Program at the U. of Texas for their
financial support of this work.
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Provenance
Original SPE manuscript, An Experimen-
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JPT
May 1990 • JPT