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1987 Anderson Efek water flooding spe-16471-pa
1987 Anderson Efek water flooding spe-16471-pa
Summary. The wettability of a core will strongly affect its waterflood behavior and relative permeability because wettability is a
major factor controlling the location, flow, and distribution of fluids in a porous medium. When a strongly water-wet system is
waterflooded, recovery at water breakthrough is high, with little additional oil production after breakthrough. Conversely. water
breakthrough occurs much earlier in strongly oil-wet systems, with most of the oil recovered during a long period of simultaneous
oil and water production. Waterfloods are less efficient in oil-wet systems compared with water-wet ones because more water must
be injected to recover a given amount of oil.
Introduction
This paper is the sixth in a series of literature surveys covering the laboratory-scale experiments, inlet and outlet end effects can also
effects of wettability on core analysis. I-5 Wettability has been affect the recovery. The effects of relative permeabilities and vis-
shown to affect waterflood behavior, relative permeability, capil- cosity ratio on waterflooding are demonstrated by the fractional flow
lary pressure, irreducible water saturation (IWS), ROS, dispersion, equation. If we neglect capillary effects and assume a horizontal
simulated tertiary recovery, and electrical properties. Earlier system, the simplified form of the fractional flow equation (e.g.,
but less complete reviews covering the effects of wettability on see Craig 6 ) is
waterflooding and relative permeability can be found in Refs. 6
through 17.
Waterflooding is a frequently used secondary recovery method fw(Sw) = 1 Itw kro ' ............................. (1)
in which water is injected into the reservoir, displacing the oil in +--
front of it. Assuming that the reservoir is initially at IWS, only oil Ito krw
is produced until breakthrough, the time when water first appears
at the production well. After breakthrough, increasing amounts of where
water and decreasing amounts of oil are produced. The process con- fw = fractional flow of water,
tinues until the WOR is so high that the well becomes uneconomi- Sw = water saturation,
cal to produce. Ito,ltw = oil and water viscosities, respectively, cp, and
Waterfloods in water-wet and oil-wet systems have long been kro,k rw = oil and water relative permeabilities, respectively.
known to behave very differently. IS-22 For uniformly wetted sys-
tems, it is generally recognized that a waterflood in a water-wet Eq. 1 shows that the fractional flow of water at a given saturation
reservoir is more efficient than one in an oil-wet reser- is increased when the water/oil viscosity ratio is decreased. Decreas-
voir. IO ,15,IS,19,23-2S An example of the effect of wettability on ing the water/oil viscosity ratio will cause earlier breakthrough and
waterflood performance calculations is shown in Fig. 1. Steady- less efficient oil production. Similar effects will occur when the
state oil/water relative permeabilities were measured in an outcrop water/oil relative permeability ratio is increased. The oil and water
Torpedo sandstone using a mild NaCI brine and a 1.7-cp relative permeabilities are explicit functions of the water satura-
[1. 7-mPa . s] refined mineral oil. The wettability of the system was tion. They are also affected by pore geometry, wettability, fluid
controlled by adding either (1) various amounts of barium dinony I distribution, and saturation history. 6
naphthalene sulfonate to the oil, which made the system more oil-
wet, or (2) Orvus KTM liquid (a detergent) to the brine to achieve Water-Wet Systems. As discussed by Andersori,5 wettability has
a strongly water-wet system with a contact angle of 0° through the a strong effect on relative permeability. As the core becomes more
brine. Wettability was monitored by contact-angle measurements oil-wet, the water relative permeability increases and the oil rela-
on a quartz crystal. The measured relative permeability curves were tive permeability decreases. The water will flow more easily in com-
used to calculate field performance, assuming a single 20-acre [8-ha] parison with the oil during a waterflood, causing progressively
five-spot with homogeneous properties. Oil and water viscosities earlier breakthrough and less efficient recovery. 18,\ 9 Wettability
were assumed to be 1.74 and 0.35 cp [1.74 and 0.35 mPa's], re- affects relative permeability and waterflood behavior because it is
spectively. The calculated waterflood results are shown in Fig. 1, a major factor controlling the location, flow, and spatial distribu-
where water breakthrough is the point at which each curve first tion of fluids in the core. Craig 6 and Raza et al. 10 have given good
becomes nonlinear. Fig. 1 demonstrates that earlier water break- summaries of the effects of wettability on the distribution of oil
through and less efficient oil recovery occur as the system becomes and water in a core. Consider a strongly water-wet rock initially
more oil-wet. For example, 8 % less oil will be produced at a WOR at the IWS. Water, the wetting phase, will occupy the small pores
of 25 if the contact angle is 138° [2.4 rad], rather than 47° [0.82 and form a thin film over all the rock surfaces. 29 -32 Oil, the non-
rad]. wetting phase, will occupy the centers of the larger pores. This fluid
Waterflood recovery is controlled by the oil and water relative distribution occurs because it is most energetically favorable. Any
permeabilities of a system and by the water/oil viscosity ratio. In oil placed in the small pores would be displaced into the center of
• Now with Particulate Solid Research.
the large pores by spontaneous water imbibition, because this would
Copyright 1987 Society of Petroleum Engineers lower the energy of the system.
~ I oJ
o "". o / 6
I
W / a:
0: / w
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r--
,'/"" ----
" ____ 0 - - - - - - o B/ / _ _ STRONGLY
;:
/ ,V ----
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__ -- WATER-WET
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OIL-WET
10
Fig. 1-Effect of wettabiJity on waterflood performance cal- gradually after breakthrough_ Thc watcrflood in the oil-wet sys-
culations, 20-acre five-spot, Flo = 1.74 cp, Flw =0.35 cpo tem is less efficient than the waterflood in the water-wet system
Taken from Owens and Archer. 27 because more water must bc injected to recover a given amount
of oiL The residual oil after the waterflood is found filling the
smaller pores, as a continuous film over the pore surfaces, and as
During a waterflood of a water-wet system at moderate oil/water larger pockets of oil trapped and surrounded by water. 29-31 Be-
viscosity ratios, water moves through the porous medium in a fairly cause much of this oil is still continuous through the thin oil films
uniform front. 6 The injected water will tend to imbibe into any and can be produced at a very slow rate,29,31,34,35 ROS is not well
small- or medium-sized pores, moving oil into the large pores where defined_ 10 In contrast to the water-wet case, oil recovery is strong-
it is easily displaced_ Ahead of the front, only oil is moving_ In ly dependent on the volume of water injected. 10
the frontal zone, each fluid moves through its own network of pores, In the remainder of this paper, the terms' 'wetting" and' 'non-
but with some wetting fluid located in each pore_ 6 In this zone, wetting" fluid will also be used in addition to water-wet and oil-
where both oil and water are flowing, a portion of the oil exists wet. This will more easily enable us to draw conclusions about a
in continuous channels with some dead-end branches, while the re- system with the opposite wettability. For example, a waterflood
mainder of the oil is trapped in discontinuous globules_ After the in a system of one wettability will behave in the same manner as
water front passes, almost all the remaining oil is immobile_ Because an oilflood in the same system with the wettabilities reversed. Rela-
of such immobility in this water-wet case, there is little or no pro- tive permeability curves will also show that the fluids can exchange
duction of oil after water breakthrough_ The disconnected residual positions and flow behavior. 36,37
oil exists in two basic forms: (1) small spherical globules in
the center of the larger pores and (2) larger patches of oil ex- Breakthrough, Practical, and True Residual Saturations. There
tending over many pores that are completely surrounded by are three different oil saturations of interest in waterflooding: break-
water. 6,29-31,33-35 through saturation, practical (or economical) saturation, and true
An idealized example of a waterflood in a strongly water-wet residual saturation. Note that these saturations are all averages over
core is given in Fig_ 2_ A large fraction of the oil in place (OIP) the entire core because the references surveyed report oil recovery
is produced before breakthrough (BT in figures), with very little as a function of PV's of water injected. All three saturations are
additional oil recovered after breakthrough_ After breakthrough, essentially equal in a strongly water-wet system with a moderate
the WOR increases rapidly _Because little oil is produced after break- oil/water viscosity ratio_ The saturations can differ greatly, how-
through, the total oil recovery is essentially independent of the ever, in intermediate and oil-wet systems or in water-wet systems
volume of water injected_ 10 Note that while the waterfloods in Fig_ with a large oil/water viscosity ratio. Breakthrough occurs when
2 give a good idea of typical behavior for water-wet and oil-wet water is first produced at the outlet of the system. Before break-
sandstone systems, Morrow 13 has pointed out that the oil recov- through, a volume of oil is produced for each volume of water in-
eries are higher than average laboratory corefloods_ jected, providing the most efficient recovery possible. The lower
the oil saturation in the reservoir rock at breakthrough (and the
Oil-Wet Systems. In a strongly oil-wet rock, the rock is preferen- higher the oil recovery), the more economically attractive a water-
tially in contact with the oil, and the location of the two fluids is flood will be.
reversed from the water-wet case_ Oil is generally found in the small After breakthrough, the WOR rises continuously, so that more
pores and as a thin film on the rock surfaces, while water is locat- water must be injected and more water produced for each addi-
ed in the centers of the larger pores_ tional barrel of oil recovered. When the WOR is so high that the
The interstitial water saturation appears to be located as discrete waterflood is no longer economical, the system is at the practical
droplets in the centers of the pore spaces in some strongly oil-wet or economical ROS_ There is general agreement that the practical
reservoirs_ 10 A waterflood in a strongly oil-wet rock is much less ROS is lower in water-wet systems; i.e., more oil is produced in
efficient than one in a water-wet rock_ When the waterflood is start- a uniformly water-wet system than would be produced in a uni-
ed, the water will form continuous channels or fingers through the formly oil-wet system with the same pore geometry. 6,15,26,27,29,38
centers of the larger pores, pushing out oil in front of it. Oil is left When the economical saturation is reached in an intermediate or
in the smaller crevices and pores_ As water injection continues, oil-wet system, there are still continuous connections between much
water invades the smaller pores to form additional continuous chan- of the oil throughout the porous medium_ It is possible to continue
nels, and the WOR of the produced fluids gradually increases_ When to produce small amounts of oil at a very high WOR. Eventually,
sufficient water-filled flow channels form to permit nearly unre- however, no more oil will be produced, and the true or ultimate
stricted water flow, oil flow falls to a very low leveL 6 residual saturation will be reached_ This can take the injection of
Fig_ 2 also contains an example of a waterflood in a strongly oil- tens to thousands of PV's of water, depending on the wettability
wet core. Oil recovery before breakthrough is relatively small, with of the system. With mixed-wettability systems, very low true ROS's
most of the oil produced after breakthrough_ The WOR increases can be reached, as discussed later.
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RESERVOIR CONIlTIONS
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FLOOD CHARACTERISTICS
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the system is water-wet. Such oilfloods and water/oil relative per- at breakthrough. However, the waterflood in the water-wet core
meabilities measured with the oil saturation increasing can have was more efficient after breakthrough.
practical significance in EOR projects when an oilbank is formed Jennings 38 also compared waterfloods of high-viscosity crudes
in front of the injected fluids. in native-state and cleaned and friable and unconsolidated cores.
Three different waterfloods were compared: (1) live crude in native-
state core, (2) live crude in cleaned core, and (3) refined oil in
Interaction of Wettability and Viscosity Ratio cleaned core. The viscosity of the refined oil was adjusted to match
In the waterfloods at moderate oil/water viscosity ratio discussed the crude. Typical results are shown in Fig. 9 for waterfloods with
previously, wettability was very important in determining water- 1,200-cp [1,200-mPa's] oils. The double-dashed line is the oil
flood behavior. There was little oil production after breakthrough recovery before breakthrough. The waterflood of the native-state
in a water-wet core, but significant production after breakthrough core containing live crude was most efficient, followed by the water-
in an oil-wet core. Actually, the amount of production before and flood of live crude in the cleaned core. Least efficient was the water-
after breakthrough is controlled by both the wettability and the flood of the refined oil in the cleaned core. Unfortunately, the
oil/water viscosity ratio, Jl.o/Jl.w (see Eq. I). When the oil/water wettability before and after extraction was not measured, so it is
viscosity ratio is large enough, there will be a significant period not known whether the core was more oil-wet or water-wet after
of two-phase flow at any wettability. An increase in oil viscosity cleaning. In addition, the waterflood behavior and wettability of
lowers the oil mobility relative to the water mobility. This change the cleaned core saturated with brine and live crude might depend
in mobility causes an earlier water breakthrough and an increased on the aging time. 62 Even so, Jenning's results indicate the im-
period of simultaneous oil and water production before ROS is portance of using native-state cores.
reached. 6,60 The experiments by Jennings demonstrated that highly unfavora-
For example, Richardson 61 examined the effects of viscosity ra- ble viscosity ratios cause early water breakthrough for both water-
tio on a I-ft [0.3-m]-long, water-wet sandpack that was saturated and oil-wet cores. Conversely, when the oil/water viscosity ratio
with brine, oilflooded, and then waterflooded (/lw = 1.3 cp [1.3 is very favorable, there will be little oil production after break-
mPa·s]). When a 1.8-cp [1.8-mPa· s] oil was used, water break- through at any wettability. The waterflood will look similar to water-
through occurred after about 0.6 PV of water injection with little floods in stron~ly water-wet core at moderate oil/water viscosity
additional oil recovery. When a I51-cp [151-mPa' s] oil was used, ratio. Mungan 6 examined the effects of viscosity ratio for both
water breakthrough occurred after only 0.3 PV of water injection. the wetting fluid displacing the nonwetting one and the reverse dis-
After 2.5 PV of water injection, only 0.5 PV of oil had been re- placement (see Fig. 10). A sintered teflon core, refined mineral
covered and additional oil was still being produced. Note that this oils (wetting phase), and water or a sucrose solution (nonwetting
difference in waterflood behavior was caused only by the change phase) were used. The viscosity ratio was varied by using differ-
in the oil/water viscosity ratio and not by problems with achieving ent sucrose solutions and blends of refined oils. As the viscosity
wetting-phase equilibrium because both waterfloods could be de- ratio was varied, the contact angle through the wetting phase (oil)
scribed with the same relative permeability curves. varied from about 30 to 50° [0.52 to 0.87 rad], which is reasona-
At high oil/water viscosity ratios, waterfloods in both oil-wet and bly constant.
water-wet cores show a decrease in recovery at breakthrough and The upper pair of curves in Fig. 10 show the effects of viscosity
a longer period of two-phase production. It is still true, however, ratio when the wetting phase (oil) displaces the nonwetting phase
that a waterflood in a water-wet core is more efficient than a water- (sucrose solution or water) from a sintered teflon core. The cores
flood in an oil-wet core. 26,38 At any fixed oil/water viscosity ra- were saturated with oil, waterflooded to ROS, and then oil flood-
tio, water breakthrough will occur earlier in the oil-wet core, and ed. These displacements are analogous to a waterflood in a water-
more water will have to be injected to obtain the same recovery. wet reservoir core. At favorable viscosity ratios, the breakthrough
An example of the interaction between wettability and viscosity ratio and economic recoveries are essentially equal. As the viscosity ra-
is shown in Fig. 8. The dashed line in Fig. 8 is the oil recovery tio becomes more unfavorable (analogous to a higher oil viscosity
befo're breakthrough on this semilog plot. Two refined mineral oils in a water-wet reservoir core), both the breakthrough and economic
and two artificial cores of sintered aluminum oxide were used. One recoveries decrease. The breakthrough recovery is slightly smaller
of the cores was used in its initial water-wet state, while the other than the economic one. These results agree with the recoveries ob-
was treated with an organochlorosilane to render it oil-wet. The tained when flooding a water-wet core at moderate oil/water vis-
results for the waterfloods with the 1. 8-cp [1. 8-mPa . s] oil in the cosity ratios.
oil- and water-wet cores are very similar to those discussed previ- The lower pair of curves in Fig. 10 show the viscosity ratio vs.
ously. With the 2,500-cp [2,500-mPa' s] oil, breakthrough occurred the recovery when the nonwetting phase (sucrose solution or water)
much earlier, although wettability had little effect on the recovery displaces the wetting phase (oil) from the teflon core. The cores
.-.- ..
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BREAKTHROUGH AND
ULTIMATE RECOVERIES
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POROSITY
CONTACT ANGLE
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INITIAL SATURATI(J,I 30% P. v.
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were saturated with water, oilflooded to IWS, and then water- There is general agreement in the literature with the following state-
flooded. These displacements are analogous to a waterflood in an ments for uniformly wetted systems, although exceptions are known
oil-wet reservoir core. When the viscosity ratio is unfavorable, most to exist.
of the nonwetting phase is recovered after breakthrough, in agree- I. The breakthrough, practical (economical), and ultimate ROS's
ment with results discussed above for waterfloods in oil-wet cores. are essentially equal and low for water-wet systems. After break-
As the viscosity ratio becomes more favorable, the breakthrough through, there is almost no oil production. The oil recovery is high
recovery gradually approaches the economic recovery. A compar- in this case because oil recovery is inversely related to the
ison of the two sets of curves shows that the breakthrough and eco- ROS. IO ,18,19,24,26,29,49,53
nomic recoveries are lower when the nonwetting fluid is injected. 2. As the system becomes more oil-wet, the breakthrough
In addition, Fig. 10 demonstrates that there will be very little two- and economical ROS's increase, so oil recovery decreases. The
phase production until the economic recovery is reached at a very economical ROS is lower than the breakthrough saturation, and
favorable viscosity ratio, regardless of the wettability. the difference between the two gradually increases. Small amounts
In unsteady-state relative permeability measurements, a core in- of oil are produced for a long time after breakthrough, so the
itially at IWS is waterflooded. Relative permeabilities are calcu- economical ROS depends on the number of PV's of water in-
lated from the pressure drop and the £r0duced fluids by the jected. 10,18,19,24,26,28,29,49,53,56,57
Johnson-Bossler-Naumann method. 60,63, Because a significant 3. The ultimate ROS, which is the saturation after a large num-
amount of oil production is required after breakthrough to calcu- ber of PV's of water are injected, is only weakly dependent on the
late relative permeabilities, viscous oils are generally used to in- wettability. It is slightly lower near neutral wettability (higher oil
crease the period of simultaneous oil and water production. Because recovery), but changes much less than the breakthrough or eco-
viscous oils are used, the shape of the waterflood curve may not nomical oil saturations. 17,25,53,65
be an indication of the wettability and should be interpreted with 4. There is some disagreement on the effect of wettability as a core
caution. Core is water-wet if there is little production after break- becomes very strongly water-wet compared with moderately water-
through. On the other hand, two~phase production after break- wet systems. All three ROS's are essentially the same, because there
through may be caused by either viscosity or wettability effects. is little production after water breakthrough, with all the oil trapped
in discontinuous globules. Different experiments suggest, however,
Residual Saturations in Uniformly that the ROS in a strongly water-wet system decreases,24,29 re-
Wetted Systems mains the same,66 or increases,31,48,66 depending on such varia-
In this section, the effects of wettability on the breakthrough, prac- bles as heterogeneity, pore geometry, injection rate, and inlet and
tical, and ultimate ROS's in uniformly wetted systems will be dis- outlet end effects.
cussed. Unfortunately, the conclusions must be considered to be Note that we are discussing the effects at low-to-moderate
tentative. Experimental results, particularly in strongly water-wet oil/water viscosity ratios on the order of 1 to 10. As discussed previ-
systems, often disagree. In addition, a large number of other vari- ously, the breakthrough and economical ROS's increases as the oil
ables affect the oil saturation during waterflooding, including vis- viscosity increases; however, waterfloods are still more efficient
cosity ratio, saturation history, pore geometry, and injection rate. in water-wet systems than in oil-wet ones (see Eq. 1).
Inlet and outlet end effects can also affect the measured oil satura-
tion in laboratory-scale experiments. Finally, the experiments dis- Breakthrough Saturations
cussed below report the average saturation in the core, which will Figs. 2 through 7 show the changes in breakthrough saturation as
be affected by core length. During a waterflood, the oil saturation the wettability ranges from water-wet to oil-wet. As the core be-
is higher at the outlet end of the core and decreases toward the in- comes more oil-wet, the oil saturation at breakthrough increases
let because of the unsteady nature of the flood. The average satu- and the oil recovery decreases. In a Water-wet core, oil is trapped
ration measured at any given time will depend on the saturation behind the water front in discontinuous globules. After the water
throughout the core and vary for cores of different lengths. front passes, almost all the remaining oil is immobile, allowing little
Despite the large number of other variables affecting the oil satu- or no production after breakthrough. 6,10,29-31,33.35 As the system
ration, some generalizations about wettability effects can be made. becomes more oil-wet, the water begins to travel preferentially in
60
CL.EANED CORe:
0"110 SANDSTONE
in the initial saturations are taken into account, the economical recov-
eries are very similar, while the recoveries at breakthrough differ Fig. 14-Effect of wettability on ultimate oil recovery, syn-
by about 20% PV. Similarly, Figs. 2,4, and 5 show the economi- thetic silica core, East Texas crude oil, and surfactant-treated
. ---<>----------1
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00
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10, l~
0 0 z
~ 0
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MIXED-WETTA;B~IL~IT~Y~C~O:RE~.~;=======~~
10 20
8 20 PORE VOLUMES OF FLOOD WATER
WATER FLOOD OF O.S-CP OIL
Fig. 19-Extended waterflood data on a native-state East
100~~~~~-f---4~~~~~-*---±--~--~10
Texas field core with mixed wettability. Taken from
INJECTED, Salathiel. 94
>
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WATER INJECTED, PORE VOLUMES
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Fig. 21-Comparison of waterfloods in a Berea core before
WATER SATURATION AT TIME OF FILM [£POSITION, % P v.
and after aging for 1 year with brine and Loudon crude at