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Influence of Boundary Layer on Oil Migration into Tight Reservoirs

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Abstract

The boundary layer thickness and influence in the single-phase flow in the tight reservoirs have been widely measured. The influence of boundary layer on the oil migration into originally water-saturated tight reservoirs has been theoretically deduced but has not been experimentally validated. In this work, the existence of boundary layer in tight reservoir oil migration is investigated by comparing the oil migration with the influence of boundary layer (measured by tight sandstone oil accumulation experimental simulation) and theoretical oil migration without the influence of boundary layer (derived from rate-controlled mercury injection). The distribution of boundary layer in the tight reservoir is detected by nuclear magnetic resonance centrifugation. The influence of boundary layer on oil migration is discussed by modeling tight reservoir oil migration and analyzing the relationships between oil migration characteristics and tight reservoir pore-throat structures. The results turn out that the boundary layer distributes in all sizes of pores in the tight reservoirs and becomes thinner with the pressure gradient increment. The oil migration into the tight reservoirs is a coupled effect of the increasing driving force and the decreasing capillary pressure caused by boundary layer thinning. The pore-throats in the tight reservoirs are heavily blocked by boundary layer, while the pore-bodies are almost unaffected by boundary layer.

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Abbreviations

\(A\) :

Section area of the core plug specimen for TSOA (cm2)

\(D\) :

Diameter of the core plug specimen for TSOA (cm)

\({D}_{\mathrm{f}}\) :

Pore fractal dimension

\({D}_{\tau }\) :

Tortuosity fractal dimension

\(L\) :

Length of the core plug specimen for TSOA (cm)

\({L}^{\prime}\) :

Length of the specimen’s sub-plug for TSOA and NMRC (cm)

\({K}_{\mathrm{gas}}\) :

Klinkenberg-corrected permeability (mD)

\({P}_{\mathrm{c}}\) :

Capillary pressure (MPa)

\({P}_{\mathrm{c}\_\mathrm{o}}\) :

Oil–water capillary pressure with the influence of boundary layer (MPa)

\({P}_{\mathrm{c}\_\mathrm{o}}^{\prime}\) :

Oil–water capillary pressure converted from \({P}_{\mathrm{c}\_\mathrm{Hg}}\)(MPa)

\({P}_{\mathrm{c}\_\mathrm{g}}\) :

Gas–water capillary pressure with the influence of boundary layer (MPa)

\({P}_{\mathrm{c}\_\mathrm{g}}^{\prime}\) :

Gas–water capillary pressure converted from \({P}_{\mathrm{c}\_\mathrm{Hg}}\)(MPa)

\({P}_{\mathrm{c}\_\mathrm{Hg}}\) :

Mercury–mercury vapor capillary pressure (MPa)

\({P}_{\mathrm{c}\_\mathrm{Hg}\_\mathrm{min}}\) :

Minimum mercury–mercury vapor capillary pressure (MPa)

\({P}_{\mathrm{f}}\) :

Centrifugal force (MPa)

\(\nabla P\) :

Pressure gradient (MPa/cm)

\({\nabla P}_{\mathrm{o}}\) :

Oil pressure gradient (MPa/cm)

\({\nabla P}_{\mathrm{o}\_\mathrm{t}}\) :

Oil threshold pressure gradient (MPa/cm)

\({\nabla P}_{\mathrm{o}\_\mathrm{min}}\) :

Oil minimal migration pressure gradient (MPa/cm)

\({R}_{\mathrm{c}}\) :

Capillary radius (μm)

\({R}_{\mathrm{p}}\) :

Pore radius (μm)

\({R}_{\mathrm{p}\_\mathrm{ave}}\) :

Average pore radius (μm)

\({R}_{\mathrm{t}}\) :

Pore-throat radius (μm)

\({R}_{\mathrm{t}\_\mathrm{ave}}\) :

Average pore-throat radius (μm)

\({R}_{\mathrm{t}\_\mathrm{min}}\) :

Minimum pore-throat radius (μm)

\({R}_{\mathrm{t}\_\mathrm{max}}\) :

Maximum pore-throat radius (μm)

\({S}_{\mathrm{o}}\) :

Oil saturation

\({S}_{\mathrm{o}\_\mathrm{max}}\) :

Maximum oil saturation

\({S}_{\mathrm{o}\_x}\) :

Oil saturation in the small specimen section at position \(x\)

\({S}_{\mathrm{w}}\) :

Water saturation

\({S}_{\mathrm{g}}\) :

Gas saturation

\({S}_{\mathrm{hg}}\) :

Mercury saturation

\({S}_{\mathrm{hg}\_\mathrm{max}}\) :

Maximum mercury saturation

\({S}_{\mathrm{p}}\) :

Pore volume fraction

\({S}_{\mathrm{t}}\) :

Pore-throat volume fraction

\({T}_{2}\) :

T2 transverse relaxation time (ms)

\(V\) :

Volume of the core specimen (ml)

\({V}^{\prime}\) :

Volume of the sub-plug

\({V}_{\mathrm{o}}\) :

Total oil volume inside the core specimen (ml)

\({V}_{\mathrm{s}}\) :

Total subison volume (ml)

\({V}_{\mathrm{r}}\) :

Total rison volume (ml)

\(\delta \) :

Boundary layer thickness (μm)

\({\theta }_{\mathrm{o}}\) :

Oil–water contact angle (°)

\({\theta }_{\mathrm{g}}\) :

Gas–water contact angle (°)

\({\theta }_{\mathrm{Hg}}\) :

Mercury–mercury vapor contact angle (°)

\(\mu \) :

Brine viscosity (mPa·s)

\({\sigma }_{\mathrm{o}}\) :

Oil–water interfacial tension (mN/m)

\({\sigma }_{\mathrm{g}}\) :

Air–water interfacial tension (mN/m)

\({\sigma }_{\mathrm{Hg}}\) :

Mercury–mercury vapor interfacial tension (mN/m)

\({\tau }_{\mathrm{ave}}\) :

Average tortuosity

\({\varnothing }_{\mathrm{gas}}\) :

Helium porosity

TSOA:

Tight sandstone oil accumulation experimental simulation

NMR:

Nuclear magnetic resonance

NMRC:

Nuclear magnetic resonance centrifugation

RCMI:

Rate-controlled mercury injection

PCMI:

Pressure-controlled mercury injection

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Acknowledgements

This study is gratefully supported by the Key Program of National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41330319).

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Correspondence to Jianhui Zeng or Hongbin Zhan.

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Feng, X., Zeng, J., Zhan, H. et al. Influence of Boundary Layer on Oil Migration into Tight Reservoirs. Transp Porous Med 137, 87–107 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11242-021-01548-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11242-021-01548-8

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