A method to correct steady-state relative permeability measurements for inhomogeneous saturation profiles in one-dimensional flow
File(s)s11242-023-01988-4.pdf (2.64 MB)
Published version
Author(s)
Zhang, Guanglei
Foroughi, Sajjad
Bijeljic, Branko
Blunt, Martin J
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Traditionally, steady-state relative permeability is calculated from measurements on small rock samples using Darcy’s law and assuming a homogenous saturation profile and constant capillary pressure. However, these assumptions are rarely correct as local inhomogeneities exist; furthermore, the wetting phase tends to be retained at the outlet–the so-called capillary end effect. We have introduced a new method that corrects the relative permeabilities, analytically, for an inhomogeneous saturation profile along the flow direction. The only data required are the measured pressure drops for different fractional flow values, an estimate of capillary pressure, and the saturation profiles. An optimization routine is applied to find the range of relative permeability values consistent with the uncertainty in the measured pressure. Assuming a homogenous saturation profile systematically underestimates the relative permeability and this effect is most marked for media where one of the phases is strongly wetting with a noticeable capillary end effect. Relative permeabilities from seven two-phase flow experiments in centimetre-scale samples with different wettability were corrected while reconciling some hitherto apparently contradictory results. We reproduce relative permeabilities of water-wet Bentheimer sandstone that are closer to other measurements in the literature on larger samples than the original analysis. Furthermore, we find that the water relative permeability during waterflooding a carbonate sample with a wide range of pore sizes can be high, due to good connectivity through the microporosity. For mixed-wet media with lower capillary pressure and less variable saturation profiles, the corrections are less significant.
Date Issued
2023-09
Date Acceptance
2023-06-26
Citation
Transport in Porous Media, 2023, 149 (3), pp.837-852
ISSN
0169-3913
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Start Page
837
End Page
852
Journal / Book Title
Transport in Porous Media
Volume
149
Issue
3
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2023. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License,
which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long
as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article
are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the
material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not
permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly
from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long
as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article
are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the
material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not
permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly
from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
License URL
Identifier
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11242-023-01988-4
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2023-07-13