Anisotropic dynamic permeability model for porous media

Based on the tortuous capillary network model,the relationship between anisotropic permeability and rock normal strain,namely the anisotropic dynamic permeability model(ADPM),was derived and established.The model was verified using pore-scale flow simulation.The uniaxial strain process was calculated and the main factors affecting permeability changes in different directions in the deformation process were analyzed.In the process of uniaxial strain during the exploitation of layered oil and gas reservoirs,the effect of effective surface porosity on the permeability in all directions is consistent.With the decrease of effective surface porosity,the sensitivity of permeability to strain increases.The sensitivity of the permeability perpendicular to the direction of compression to the strain decreases with the increase of the tortuosity,while the sensitivity of the permeability in the direction of compression to the strain increases with the increase of the tortuosity.For layered reservoirs with the same initial tortuosity in all directions,the tortuosity plays a decisive role in the relative relationship between the variations of permeability in all directions during pressure drop.When the tortuosity is less than 1.6,the decrease rate of horizontal permeability is higher than that of vertical permeability,while the opposite is true when the tortuosity is greater than 1.6.This phenomenon cannot be represented by traditional dynamic permeability model.After the verification by experimental data of pore-scale simulation,the new model has high fitting accuracy and can effectively characterize the effects of deformation in different directions on the permeability in all directions.

Liquid injectivity in a SAG foam process:Effect of permeability

Foam is utilized in enhanced oil recovery and CO_(2) sequestration.Surfactant-alternating-gas(SAG)is a preferred approach for placing foam into reservoirs,due to it enhances gas injection and minimizes corrosion in facilities.Our previous studies with similar permeability cores show that during SAG injection,several banks occupy the area near the well where fluid exhibits distinct behaviour.However,underground reservoirs are heterogeneous,often layered.It is crucial to understand the effect of permeability on fluid behaviour and injectivity in a SAG process.In this work,coreflood experiments are conducted in cores with permeabilities ranging from 16 to 2300 mD.We observe the same sequence of banks in cores with different permeabilities.However,the speed at which banks propagate and their overall mobility can vary depending on permeability.At higher permeabilities,the gas-dissolution bank and the forced-imbibition bank progress more rapidly during liquid injection.The total mobilities of both banks decrease with permeability.By utilizing a bank-propagation model,we scale up our experimental findings and compare them to results obtained using the Peaceman equation.Our findings reveal that the liquid injectivity in a SAG foam process is misestimated by conventional simulators based on the Peaceman equation.The lower the formation permeability,the greater the error.

Experimental investigation on the permeability of gap-graded soil due to horizontal suffusion considering boundary effect

The boundary condition is a crucial factor affecting the permeability variation due to suffusion.An experimental investigation on the permeability of gap-graded soil due to horizontal suffusion considering the boundary effect is conducted,where the hydraulic head difference(DH)varies,and the boundary includes non-loss and soil-loss conditions.Soil samples are filled into seven soil storerooms connected in turn.After evaluation,the variation in content of fine sand(ΔR_(f))and the hydraulic conductivity of soils in each storeroom(C_(i))are analyzed.In the non-loss test,the soil sample filling area is divided into runoff,transited,and accumulated areas according to the negative or positive ΔR_(f) values.ΔR_(f) increases from negative to positive along the seepage path,and Ci decreases from runoff area to transited area and then rebounds in accumulated area.In the soil-loss test,all soil sample filling areas belong to the runoff area,where the gentle-loss,strengthened-loss,and alleviated-loss parts are further divided.ΔR_(f) decreases from the gentle-loss part to the strengthened-loss part and then rebounds in the alleviated-loss part,and C_(i) increases and then decreases along the seepage path.The relationship between ΔR_(f) and Ci is different with the boundary condition.Ci exponentially decreases with ΔR_(f) in the non-loss test and increases with ΔR_(f) generally in the soil-loss test.

An Investigation into the Compressive Strength,Permeability and Microstructure of Quartzite-Rock-Sand Mortar

River sand is an essential component used as a fine aggregate in mortar and concrete.Due to unrestrained exploitation,river sand resources are gradually being exhausted.This requires alternative solutions.This study deals with the properties of cement mortar containing different levels of manufactured sand(MS)based on quartzite,used to replace river sand.The river sand was replaced at 20%,40%,60%and 80%with MS(by weight or volume).The mechanical properties,transfer properties,and microstructure were examined and compared to a control group to study the impact of the replacement level.The results indicate that the compressive strength can be improved by increasing such a level.The strength was improved by 35.1%and 45.5%over that of the control mortar at replacement levels of 60%and 80%,respectively.Although there was a weak link between porosity and gas permeability in the mortars with manufactured sand,the gas permeability decreased with growing the replacement level.The microstructure of the MS mortar was denser,and the cement paste had fewer microcracks with increasing the replacement level.

High Permeability in Broadband of Co-sputtered [Fe-Fe_(20)Ni_(80)/Cr]_(n) Multilayer Films

To achieve high microwave permeability in wide-band for the micron-thick magnetic films,[Fe-Fe_(20)Ni_(80)/Cr]_(n) multilayer structure was proposed by co-sputtering Fe and FeNi to form the magnetic layers and Cr to form the interlayers.The multilayer structure contributes to the high permeability by reducing the coercivity and diminishing out-of-plane magnetization.The maximum imaginary permeability of[Fe-Fe_(20)Ni_(80)/Cr]_(n) multilayer film reaches a large value of 800 at 0.52 GHz even though its overall thickness exceeds 1μm.Besides,the magnetic resonance frequency of the multilayer film can be modulated from 0.52 to 1.35 GHz by adjusting the sputtering power of Fe from 0 to 86 W,and its bandwidth for μ’’>200(Δf) is as large as 2.0 GHz.The desirable broad Δf of magnetic permeability,which can be well fitted by the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equations,is due to dual magnetic resonances originated from double magnetic phases of Fe and FeNi that are of different saturation magnetization.The micron-thick multilayer films with high permeability in extended waveband are promising candidate for electromagnetic noise suppression application.

An analytical transient coal permeability model:Sorption non-equilibrium index-based swelling switch

Long-term permeability experiments have indicated that sorption-induced swelling can switch from internal to bulk depending on the evolutive sorption status.However,this sorption swelling switch mechanism has not been considered in current analytical permeability models.This study introduces a normalized sorption non-equilibrium index(SNEI)to characterize the sorption status,quantify the dynamical variations of matrix swelling accumulation and internal swelling partition,and formulate the sorption swelling switch model.The incorporation of this index into the extended total effective stress concept leads to an analytical transient coal permeability model.Model results show that the sorption swelling switch itself results in the permeability switch under stress-constrained conditions,while the confined bulk swelling suppresses the permeability recovery to the continuous reduction under displacement-constrained conditions.Model verifications show that current experimental observations correspond to the early stages of the transient process,and they could be extended to the whole process with these models.This study demonstrates the importance of the sorption swelling switch in determining permeability evolution using simple boundary conditions.It provides new insights into experimentally revealing the sorption swelling switch in the future,and underscores the requirement of a rigorous model for complex coupled processes in large-scale coal seams.

Impact of effective stress on permeability for carbonate fractured-vuggy rocks

To gain insight into the flow mechanisms and stress sensitivity for fractured-vuggy reservoirs,several core models with different structural characteristics were designed and fabricated to investigate the impact of effective stress on permeability for carbonate fractured-vuggy rocks(CFVR).It shows that the permeability performance curves under different pore and confining pressures(i.e.altered stress conditions)for the fractured core models and the vuggy core models have similar change patterns.The ranges of permeability variation are significantly wider at high pore pressures,indicating that permeability reduction is the most significant during the early stage of development for fractured-vuggy reservoirs.Since each obtained effective stress coefficient for permeability(ESCP)varies with the changes in confining pressure and pore pressure,the effective stresses for permeability of four representative CFVR show obvious nonlinear characteristics,and the variation ranges of ESCP are all between 0 and 1.Meanwhile,a comprehensive ESCP mathematical model considering triple media,including matrix pores,fractures,and dissolved vugs,was proposed.It is proved theoretically that the ESCP of CFVR generally varies between 0 and 1.Additionally,the regression results showed that the power model ranked highest among the four empirical models mainly applied in stress sensitivity characterization,followed by the logarithmic model,exponential model,and binomial model.The concept of“permeability decline rate”was introduced to better evaluate the stress sensitivity performance for CFVR,in which the one-fracture rock is the strongest,followed by the fracture-vug rock and two-horizontalfracture rock;the through-hole rock is the weakest.In general,this study provides a theoretical basis to guide the design of development and adjustment programs for carbonate fractured-vuggy reservoirs.

Effect of Modification Treatment on Chloride Ions Permeability and Microstructure of Recycled Brick-mixed Aggregate Concrete

The modification methods of pozzolan slurry combined with sodium silicate and silicon-based additive were respectively adopted to treat recycled coarse brick-mixed aggregate(RCBA)in this study.The compressive strength and chloride permeability resistance of recycled aggregate concrete(RAC)before and after modification treatment were tested,and the microstructure of RAC was analyzed by mercury intrusion porosimetry(MIP)and scanning electron microscopy(SEM).The results show that the physical properties of RCBA strengthened by modification treatment are improved,and the compressive strength and chloride permeability resistance of treated RAC are also significantly improved.The modification treatment optimizes the pore size distribution of RAC,which increases the number of gel pores and transition pores,and decreases the number of capillary pores and macro pores.The surface fractal dimension shows a significant correlation with chloride diffusion coefficient,indicating that the variation of chloride permeability of treated RAC is consistent with the microstructure evolution.

Productivity Prediction Model of Perforated Horizontal Well Based on Permeability Calculation in Near-Well High Permeability Reservoir Area

To improve the productivity of oil wells,perforation technology is usually used to improve the productivity of horizontal wells in oilfield exploitation.After the perforation operation,the perforation channel around the wellbore will form a near-well high-permeability reservoir area with the penetration depth as the radius,that is,the formation has different permeability characteristics with the perforation depth as the dividing line.Generally,the permeability is measured by the permeability tester,but this approach has a high workload and limited application.In this paper,according to the reservoir characteristics of perforated horizontal wells,the reservoir is divided into two areas:the original reservoir area and the near-well high permeability reservoir area.Based on the theory of seepage mechanics and the formula of open hole productivity,the permeability calculation formula of near-well high permeability reservoir area with perforation parameters is deduced.According to the principle of seepage continuity,the seepage is regarded as the synthesis of two directions:the horizontal plane elliptic seepage field and the vertical plane radial seepage field,and the oil well productivity prediction model of the perforated horizontal well is established by partition.The model comparison demonstrates that the model is reasonable and feasible.To calculate and analyze the effect of oil well production and the law of influencing factors,actual production data of the oilfield are substituted into the oil well productivity formula.It can effectively guide the technical process design and effect prediction of perforated horizontal wells.

Experimental study on workability and permeability of sandy soils conditioned with thickened foam

Water spewing and muck plugging often occur during earth pressure balance(EPB)shield machines tunnelling in water-rich sandy strata,even though the conventional foam has been employed to condition sandy soils.In this study,a novel thickened foaming agent suitable for EPB shield tunnelling in water-rich sandy strata is developed.In contrast to conventional foam-conditioned sands,the thickened foam-conditioned sand has a low permeability due to the consistent filling of soil pores with the thickened foam,and the initial permeability coefficient decreases by approximately two orders of magnitude.It also exhibits a suitable workability,which is attributed to the enhanced capability of the thickened foam to condition sandy soils.In addition,the effect of concentration on the stability of the foam is explained by the Gibbs-Marangoni effect,and conditioning mechanisms for the thickened foam on sands are discussed from the evolution of foam bubbles.

Optimization of Gas-Flooding Fracturing Development in Ultra-Low Permeability Reservoirs

Ultra-low permeability reservoirs are characterized by small pore throats and poor physical properties, which areat the root of well-known problems related to injection and production. In this study, a gas injection floodingapproach is analyzed in the framework of numerical simulations. In particular, the sequence and timing of fracturechanneling and the related impact on production are considered for horizontal wells with different fracturemorphologies. Useful data and information are provided about the regulation of gas channeling and possible strategiesto delay gas channeling and optimize the gas injection volume and fracture parameters. It is shown that inorder to mitigate gas channeling and ensure high production, fracture length on the sides can be controlled andlonger fractures can be created in the middle by which full gas flooding is obtained at the fracture location in themiddle of the horizontal well. A Differential Evolution (DE) algorithm is provided by which the gas injectionvolume and the fracture parameters of gas injection flooding can be optimized. It is shown that an improvedoil recovery factor as high as 6% can be obtained.

A novel profile modification HPF-Co gel satisfied with fractured low permeability reservoirs in high temperature and high salinity

Conformance control and water plugging are a widely used EOR method in mature oilfields.However,majority of conformance control and water plugging agents are unavoidable dehydrated situation in high-temperature and high-salinity low permeability reservoirs.Consequently,a novel conformance control system HPF-Co gel,based on high-temperature stabilizer(CoCl_(2)·H_(2)O,CCH)is developed.The HPF-Co bulk gel has better performances with high temperature(120℃)and high salinity(1×10^(5)mg/L).According to Sydansk coding system,the gel strength of HPF-Co with CCH is increased to code G.The dehydration rate of HPF-Co gel is 32.0%after aging for 150 d at 120℃,showing excellent thermal stability.The rheological properties of HPF gel and HPF-Co gel are also studied.The results show that the storage modulus(G′)of HPF-Co gel is always greater than that of HPF gel.The effect of CCH on the microstructure of the gel is studied.The results show that the HPF-Co gel with CCH has a denser gel network,and the diameter of the three-dimensional network skeleton is 1.5-3.5μm.After 90 d of aging,HPF-Co gel still has a good three-dimensional structure.Infrared spectroscopy results show that CCH forms coordination bonds with N and O atoms in the gel amide group,which can suppress the vibration of cross-linked sites and improve the stability at high temperature.Fractured core plugging test determines the optimized polymer gel injection strategy and injection velocity with HPF-Co bulk gel system,plugging rate exceeding 98%.Moreover,the results of subsequent waterflooding recovery can be improved by 17%.

Modeling of multiphase flow in low permeability porous media:Effect of wettability and pore structure properties

Multiphase flow in low permeability porous media is involved in numerous energy and environmental applications.However,a complete description of this process is challenging due to the limited modeling scale and the effects of complex pore structures and wettability.To address this issue,based on the digital rock of low permeability sandstone,a direct numerical simulation is performed considering the interphase drag and boundary slip to clarify the microscopic water-oil displacement process.In addition,a dual-porosity pore network model(PNM)is constructed to obtain the water-oil relative permeability of the sample.The displacement efficiency as a recovery process is assessed under different wetting and pore structure properties.Results show that microscopic displacement mechanisms explain the corresponding macroscopic relative permeability.The injected water breaks through the outlet earlier with a large mass flow,while thick oil films exist in rough hydrophobic surfaces and poorly connected pores.The variation of water-oil relative permeability is significant,and residual oil saturation is high in the oil-wet system.The flooding is extensive,and the residual oil is trapped in complex pore networks for hydrophilic pore surfaces;thus,water relative permeability is lower in the water-wet system.While the displacement efficiency is the worst in mixed-wetting systems for poor water connectivity.Microporosity negatively correlates with invading oil volume fraction due to strong capillary resistance,and a large microporosity corresponds to low residual oil saturation.This work provides insights into the water-oil flow from different modeling perspectives and helps to optimize the development plan for enhanced recovery.

Feasibility Evaluation of Using Biochar-based Permeable Reactive Barrier for the Remediation of Mercury and Arsenic Composite Polluted Water Bodies

This study employed a modified biochar material to construct a permeable reactive barrier(PRB)for the treatment of water bodies polluted with mercury and arsenic.The experimental results demonstrated that the addition of goethite-modified biochar significantly enhanced the remediation efficiency of As(III),achieving a maximum removal rate of 100%.Conversely,pure biochar exhibited high efficiency in the removal of Hg(II),with a maximum removal rate approaching 100%.Furthermore,the pH level of the water significantly influenced the adsorption efficiency of heavy metal ions,with the optimal removal performance observed at a pH of 6.0.The PRB system demonstrated excellent removal rates under low concentrations of heavy metals.However,as the concentration increased,the remediation efficiency exhibited a slight decrease.In summary,the findings of this study provide compelling evidence for the use of modified biochar in the construction of PRBs for the remediation of mercury and arsenic-polluted water bodies.Furthermore,the study reveals the mechanism by which pH and heavy metal concentration influence remediation efficiency.

Impact of Cattaneo-Christov Heat Flux in the Nanofluid Flow over an Inclined Permeable Surface with Irreversibility Analysis

This study discusses the magnetohydrodynamic nanofluid flow over an inclined permeable surface influenced by mixed convection, and Cattaeo-Christov heat flux. The heat transfer analysis is performed in the presence of a heat source/sink and thermal stratification. To gauge the energy loss during the process, an irreversibility analysis is also performed. A numerical solution to the envisaged problem is obtained using the bvp4c package of MATLAB. Graphs are drawn to assess the consequences of the arising parameters against the associated profiles. The results show that an augmentation in the magnetic field and nanomaterial volume fraction results in an enhancement in the temperature profile. A strong magnetic field can significantly reduce the fluid velocity. The behavior of the Skin friction coefficient against the different estimates of emerging parameters is discussed. .

Test and analysis of influencing factors on the permeability coefficient of steel slag permeable concrete

The steel slag （SS） permeable concrete was prepared by SS. The influences of the aggregate-cement rate, the aggregate particle size, the water-cement rate, the admixture dosage and other factors on the permeability coefficient of SS permeable concrete were analyzed. The law of influence was also investigated. The study serves as a technological reference for the construction and design of SS permeable concrete.

Pore-scale modeling of pore structure properties and wettability effect on permeability of low-rank coal

Permeability is a key parameter for coalbed methane development.Although the absolute permeability of coal has been extensively studied,wettability and pore structure properties continue to challenge the microscopic description of water-gas flow in coal.For this purpose,we reconstructed the microstructures of low-rank coal using micro-computed tomography(micro-CT)images.Pore geometry and pore-throat parameters are introduced to establish a relationship with absolute permeability.A dual-porosity pore network model is developed to study water-gas displacement under different wetting and pore structure properties.Results show that absolute permeability is significantly affected by pore geometry and can be described using a binary quadratic function of porosity and fractal dimension.Water-gas relative permeability varies significantly and the residual gas saturation is lower;the crossover saturation first decreased and then increased with increasing porosity under hydrophobic conditions.While the water relative permeability is lower and a certain amount of gas is trapped in complex pore-throat networks;the crossover saturation is higher under hydrophilic conditions.Models with large percolating porosity and well-developed pore networks have high displacement efficiency due to low capillary resistance and avoidance of trapping.This work provides a systematic description of absolute permeability and water-gas relative permeability in coal microstructure for enhanced gas recovery.

Porosity, permeability and rock mechanics of Lower Silurian Longmaxi Formation deep shale under temperature-pressure coupling in the Sichuan Basin, SW China

To investigate the porosity, permeability and rock mechanics of deep shale under temperature-pressure coupling, we selected the core samples of deep shale from the Lower Silurian Longmaxi Formation in the Weirong and Yongchuan areas of the Sichuan Basin for porosity and permeability experiments and a triaxial compression and sound wave integration experiment at the maximum temperature and pressure of 120 ℃ and 70 MPa. The results show that the microscopic porosity and permeability change and the macroscopic rock deformation are mutually constrained, both showing the trend of steep and then gentle variation. At the maximum temperature and pressure, the porosity reduces by 34%–71%, and the permeability decreases by 85%–97%. With the rising temperature and pressure, deep shale undergoes plastic deformation in which organic pores and clay mineral pores are compressed and microfractures are closed, and elastic deformation in which brittle mineral pores and rock skeleton particles are compacted. Compared with previous experiments under high confining pressure and normal temperature,the experiment under high temperature and high pressure coupling reveals the effect of high temperature on stress sensitivity of porosity and permeability. High temperature can increase the plasticity of the rock, intensify the compression of pores due to high confining pressure, and induce thermal stress between the rock skeleton particles, allowing the reopening of shale bedding or the creation of new fractures along weak planes such as bedding, which inhibits the decrease of permeability with the increase of temperature and confining pressure. Compared with the triaxial mechanical experiment at normal temperature, the triaxial compression experiment at high temperature and high pressure demonstrates that the compressive strength and peak strain of deep shale increase significantly due to the coupling of temperature and pressure. The compressive strength is up to 435 MPa and the peak strain exceeds 2%, indicating that high temperature is not conducive to fracture initiation and expansion by increasing rock plasticity. Lithofacies and mineral composition have great impacts on the porosity, permeability and rock mechanics of deep shale. Shales with different lithologies are different in the difficulty and extent of brittle failure. The stress-strain characteristics of rocks under actual geological conditions are key support to the optimization of reservoir stimulation program.

An overview of efficient development practices at low permeability sandstone reservoirs in China

Low permeability sandstone reservoirs in China typically have more complicated geological conditions, pore structures, and flow characteristics as compared to medium-to-high-permeability sandstone reservoirs. Traditional geological and seepage theories, and engineering methods are not applicable to the development of these low permeability reservoirs, and wells drilled into them often produce oil and gas at very low rates. Recent breakthroughs in reservoir exploitation technology have greatly improved the productivity of low permeability reservoirs, making them the primary target for oil exploration and extraction in China. The development theories and practices applied to low permeability reservoirs in China are reviewed in this study— based on relevant geological and engineering practices, including drilling, fracturing, recovery, and surface engineering. A unique series of technological advances that aid the development of low permeability reservoirs in China are summarized here. This study may serve as a meaningful guide in achieving scale efficiency for the development of low permeability reservoirs.

Characterization of the generalized permeability jail in tight reservoirs by analyzing relative-permeability curves and numerical simulation

This study comprehensively characterizes the boundary values of generalized permeability jail in tight reservoirs through relative-permeability curve analysis,numerical simulation,and economic evaluation.A total number of 108 relative-permeability curves of rock samples from tight reservoirs were obtained,and the characteristics of relative-permeability curves were analyzed.The irreducible water saturation(Swi)mainly ranges from 20% to 70%,and the residual gas saturation(Sgr)ranges from 5% to 15% for 55% of the samples.The relative-permeability curves are categorized into six types(Category-Ⅰ to Ⅵ)by analyzing the following characteristics:The relative permeability of gas at Swi,the relative permeability of water at Sgr,and the relative permeability corresponding to the isotonic point.The relative permeability curves were normalized to facilitate numerical simulation and evaluate the impact of different types of curves on production performance.The results of simulation show significant difference in production performance for different types of relative-permeability curves:Category-Ⅰ corresponds to the case with best well performance,whereas Categories-Ⅴ and Ⅵ correspond to the cases with least production volume.The results of economic evaluation show a generalized permeability jail for Categories-Ⅳ,Ⅴ,and Ⅵ,and the permeability jail develops when the relative permeability of gas and water is below 0.06.This study further quantifies the range of micro-pore parameters corresponding to the generalized permeability jail for a tight sandstone reservoir.