Assessment of the Influence of Paper Insulation on the Discharge Initiation in Oil

The results of the assessment of the influence of paper insulation on the discharge initiation in oil were presented in this paper. This assessment based on the results of performed experimental works and on the analysis of electrical field distribution. Both types of the studies were connected with the model HV （high voltage） electrode setups covered by paper and immersed in oil. Experimental works indicated that the source of ＂weak points＂ of paper-oil model electrode setup is oil, not the surface of metal or insulation wrapping. Such hypothesis, resulting mainly from the measured times to initiations of discharges developing from bare and insulated HV electrodes, was verified by the analysis of electrical field distribution performed on the basis of finite element method applied in the COMSOL Multiphysics software. This analysis confirmed preliminary the made hypothesis. Correlation with the most stressed oil volume law was also observed.

Imbibition characteristics of sandstone cores with different permeabilities in nanofluids

The core imbibition and shifting nuclear magnetic resonance(NMR) imaging experiment has loss of surface oil phase and air adsorption, which will affect the accuracy of the experiment result. To solve this issue, a modified experiment method, in-situ imbibition NMR method has been worked out. This method was used to carry out sandstone core imbibition experiment in nanofluid, and the oil migration images in the entire process were recorded. In combination with physical properties of the sandstone cores and the variations of the driving force during the imbibition process, imbibition characteristics of the sandstone cores with different permeabilities in nanofluid were analyzed. The results show that: the nanofluid can greatly reduce the interfacial tension of oil phase and improve the efficiency of imbibition and oil discharge, the higher the concentration, the lower the interfacial tension and the higher the efficiency of imbibition and oil discharge would be, but when the concentration reaches a certain value, the increase in imbibition and oil discharge efficiency slows down;the rise of temperature can reduce the oil viscosity resistance and interfacial tension, and hence enhance the imbibition and oil discharge rate;when the sandstone core is higher in permeability, the bottom crude oil would migrate upward and discharge during the imbibition, the higher the permeability of the sandstone core, the more obvious this phenomenon would be, and the phenomenon is shown as top oil discharge characteristic;when the sandstone core is low in permeability, the crude oil in the outer layer of the sandstone core would discharge first during the imbibition, then crude oil in the inside of the core would disperse outside and discharge, which is shown as oil discharge characteristic around the core;but under long time effect of nanofluid, the core would become more and more water-wet and reduce in the oil-water interfacial tension, so would have top oil discharge characteristic in the later stage of imbibition.