Permeability damage micro-mechanisms and stimulation of low-permeability sandstone reservoirs: A case study from Jiyang Depression, Bohai Bay Basin, China

According to the characteristics of"structural elements"(framework grain,interstitial material and pore throat structure)of low-permeability sandstone reservoir,the"step by step dissolution and separation"acidification and acid fracturing technology has been developed and tested in field.There are three main mechanisms affecting permeability of low-permeability sandstone reservoir:(1)The mud fillings between the framework grains block the seepage channels.(2)In the process of burial,the products from crystallization caused by changes in salinity and solubility and uneven migration and variation of the syn-sedimentary formation water occupy the pores and throat between grains.(3)Under the action of gradual increase of overburden pressure,the framework grains of the rock is compacted tighter,making the seepage channels turn narrower.The"step by step dissolution and separation"acidification(acid fracturing)technology uses sustained release acid as main acidizing fluid,supramolecular solvent instead of hydrochloric acid to dissolve carbonate,and a composite system of ammonium hydrogen fluoride,fluoroboric acid,and fluorophosphoric acid to dissolve silicate,and dissolving and implementing step by step,finally reaching the goal of increasing porosity and permeability.By using the technology,the main blocking interstitial material can be dissolved effectively and the dissolution residual can be removed from the rock frame,thus expanding the effective drainage radius and increasing production and injection of single well.This technology has been proved effective by field test.

A three dimensional visualized physical simulation for natural gas charging in the micro-nano pore system

A micro-nano pore three-dimensional visualized real-time physical simulation of natural gas charging, in-situ pore-scale computation, pore network modelling, and apparent permeability evaluation theory were used to investigate laws of gas and water flow and their distribution, and controlling factors during the gas charging process in low-permeability(tight) sandstone reservoir. By describing features of gas-water flow and distribution and their variations in the micro-nano pore system, it is found that the gas charging in the low permeability(tight) sandstone can be divided into two stages, expansion stage and stable stage. In the expansion stage, the gas flows continuously first into large-sized pores then small-sized pores, and first into centers of the pores then edges of pores;pore-throats greater than 20 μm in radius make up the major pathway for gas charging. With the increase of charging pressure, movable water in the edges of large-sized pores and in the centers of small pores is displaced out successively. Pore-throats of 20-50 μm in radius and pore-throats less than 20 μm in radius dominate the expansion of gas charging channels at different stages of charging in turn, leading to reductions in pore-throat radius, throat length and coordination number of the pathway, which is the main increase stage of gas permeability and gas saturation. Among which, pore-throats 30-50 μm in radius control the increase pattern of gas saturation. In the stable stage, gas charging pathways have expanded to the maximum, so the pathways keep stable in pore-throat radius, throat length, and coordination number, and irreducible water remains in the pore system, the gas phase is in concentrated clusters, while the water phase is in the form of dispersed thin film, and the gas saturation and gas permeability tend stable. Connected pore-throats less than 20 μm in radius control the expansion limit of the charging pathways, the formation of stable gas-water distribution, and the maximum gas saturation. The heterogeneity of connected pore-throats affects the dynamic variations of gas phase charging and gas-water distribution. It can be concluded that the pore-throat configuration and heterogeneity of the micro-nanometer pore system control the dynamic variations of the low-permeability(tight) sandstone gas charging process and gas-water distribution features.