Stanley C. Jones

Graphical Techniques for Determining Relative Permeability From Displacement Experiments

Graphical constructions are presented that greatly simplify calculation of relative permeability from displacement data. Although these constructions are mathematically equivalent to the standard equations, they convert raw data to relative permeability in an easy-to-understand, less tedious, and more accurate manner than the usual computations. The paper also shows how to extrapolate to residual saturation and to the corresponding effective viscosity (relative reciprocal mobility), which occur at infinite throughput. We demonstrate that fractional flow curves derived from waterflood displacements are always concave downward, and never yield multiple-valued saturations. Hysteresis in fractional flow and relative permeability curves is shown when an oil flood follows a waterflood.

Displacement Mechanisms of Micellar Solutions

Microscopic phenomena were observed photographically in a specially constructed glass flow model and macroscopic data were taken from constant rate, tertiary displacements conducted in Berea sandstone cores. A micellar solution slug completely removes oil from the portion of rock it contacts, but incompletely displaces the interstitial water. For a given composition of micellar solution, the amount of water dispersed increases with decreasing water salinity. Thickened water is capable of displacing slug and residual water. A water-external emulsion, that can be infinitely diluted with water, is spontaneously formed by the micellar slug and low salt water (e.g. thickened water). Naphtha, water, sodium hydroxide, petroleum sulfonate, isopropanol and nonyl phenol were combined to form the micellar solution. The thickened water contained Dow Pusher. A consolidated Berea sandstone core was saturated with a sweet, black, 7-cp, 36.4/sup 0/ API gravity Illinois crude, then waterflooded to residual oil. A 5 percent PV micellar slug recovered all of the oil. A minimum mobility buffer of 50 percent PV was required to completely protect the miscible slug.

Two-point determinations of permeability and PV vs. net confining stress

Developpement de relations empiriques qui permettent de determiner la permeabilite, la pression, le volume ou la porosite en fonction de la contrainte de confinement. Les equations sont basees sur quatre parametres ajustables dont deux peuvent etre predetermines sans perdre trop sur la precision

A Novel Single-Well Field Test of a Micellar Solution Slug

A single-well field test of a micellar solution slug driven by a mobility buffer was performed on the Henry lease in the Robinson sand in Crawford County, Illinois. The average porosity of the reservoir was 20 percent, and the range of permeability was 100 to 300 md. The crude had a viscosity of 7 cp and a gravity of 36/sup 0/ API. After waterflooding, the reservoir water contained 20,000 ppM TDS. The micellar slug contained 70 percent water and 8 percent active petroleum sulfonate. Dow Pusher 700 was dissolved in water (500 ppM TDS) to form the mobility buffer. The efficiency of oil displacement was evaluated by using core-test oil saturations. All of the oil was removed from the first 13 feet from the injection well. Thereafter, most of the swept portion of the reservoir had an oil saturation of 15 to 20 percent residual oil.