Well productivity enhancement by applying nanofluids for wettability alteration
Saurabh Naik A B , Gabriel Malgaresi A , Zhenjiang You A and Pavel Bedrikovetsky AA Australian School of Petroleum, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia.
B Corresponding author. Email: Saurabh.Naik@adelaide.edu.au
The APPEA Journal 58(1) 121-129 https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ17149
Submitted: 17 December 2017 Accepted: 19 January 2018 Published: 28 May 2018
Abstract
Water blocking is a frequent cause for gas productivity decline in unconventional and conventional fields. It is a result of the capillary end effect near the wellbore vicinity. It creates significant formation damage and decreases gas well productivity. The alteration of the rock wettability by nanofluids is an effective way to reduce water blockage and enhance gas production. Presently, several types of surfactants and nanofluids are used in the industry for contact angle alteration. In this study, we developed an analytical model and analysed the sensitivity to several parameters.
After the treatment, the porous medium in the well vicinity (or along the core) will have a stepwise constant contact angle profile. We derive analytical models for compressible steady-state two-phase linear and axi-symmetric flows, accounting for the piecewise-constant contact angle and contact-angle-dependent capillary pressure and relative permeability. The modelling reveals a complex interplay between the competing effects of compressibility, viscous and capillary forces, which influence the optimal contact angle for treatment.
The optimal contact angle for treatment will depend on the initial wettability of the formation, the water cut and the capillary-viscous ratio.
Keywords: contact angle, gas production, Nanofluids, Nanoparticles, Productivity Index, two-phase flow, wettability.
Saurabh Naik is a PhD candidate at the Australian School of Petroleum at the University of Adelaide, Australia. His research interests include wettability alteration in porous media, percolation theory and application of nanoparticles in oil/gas/geothermal reservoirs. Saurabh received his BEng degree in petroleum engineering from the University of Adelaide. Email: Saurabh.Naik@adelaide.edu.au |
Gabriel Malgaresi is a PhD candidate at the Australian School of Petroleum at the University of Adelaide, Australia. His research interests include core flooding and nanoparticles application. Gabriel received his BEng degree in chemical engineering from the Federal University of Sergipe and his MSc in petroleum and reservoir engineering from North Fluminense State University. Email: Gabriel.deveigacabralmalgaresi@adelaide.edu.au |
Zhenjiang You is a Senior Researcher in the Australian School of Petroleum at the University of Adelaide, Australia. His research interests include suspension/colloid/nanoparticle transport in porous media, fines migration induced formation damage in oil/gas/geothermal reservoirs, EOR from low-salinity waterflooding and flow distribution within gas and oil wells. Dr You received his BEng degree in engineering mechanics and PhD degree in fluid mechanics, both from Zhejiang University. He is the author of three book chapters and over 100 papers in international journals and conferences. Email: zhenjiang.you@adelaide.edu.au |
Pavel Bedrikovetsky is a Professor in the Australian School of Petroleum at the University of Adelaide. He is also a Senior Staff consultant to Petrobras in the areas of formation damage, waterflooding and improved oil recovery. During 1991–1994, Bedrikovetsky was a visiting Professor at Delft University of Technology and the Imperial College of Science and Technology. His main research interests include formation damage, suspension/colloid transport in porous media, mathematical modelling of well stimulation and exploitation of unconventional energy resources. Bedrikovetsky is the author of two books on reservoir engineering and 150 technical papers published in international and SPE journals. He holds BEng and MSc degrees in applied mathematics, a PhD degree in fluid mechanics and a DSc degree in reservoir engineering, all from Moscow Gubkin Petroleum University. Bedrikovetsky served as section chairperson, short-course instructor, key speaker and steering committee member at several SPE conferences, and he was the 2008–2009 and 2016–2017 SPE Distinguished Lecturer. Email: Pavel.bedrikovetski@adelaide.edu.au |
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