Reservoir Evaluation and Development ›› 2019, Vol. 9 ›› Issue (4): 51-56.

• Petroleum Engineering • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Study on profile control ability of polymer microspheres to heterogeneous formation

ZHAO Shuai1,2,PU Wanfen1,2,LI Kexing1,2,YANG Yang1,2   

  1. 1.School of Oil and Gas Engineering, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu 610500, China
    2. State Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Reservoir Geology and Exploitation, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu 610500, China
  • Received:2017-09-08 Online:2019-08-26 Published:2019-08-28

Abstract:

The morphology and rheological properties of polymer microspheres PM1 were evaluated by optical microscope and rheometer. The effects of injection rate and concentration of microsphere system on the migration and plugging properties in porous media as well as the profile control ability of polymer microspheres to heterogeneous formation were investigated respectively by single core and parallel cores flooding experiments. The results showed that the microspheres had a high degree of sphericity with micro scale and its apparent viscosity was close to water at a relative high shear rate. The plugging ability of microspheres to pore throats increased with the decrease of seepage velocity or the increase of mass concentration. The microspheres had strong profile control ability to heterogeneous formation. If the measures that relative water absorption of low permeable core after profile control and oil displacement was greater than or equal to 35 % could be deemed to be appropriate, the upper limit of the permeability contrast, corresponding to which the microspheres could effectively improve the reservoir heterogeneity, would be about 20. For some strongly heterogeneous reservoirs existing fractures or large pores, the combined technique of profile control and flooding about alternating slugs of large-scale and micro-scale microspheres could be considered preferentially.

Key words: polymer microspheres, injection rate, mass concentration, profile control ability to heterogeneous formation, combined technique of profile control and flooding

CLC Number: 

  • TE357