International oural of Mulipase low 43 (2012) 62-65 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect International Journal of Multiphase Flow Isevier.com/locate/ijmulfiow ELSEVIER journal homepag Capillary-driven mobility control in macro emulsion flow in porous media Victor Raul Guillen®, Mao Illich Romero“', Marcio da Silveira Carvalho*, Vladimir Alvarado?” 70 Rio, Departmen of Mechanical Bginceig. Rua Marques de Sdo Viceme. 25 Givea, lo de Jae, Baa >Unnersy of Wyoming Deparment of Chemica and Feros Enghceing ep. 25,1000 Univers Avene. arom, WY S207, Und Sees ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT ‘ace soy Received 25 june 2011 Accepted { March 2012 ‘sia online 9 March 2012 ‘We show that the mobility ofan emulsion with drops large than the porous throats isa strong function ‘ofthe local capillary number: it falls as the interfacial forces become stronger (low capillary number) Emulsion drops have litle effect on the Mud mobility at high capillary number. This flow behavior can bbe used asa selective mobility control mechanism deven by capillary forces The flow rate and emulsion characteristics can be selected in such a way that Aud mobility near the injecting source remains high, allowing the emulsion to reach the location where the mobility contol i needed. To prove the benefit of Reruns: Capillary driven mobility conc we study the displacement of mineral by water and emulsion at 90 one capillary numbers by measuring the volume of dplaced id. Higher eceny dapacement de Sitcetal savy igh mebilityof the asplacing ld only occurs a low cpilary number rors nla "62012 Elsevier Ld. ll sighs reserved 1. Introduction of dispersions, another important issue i the length scale ratio of The flow of complex fluids in porous media is of great relevance to many problems in environmental science (Ouyang et al, 199: Allan et al, 2006), bioengineering, greenhouse gas storage, oil recovery, among others (Hofman and Stein, 1991; Tallakstad et al, 2009; Kdowu and Blunt, 2010; Sahimi, 1995; Dullien, 1992). ‘The traditional approach used to describe macroscopic fluid flow through porous media resort to Darcy’s law (Sahimi, 1995; Dullien, 1992), which assumes, for each phase i, a linear relationship be- tween average fluid velocity or fix, « and pressure gradient, VP. linked through a permeability coefficient, ky, and fluid viscosity, K w ‘The ratio 2, = Ky is commonly defined as the mobility of phase i, For low Reynolds number flow of simple fluids, the mobility Which emerges from flow behavior at the pore scale and fluid vis- cosity is uniquely defined, For complex fluids, eg. polymer sohi- tions and dispersions, Darcy's law coefficient cannot be directly determined solely from the uid viscosity curve and the pore structure, For polymeric solutions, a macroscopic shear rate value is needed to determine the effective viscosity, but in naturally het- ‘erogeneous porous media there is a wide range of shear rate for a given average velocity (Morais etal, 2009; Tallakstad et al, 2009), ‘which makes the choice of this rate ambiguous. In the case of flow =P 0) > corresponding author. Tel: +1 307766 6464; ax +1 307 765 6777 mal adres: valvaraduwyaed (V Asta * Present adres: Univesity of Wyoming. Enhanced Ol Recovery Insitute (EO. Dept 068,100 University Avene, Laramie, WY B71, United Stats (030-8322) se roe mater © 2012 sevier Ud lights reserve pict og)10.10165jmuphaselw 2012.03.01, the dispersed phase size to the pote throats radius (Cobos et al. 2009). At the pore scale, describing the dispersion as a single phase liquid may not be the correct approach, ‘The concept of mobility, and more importantly of mobility ratio, is key to understand fluid-fuid displacement in porous media (Babadagl, 2007). When the displacing fluid viscosity is ower than. that of the displaced fluid, viscous fingers form (Homsy, 1987), leading to low displacement efficiency. The addition of polymers and other additives into a lower viscosity displacing liquid is a ‘common approach to increase its viscosity and consequently the «lisplacement efficiency (Babadagll, 2007; Lake, 1989). immiscible Auids dispersions, like macro emulsions, offer a different mobility control mechanism (Tallakstad et al, 2009), ie, capillary forces that come from curved interfaces, in contrasts with viscosifying the displacing phase. Payatakes (1982) proposed the concept of ganglia dynamics that explains the flow of dispersed non-wetting phase in porous ‘media, A ganglion is a blob of a non-wetting phase that occupies at least a pore body, but usually extends to several adjoining pore bodies (chambers) in the pore space. The capillary trapping mech- anism that is responsible for capillary control for emulsions traps oil ganglia in the pore space and the question is how the blobs ‘get mobilized to form oil banks (a hydraulically connected phase able to mobilize). Population balance is used to account for mobi- lization from larger to smaller ganglia, including colision-coales- cence events, as mathematical kernels in the ganglia dynamics ‘equations These Ideas have been extended to calculate relative permeability at steady state (Avraam and Payatakes, 1995; Valavanides et al, 1998). Blob dynamics can be combined with ‘more traditional approach fo hydraulically connected immiscibleGul a aerating joural of Muliphase Few 43 (2012) 62-65 6 phases to decompose pore-scale flows into prototypical flows of ganglia mobilization and connected-oil pathway flows (Valava- hides and Payatakes, 2001). The connection with capillary-driven ‘mobility control can be established when one considers analog, flows of gas bubbles in Darcian dynamics (Amili and Yortsos, 2006). Just as in the case of ol ganglia and trapped bubble clusters, emulsion drops mobilization is controlled by capillary pressure thresholds. When viscous forces (or buoyancy) become large en- ‘ough, emulsion drops mobilize, ifthe pressure jump threshold is overcome. However. the presence of capillary trapped emulsion drops alters the water flow and pressure distribution in the pore space. The resulting water flow diversion creates new viscous pres- sure gradients at the pore level that can lead to mobilization of pre- viously tapped oil ganglia during waterflooding. These oil ganglia displacement events are possible provided the capillary pressure threshold is reached for the ganglia. These dynamic mechanisms exhibit a strong dependence on capillary number, as shown in this article. Since emulsion drop viscosity and interfacial properties ‘with respect to the displacing phase can be selected appropriately, independently of the non-wetting phase residing inthe pore space, it is possible to mobilize trapped non-wetting phase of interest by ‘the correct choices of emulsion properties. In this article, we investigate capillary-driven mobility control ‘in porous media experimentally by analyzing the flow of emulsion and the displacement of one liquid by emulsion in a porous rock. ‘We measure inlet-outlet pressure drop of oil-in-water emulsion flow through sandstone samples at different flow rates. Steady- state response to constant rate injection is used to show the capi lary number dependence of emulsion mobility. In addition, to prove the benefit of capllary-driven mobility control, we study the displacement of mineral oll by water and emulsion at two cap- illary numbers by measuring the volume of displaced fluid, 2. Material and methods Cobos etal. (2009) studied the flow of oil-in-water emulsions, through constricted quartz micro-capillay tubes. They character- ized the effect of the dispersed phase on the flow by using a mobi ity reduction factor f defined as the ratio of the average pressure ‘drop measured during continuous phase flow, Ap,, to that of the emulsion flow, Ap. at the same flow rate. Results showed that when drops are much smaller than the constriction radius, J~ 1, and is independent of the capillary number. On the other band, ‘when drops are similar in size to throat radius or large, the mobi ity reduction factor is a strong function of capillary number. At high enough capillary number, the viscous pressure drop is larger than the capillary pressure necessary to deform drops and f-» 1 As sketched in Fig. 1, there is a critical capillary number below which f falls abruptly. Here, we also analyze the flow of ol-in-aqueous phase emul- sion, but through sandstone cores. Two different experiments were Fig, Sketch of the behavior ofthe mobili reduction faetor fs faneton of the sro to pore hat ameter aio and cap nue. aceording othe results OF Cobos et 2005) performed: In the fist one, oil-water emulsion is injected in a ‘water phase saturated core at flow rates ranging from 005 rl) ‘nin to 30 mimin,coresponding to a superticial velocity ranging fom 0.044 em/min to 0.26 cmmin, until steady stat is achieved in order to determine the effect of the capillary number in the ‘mobility of emulsion flow. In the second experiment, cil originally saturating the cores is displaced by alternating waterfemulsion injection at different capillary numbers. “The experimental setup used in the analysis is sketched in Fig. 2. Icconsisted ofa microgear pump (Waters 515 HPLC) trans- fer vessels, a core holler and a precision balance. Two pressure transducers (Validyne) were installed to measure the injection pressure and the confining pressure. By opening and closing differ- ent valves the injection of water or emulsion can be controlled Forthe irstexperiment, the il-in-aqueous phase emulsion used consisted of 10% ofa mineral oil (25 950 kg/m” and y= 0.95 Pas) and 90% of continuous phase containing 30% water and 70% glycer- ine (pe= 1170 kg and je 0022 Pas), stabilized. with SDS surfactant at a concentration three times the critical micelle con- centration (2.3 g/l). The emulsion was prepared using a UltraTurax homogenizer (IKA-Werke 20). Te rotation speed and the time of shear controls the drop size distibution, which was measured using. a Masterszer 2000 (Malvern Instruments). Detail as to hhow to produce the emulsions can be found in the work of Cobos tal. (2008), The mixing procedure was such thatthe larger emul- sion drops have a diameter in the order of 40 yum and the mean diameter of the dispersed phase is 5 jim. The shear viscosity of the emulsion was measured with a rotational rheometer (Physica 'MCR3O1) with a cone-and-plate geometry. The results show that inthe range of shea rte from 1 =) 1000s, the emulsion vis- coxsity i constant, it behaves as a Newtonian quid, and its value is ‘very cose tothe continuous phase viscosity, ge 0.026 Pas. The sandstone core used in the first experiment had a porosity of {1 =324and permeability of; = 901.6 mD. We estimate a pore r2- dius of ~ 10 um using a bundle of capillary tube model. For the oil displacement experiment, two similar sandstone cores were used. The fst one had a porosity equal 10 ay =25.3% (pore volume V, = 18.1 ml) and permeability equal to Koy =262 1D. The porosity and permeability of the second sandstone core were gan 26.7% (pore volume Vp=264 ml) and Kay = 239 mD. We estimated a mean pore radius of R= 5 jum using on a bundle of capillary tube model. Both samples were initially saturated with a mineral oil, py. = 908 kg/m? andj, 0.427 Pas. The continuous phase of the emulsion consisted of a water solution of Ultranex NP110 surfactant at a concentration of 2% V/V. The dispersed phase consisted of anol wth ag * 996 kg/m” and jig ™ 1.02 Pa s.The dis- persion procedure was tich that large drops were formed, as shown inthe drop size distribution piot in Fig. 3. The emulsion viscosity was also measured with a rotational rheometer and its viscosity ‘was again close to that of the continuous phase alone and was nde- Pendent ofthe shea rate 3. Results Equivalent macroscopic mobility reduction factor can be de- fined in emulsion flow through porous media. Fig. 4 shows the ‘measured mobility reduction factor as a function of the capillary number, defined as Ca sv/o, where v isthe Darcy velocity and 6 =36mNim is the surface tension of the continuous phase. As in the single micro capillary experiment, the mobility reduction factor f-» 1 at high enough capillary number. Below a value of a= 10 4, the mobility reduction factor falls abruptly. Emulsion drops have little effect on the fluid mobility at high capillary num- ‘er, s0 it only acts asa mobility control agent at low capillary num ber. In subsurface Now applications, the capillary number fallsot 1 Callen terion furl of Mulia low 42 (2012) 2-65 ‘Computer Presse Fig. 2. stetch of experimental setup fr emulsion Now through a sandstone cae 10 | Le Saxons er me oe z a8 Zo _ 3 cos . ad i ° +1008 Fao Drop Size [jm] Fig. 2 Drop sie datibution for both ernlsion uted in the ol displacement experiments radially from the injection point. The flow rate and emulsion char- acteristics can be selected in such a way that fluid mobility near the well remains high allowing the emulsion to each the location ‘where the mobility control is needed, The latter contrasts with sus- pensions of solid particles for which permeability reduction near the injection point would limit its applicability as mobility control agent. Itis important to mention that the observed behavior is not related to rheology or viscosity effects, since the injected emulsion was a Newtonian fluid and its viscosity was close to that of the continuous phase, ‘The critical capillary number below which the capillary driven ‘mobility control is active can be estimated by simple scaling argu- ‘ments. The viscous pressure drop Apy of the continuous phase flow through a porous material and the capillary pressure drop Ape across the oil-water interface can be estimated as a function of the liquid properties (j, and a), pore geometry (effective length ‘of the pore channels Land effective pore radius R) and flow rate Q: ee oe Apes 84, py = @ @ a b pee : g 7 0 es : Hb 3 oz « BRIO" axt0" 0" Galo x10" Capillary Number Fig. Mobily reduction factor fin the Now of el-water emulsion ehough 3 porous ack 3 fancon ofthe saplary number If we consider an average pore radius of R= 10 jum and L = 10 cm, the critical capillary number would be Cat = 10 *, which agrees ‘with our experimental results. ‘The mobility control concept presented so far can be tested in the case of immiscible fuid-fuid displacement by looking at the increased displacement efficiency obtained by emulsion injection. Ic is well known that the limited displacement efficiency is due to two main mechanisms, capillary trapping and viscous fingering (Lake, 1989). We carried out oil displacement experiments first injecting aqueous solution into oil saturated rock samples and then alternating emulsion and aqueous phase injection. Using the scaling analysis presented above, we estimated the ‘critical capillary number below which the emulsion mobility falls sharply for the sandstone samples used in the oil displacement ‘experiments to be Ca” ~ 5 x 10 °. Oil displacement by alternating \watet/emulsion injection was performed at two different capillary ‘numbers, one below and the other above the critical capillary num- ber Ca’. Because the emulsion viscosity was very close tothe aque- ‘ous phase, any change in the amount of oil displaced after emulsion injection cannot be associated with changes inthe viscosity of the “displacing liquid The ratio of the volume of displaced ol to the original oil volume saturating the sample is plotted as a function of the injected pore ‘volume (dimensionless time), r = tQ/¥, for two values of the capil~ lary number, eg, Ca=2 10 * and Ca=2% 10, and shown in Fig. 5. Qand V, are the injection volumetric flow rate and the poreGul a aerating joural of Muliphse Few 43 2012) 62-65 6 08 02 o7 Inlet Pressure, PP, a ®A1"A ‘HO pe2eidsia Jo ownIon, 0 5 10 18 2 2 90 35 Dimensioiness Time, 02 Inlet Pressure, PP, 095 "ANNO podeidsia 40 ownjon, 02 eo a Hod) Dimensioiness Time, ¢=t@/ Vp Figs. Evolution f volume of ol displaced and inet pressure at Ca=2 «10-9 (tp) and Ca=2 > 10"* (bottom) capillary number. The leans represents the dren Sioness inet pressure normatized bythe equivalent continuous phase pressure Therightaxs orespods to the ol recovery factor. The shaded aa represents the Intel of emulsion injection. volume ofeach sample, respectively. The figure also presents the in- Jet pressure during the experiments in units ofthe inlet pressure ‘of the single phase flow of the oil intially saturating the sample at the same flow rate ps: Pe = 51.97 psi for the low capillary number experiment, and p, = 857.9 pst forthe high capillary number exper- iment. At both capillary numbers, oil was displaced initially solely by ‘the continuous phase untill was no longer produced. Then, slugs of emulsion were alternated with aqueous solution during injection. With this procedure, the initial condition in the start of emulsion injection was the same for both experiments, it corresponded 10 the conditions at which the remaining oil was immobile inside the pore space. Therefore, any extra amount of oil recovered after the emulsion injection is associated with mobility changes in the injected fuid. {At low capillary number (Fig. 5a), # maximum of 35% of the oi ‘was displaced at t~ 6. At this point, all the remaining oll inside the porous space was immobile. The inlet pressure decreased rom a hhigh initial value reaching a constant value at this point. At ‘:~ 13, emulsion was injected for a Ac ~ 0.6, immediately followed bby aqueous solution. Inlet pressure rises during emulsion injection and falls as aqueous solution injection resumes, reaching a new plateau value. Additional oil volume was obtained after water injection reaching a value of 40%, Part of the oil was mobilized after the injection of the emulsion slug, which clearly changed the resid- tual oil saturation and improved the displacement elficiency. tis important to notice that the second inlet pressure plateau value is higher than the first one. This is evidence that the extra oll dis- placed came from new flow paths created as a result of emulsion ‘rops blocking some of the original flow paths. The amount of oil displaced reaches 55% on the initial volume after another emul- sion-water injection, as shown in Fig. 5a. At high capillary number, Ca=2 10 4, Fig. Sb, the plateau Value of oil volume displaced after water injection is only =20% of the oil volume saturating, the sample. This is about 60% lower than the volume displaced at low capillary number by water injection, This can be easily ex- plained by effects of viscous fingering. As in the low-capillary num- ber case, injecting certain amount of emulsion followed by water Jed to an increase in the amount of oil displaced, reaching a new plateau of =25%. The inlet pressure rises upon injecting emulsion, as expected, and falls to reach a new plateau during water injec- tion, As shown in Fig. 5b, successive cycles of emulsion-water injection have little effect on the oll displaced fraction. At high cap- illary number, the mobility control is ineffective in comparison ‘with the case at fow capillary number. 4. Final remarks In summary, injecting emulsion in a water-saturated porous, ‘medium can reduce the mobility ofthe water phase. This mobility reduction only occurs when the threshold pressure to deform the interface of an emulsion drop is larger than the viscous pressure «drop, ie. low capillary number flows. The results show that mobil- ity reduction can increase the efficiency of immiscible fluid-fluid displacement. Residual oi was mobilized after the injection of an emulsion slug. Capillary-driven mobility control offers the added benefit, when compared to other dispersions, that its effect is a strong function of the local capillary number. This can be taken advantage of to design emulsions to attain effective mobility con- trol for a desired penetration depth in radial low. This provides a design strategy that permits adequate injectivity without signifi ‘ant detrimental eects of the conformance ability ofthe emulsion, Acknowledgements ‘We would like to acknowledge Petrobras and the Enhanced Oil, Recovery Institute (EORI) at the University of Wyoming for finan- ial support, References ‘Alan EM, Kamel, ME, Mughrab, A, Hamdan Ma, 2006. Appl Mat. Comput ‘Anil. Yorsos, VC 2006, Nansp. Porous Med. 64, 25-20 ‘erat DIG. Pastas, AC, 198. Tanep Poros Med 20 125-168 aod. 2007.) Peo cng 37, 201-246 Cobos 5 cavalo, MS Varad, V 2600 a Muliphase Flow 35, 507-515. Dalles, AL, 1992: Prous Medls Fd Tanspvt and Pore Stuur. Acad, Holman, JAH, Stein HN, 1991 Colds Sue. 61,317-329, omsy Gt 1987. Anu. Re. Fd Mech 19.271-311 owe: NA. lune. J 2010. Transp Povus Ne. 83, 131-168, {e, L989, Ennaced OW Recovery. Pence Hall, Englewood CMs. ora Af Syl Herman) Ande, 15 00, Pp Re. et 10, ‘Ouyang Mansell RS, Re. 1985. Cit Rev. Envito, Se Techol 25.269-280 Payatakes AC. 1982. Aa Re. uid Mech. 1365-398, Sihiml M, 1905, Flow and Transpor in Porous Media an Fractured ck. VCH, Tlakatad KT, Kode, HA, Rasta. Laval G, Maly, KJ. Tosa, R, ‘Valavanis, MS. Constantinides, GN. Payatakes, AC, 1998, Transp. Porous Med Vataanides MS, Paytakes AC, 2001 Adv Water Resour, 24, 385-07