Factors Influencing Unsteady
Relative Permeability of a
Mixed-Wet Reservoir Rock
K.K. Mohanty, SPE, and A.E. Miller, Areo Oil & Gas Co.
Summary. Capillarity, viscous fingering, and heterogeneity influence the flow in a core plug and hence affect the relative permeability
determined from an unsteady test. Several unsteady water/oil relative permeability tests were carried out in a mixed-wet core while
in-situ 3D saturation distribution was monitored by a computerized-tomography (CT) scanner. Results illustrate that, in the early part
of the Johnson-Bossler-Naumann (JBN) method, relative permeability is dominated by fingering and heterogeneity effects. The later
part of this method (> 1 PV), however, represents the relative permeability of the end-face saturation and is influenced by the capillary
number and throughput. Thus, laboratory results must be scaled to the field on the basis of the flow parameters: end-effect, capillary,
instability, and heterogeneity numbers.
Introduction
To simulate a waterflood in a field numerically, one needs to know
the flow of each phase in and out of a gridblock given the pressure
gradient, saturation, and saturation history. Flow properties of reser-
voir gridblocks are often estimated by measuring permeability and
relative permeability of small field cores in laboratories. Three
methods exist to measure relative permeability: unsteady displace-
ment,1 steady state,2 and centrifuge. 3 The unsteady-displacement
method is the most common because it is fast and qualitatively
resembles the flooding process in the field. It is an indirect method
because relative permeabilities are calculated, not measured. In the
steady-state method, relative permeability is measured directly. Un-
fortunately, this method is time consuming and often does not resem-
ble the displacement process, which involves movement of saturation
fronts. The centrifuge method is also an indirect method; however,
its applicability to the determination of water/oil relative permea-
bilities has not been demonstrated. 4 The centrifuge method is use-
ful for gas/liquid systems because it minimizes viscous fingering,
but it gives the relative permeability of the displaced phase only. 3
This method is becoming more popular because of improvements
in automatic techniques to determine saturation. 5 The unsteady-
displacement method is still the most popular for determining
water/oil relative permeabilities and is the subject of this study.
Our study is also limited to the case where water saturation increases
in the core.
In an unsteady-displacement method, water is injected into a core
saturated mostly with oil. Effluent composition and the pressure
drop across the core are monitored. Typically, the JBN 1 method
or its variants 6-8 are used to calculate the relative permeabilities
from effluent and pressure-drop data. The JBN method is based
on the following assumptions.
1. Capillary pressure effects are negligible compared with vis-
cous effects.
2. The core is a linear, homogeneous body.
3. Flow is stable and lD.
These assumptions often are not met. In this paper, we discuss
how the calculated permeability is affected when these assumptions
are not satisfied.
Many reservoir rocks are weakly mixed-wet-i.e., both oil and
brine are imbibed into the rock but neither is imbibed strongly. 9
Reservoir rocks are often heterogeneous, and the oil can be more
viscous than brine. The unsteady-displacement method is often used
to determine the water/oil relative permeabilities of such reservoir
rocks, but the assumptions of this method can be violated when
these rocks are waterflooded. Capillarity, viscous fingering, and
heterogeneity can each influence the flow in a core plug and hence
affect the relative permeability gleaned from an unsteady-displace-
ment test. The objective of this work is to quantify the effect of
these flow parameters on the unsteady relative permeability of a
weakly mixed-wet field core.
Copyright 1991 SoCiety of Petroleum Engineers
SPE Fonnation Evaluation, September 1991
In the next section, we review the effects of capillarity, viscous
fingering, and heterogeneity on unsteady relative permeability in
water-wet cores and contrast these effects with what may be ex-
pected in a weakly mixed-wet system. Key flow parameters and
the critical range of values where these parameters influence rela-
tive permeability are identified. Several unsteady water/oil rela-
tive permeability tests were done in a mixed-wet core. In-situ 3D
saturation distribution is monitored by CT scanning in addition to
effluent composition and pressure drop. Our experimental proce-
dure is outlined. Our results include core characterization, evolu-
tion of saturation distribution, effluent-end saturation, and relative
permeability computed by the JBN method. We determine what
the JBN relative permeability represents and how it is affected by
the key flow parameters in a mixed-wet core. We conclude by sum-
marizing our observations.
Factors Affecting Unsteady Relative
Permeability Measurements
Capillarity Effect. We discuss capillarity effects in the context of
each kind of wettability: water-wet, oil-wet, and mixed-wet.
Water-Wet. With capillary pressure defined as Pc=Po -Pw' Pc
is positive because Po> Pw' In the unsteady-displacement method,
water is injected to displace oil. The capillary pressure has two ef-
fects on the displacement that otherwise could be described by the
Buckley-Leverett theory. The first effect occurs at the inlet. 10 As
soon as the water contacts the core, it is spontaneously imbibed
into the core at the point of contact. Oil can flow out of the core
countercurrently to replace the imbibed water. This countercurrent
flow can increase the pressure drop or decrease the apparent per-
meability to water. IO The inlet end-butt can be designed to
minimize counterflow by placing a water-wet porous disk at the
inlet face.
The second effect occurs at the outlet. Before breakthrough, 11
the water saturation becomes greater than Swi at the core outlet,
but no water is produced as long as Pc> O. When the water satu-
ration is sufficiently high for Pc =0, brine is produced, oil stops
flowing, and oil saturation reaches its residual value, Sor' The
flood front inside the core is dispersed, but the effluent profile has
the appearance of a piston-like displacement, as shown by CT -scan
studies 12 of waterfloods. The JBN method often cannot be applied
to predict the relative permeability curves because most of the flood
front is disguised by the end effect. In a strongly water-wet medi-
um, Kyte and Rapoport 11 recommend a pressure drop, tlp, of 50
psi, regardless of core length, to minimize the capillary end effect.
In unsteady waterflood of a relatively inviscid oil in a water-wet
rock, the relative permeability can be obtained in a very small satu-
ration range. Hence, Heaviside et al. 10 recommend use of the
steady-state method.
The capillary end effect can be represented by a dimensionless
flow parameter, Nc,end, the end-effect number. 16 Nc,end is the ratio
349
of a characteristic capillary pressure, P ci, to the viscous pressure
drop across the core, L1p; Le.,
N e,end=Pe/L1p,.,crJ(t/>k) /p-vL. ...................... (I)
L1p can be the initial pressure drop and P ci the capillary pressure
at the initial saturation. P ci is frequently unavailable and thus is
approximated by u.J (t/>/k) , where k is a single-phase permeability
of the core. This dimensionless number is similar to the inverse
of the macroscopic capillary number, N em' introduced by Islam
and Bentsen. 13 This parameter has a critical value range in which
it affects the JBN-derived relative permeability. For Ne,end >0.1,
as N c end increases, both oil and water relative permeabilities
decrease. When N c,end < 0.1, it does not affect relative permea-
bility.
The final state after a waterflood is not affected by capillary end
effects in water-wet cores. The key flow parameter that controls
the final fluid saturation is the capillary number, N c , which is the
ratio of the viscous forces to capillary forces at the pore level; i.e.,
Nc=P-wv/u. . ..................................... (2)
The saturation of a uniform core is uniform at the end of a water-
flood. This saturation is determined by the capillary number of the
flood if N e> 10 -5. Endpoint saturation and relative permeabilities
are independent of Ne outside this critical range. 14 Inside the crit-
ical range, Sor decreases with increasing N c' As oil saturation
decreases, the relative permeability to water at residual oil increases.
Hence, the endpoint water relative permeability k rwro is an increas-
ing function of Nc only if N e > 10- 5 .
Oil-Wet. In this case, the capillary pressure is negative, and there
is no end effect at the inlet. Water saturation at the outlet, however,
remains low, even after water breakthrough. Oil flows only when
the viscous pressure gradient in water exceeds the capillary pressure
gradient. In the final state both gradients are balanced. Heaviside
et ai. 10 showed that Sor decreases slightly in an oil-wet core but
the brine permeability increases significantly with an increase in
flow rate. Some of the wetting fluid (Le., oil) at the downstream
end of the core is removed; hence, the brine permeability increases.
This increase is called the "bump" and is a characteristic of an
oil-wet medium. Rapoport and Leas l5 recommend a pressure drop
of at least 50 psi to minimize the capillary end effect. Heaviside
et at. 10 recommend conducting the experiment at the field flow
rate and using a simulator with capillary pressure to calculate the
relative permeabilities when the capillary end effect is significant.
Again, the two dimensionless flow parameters, Nc,end and N c ,
affect the relative permeability determined from an unsteady-
displacement method. The critical ranges are N c,end > 0.1 and
N e > 10- 7 . As Ne,end increases, both relative permeabilities
decrease and Sor increases. The final saturation inside a core is
nonuniform and depends on N e end' Sigmund and McCaffery 16
showed that the capillary end effect is negligible if N c ,end < 0.1.
The final state is not affected by the capillary number if N c < 10- 4
in highly permeable, unconsolidated media. 17 For consolidated
media, Lefebvre du Prey 18 found the residual wetting saturation
at 4 PV throughput to depend on N c down to 10 -7. He also report-
ed that both relative permeabilities in an oil-wet medium increase
with N c for N c > 10 -7. Combining Eqs. 1 and 2 shows that the
minimum core length required to eliminate both the capillary number
effect and the end effect is ,., 33 ft for oil-wet and only'" 4 in. for
a water-wet medium of 0.1 darcy.
Mixed-Wet. In this case, capillary pressure is positive for low
water saturation and negative for high water saturation. Most field
mixed-wet cores are also weakly wet. Capillarity effects in a water-
flood are similar to those of a weakly oil-wet rock. The capillary
end effect can be significant if N c,end > I. Heaviside et ai. 19 found
both waterflood injectivity and recovery to be rate-dependent. They
observed that steady-state relative permeabilities were between the
high- and low-rate unsteady results. They recommend running the
unsteady displacements at reservoir rates.
Definitions of N c and N c end for mixed-wet media need not be
identical to those for uniformly, strongly wet media. Capillarity
should no longer be represented by interfacial tension, u, alone-
350
the effect of wettability distribution should be included. For uni-
formly intermediate-wet media, u is often replaced by u cos 0, where
o is the contact angle. Such a substitution, however, is not applica-
ble for mixed-wet rocks. More appropriate definitions of Ne and
Ne,end will be addressed in future research. In this paper, defini-
tions commonly used for uniformly strongly wet media will also
be used for mixed-wet media.
Well-controlled experimental data on mixed-wet rock are few.
It is anticipated that the effects of N c,end and N c on relative per-
meability would be similar to those in oil-wet media, because at
the end of waterflooding, water tends to invade oil-wet pores. The
critical numbers need to be modified in the light of weak wettabili-
ty. Assuming the capillarity to be 10 times weaker than that of a
uniformly oil-wet medium, one anticipates the critical N c.end ,., 1
and the critical N c'" 10 -8.
'Fingering Effect. When a more mobile fluid displaces a less mo-
bile fluid, the displacement is unstable and the flood front devel-
ops fingers. Heterogeneity aids the fingering process. 20 An
unstable displacement leads to premature breakthrough and a longer
period of two-phase flow at the outlet. Fingered displacement is
no longer ID, and JBN analysis is no longer strictly applicable to
such a displacement. This section discusses fingering in relatively
homogeneous rocks. Fingering in heterogeneous rocks is discussed
in the next section.
Many studies have been conducted on the onset of fingering in
relatively homogeneous, unconsolidated media. Peters and Flock 21
prescribe the following conditions for instability:
M> I ........................................... (3)
and
N1 = (M-I)(v-vcr)P-wd2/(ukwro) > 13.56C*, ........... (4)
where M=krwroP- o/ P-w' .............................. (5a)
vcr=kwro(Pw-Po)g cos od(M-I)p-w, ................ (5b)
N I = instability number, v = superficial velocity, and d = diameter
of the core. For oil-wet core, C*=5.45 and for water-wet core,
C*=306.25. C* was evaluated from experiments on bead packs
with permeability near 18 darcies. This relationship is derived from
an ad hoc theory22 that includes u only through the curvature of
a macroscopic flood front. This theory ignores the dispersion of
the front resulting from capillary pressure and relative permeability
and neglects the synergism of capillarity and pore-size distribution.
Thus, extending these experimental results to lower-permeability
(smaller-pore) cores may be misleading. In the absence of any other
criterion, however, the above criterion is often used as a first ap-
proximation for instability. After substituting for the velocity in
terms of the pressure drop across the core plug, the dynamic dis-
placement in a horizontal core is stable when
N =(M-I)L1pd 2/(uL)< 13.56C* .................... (6)
1
For M=5, d=1.5 in., u=30 dynes/cm, and L=2.5 in., L1Pcr=
0.0035 psi for oil-wet core and L1Pcr=0.198 psi for water-wet
core. These values are much lower than those often required for
neglecting the capillary pressure drop, and most dynamic displace-
ments are run above them. According to the set criterion,21 all
these floods are unstable. This result should be obvious because
capillarity tends to stabilize viscous instability. If the pressure drop
is so large that capillary pressure effects are negligible compared
with viscous effects, then the stabilizing force is negligible and hence
the flow is unstable. The effects of fingering and capillarity cannot
be suppressed simultaneously. At low rates, fingering is small, but
the capillary end effect is high. At high rates, fingering is large,
but the capillary end effect is low.
The analyses of Peters and Flock 21 and Chouke et at. 22 do not
distinguish between fingering in imbibition and drainage processes
except for the value of one empirical constant. However, some
fundamental differences do exist. 23 ,24 Stokes et ai. 23 determined
experimentally that fingers are macroscopic during imbibition
processes: w,.,.J(kNe ) <half-width of the sample; but, during
drainage processes, the fingers are microscopic or of pore scale.
SPE Formation Evaluation, September 1991
 TABLE 1-KEY FLOW PARAMETERS
No,end
[uj#)IILoVLJ
-----
Critical range
Water-wet >0.1 >10- 5
Mixed-wet >1 >10 -8
Field range <0.01 <10 -6
Laboratory 0,01 to 10 10 -8 to·10- 5
This was observed for high-permeability (k> 20-darcy) bead packs
at N c > 10 - 5 . The scaling of imbibition and drainage fingers may
be very different and needs to be established for media with k< 1
darcy. In strongly water-wet media, k rwro <C I. Hence, M < 1 for
large values of I-'o/I-'w. Strong capillarity also impedes the growth
of fingers, so many waterfloods in water-wet media are stable. In
oil- or mixed-wet media, k rwro is not as low; it can be 2:0.3.
Hence, M tends to be higher. Because capillarity is usually not very
strong in these media, waterflooding in many mixed- or oil-wet
media with viscous oil can suffer from fingering.
Peters and Khatanier 25 studied the effect of fingering on JBN-
derived relative permeability. Waterflooding was conducted in a
relatively homogeneous, high-permeability (.., 3.5-darcy) sandpack.
There were two sets of experiments: in the first set, the core was
initially saturated with water and then driven to a connate water
saturation of .., 0.11 before waterflood, and in the second set, the
core was first saturated with oil and then waterflooded. The insta-
bility number was varied by changing the flow rate, gravitational
force, and fluids. N c varies from 0 to 0.115 X 10 -5 in the first set
and from 0.355xlO- 6 to 0.184xlO- 5 in the second set. If the
change in N c is ignored, then these experiments show that the oil
relative permeability decreases and the water permeability increases
with increasing N[. Sor tends to increase with more instability. If
these relative permeability curves are fitted to a power-law model,
then the oil exponent increases and the water exponent decreases
with increasing N [.
The critical range for the instability number is N[>4,152 for
water-wet media and N[>74 for oil- or mixed-wet media, after
substituting the empirical values for C*. As N[ increases, oil rela-
tive permeability decreases and brine relative permeability increases.
Heterogeneity Effect. Most naturally occurring porous media are
heterogeneous, and the relative permeabilities of different regions
need not be the same. Huppler 26 studied the effect of permeabil-
ity heterogeneity on waterflooding numerically, where the relative
permeabilities of all the regions were identical. The viscosity ratio
of oil to water was < 20 and the endpoint mobility ratio was < 5
in his study. He found that the relative permeability of a water-wet
rock with several permeability lenses approximated that of a
homogeneous rock if the lenses were distributed homogeneously
and were much smaller than the medium. A partially oil-wet medi-
um could behave differently if the permeability contrast were large.
In a layered water-wet rock, with layer width comparable with that
of the sample, displacements at low rates had little effect on the
relative permeability. However, at high rates in water-wet media,
and at any.rate in partially oil-wet media, the effective relative per-
meabilities were different from the input and were rate-sensitive.
Thus, for oils that are not too viscous (1-'0<20 cp), Huppler rec-
ommends waterflooding at low rates for water-wet rocks and at field
TABLE 2-CORE PROPERTIES
Core
2 3
L, in. 3.5 5.9 2.0
d, in. 1.44 1.5 1.5
cf>,% 32.3 30.5 36.3
kOI' md 23 53 126
SWj, % 34 20 17
SPE Formation Evaluation, September 1991
N, NH
[(M -1)(v - v cr)ILwd2/(uk wro» [q o (khlk,)(wIL)J
>4,152 >0.2
>74 >0.02
<10 3 0.001 to 1
<10 6 0.01 to 10
rates for mixed-wet aI\d weakly water-wet rocks. This recommen-
dation does not account for capillary end effects. '
If the rock is heterogeneous and the viscosity ratio between oil
and water is large, then the fingering process is amplified by the
heterogeneity.20 In such cases, unsteady displacements can be
dominated by fingering, especially if the rock is mixed-wet. It is
not clear how the unsteady recovery and pressure-drop data can
be interpreted to obtain the actual relative permeabilities. Perhaps
the heterogeneity of the core should be evaluated from an indepen-
dent test (Le., single-phase tracer displacement), and then the
unsteady-displacement data should be matched by a simulation that
accounts for both capillarity and heterogeneity.
Our understanding of fluid-flow interaction with reservoir het-
erogeneity is quite limited. A set of indices should be developed
to define heterogeneity of a reservoir. 27.28 Huppler studied only
lens and layer types of heterogeneity. The dimensionless flow rate
that affected observed relative permeability in this numerical model
was qD =Lvl-'w/u..j(r!>k) . qD "equals the inverse of N C•end for the
capillary-pressure curve assumed in the numerical experiments. As
N C •end decreases, the end effect tends to be unimportant, but het-
erogeneities become important. As qD increases, the water rela-
tive permeability increases and oil relative permeability decreases.
Its effect on observed relative permeability is significant if qD >0.1
for water-wet media with a permeability ratio of 10 and a layer
width/length ratio of 0.2. The same is true for miXed-wet media
for a permeability ratio of 10 and a layer width/length ratio of 0.02.
On the basis of his work,26 we propose a heterogeneity parame-
ter N H that takes qD into account as well as permeability contrast
and heterogeneity shape. Let
N H=qD(kh/k/)a(w/L)b, ............................. (7)
where kh is the permeability of the most-permeable layer, k/ is that
of the least-permeable layer, w is the characteristic width of the
heterogeneity, and L is the length of the system. Deriving the values
for the two exponents, a and b, is beyond the scope of this paper,
so they are assumed to be unity. The critical range of parameter
NH is > 0.2 for water-wet and > 0.02 for mixed-wet media. These
values were obtained by multiplying qD with the permeability and
layer width/length ratios from Huppler's study. An increase in the
'heterogeneity should decrease JBN-derived oil relative permeabil-
ities and increase water permeabilities in layered systems. Note that
the above conditions are only approximate and are applicable only
to layered heterogeneity for small-viscosity-ratio ( < 20) fluids. Fur-
ther studies are needed to determine the effects of other kinds of
heterogeneity and highly adverse viscosity-ratio displacements.
Necessity for Scaling. From the above discussion, it is clear that
the relative permeabilities from the unsteady-displacement method
TABLE 3-FLOW CONDITIONS IN CT-SCANNED
WATER FLOODS
Run
1 2 3
q, mUhr 0.6 6 30
k fWro 0.05 0.11 0.23
M 2.35 5.17 10.8
No,end 3.2 0.32 0.06
No 0.6x10- B 0.6x10- 7 0.3x 10- 6
N, 10 4 1.4x105 7.9 X 10 5
NH 0.13 1.3 6.5
351
are affected by the flooding conditions represented by Nc,end' N c '
Nb and N H. If the oil has a low viscosity and the medium is
homogeneous, then only N c,end and N c are important. For viscous
oil, N[ becomes significant. For heterogeneous rocks, NH is also
important. The critical ranges of these parameters depend on wet-
tability. Table 1 summarizes the critical ranges of these parameters
for strongly water-wet and weakly mixed-wet media and their typical
ranges in the field and in the laboratory. The ranges reported here
are approximate at best, and the format used is a simple way of
presenting the flow phenomena that depend on these parameters
in a very complex manner. Note also that this parameter set is not
unique; these parameters are interrelated and can be expressed by
a different set of dimensionless parameters.
The laboratory unsteady relative permeability tests should be con-
ducted ideally under conditions where the laboratory values for the
key flow parameters match the field values. That may not be physi-
cally realizable in laboratories. The next choice is to identify field
parameters that are in the noncritical range and set their laboratory
values to be different but also in the noncritical range. For homoge-
neous water- or oil-wet rock with light oil that is feasible, as shown
by the Rapoport and Leas 15 scaling criteria. This strategy, how-
ever, may not be feasible for a relatively viscous oil and heteroge-
neous rocks. Thus, one is forced to run laboratory floods in the
critical range of the parameters that differ from the field values.
In such cases, it is necessary to know how to extrapolate laboratory
results to field conditions. Our experimental study uncovers the ef-
fect of the flow parameters on JBN-derived relative permeability
in a weakly mixed-wet field core with a viscous oil (p.=:47 cp).
Experimental Procedure
Three different types of experiments were carried out in field cores:
unsteady CT-scanned waterfloods, large-throughput waterflood, and
core characterization. All cores used in this study were from a single
well. The cores were at their native state at the start of the experi-
ments. Table 2 lists the basic core characteristics. The oil used in
this study was the field dead oil diluted with decane or dodecane
to have a viscosity of 47 cpo Two kinds of brine were used: one
with 5,000 ppm NaCI and the other with 1 M Nal. The second brine
helped us to visualize the saturation fronts during a waterflood by
means of a CT scanner. Brine viscosity was 1 cpo All experiments
were conducted at 73.4°F.
Unsteady-State CT-Scanned Waterfloods. Core 1 was used for
all unsteady-state CT-scanned waterfloods. The core was in its native
state when it was confined in an aluminum Hassler core holder.
The core was flooded by oil with 500 psi backpressure to displace
in-situ oil and gas. It was then waterflooded horizontally with NaI
brine at a constant flow rate. The pressure drop and effluent water/
oil production were monitored. The core was scanned with a GE
9800™ CT scanner several times during the flood. 29 After injec-
tion of a few PV's of water at a constant rate, the injection rate
was increased in some of the waterfloods. After a total of 25 PV
was injected, the core was injected with the oil until water stopped
coming out of it. At the end of oilflood, the core was ready for
the next waterflood. Core 1 went through many such cycles.
Waterfloods were conducted at three different rates: 0.6 mLlhr
Oow rate), 6 mLlhr (intermediate rate), and 30 mLlhr (high rate).
The high rate is typical of high-rate waterfloods conducted in lab-
oratories, especially in water-wet rocks. The intermediate rate is
typical of low-rate floods. The low-rate flood is about the lowest
that can be conducted in a laboratory where the pressure drop can
be measured without much difficulty and the experimental duration
in a CT scanner is not prohibitive. This rate may still be higher
than the field rate in certain reservoirs. The low- and intermediate-
rate waterfloods were followed by high-rate waterfloods. This is
called a bump. 10 Table 3 summarizes the flow conditions for the
CT waterfloods.
Large-Throughput Waterflood. Core 2 was used in this experi-
ment. This native-state core was waterflooded at the intermediate
rate until oil production ceased. Then the water injection rate was
increased to the high rate. Oil production was monitored as a func-
tion of throughput. This core was not scanned by the CT scanner.
352
Core Characterization. Several tests were conducted to charac-
terize the cores in terms of porosity, permeability, wettability, and
spatial distribution of permeability and porosity. At the end of flood-
ing tests, Core 1 was extracted with CH 2Cl2 and IPA and vacuum-
dried while confined within the core holder. Air porosity and per-
meability were measured. Before the cores underwent extraction,
the approximate oil volume at Swi was determined by tracer dis-
placement. Wettability was established by (1) determining the capil-
lary pressure curve, (2) observing the evolution of the in-situ
oil/water front, and (3) displacing a slug of traced oil by water at
Sor' NaI-concentration fronts were monitored in a single-phase,
matched-viscosity (NaI brine displacing NaCI brine at Sor) dis-
placement. These fronts indicated the type of permeability varia-
tion in the core. CT scans were taken of the empty core and the
core fully saturated with brine, NaI brine, oil, and traced diesel.
The subtracted images reveal the porosity variation inside the core.
CT-Scan Procedure. Eight cross sections along the core length
at even spacings of 0.47 in. were imaged in each scan. The slice
thickness was 0.118 in. The field of view was 5.9 in., which was
divided into 512 pixels. The exposure time for each slice was 3
seconds. The scanner was operated at 120 kV and 140 rnA. The
CT number of a pixel represents the absorptivity of X-ray within
that pixel. The images of porosity, concentration, and saturation
distributions were generated 29 from these CT numbers and are
shown in Ref. 30.
Relative Permeability Calculation. Relative.permeabilities were
calculated for the CT-scanned waterfloods with the IBN I method.
Here, the postbreakthrough recovery and the injectivity raw data
were smoothed with polynomials recommended by Miller. 8
Npa=aO+al(ln W)+a2(ln W)2 ..................... (8)
and In(WI)=bo+bl(ln W)+b 2(ln W)2, ................ (9)
where 1= injectivity= (qp.w/ilp)/(qrp.r/IlPr); Npa=oil recovery in
PV; W =fluid injected in PV; and for a waterflood, subscript r refers
to initial reference conditions. Constants ao, ai, a2, b o , b l , b2
are obtained through regression, and relative permeabilities are cal-
culated in terms of those constants. We verified that the functions
fit the raw data adequately. No fundamental reason exists for using
these functions; they should be used only when they represent the
experimental observations.
Results
Core Characterization. The CT cross-sectional images 30 of the
extracted, air-filled Core 1 showed that the first two slices (0.118
and 0.59 in. [3 and 15 mm] from the inlet) contain some high-density
minerals deposited perpendicular to the bedding planes. The rest
of the core is primarily sand. The porosity variation 30 within any
cross section is small for Slices 3 through 8: Slices 3 through 7
have small variation, but Slice 8 has a higher porosity. Slices 1
and 2 have nonuniform porosity because of the presence of the high-
density minerals. It is apparent from these pictures 30 that the core
porosity is fairly uniform except for the two ends of the core.
The permeability variation within the core is indicated by the 3D
image of the flood front (Fig. 1). In this experiment, the core was
driven to residual oil by injecting brine, a scan was taken of the
core, and then NaI brine was injected into the core at 6 mLlhr.
The core was scanned several times during this flood. The image
at the start of this experiment was subtracted from the image at
15 mL injected and the contour corresponding to 50% concentration
is shown in Fig. 1. The flood front shows the layered nature of
the core. There are five highly permeable layers separated by four
low-permeability layers. Pictures of porosity distribution 30 do not
show this layering as vividly. The effluent NaI concentration was
S-shaped because of mixing in single-phase flow. In a homogeneous
core, the throughput at 50% concentration corresponds to the brine
volume in the core. 31 In this core, this throughput was 22 mL,
compared with 23.5 mL brine volume estimated from material bal-
ance. This technique underpredicts the fluid volume by 7% for such
a heterogeneous core.
SPE Fonnation Evaluation, September 1991
 The wettability of Core 3 was obtained from its centrifuge capil-
lary pressure curve (Fig. 2). The Amott wettability indices were
0.06 for brine and 0.11 for oil. The core is considered to be weak-
ly mixed-wet. Neither fluid imbibed freely in any significant amount;
however, the application of a small pressure drop pushed most of
the invading fluid into the core. Capillary pressure curves were not
obtained for Core 1; two other tests were done to confirm its wet-
tability. During an oilflood, the flow was stopped in the core when
the piston-like saturation front was in the middle of the core be-
tween Slices 5 and 6; then both the inlet and outlet valves were
closed. In-situ saturations were monitored for 5 days by the CT
scanner. Fig. 3 shows the change in cross-sectional average satu-
ration for 60 and 120 hours. Upstream brine saturation increased
and downstream saturation decreased . The amount of saturation
change, ilS w , was < 4 % in 5 days. This small amount of redistri-
bution indicates that the rock is weakly wet and/or the oil is too
viscous to redistribute. Note that the CT scanner cannot be used
to detect pore-level fluid redistribution.
The second test entailed driving Core 1 to SOT' injecting a 0.25-
PV traced-oil slug, and displacing that by a traced brine. Fig. 4
shows the effluent oil and water compositions. These profiles can
be compared with those obtained by Heaviside et al. 19 and
Jones. 32 In water-wet media, both the residual and injected oil are
produced between approximately 0.1 and 0.5 PV. In addition, the
brine-tracer profile is relatively sharp. In Fig. 4, oil production starts
at 0.2 PV and continues beyond 2 PV . Brine tracer breaks through
earlier than in the water-wet case and is more dis.persed, indicat-
ing that Core 1 is certainly not strongly water-wet. From the above
evidence, we hypothesize that Core 1 is weakly mixed-wet.

Unsteady CT-Scanned Watertloods. JBN analysis of an unsteady

relative permeability flood assumes that the flood front is piston-
like. It was observed in these floods that the flood front in Core
1 is not piston-like in waterfloods at any of the three rates. Figs.
'5 and 6 show the distribution of fluids at 0.15 PV injection during
the low-rate flood. Fig. 5 shows saturation distribution of fluids
in three of the eight cross sections. The cross sections include a
part of the core holder on the outside of the core. The pixels in
the core holder appear to have 0 or 100% oil saturation but should
be ignored. The error associated with measured saturations is < ±2
saturation units. Fig. 6 shows the 3D images of contours corre-
sponding to Sw",,50%. The flood front is highly fingered, and the
fingers are aligned with the high-permeability layers identified in
Fig. 1. The CT images indicate that the oil saturation just behind
the finger boundaries is higher than Sor' The front is dispersed as Fig. 1-30 Image of Nal brine displacing NaCI brine at 0.5 PV
a result of capillary pressure and relative permeability. This type InJection. Contour corresponds to 50% concentration change.
of fingered front was also observed at intermediate and high rates.
It can be concluded that in these waterfloods, breakthrough and
the early part of displacement are affected by fingering and heter-

':L~-
ogeneity, unlike the assumptions of the JBN analysis.
Fig. 7 shows the cross-sectional average saturation at Swi for the
three floods. There is some variation axially . Brine saturation is
higher at the outlet end, and oil saturation is higher in the high-
permeability layers. 30 The difference in the initial conditions of
the three floods is small. Fig. 8 shows the evolution of the cross- Pc,
psi
o
o
_,
20
I
.-40~~_.
I o~

80 100
I'.' Brine 1mb.
Brine Or.
I
sectional average saturation profile for the low-rate waterflood. This -0.

evolution can be divided into three regimes: frontal movement,

nonuniform saturation increase, and uniform saturation increase.
First, a saturation front develops and moves in the direction of flow,
reaching the outlet end in about 0.15 PV. The cross-sectional aver-
age saturation increases by about 10% as this front moves. After
the front passes through and before 0.6 PV, saturation increases
nonuniformly along the core length. The change is more downstream
': j Sw. D/O
I
Fig. 2-Centrlfuge capillary preaaure curve for Core 3.
than upstream. After 0.6 PV, the saturation increases more or less
uniformly throughout the core length. Saturation profiles for differ-
ent injection throughputs are almost parallel beyond 0.6 PV through- type of fluid movement during waterflood instead of cross-sectional
put. JBNl analysis is based on ID front movement, which is average saturations. Brine movement is initially restricted to a few
somewhat different from these observations. fingers along the high-permeability channels. Movement of satu-
Because saturation distribution can be nonuniform throughout any ration fronts results from brine flow in fingers. Brine saturation
cross section, 3D saturation distributions are used to illustrate the is high ("" 60%) in these fmgers, but the fingers occupy only a small

SPE Formation Evaluation, September 1991 353

 ..
0.8

0.6
... I
&Sw, %·1 ,- 200HR
o 60 HR.
I 10,
CICI
-0-
to , lolal
fo ; tr8C*i oil

r
[\.
• ClCi : brine
0.0
·2

0.2
·3

.O+---~-----r----+---~----~
0.5 1 1.5
o 20 40 60 80 100
THROUGHPUT, PV
DISTANCE fROM INLET, mm

Fig. 3-Saturatlon change owing to capillarity after flow Fig. 4-Fractlonal flow and tracer composition of effluent for
shutoff. 011 pulse Injection at Sor'

part of the cross section. Hence, the cross-sectional average satu- 0.13 PV for the high rate to 0.15 PV for the intermediate rate to
rations associated with the front are small. In the regime of non- 0.2 PV for the low rate. As the viscosity ratio decreases, the break-
uniform saturation increase, the fingers grow transversely and fill through PV increases, indicating increasing stability. The break-
the cross section. Finally, in the regime of uniform saturation in- through PV also increases slightly with decreasing flow rate. Even
crease, the brine saturation increases throughout the core. Fig. 9 though the waterfloods are fingered in Core 1, the core is swept
shows the CT-determined swept area and the swept-area average fully in about 1 PV throughput; i.e., the brine saturation through-
saturation at the outlet end (Slice 8) during the low-rate waterflood. out the core is > Swj. Fig. 11 shows the saturation distribution dur-
Note that the first finger reaches this section at about 0.15 PV. It ing the low-rate waterflood at "" 1.45 PV injection. The saturation
takes up to 0.6 PV for fingers to grow and fill the cross section distribution along any cross section is nonuniform. The highly
at the low rate. The brine saturation in the swept region is about permeable layers are at a higher brine saturation than the low-
60 % in the second regime, while the swept region grows. Finally, permeability layers. Brine saturation throughout the core is > Swj'
in the last regime, the saturation increases with throughput. In the Core 1 was waterflooded at the low rate for 2 PV throughput
high-rate flood, the last regime starts at about 1 PV throughput. followed by a high-rate waterflood for an additional 20 PV. Fig.
In Core 1, one waterflood (p.w"" 1 cp) was conducted in which 12 indicates the cross-sectional average saturation distributions at
the oil was a 75 % diesel and 25 % iododecane mixture with a vis- the start and end of the low-rate waterflood and at the end of the
cosity of 1.6 cpo Fig. 10 shows the flood front in this flood at 0.25
PV injection. Again, the surface shown is a constant CT-number
contour after subtracting the image at SWj, and it corresponds to
Sw",,50%. This flood front is piston-like except for one edge,
which may have resulted from imprecise positioning of the images
during the subtraction process. Oilfloods were also piston-like. Both
of these floods have favorable mobility ratios, and it is not surprising
that the flood fronts are piston-like. JBN analysis and the ID
Buckley-Leverett theory are appropriate for these stable floods.
The breakthrough injection for the diesel waterflood was 0.44 PV.
For the viscous-oil waterflood, breakthrough injection varied from

(c) (d)

Fig. 5-Saturatlon distribution during low-rate waterflood at

0.15 PV InJection: (a) Slice 3, (b) Slice 6, (c) Slice 7, and (d) Fig. 6-30 Image of flood front during low-rate waterflood at
axial locations of slices. 0.15 PV InJection. Contour corresponds to S ... ",50%.

354 SPE Fonnation Evaluation, September 1991

 10

'0 +Swll
. . .05PV
70
.0
. Hlgh rate
.... 1115 PV
... .15 PV

.
Sw. ... .1' PV
0 Low rate ...... PV
% ~
Interm . rate .... .'P'V
30 .....tl17 PY
- t .... PV

'O~-r--r-~~r-~~--~-+~
o to 20 30 "0 SO 80 70 10 10
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
DISTANCI! PROM INLET. """
DISTANCE fROM INLET. mm
Fig. 8-Evolution of cro88-8ectlonal average-8aturatlon pro-
Fig. 7-Axlal variation In saturation dl8trlbutlon at Sw/' file during low-rate waterllood.

subsequent high-rate bump. The brine saturation increased through- meability. Fig. 15 shows the oil relative permeabilities derived from
out the core because of the high-rate bump, and the increase was the JBN method. At low brine saturation, the effect of flow rate
higher at the inlet of the core than the outlet. The change in 3D on oil relative permeability is small, tending to increase from the
brine-saturation distribution is shown elsewhere,30 and it was not low to intermediate rate but decreasing from the intermediate to
restricted to any layer. If the core had been strongly oil-wet, then high rate. The early part of the flood is dominated by fingering
the bump would have increased brine saturation primarily at the and heterogeneity, which increase brine flow at the expense of oil
outlet end of the core. Because the saturation increased throughout flow . At higher flow rates , the bypassing is slightly higher, and
the core, we conclude that the increase did not result from the capil- hence, the oil relative permeability is somewhat lower. A possible
lary end effect but may have resulted from a higher capillary num- explanation for the low oil relative permeability at the lowest rate
ber, higher throughput, or both. It is consistent with the observation may be capillary pressure. The capillary pressure is small but can
that this formation is weakly mixed-wet. Hence, the capillary end be on the order of 0.5 psi. In the low-rate flood , pressure drop ranges
effect does not affect the unsteady relative permeability of Core from 1.3 to 4 psi. Thus, the capillary pressure can affect the flow
I significantly. at this rate . At high brine saturation, a high capillary number in-
A large-throughput waterflood was conducted on Core 2 to deline-
creases oil permeability significantly. The oil relative permeability
ate the effect of injection throughput on oil recovery. Fig. 13 shows
of typical oil-wet cores is linear in semilog plots, whereas that of
the oil saturation in the core as a function of throughput. Most of
the oil production (90%) occurs within the first 4 PV. Almost 50 typical water-wet cores is curved. 9 It is interesting to note that in
PV injection is required before oil stops flowing. This core was this mixed-wet core, as flow rate increases , the oil permeability
waterflooded for 80 PV at 6 mL/hr, and no oil was produced in looks more like that of a typical oil-wet core.
the last 30 PV . The core was then subjected to waterflooding at
30 mLlhr. This rate (or capillary number) increase reduced the Sor
inside the core by 1%, indicating that Sor decreases with increas-
ing N c ' The oil production of this mixed-wet core can be contrasted
with that of a typical east Texas mixed-wet core. 33 The latter
shows a linear decline between saturation and throughput in a log-
log plot while Core 3 shows a nonlinear decline (Fig. 13). In fact,
it reaches an apparent endpoint at each flow rate. Perhaps the oil-
wet paths in this core are not as well-connected as those in the east
Texas mixed-wet cores. 33
Unsteady Relative Permeability. Fig. 14 shows the brine rela-
tive permeabilities derived by the JBN method for different flow
rates. As flow rate increases, the brine relative permeability in-
creases at all saturations. At low brine saturation, the flow is domi-
nated by fingering and heterogeneity. At higher rates, fingering is
slightly more severe, and the brine relative permeability is only
marginally higher. At high brine saturations, however, the capil-
lary number and throughput increase apparent brine relative per-

100

90

80

..
70

60
Sw2.
, - Swept Area Sw ,
SWEEP. 50
o S'tIIIIlIeP1 Area%
%

] o 0.1
I 0 I
0.2 0 .3 0 .4
TlIROUGHPUT. PV
0 .5 0 .6 0 .7 0 .8 0.9 1

Fig. 10-30 Image of flood front during waterllood of diesel

Fig. 9-Sweep and average saturatlon81n 8wept area at outlet at 0.25 PV Injection at Intermediate rate. Contour corresponds
end (Slice 8) during low-rate waterllood. to Sw .. 50%.

SPE Formation Evaluation, September 1991 355

 90

80
I-
70
, ~ . Sor-finat

Sw,
%
60
50
.
0

0
Sor-3.5PV
Sor·2PV
Swi

40
,
30~~~~--+--+--1---r--+--+-~

20~-+--1---~-+--+-~--~--+-~
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
DISTANCE FROM INLET, mm

Fig. 12-Change in cross-sectional average saturation dur-

Ing low-rate waterflood and high-rate bump.

(el (d)
Fig. 11-Saturatlon distribution during ·the low-rate waterflood
at 1.5 PV InJection: (a) Slice 3, (b) Slice 6, (c) Slice 8, and (d)
axial locations of slices.
The JBNI analysis assumes 1D flow and compules an outlet face
saturation, Sw2' Before breakthrough, Sw2 =Swi' After break-
through,
from Eq. 8. The average water saturation at any time in the core
is given by
Sw=Swi+Npa . ................................... (11)
Fig. 16 shows the JBN face saturation at different PV's of
throughput. It also shows the CT-determined cross-sectional aver-
age saturation at Slice 8, which is 0.08 in. [2 mm] away from the
outlet face. The comparison indicates that the assumed JBN satu-
rations are incorrect at early times; but after about 1 PV through-
put, the two saturations do not differ significantly. The JBN analysis
assumes initial water saturation to be uniform across the core length
and subsequent saturations to be uniform across any cross section.
CT imaging, however, shows that at Swi, the saturation distribu-
tion is nonuniform across the core (Fig. 8), and at low through-
puts, the end-face saturation is distributed nonuniformly. Fig. 16
also shows that the average brine saturati<m within the swept area
is even higher than the other two plotted saturations until the slice
is totally swept. It takes about 0.6 PV for fingers to grow and fill
the cross section at the low rate, as shown in Fig. 9. The core is
fully swept by 1 PV at the higher rates.
Discussion
What is relative permeability? Relative permeability to water, krw,
at Sw represents the normalized hydraulic conductivity of water in
a medium when it is at that saturation. If the medium is homogene-
ous and is in capillary equilibrium, then the saturation is uniform-
ly distributed. Under these conditions, krw can be measured and
is uniquely defined. Steady-state methods attempt to measure the
relative permeability under capillary equilibrium. When the medi-
um is heterogeneous and under capillary equilibrium, the satura-
tion distribution may be nonuniform. The steady-state relative
permeability, k rwl , in such cases represents the conductivity of the
medium at the average Sw. where the saturation distribution is dic-
tated by Pc = constant. krwl is different from the effective relative
permeability, k rw2 , this medium would have if a uniform Sw were
forced on it. If the nonuniform regions differ in porosity, permea-
bility, and capillary pressure but not in relative permeability, then
krw2 =krw · In weakly mixed-wet media with viscous oil, water-
floods in reservoirs or in the laboratory do not necessarily approach
capillary equilibrium. The saturation distribution during such un-
steady displacements is dictated by the dimensionless flow param-
eters discussed earlier. This distribution can be nonuniform and
different from those obtained under capillary equilibrium. Unsteady
relative permeability, k rw3 , represents the average water conduc-
tivity under such nonuniform, non-capillary-equilibrated saturation
distribution. In general, krw *k rwl *k rw2 *k rw3 .
What property does the unsteady relative permeability calculat-
ed by the JBN method (or its variants) represent? We show here
that in weakly wet, heterogeneous rock with slightly viscous oil,
immediately after breakthrough and until about I PV throughput,
the saturation distribution at the outlet face and inside the core is
highly nonuniform. The end-face saturation calculated by the JBN
method does not approximate the average saturation of the face
determined by CT methods. The water saturations corresponding
to I PV throughput are pointed out in Figs. 14 and 15. Beyond
I PV, the end-face saturation is matched by the JBN-calculated satu-
ration. The relative permeability calculated by the JBN method rep-

• 30 mllhr
So, /~
krwo,'~~~
o 6 ml/hr
'II.
~ 1 p v · 0.6 mllhr

.. ..
"" ".6
o •
'

0.01 +---+--+--+----l---+--+--+--+----l..--.,
0.1 10 100 o 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9
THROUGHPUT, PY Sw

Fig. 13-011 saturation In Core 2 during Intermediate-rate Fig. 14-Effect of flow rate on brine relative permeability in
waterflood up to 70 PV. Core 1.

356 SPE Formation Evaluation, September 1991

 7•

••
0.1
1PV~
~,
•• ..
• 30 mVhr 8w2, ••
c '!I.
kro , 'i'. ..
c 6 mVhr
••
0.01 1: • 0.6 mVhr
••
••
....
3'+-~-+--+---.,_~+-~-+~~
o 0.2 0.4 0.' 0.8 1 1.2 1.. 1.' 1.1 2
0.001 +--+-->---+--+-+--+----.,f-O.-+--+----; ·THROUCItIPUT. py
o 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.8 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
SW Fig. 16-Comparlson of outlet saturation assumed In JBN
analysis with average saturation and average swept-area satu-
Fig. 15-Effect of flow rate on 011 relative penneability In Core 1. ration, Slice 8.

resents the average hydraulic conductivity of the core outlet face 4. Flow parameters-Nc,end' N c ' Nb and NH-affect unsteady
with the dynamic nonunifonn distribution. The JBN-derived rela- relative penneability in weakly mixed-wet rocks with viscous oil.
tive penneability beyond 1 PV is the unsteady relative penneability Laboratory results must be scaled to the field values of these pa-
for the imposed flow conditions. Between breakthrough and 1 PV, rameters. In particular, relative penneabilities were flow-rate-
it is not clear what the JBN-derived relative penneability represents. dependent. Unsteady-displacement tests should be conducted at or
Steady-state relative penneabilities were not obtained in this study. extrapolated to the field rate. Rapoport and Leas'15 criterion of
It may be possible to find a set of "true" relative penneabilities, high flow rate is not appropriate for this rock.
krw and k ro ' of a core that can be used with the core-penneability 5. Finally, CT scans can be used to uncover the mechanisms of
heterogeneity in a simulation to match the effluent characteristics fluid flow during unsteady relative penneability measurements in
of all these floods, but that relative penneability should not be used porous media, which is often more complex than assumed in the
in a reservoir simulator. The numerical gridblocks are much larger JBN method.
than the heterogeneous regions whose relative penneabilities they
represent, and waterflooding at reservoir rates is not necessarily Nomenclature
capillary-equilibrated; i.e., flow is affected by N c ' Nb and N H.
It may even be inappropriate to use the steady-state relative per- C* = instability constant
meability in reservoir models because waterflooding in such weakly d = diameter, in.
wet media with viscous oil is not always capillary-equilibrated. g = acceleration of gravity
This study shows that the unsteady relative penneability in this I = injectivity
medium depends on the flow rate and the capillary end effect is k = absolute penneability, md
small. We recommend that relative penneabilities for other simi- ko = effective oil penneability, md
lar field cores be obtained at the field rate. If that is not feasible, k oi = effective penneability to oil at Swi' md
then relative penneability should be obtained at two rates and ex- kro = ko/koi
trapolated to the field rate. This is different from the classic Rapoport krw = kw/koi
and Leas 15 criterion, which recommends high-rate waterflood. k rwro = kwrolkoi
In this experimental study, the effects of all the key flow param- kw = effective water permeability, md
eters were not studied in much detail. They were varied only through
k wro = kw at Sor
flow rate. The length, width, and heterogeneity of the system; oil
L = length, in.
viscosity; and interfacial tension were not varied. Additional studies
M = mobility ratio
are needed to understand the role of all key flow parameters. The
unsteady relative penneability estimated from laboratory measure- Nc = capillary number, /Lv/u
ments is applicable to a core-size rock in the reservoir. The nu- Nc,end = capillary end-effect number
merical gridblocks are much larger. Subgrid heterogeneities should N em = macroscopic capillary number 13
be estimated and their effects on fluid flow must be incorporated N H = heterogeneity number
before the laboratory relative penneability can be applied to the N1 = instability number
field. Gravity did not playa major role in this system but can be Npa = oil recovery, PV
important in other cases. Although viscous oil/water relative per- /lp = pressure drop, psi
meabilities are studied here, similar issues are important to gas/liquid Po = pressure in oil phase, psi
primary-drainage relative penneabilities and should be considered. Pw = pressure in water phase, psi
Pc = capillary pressure, psi
Conclusions Pci = capillary pressure at Swi approximated as
1. The unsteady relative penneability calculated by the JBN u..J q,lkoi , psi
method in the later part of a flood (> 1 PV) represents the flow q = volumetric flow rate, mLlhr
property of the average face saturation. It depends on the capillary qv = dimensionless flow rate, LV/Lw/u..J (q,k)
number of the flood and throughput. As N c increases, both krw and Sor = residual oil saturation, %
kro increase. Throughput decreases Sor only up to 50 PV.
Sw = water saturation, %
2. The early part ( < 1 PV) of any unsteady relative penneability
Sw2 = outlet-face water saturation, %
curve is affected by fingering and heterogeneity. As the flow rate
decreases, fmgering becomes less severe, apparent krw decreases, v = superficial velocity
and kro increases. It is not clear what these apparent relative per- w = characteristic width of heterogeneity
meabilities represent. The calculated face saturation underpredicts W = cumulative water injected in PV
the actual average saturation and the saturation in the swept areas. 0: = angle from the vertical
3. The capillary end effect is small in the rock studied here. It (J = contact angle
may be significant only at very low rates. /L = viscosity, cp

SPE Fonnation Evaluation, September 1991 357

 12. Hove, A.a., Ringen, J.K., and Read, P.A.: "Visualization of Labo-
Authors ratory Corefloods With the Aid of Computerized Tomography of X-
I
Rays," SPERE (May 1987) 148-54; Trans., AIME, 283.
Kishore K. Mo· 13. Islam, M.R. and Bentsen, R.G.: "Effect of Different Parameters on
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principal research 69-90.
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39-47.
serves on SPE's Fluid Mechanics and 011 Recovery techni-
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Arco's Production Research Center. His research Interests
presented at the 1987 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibi-
Include EOR and CT Imaging.
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q, = porosity, % 21. Peters, EJ. and Flock, D.L.: "The Onset ofInstability During Two-
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cr = critical 22. Chuoke, R.L., van Meurs, P., and van der Poel, C.: "The Instability
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Acknowledgment. 25. Peters, E.J. and Khatanier, S.: "The Effect of Instability on Relative
Permeability Curves Obtained by the Dynamic-Displacement Method, "
We acknowledge the assistance of S. Graham, E. Withjack, and SPEFE (Dec. 1987) 469-74; Trans., AIME, 283.
E. Chang for operation of the CT scanner and image processing. 26. Huppler, J.D.: "Numerical Investigation of the Effects of Core Heter-
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2. Osaba, J .S. et al.: "Laboratory Measurements of Relative Permeabil- 29. Withjack, E.M.: "Computed Tomography for Rock-Property Deter-
ity," Trans., AIME (1951) 192, 47-56. mination and Fluid-Flow Visualization," SPEFE (Dec. 1988) 696-704.
3. Hagoort, J.: "Oil Recovery by Gravity Drainage," SPEJ (June 1980) 30. Mohanty, K.K. and Miller, A.E.: "Factors Influencing Unsteady Rela-
139-50. tive Permeability of a Mixed-Wet Reservoir Rock," paper SPE 18292
4. Firoozabadi, A. and Aziz, K.: "Relative Permeability From Centrifuge presented at the 1988 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibi-
Data," paper SPE 15059 presented at the 1986 SPE California Regional tion, Houston, Oct. 2-5.
Meeting, Oakland, April 2-4. 31. Salter, S.J. and Mohanty, K.K.: "Multiphase Flow in Porous Media:
5. Vinegar, H.J., O'Meara, D.J., and Rohan, J.A.: "Method and Ap- I. Macroscopic Observations and Modeling," paper SPE 11017 present-
paratus for Determining Distributions of Fluids," U.S. Patent No. ed at the 1982 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, New
4,671,102 (1985). Orleans, Sept. 26-29.
6. Jones, S.C. and Roszelle, W.O.: "Graphical Technique for Determining 32. Jones, S.C.: "Some Surprises in the Transport of Miscible Fluids in
Relative Permeability From Displacement Experiments," JPT (May the Presence of a Second Immiscible Phase," SPEJ (Feb. 1985) 101-12.
1978) 807-17; Trans., AIME, 265. 33. Salathiel, R.A.: "Oil Recovery by Surface Film Drainage in Mixed-
7. Odeh, A.S. and Dotson, B.J.: "A Method for Reducing the Rate Ef- Wettability Rocks," JPT(Oct. 1973) 1216-24; Trans., AIME, 255.
fect on Oil and Water Relative Permeabilities Calculated From Dynamic
Displacement Data," JPT (Nov. 1985) 2051-58. 51 Metric Conversion Factor.
8. Miller, M.A.: "Effect of Temperature on Oil-Water Relative Permea- cp x 1.0* E-03 Pa's
bilities of Unconsolidated and Consolidated Sands," PhD dissertation, darcies x 9.869233 E-Ol p.m 2
Stanford U., Stanford, CA (1983).
dynes/cm x 1.0 E-03 N/m
9. Anderson, W.G.: "Wettability Literature Survey-Part 1: Rock/Oilf
Brine Interactions and the Effects of Core Handling on Wettability,"
ft x 3.048* E-Ol m
OF CF-32)/1.8 °C
JPT (1986) 1125-44.
10. Heaviside, J., Black, C.J.J., and Berry, J.F.: "Fundamentals of Rela- in. x 2.54* E+OO cm
tive Permeability: Experimental and Theoretical Considerations," paper psi x 6.894757 E+OO kPa
SPE 12173 presented at the 1983 SPE Annual Technical Conference • Conversion factor is exact. SPEFE
and Exhibition, San Francisco, Oct. 5-8.
11. Kyte, J.R. and Rapoport, L.A.: "Linear Waterflood Behavior and End Original SPE manuscript received for review Oct. 2. 1988. Paper accepted for publication
Feb. 11. 1991. Revised manuscript received March 26. 1991. Paper (SPE 18292) first
Effects in Water-Wet Porous Media," Trans., AIME (1958) 213, presented at the 1988 Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition held In Houston, Oct.
423-26. 2-5.

358 SPE Formation Evaluation, September 1991