Seismic Vibration For Improved Oil Recovery

international journal of hydrogen energy xxx (xxxx) xxx
Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
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Review Article
Seismic vibration for improved oil recovery: A

comprehensive review of literature
Qian Sun a,b, Albertus Retnanto b,*, Mahmood Amani b

a
College of Energy Resources, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610059, People's Republic of
China
b
Petroleum Engineering, Texas A&M University at Qatar, Education City, PO Box 23874, Doha, Qatar
highlights
Mechanisms of seismic stimulation based on the published literature are introduced.

Reviews of experiments and mathematical modeling on seismic stimulation are made.
Mathematical modeling of seismic vibration for real reservoir is insufficient.
Seismic wave at the formation's resonant frequency can efficient stimulate reservoir.
Seismic stimulation can work together with some chemical-based EOR methods.
article info abstract
Article history: To this day, the petroleum industry is still searching for alternative ways to improve the
Received 1 February 2020 recovery of hydrocarbon from the reservoir. The residual oil blotches may consist of about
Received in revised form 30%e40% or more of a volume fraction. Seismic stimulation has great potential for IOR
16 March 2020 (improved oil recovery), because of its advantages on low cost, high effectivity, and
Accepted 28 March 2020 environment-friendly as they introduce no formation damage, etc. The investigation and
Available online xxx application of seismic stimulation have been launched for over 70 years. In this study, a
literature review on the mechanism for IOR, including laboratory and theoretical modeling
Keywords: work, and oilfield application, is present here. Firstly, four different manners of vibration
Seismic vibration are introduced, and the seismic vibration with 1 Hze100 Hz (frequency) and 1 mme100 mm
Improved oil recovery (amplitude) is the commonly used; Secondly, the mechanisms of IOR by seismic stimula-
Elastic wave propagation tion are summarized as: effect on capillary pressure, pore deformation, relative perme-
Porous media ability, thermal and degassing effects, however, further tests and understanding of the
Mechanisms of IOR mechanisms are necessary. Thirdly, the reviews of experimental research and mathe-
matical modeling based on the published literature are made. Especially, the mathematical
modeling of seismic vibration for the real reservoir development (such as non-Darcy flow,
low permeability reservoirs, the coupling of non-Newtonian fluid, etc.) is still insufficient.
Finally, some successful oilfield applications (in Russia, North America, and China) and
prospects are proposed in this work. It will be more efficient to stimulate the reservoirs if
the seismic wave is at the formation's resonant frequency. In our work, we don't expect to
provide an exhaustive review of the work presented. On the contrary, we hope that our
work can provide an introduction for other researchers to get a brief understanding of the
* Corresponding author. Petroleum Engineering, Texas A&M University at Qatar, Education City, PO Box 23874, Doha, Qatar.
E-mail address: albertus.retnanto@qatar.tamu.edu (A. Retnanto).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2020.03.227
0360-3199/© 2020 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Please cite this article as: Sun Q et al., Seismic vibration for improved oil recovery: A comprehensive review of literature, International
Journal of Hydrogen Energy, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2020.03.227
2 international journal of hydrogen energy xxx (xxxx) xxx
seismic stimulation technology and possible results under which conditions the seismic
stimulation works well.
© 2020 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
Manners of vibration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
Mechanism of oil recovery by seismic stimulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
Effect on the capillary pressure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
Oil ganglia movement by pore deformation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
Effect on the relative permeability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
Thermal effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
Increasing degassing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
Experiments on the low-frequency excitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
Changes on core permeability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
Displacement efficiency of oil by water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
Enhancement for oil production rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
Increased degassing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
Theoretical and mathematical modeling of seismic vibration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
Simple seepage models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
Capillary models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
Macroscopic medium model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
Compound wave theoretical model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
Field application of seismic vibration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
Application in Russia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
Application in North America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
Application in China . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
Test results in Liaohe Oilfield . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
Test results in Shengli Oilfield . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
Discussion and conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
Long-distance between the vibration source and the oil layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
Effective vibration energy delivery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
Future work on the vibration coupled seepage mechanics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
methods, the challenges are high energy cost, low thermal

Introduction conductivity of rock and fluids, heat leakage to the undesired
layers, low effective thermal degradation and heat loss from
Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) is defined as the process of heat generator to the reservoirs, etc. [5] The improved oil re-
additional oil recovery by introducing resources not covery is defined as enhanced oil recovery and several other
commonly present in reservoirs [1]. Applying the EOR tech- technologies with the ultimate objective of improving ulti-
nique requires knowledge of all the physics, chemistry, engi- mate recovery. Although many research projects and field
neering, and geology involved throughout the process. applications are performed to enhance oil recovery around the
Operators usually apply gas injection, chemical injection, and globe, it is often uneconomical for smaller fields and is un-
thermal techniques; all of which are examples of EOR. For the successful in highly heterogeneous reservoirs due to the
gas methods, the challenges are gravity override, fingering presence of high permeability streams and flow barriers.
and early gas breakthrough, CO2 corrosion, etc. [2,3] For the For more than 70 years, several instances have shown an
chemical methods, the challenges are high cost of the chem- increase in oil production in oilfields undergoing earthquakes
ical reagent, low effectiveness on IFT and viscosity changes, and similar seismic activity. This phenomenon has postulated
formation damage, unfavorable mobility ration and slow scientific attention towards seismic stimulation of reservoirs
diffusion rate in pore structure, etc. [4] For the thermal as a potential method for improved oil recovery [6]. Seismic
international journal of hydrogen energy xxx (xxxx) xxx 3
stimulation for improved oil recovery targets the enhance- cylindrical sand packs (5-cm diameter by 50-cm length)
ment of oil production by directing a seismic wave to release saturated with a small amount of a dense nonaqueous phase
immobile spots of oil throughout the reservoir [7,8]. Some liquid and water. Li et al. [24] did a waterflood experiment
analytical and numerical descriptions have been developed, across a glass plate. Floods were transported out with and
but there is still a limitation in experimental results. The without vibrations in the direction of the waterflood. The
phenomenon of coupling seismic vibration to multiphase main point of the Li et al. [24] laboratory work was to find
fluid flow performance in porous conditions is still inade- whether vibrational stimulation could enhance the produc-
quately known. tion rate of the non-aqueous phase throughout the water-
Unlike other fluid-based EOR technologies [9], the presence flood. Today, there are still questions on whether seismic
of fault blockages, stratification, and phase variation does not stimulation can recuperate some fraction of the residual non-
reduce the coverage of seismic stimulation. The method is aqueous phase after a waterflood. More discussions about the
distinctive compared with other EOR methods since the experiments and mathematical modeling will be introduced
generated elastic wave has no limitation, either in the hori- in the following sections.
zontal or vertical plane. Besides, other researchers use the In this paper, a literature review on the application of
multi-channel hydration acoustic wave monitoring system to seismic vibration for IOR (improved oil recovery) is discussed
study the mode of dydrate sand production [10]. A reservoir here. The paper is organized as follows. In Section manners of
containing several pay zones or many faults can be stimulated vibration, we introduce four manners of vibration that applied
using seismic stimulation. So far, seismic stimulation has only in the real fields and give some brief descriptions on the dif-
been operated in combination with waterfloods. However, ference of the vibration. In Section simulation conditions, the
once we thoroughly understand the physical mechanism of mechanism of the IOR by seismic stimulation is described that
this method, it appears to be possible that it would work to proposed by in literature. In Section first insights from MIPNM
improve the production of oil at any phase of recovery. The simulations and Section full anode-cathode assembly 1D
expanding experimental indication, the important physical model, the works of literature on IOR by seismic vibration are
mechanisms, and the science overseeing the phenomenon of reviewed by focusing on experimental results and the theo-
production improvement remain inadequately understood. retical and mathematical modeling. In Section coupled model
Ongoing research should aim towards making this important results, a literature review on the successful oilfield applica-
improved oil technology reach a point where its effectivity is tions is made, which are mainly from Russia, North America,
predictable and applicable. Some researchers proposed that and China. In the last section, we mainly summarize some
stress-wave stimulation improved oil technologies should advantages of seismic stimulation and give the prospects that
become a reliable and cost-effective oil recovery tool offered need more concerns in the future.
to the oil and gas industry [11]. This seismic technology can be
an applicable alternative to mechanical or chemical treatment
for improving oil recovery. Manners of vibration
The increase in oil production due to seismic activity has
been reported for more than 70 years. Beginning in the 1970s, The seismic stimulation method is treated as an alternative
Russian researchers showed that low-frequency acoustic technique for IOR (improved oil recovery) because of the
waves result in a positive effect on the mobility of oil. This method's relative simplicity of operation and low-cost. It is
subject has gained more attention in the United States over mainly based on various methods to transmit the wave energy
the last decade. Several analytical and numerical descriptions from surface/subsurface energy source to the underground
of a single oil droplet trapped in a pore space being trans- fluid/rock in the reservoirs. There are four manners of vibra-
ported by shaking the pore walls have been investigated over tion applied: (1) Injection of pulsed fluid from the borehole to
the last decade. Beresnev and Johnson [12], Kostrov and generate the seismic waves to the oil reservoir. The fluid (e.g.
Wooden [6], Huh [13] presented an overview of field proof for a water) is compressed and then released suddenly in a water-
likely physical mechanism following seismic stimulation. On hammer fashion [25]; (2) Usage of a surface-based vibrator,
the theoretical and modeling part Gunstensen [14], Niko- which produces the seismic energy to where the oil exit.
laevskiy [15], Hilpert et al. [16], Robert et al. [17], Iassonov and Seismic waves are usually generated by thumping a large
Beresnev [18], Beresnev et al. [19,20], and Hilpert [21] provided weigh (e.g. a hammer) on the ground surface periodically [26];
mathematical models for the way a single bubble patch in (3) Employing a sonic or ultrasonic generator to transmit the
porous media might flow if the capillary sides were disturbed vibro-energy into the oil reservoir [27,28]; (4) Reaction explo-
by sound waves. Seismic stimulation has been approved by sion using chemical or nuclear methods at either downhole or
the Texas Railroad Commission as a certified Enhanced Oil on the ground.
Recovery method, allowing Texas operators a 50% compen- For the injection of pulsed fluid, it usually needs a cycle
sation tax reduction in 10 years [22]. Uetani et al. [23] studied period (in days or months) to make sure the vibration energy
the relationship between earthquakes and improved oil re- can be delivered from the energy source to the oil exist zone.
covery for an oilfield in Japan and demonstrated the changes This manner of vibration is mainly related to the process of
in productivity of oil for each earthquake. However, simula- “pulsed” or “cyclic” waterflooding, in which the water injec-
tions or analysis for more representative oil distributions and tion is carried out with periodic changes of rate. The cycle
pore conditions have not been conducted. The laboratory period is usually lasted in days or months, so the improved oil
experiment of seismic stimulation for improved oil recovery is recovery may be due to both the changed of periodic water
rather limited. Roberts et al. [17] presented laboratory work on injection rate and the seismic vibration. Therefore, its effect
on oil recovery will be different from the common seismic Effect on the capillary pressure
vibration-based improving oil recovery [29,30]. However, the
amplitude of waves (or the seismic energy) produced by the Capillary force is treated as an important factor for the fluid
chemical/nuclear explosions is very large, and it may cause flow through porous media. The wetting phase is inclined to
irreversible geological structural changes for the reservoirs. flow to the pore wall, which will reduce the pore cross-section
For the untrasonic wave, it can be used in many ways. Rash- consequently. As a result, the adsorption of the wetting phase
wan et al. claimed that the high-frequency untrasonic waves on the porous media surface will decrease the ability of fluid
can be introduced to liquid water to produce efficient and flow through it. According to the definition of capillary pres-
clean hydrogen [31]. Many researchers have investigated the sure (Pc ):
effect of ultrasonic wave for improving the transportation of a
2scosq
trapped oil ganglion in the porous media. Nevertheless, it Pc ¼ (1)
rc
usually needs high-intensity irradiation to get function, and
its effective range is no more than a meter from the acoustic where s is the surface tension; q is the contact angle; rc is the
source (near-wellbore area) because of the quick attenuation capillary radius. The value of rc will decrease as more wetting
[32]. For the oilfield scale application, the common consider- phase is adsorbed on the rock surface, which resulting in
ation for the frequency and amplitude of vibration wave is in larger capillary pressure. Applied seismic waves could pro-
the range of 1 Hze100 Hz and 1 mme100 mm, respectively [13]. duce a mechanical vibro-energy onto the pore surface and
In some oilfield application, it is common to use the surface- reduce the adsorption of liquid films to the pore wall, conse-
based vibro-energy sources [26]. An issue that should be quently, the capillary radius (rc ) will get increased (decreasing
addressed is how to deliver the energy to the large volume of the capillary pressure). Besides, there are other important
reservoirs in which oil exists. Especially for the surface-based parameters that can affect the Pc , i.e., surface tension (s).
vibration sources, the oil zone is far from the source (usually Based on the experimental results, other researchers claimed
over 1000 m), the effective vibration energy for IOR is very that the vibro-energy can reduce the oil/water surface tension
small. Heavy loss of seismic energy will present when the due to the agitation and fluid temperature increase, which
waves pass through the overlying loose surface rock layer. cause the reduction of Pc [35]. Kouznetsov et al. [36] have
Therefore, the vibration acting on the oil layer is very weak, suggested that the interfacial tension of oil/water could be
which can not accelerate the migration, extrusion, and reduced by two orders of magnitude when vibration was
expansion of the remaining oil, and resulting in an unobvious employed. By assuming the vibration acceleration as constant
effect for IOR. The effect can be improved from the following (¼ the max amplitude), Kouznetsov et al. [7] gave the equation
aspects: (1) One can employ the most powerful vibro-energy for acoustic capillary pressure:
sources available and place it to the oil exist zones as close
Zz
as possible; (2) Utilization of multi-point vibration in the same 1D
Pac ¼ w2 Arw dz (2)
pay zone simultaneous [33]. The multi-point vibration can 1 þ 2D
0
generate fluctuations to the remaining oil droplets from
multiple directions. Besides, the multi-point vibration can where w is the wave frequency, A is the maximum offset
also generate resonance in the oil layer by proper optimiza- amplitude, rw is the density of wetting phase, D ¼ rnw=r is the
w
tion, thus greatly enhancing the vibration energy to the oil ratio of nonwetting phase to that of wetting phase, z is the
layer. linear coordinate. The relationship between wetting phase
pressure and nonwetting phase pressure can be written as:
Zz rffiffiffiffi
Mechanism of oil recovery by seismic 1D ∅
Pnw:0 Pw:0 þ w2 Arw dz ¼ sJðSw Þcosq (3)
stimulation 1 þ 2D k
0
When the elastic vibrations are acting on the porous media where Pnw:0 is the capillary pressure for nonwetting phase
that saturated with fluid (e.g. oil), it usually can create two without vibration; Pw:0 is the capillary pressure for wetting
different types of waves dispersing into the porous media phase without vibration; q is the contact angle; JðSw Þ is the
[34]: two P-waves, compressional wave and pressure wave; a Leverett's J function; ∅ is the porosity.
lateral shear wave. According to the frequency of the waves,
two kinds of waves are usually distinguished: high power Oil ganglia movement by pore deformation
frequency (e.g. 20 kHz) and low power frequency waves (e.g.
40 Hz). The high-frequency waves are mainly applied for The fluid flow in porous media can be generated by poroelastic
near-wellbore stimulation due to high sound adsorption (or motion, which gives rise to changes in the pore volume. When
attenuation) in porous media. For the low-frequency the vibro-energy is applied to the rock, the periodic and
acoustic waves, it can cover a large region and is used for transverse vibration can produce a periodic deformation of
reservoir scale stimulation. Until now, there are some pore wall accordingly. The seismic waves can produce trans-
mechanisms proposed in the literature to explain the IOR lational oscillations of rock pores when the wave propagates
introduced by seismic stimulation technologies (including in the porous media, which will make the fluid slosh simul-
the high-frequency waves and low-frequency waves). The taneously. Especially for the P-wave, it can cause oscillatory
possible mechanisms for seismic stimulation are discussed squeezing of the pore throat, therefore, the wave can help oil
in detail. ganglions to pass through the pore throat. Ganiev et al. [37]
showed that the small deformation of the pore/tube wall accelerations of fluid phase are inversely proportional to their
induced by the seismic waves could give an extra force to the densities, which means that the acceleration of oil phase is
fluid in a pipe with circular cross-section, which was assumed larger than that of water phase. Therefore, the static contact
enough for mobilizing the oil ganglia at the pore throat. The time for oil contacting with solid-phase will decrease with
fluctuation of pore pressure is associated with the volumetric decreasing oil density. In other words, the adhesion ability of
displacement of the oil ganglia in the circular tubes [16]. oil phase onto the pore surface will decrease and gives better
Generally, the seismic waves are generated on the formation mobility of oil phase. The vibro-energy can also increase the
surface or near the wellbore, and seismic energy can be mobility of water phase, however, to a lesser degree compared
transmitted to the oil-rich zone by the poroelastic motion of with the oil phase. The attractive forces applying on the two
the porous media. However, Huh et al. [13] proposed that the oscillating oil droplets (Bjerknes forces) are enhanced by
pore deformation created by vibration can not generate suf- subjecting to the vibro-energy, which leads to the coalescence
ficient pressure gradient to mobile the oil droplet after of the oil ganglia [36]. The coalescing droplets create a
waterflooding. Through theoretical and numerical research, continuous stream of oil flow to strengthen the oil mobility
Pan et al. [38] also reported that the pore deformation mech- and oil phase relative permeability, as shown in Fig. 1.
anism could only benefit a little to the oil recovery. Only at Vibratory shearing between the formation fluid and porous
certain wave frequencies (e.g. resonant frequency), the fluid media can alter the wettability of the rock surface, and the
velocity was promoted. The resonant frequencies of a porous thin oil films are stripped from the rock surface, gathering
media were functions of porosity or fracture density, which together and migration inside the porous media. Besides, the
were proved by both the theoretical and numerical analyses. oil phase relative permeability also gets increased because of
the decreasing of interfacial tension and contact angle be-
Effect on the relative permeability tween oil phase and water phase by seismic vibration. Espe-
cially for the intense ultrasound, the interfacial tension can be
During the oil recovery process, the water phase and oil phase reduced in the manner of media heating through ultrasound
are mixed together, especially for the late stage of oilfield adsorption. Some assumptions have also been proposed that
development, the oil phase is dispersed into the water phase, vibro-energy (e.g. intense ultrasound) could break the trapped
which makes the oil phase in a discontinuous flow state. At oil ganglia into smaller droplets (diameter of droplet less than
low oil saturation, the oil phase is broken down as small iso- the pore throat), which can flow with the water phase together
lated drops. The relative permeability curve is very important and increase the oil mobility.
to the oil production in the reservoir, and it also indicates the
oil saturation threshold Sor below which the oil is immobile. Thermal effects
Nikolaevskiy [39] concluded that the seismic waves can in-
crease the oil phase relative permeability, which enhancing The vibration energy transmitted in the porous media by
the mobility ability of the oil phase lower than Sor. The vibro- acoustic waves usually dissipated into the form of heat by the
energy applied to the oil phase or water phase can create attenuation effect. The fluid properties, especially for the
quasi- or periodic movements by changing their flow direction viscosity, can be affected by transferring the heat to the phase
periodically. Thus, the adherence of fluid to the solid phase interface due to the energy dissipation. The thermal effect is
can be reduced because of surface vibration and the periodic usually related to the high power frequency (e.g., ultrasonic
movements. The fluid film adsorbed on the pore surface is
destructed, which increases the fluid flow capacity through
the narrow pore throats. However, the size of oil molecules is
much larger than that of water molecules. Therefore, for some
of very tiny pores, the water molecules can flow through
them, while it is difficult for the oil molecules to pass through
because of large molecule size. When the pore size increases,
the oil molecules may pass through these open pores, which
will produce a larger effect on the oil phase relative perme-
ability to the water phase relative permeability. The destruc-
tion of fluid film, decreasing the sealing part of the pore throat,
can happen both for high power frequency and low power
frequency waves.
The effect of seismic energy on the relative permeability
can also be explained from the aspects of accelerations of oil
and water phases, as expressed [26]:
ro v2 xo v2 xw
¼ 2 (4)
rw vt2 vt
where ro and rw are oil density and water density, respectively; Fig. 1 e The coalescence of oil droplets introduced by
xo and xw are oil droplet and water droplet traveling distances, vibrations, and oil streams generate accordingly, which
respectively; t is the traveling time. It shows that the causes the increase of oil mobility [12].
waves). It can create intense heat by cavitation effect, which

creates and imposes gaseous cavities because of positive/
negative pressure pulses from the expansion and contraction
of the waves [40]. The viscosity reduction of crude oil-induced
by the ultrasonic wave may get up to over 20%. However, some
of the researchers proposed that the effect of ultrasonic waves
on oil viscosity can be divided into three stages [27]. Stages I,
the oil viscosity increase with time at first because of the
dissolution of the suspended particles which can increase the
internal friction inside the oil components; Stage II, oil vis-
cosity decreases due to the thermal effect and disintegration
of the large components of crude oil; Stage III, oil viscosity
increases due to the integration of the broken chains asphal-
tenes particles into long chain flocs. The oil viscosity can be
reduced by 20e25% under the presence of ultrasonic wave,
however, the viscosity may be returned to the pretreatment Fig. 2 e The effect of acoustic pressure on gas saturation in
level with continuing the sonicating [41]. For the low- the formation fluid when the formation pressure is beyond
frequency waves, it is proposed that the dispersion of waves the saturation pressure initially [7].
inside the formation may form high-frequency harmonics,
which will also introduce the thermal effect on the oil vis-
larger than that of contracting period. It indicates that more
cosity [42]. The similar viscosity reduction effect was moni-
gas will migrate from formation fluid to bubbles comparing to
tored by experiments, and the flow of polyacrylamide solution
the migration of gas from bubbles to the fluid. As a result, the
increased by a factor of one to two by low-frequency waves
degassing process will continue with the assistance of vibro-
(30 Hze60 Hz) [41]. The reason may be related to the oil vis-
energy, which leads to a systematic increase in the gas vol-
cosity reduction, however, this explanation couldn't be proved
ume. An increase of gas volume in the porous media can
quantitatively. And it opens a new discussion on if the vis-
squeeze out of the formation fluid from the reservoir. Besides,
cosity reduction is because of the application of low-
the gas bubble formed in the fluid by the degassing mecha-
frequency waves or a secondary effect related to the dissipa-
nism can plug some of the pore throats when flowing with the
tion of vibro-energy followed by heating the crude oil.
formation fluid. Therefore, the subsequent water may be
forced to the oil-rich zone, which will enhance the sweep
Increasing degassing
volume of waterflood [43]. The formed bubble may have the
function of foam flooding, besides, the expanding and
Another mechanism of oil recovery by vibration is that the
extracting of the bubble can also give extra force on the oil
vibro-energy can cause gas phase release from oil phase
ganglia attach on the pore wall. Kouznetsov et al. [7] proposed
(degassing effect). The degassing phenomenon for the reser-
that the effect of vibro-energy on degassing process will get
voir fluid is significant due to the increase of free gas volume.
weakened with time, as shown in Fig. 3. The rate of degassing
It usually associates with the instantaneous local ruptures of
increased to 3e4%/min at first, and it decreased to about 0.2%/
reservoir fluid induced by the vibro-energy. Bubble nucleation
min when the relative gas volume reached to 40%. The prob-
will be formed during the process of ruptures, and the gas
able reason may be that the whole system pressure gets
phase will diffuse from the fluid to the bubble accordingly. The
increased as more free gas exists in the closed system, which
effect of acoustic pressure on degassing process can be
will inhibit the gas diffusion from fluid to bubble when the
explained by Fig. 2. Initially, the gas saturation pressure is
lower than the reservoir pressure and no gas phase appears in
the whole system. Then, the gas phase diffusion from the fluid
to the bubbles happens in the first half period of the vibration
when the acoustic pressure and the reservoir pressure act in
the opposite direction and the total pressure falls below the
saturation pressure. During the second half period, the
acoustic pressure changes its direction and the total system
pressure is higher than the saturation pressure again. Theo-
retically, the bubble sizes will become large and small (con-
tracting and expanding) periodically because of the periodic
oscillation pressure within the formation fluid created by the
vibro-energy. During the contracting period, gas will shift
from the bubbles to the surrounding formation fluid. Never-
theless, gas will shift from the surrounding formation fluid to
the bubbles during the expanding period. However, the solu-
bility hysteresis indicates that the complete gas migration
from bubble to fluid is impossible. During the expanding Fig. 3 e Degassing of CO2-saturated water under the help of
period, the contact area between gas and bubble is much seismic waves [26].
pressure rises above the saturation pressure. However, in the Based on the experiments on 32 cores, Ma et al. [44] found
real reservoir, the gas usually flows with the formation fluid, that the core permeability could be increased by 28% on
and the degassing process can exist for a longer time average only when the frequency was the core's natural fre-
depending on the intensity of the vibration field. The quency. For other frequencies, there was a slight decrease in
degassing mechanism can explain some oil production the core permeability. Pu et al. [45] have studied the effect of
changes in the real reservoir under the effect of vibration low-frequency waves on core permeability through laboratory
energy. experiments. The artificial cores, simulated oil (kerosene), and
simulated formation water were used to simulate the real
reservoir conditions during the experiments. The core was
Experiments on the low-frequency excitations saturated with oil, and the core permeability before the vi-
bration treatment was measured as the reference perme-
Low-frequency vibration oil extraction technology has great ability. Then the low-frequency pulse wave was launched on
potential for the complex reservoirs to improve the injection the core to measure the permeability changes under vibration
and output, because of its advantage of low cost, high effec- conditions. The effects on core permeability with different
tivity, no formation damage and environmental pollution [11]. cores are shown in Fig. 5. The core permeability of A-2
In some oilfields, a fluid of a certain frequency (generally increased from 0.523 103 mm2 to 0.805 103 mm2, and for
0.01 Hze15 Hz) is transmitted to the oil layer, and under the core B-4, the permeability increased from 10.01 103 mm2 to
periodic change of the pulse pressure, the injected fluid will 16.06 103 mm2. The results indicated that the low-frequency
propagate to the depth of the reservoir in a fluctuating waves (only at the core's natural frequency) can increase the
manner. After a period of repeated pressurization, the rock core permeability for both high permeability core (B-4) and
skeleton and the fluid inside it will be pulsed, causing periodic low permeability core (A-2). Besides, the converging effect of
expansion and contraction of the rock pores, thereby the vibration can cause discontinuous stress distribution,
improving the permeability of the reservoir as shown in Fig. 4. which can form micro fractures at the place where the tensile
The wave emitted by the low-frequency pulse is a low- strength of the rock is small and improve the flow capacity of
frequency wave. It usually takes the physical properties of the fluid. Wang et al. [46] conducted an experiment of low-
the low-frequency wave energy and vibration to process the frequency pressure pulse on the artificial core and natural
oil layer. Three functions are involved: Firstly, the mechanical core with a core length of 10 cme60 cm. The permeabilities for
action, the vibration wave can force the rock particle to do natural cores were 1.27 103 mm2, 2.05 103 mm2,
mechanical vibration, and the generated force can dredge the 4.7 103 mm2, respectively. And, the permeabilities for arti-
oil flow channel and improve the oil permeability of the for- ficial cores were in the range of 400 103 mm2 -
mation; Secondly, the vibration of the wave can reduce the 2000 103 mm2. During the experiment, the vibration source
capillary pressure of the oil and water in the porous media and was located at the injection end to simulate the real vibration
accumulates the oil droplets to the sound source; Thirdly, the water injection process. The vibration frequency (f) was
thermal action of the acoustic wave. When the wave passes 0.1 Hze20 Hz. Higher vibration amplitude gave a smaller value
through the medium, the medium absorbs the sound wave, of attenuation coefficient a. The coefficient a increased as
causing local high temperature, and the viscosity reduction frequency (f) increased, while decreased as permeability (K)
can increase the flowability of oil. However, the last effect increased.
needs further discussions. Under core seepage conditions, the propagation of hy-
draulic vibration depends not only on the elastic propagation
Changes on core permeability of fluid in the core skeleton and pores but also on the pulsating
seepage of the fluid to propagate pressure pulses. Due to the
The research of the effects on core permeability by low- different propagation mechanisms, the propagation and
frequency waves is one of the hot topics, especially for the attenuation of special low-frequency waves such as hydraulic
low permeability reservoirs. Laboratory researches have vibration under seepage conditions are inevitably different
shown that enhanced core absolute permeability occurs when from the elastic propagation of acoustic waves in single-phase
low-frequency waves are applied. homogeneous media.
Displacement efficiency of oil by water
Until now, water flooding is still treated as the main oil re-
covery method all over the world. For the acoustic wave
application, one of the key research areas is focused on the
displacement efficiency of oil by water, which is worth
discussion.
Bai et al. [47] have carried out water flooding experiments
of two cores in the presence of low-frequency waves. The
water flooding stopped when the water cut reached to 98%
and then followed by the low-frequency pulse wave. At the
Fig. 4 e (a) Original pore state of porous media; (b) Pore beginning of the pulse water flooding, the water cut decreased
state after low-frequency hydraulic pulse treatment. significantly, and the cumulative oil recovery increased
Fig. 5 e The experimental curve of the effect of low-frequency pulse wave on the core permeability: (a) low permeability
core; (b) high permeability core [45].
significantly. The final oil recovery increased by 6.3%e14.3% more than 300 h to extract 32% of the total amount of kerosene
after the stable water flooding. The results of the experiments without seismic stimulation. However, it took only 51 h to
are shown in Table 1. At the end of the experiments, the cores extract 60% of the total amount of kerosene with the help of
were cut open to investigate the remaining oil distribution of acoustic wave.
the core and compared with the core without the pulse water Snarskiy et al. [50] studied the improved oil recovery during
flooding. It is found that the sweep area of core after the pulse water flooding under the action of acoustic wave using fine
water flooding is obviously expanded. Almost all of the crude quartz sand, and the frequency was in the range of
oil in the high permeability layer was driven out, and the 9 Hze40 Hz. It was found that the oil recovery increased by
sweep area in the medium permeability layer was also 19% in the presence of the acoustic field. Other researchers
enhanced significantly. And, obvious sweep area could also be found that the viscosity of heavy oil decreased by 17%e25%
observed in the low permeability layer. The results indicated after low-frequency wave treatment. Li et al. [51] indicated
that the pulse wave can make the redistribution of oil-water that the viscosity of the oil disturbed by the acoustic is lower
interface and liquid-solid interface, which greatly improved than that of the undisturbed when an ultra-low frequency
the oil recovery and reduced the residual oil saturation. propagated to the oil-rich zone. It is found that the rheological
Laboratory studies have shown that the low-frequency structure of the liquid is destroyed, thereby increasing the
waves can increase the flow capacity of crude oil. Gadiev seepage velocity of the liquid. Besides, the fluctuating
et al. [41] used a viscometer to measure the flow capacity of a shearing action between the liquid-liquid interfaces causes
volume of polyacrylamide solution at different excitation the oil-water emulsification, the viscosity reduction of crude
times. The amplitude of the waves was set at 1 mm with the oil, and finally, the remaining oil can be carried out together
frequencies changed from 30 Hz to 60 Hz. The flow rate with water. The existing seismic stimulation technology is
increased by 0.5e1 times under the action of sound waves for mainly focused on improving oil recovery for the single well or
about 6 h. It indicated that the low-frequency wave can the near-well zone, however, the stimulation to the whole
change the rheological properties of the polymer solution reservoir is still very limited.
during the excitation. Dyblenko et al. [48] investigated the
effect of water-driven kerosene in reservoir rocks using 200 Hz Enhancement for oil production rate
acoustic waves. The experimental results showed that the
output of kerosene increased by 12% under the action of When the porous media is subjected to low-frequency waves,
sound waves. During the excitation period, the flow capacity some directing forces (DF) are generated inside, and among
of the residual oil was enhanced and the relative permeability which the radial radiation pressure and Bernoulli force are
of the water decreased. Simkin et al. [49] analyzed the effect of treated as the most important [52]. The generation of DF can
the acoustic waves on oil production using loose quartz sand destroy the original pressure balance in the oil layer, which can
packs saturated with kerosene. In their experiments, the enlarge the capillary radius. The surface tension is reduced by
particle acceleration was as high as 0.8 g (gravitational accel- the square of the radius, and the capillary force can be reduced
eration) under the action of the acoustic wave, and the exci- by the cube of the radius. Therefore, the balance between the
tation led to a significant increase in the production of capillary force and the gravity is broken by the low-frequency
kerosene. Based on the natural flow rate of the liquid, it took waves. The residual oil bounded in the capillary will flow into
Table 1 e Improved oil recovery after low-frequency pulse action.

Core No. Permeability Porosity Initial oil Oil recovery (%) Oil recovery
(10-3 mm2) (%) saturation (%) Increasement (%)
Water flooding Afterpulse water flooding
1 1000 24.1 65 43.7 58 14.3
2 1000 22.7 69 43 49.3 6.3
In 1991, Simkin et al. [49] had launched on some experi-

ments for gravity segregation in the (i) presence and (ii)
absence of low-frequency vibration. The sand packs, prepared
from quartz sand, had a diameter of 3.5 cm, length of 1.0 m,
the porosity of 0.33 and permeability of 5.4 Darcy. During the
experiments, the sand pack was filled with water (density:
1000 kg/m3) and then displaced with oil (e.g. kerosene). Then,
water was injected to displace oil until 50% of the oil was left
in the sand pack. After that, the gravity segregation experi-
Fig. 6 e Photograph of the two-dimensional micromodel ments were carried out by placing the sand pack vertically to
filled with dyed TCE [24]. get the gravity equilibrium. At t ¼ 0, the sand pack was
inverted and the vertical distribution of oil saturation was
monitored with time. In the absence of vibration, it took about
the well under the action of gravity and wave vibration. Be-
12 days to get new gravity equilibrium, however, it only took
sides, the fluid can absorb the energy and momentum of the
about 2 h to achieve the new equilibrium by applying low-
low-frequency wave when it propagates inside the fluid. The
frequency waves with a frequency of 120 Hz and amplitude
fluid will produce a non-periodic flow with vortex character-
of 0.1 mm. Kouznetsov et al. [26] did similar experiments to
istics accordingly. The flow velocity at the center of the capil-
study the gravitational flow of kerosene with and without
lary is much larger than that near the wall, and the velocity
vibro-energy. After 20 days, the water/oil ratio was 0.6 at the
generated by the vortex against the seepage direction is
top of sand pack and 1.37 at the bottom. A much higher degree
negligible. However, the flow direction is consistent with the
of oil/water gravitational separation can be reached in the
fluid flow at the capillary boundary, which can reduce the
present of vibro-energy. Besides, the time for the gravity
occurrence of fingering and increases the overall fluid flow
equilibrium with vibration was much shorter than that
velocity, thereby increasing oil production rate.
without vibration (about 500 times shorter). Li et al. [24] did
Dusseault et al. [53] studied the microscopic mechanism of
water flood experiments across a glass plate as shown in
vibration for IOR by visualized plate experimental model.
Fig. 6. The micromodel is glass-etched with pore and throat
They found that vibration could enhance the deformation of
distributed normally. The diameters of pore and throat are
the oil droplet and reduce the interfacial tension. Ariadji et al.
2.30 mm and 0.76 mm, respectively. The total volume of
[54] studied the effect of vibration on capillary force, core
micromodel was about 1.6 cm3 with porosity around 0.44.
permeability, relative permeability, residual oil/water satura-
Floods were transported out with and without vibrations in
tion, crude oil viscosity and porosity. The effectiveness of vi-
the direction of the waterflood. The research was to find
bration recovery technology on reservoirs was proved by the
whether vibrational stimulation could enhance the produc-
laboratory experiments. Cidoncha et al. [34] proposed that the
tion rate of non-aqueous phase throughout the waterflood.
low-frequency waves can reduce crude oil viscosity, enhance
The relationship between the normalized area of residual
crude oil displacement efficiency, accelerate degassing effect,
trichloroethylene and experimental time in the presence/
and finally increase the crude oil production rate. Kurawle
absence of vibration is shown in Fig. 7. The overall trends of
et al. [8] analyzed the effect of wave fluctuation on primary
the three repeated experiments (with and without vibration)
and secondary oil recovery. It was believed that the fluctua-
are similar. However, the repeatability for vibration experi-
tion could reduce the oil/water interfacial tension and pro-
ments is better than that of no-vibration case because of the
mote the accumulation of residual oil, thus increasing the
indiscrimination of the vibratory force acting on every part of
sweep coefficient and oil production rate. Beresnev et al. [55]
the model simultaneously. The oil production rate with vi-
observed that the wave fluctuation could reduce capillary
bration is also much faster than that without vibration. When
force and increase oil permeability by pore-level two phases of
the residual oil saturation reaches to about 10% (10% of the
flow experiments.
Fig. 7 e Normalized trichloroethylene area (ratio of current trichloroethylene area to the initial trichloroethylene area) as a
function of time: (a) without vibration for three repeated experiments; (b) with vibration (10 Hz, acceleration amplitude of
3.5 m/s2) for three repeated experiments [24].
Fig. 8 e Triggers to modify water and oil production.
initial trichloroethylene volume fraction), it takes ~14,000 min recovery increased for both cases, a greater growth appeared
to approach residual saturation without vibration, and it is when carbonated water was applied.
only 4500 min with vibration. Fig. 8 depicts several possibil-
ities of why applying periodic pressure fluctuation may
contribute to enhance the oil production rate and oil recovery. Theoretical and mathematical modeling of
At residual oil saturation, oil is dispersed in the porous media seismic vibration
in the shape of solitary droplets. Under residual oil saturation,
only water flows in pores. There are indications that applying During the application of acoustic waves on EOR, the near-
vibrations on the rock, oil droplets either may be freed and wellbore zone or the interior of the reservoir is usually
enter as liquid fines or may form a continuous phase or coa- affected by the pressure fluctuations generated from the
lesce. Therefore, three options may be anticipated to explain artificial wave source. Therefore, the internal seepage field of
these phenomena: (1) reduction of capillary forces, (2) sepa- the porous media and the fluid distribution of each phase are
ration of oil drops into sizes that are lesser than the pore changed because of the pore deformation, which is regarded
ganglia, or (3) congregating of oil droplets into “oil streams”. as the main research target of the wave seepage mechanics.
The trapped oil will be moved during seismic-vibration, thus
Increased degassing improving oil production. Two criteria are required for
The degassing phenomenon usually associates with the local

instantaneous ruptures of reservoir fluid generated by vibra-
tion, and bubble nucleation will be formed accordingly.
Kouznetsov et al. [26] investigated the effect of degassing
mechanism on the oil and water relative permeability when
the gas saturation is 0.0 and 0.1, as shown in Fig. 9. It was
found that the relative permeability for water phase was al-
ways lower under high gas saturation condition. For the oil
relative permeability, it was lower when the water saturation
is in the range of 0e0.4 at high gas saturation. However, the oil
relative permeability was increased at high gas saturation
when the water saturation over 0.4. It indicated that degassing
mechanism caused by elastic waves could enhance the oil
relative permeability (Sw > 0.4), which would improve oil re-
covery and oil production rate. Cidoncha et al. [56] also pro-
posed that due to the gas move to the pore walls during the
degassing process, the rock wettability will also get changed Fig. 9 e Relative permeabilities of the oil phase and water
which has an impact on the relative permeability of oil and phase. 1 ¼ gas saturation equal to 0.0 (oil relative
water. Kouznetsov et al. [26] also studied the displacement of permeability); 2 ¼ gas saturation equal to 0.0 (water
oil by carbonated and “gas-free” water under the action of relative permeability); 3 ¼ gas saturation equal to 0.1 (oil
acoustic vibration, shown in Fig. 10. It was found that the oil relative permeability); 4 ¼ gas saturation equal to 0.1
(water relative permeability) [26].
Fig. 10 e Cumulative fluid production cm as a function of

oil (cm3) as a function of oil recovery (%) before and after Fig. 11 e Operating a fluid-pressure agitation over a depth
vibration (1) carbonated water and (2) gas-free water [26]. range [57].
enhancing oil recovery with seismic vibration. The first cri- has two contributions from 1) an oscillating fluid-pressure
terion is the vibrant requirement in the cycle of harmonic diffusion (Biot slow wave), 2) a propagating seismic wave.
process time before the seismic wave changes the direction, The diffusive contribution to Fa is usually negligible for flow
and the second criterion is the static-force for seismic wave to cell more than a meter from the stimulation borehole. For DFo ,
push on a trapped bubble of oil. it falls off with distance as 1=r2 , while the wave-induced
Pride et al. [57] have done some investigations on the pressure gradient Fa falls as 1=r. Therefore, DFo will be set to
seismic stimulation for water and oil flow in a random 2D
zero, and Fa will represent exclusively the acoustic (seismic)
grain pack geometries. The lattice-Boltzmann model (LBM) in
force perturbations.
two dimensions is used to perform pore-scale numerical
The force for driving the fluid flow generated by the
simulations. It is found that subsequent coalescence of the
compressional wave can be expressed as
freed oil droplets acts to enhance oil movement further
2 3
because longer bubbles overcome capillary barriers more
efficiently than shorter bubbles do. Besides, the author pro- 6 rB 7
Fa ¼ iwCp 6
4rf þ 7
5q (8)
posed that two conditions FFao > 1= 1 and T < 1 both should be 1 þ 3K
4G
S u
satisfied for stimulation to mobilize the trapped oil.

The approach from the Darcy flux q through a cell by the The force by the shear wave is
Darcy law is expressed as:
Fa ¼ iwCs rf q (9)
k
q¼ F (5) An oil ganglion of downstream length h (typically much
hf
larger than grain sizes) becomes stuck when the downstream-
where F is the whole effective-force dominated flow (with the pressure drop along with the bubble hFo just is balanced by a

unit of a pressure gradient), k is defined as cell permeability,
capillary-pressure increase s Rdown
1
R1up . The limitation that
and hf is the viscosity of the fluid. The total force, F, can be
described as follows: an oil droplet can pass through the pore throat (with the
radius of z) is expressed as
F ¼ Fa þ Fo þ DFo (6)
z
where Fo and Fa are originated by variations in the wells Rdown ¼ (10)
cosQ
subjected to stimulation and Fo is the pressure gradient. If the
Therefore, the condition for seismic stimulation to mobi-
pressure perturbation employed in the stimulation well con-
lize an oil ganglion is
tains an element that is steady

cosQ Rdown
khf DQo ðFo þ Fa Þh > 1 (11)
DFo ¼ (7) z Rup
k4pr2
pffiffiffi.
Using z ¼ k , we can finally get the stimulation criterion
The principal influence on Fa originates from seismic vi- 4
bration, in which it is preserving energy as it spreads outward as
spherically. Fig. 11 illustrates that seismic wave can transport
Fa 1
significant perturbation to a flow cell. For the force Fa , it is the > 1 (12)
Fo S
amplitude of any time-harmonic forcing created by the fluid- pffiffi
pressure perturbations applied in the stimulation borehole. It where S ¼ 2FscosQ
oh k
¼ scosQ
2Ca phffiffi , Ca ¼ kFo
. If S > 1, the oil ganglion can
k 4s
migration with the help of background gradient only. How- To evaluate the extent of crossflow, Huh et al. [13] proposed
ever, in this situation, the stimulation can push the oil gan- a simple model to study the crossflow between the two layers,
glions to move more rapidly. Therefore, stimulation can as shown in Fig. 12a. Water is not injected into the formation
enhance oil production even when S > 1. and So is assumed to be constant initially. The seismic vibra-
Eq. (12) is based on a static-force situation. For the dynamic tion is assumed to deliver to the oil layer in the vertical di-
scenario, it should be considered that the half-cycle of time- rection only, uniformly in the x-direction. The normal stress
harmonic stimulation is enough time for the oil ganglion to term is:
move through the pore throat. The distance dq that the
vp1 1 vs DT
movement of an oil ganglion in a half-cycle of the vibration A1 p1 p2 ¼ 0 (20)
vt M1 vt h1
period can be given by
vp2 1 vs DT
k=h ÞF A2 p2 p1 ¼ 0 (21)
< qoil > oil a =2 k Fa vt M2 vt h2
dq ¼ ¼ ¼ (13)
2f 4 2f 4 4hoil f 4 If the normal stress forcing function is periodic with the
Then identifying the distance, the downstream meniscus amplitude of sa and frequency of u, the layer pressure also
pffiffiffi. varies accordingly:
must advance to get through the constriction as z ¼ k 4,
yields the dynamic criterion d ¼ da eiut (22)
z 4h f
T¼ ¼ pffiffiffioil < 1 (14) pj ¼ paj eiut (23)
dq k Fa
where j¼1, 2 are for high and low permeability layers,
However, Huh et al. [13] postulated that seismic vibration
respectively; paj is the amplitude of pressure oscillation. Then
could improve the crossflow among low- and high-
Eqs. (20) and (21) can be changed to:
permeability layers, therefore there is potential for an
enhanced method for improved oil recovery chemical to the iu DT
low-permeability layers in the heterogeneous situation. They A1 iupa1 sa pa1 pa2 ¼ 0 (24)
M1 h1
concluded that it was not possible for the residual oil to move
under the seismic vibration. The increment of oil production iu DT
A2 iupa2 sa pa2 pa1 ¼ 0 (25)
by seismic vibration was mainly based on an increased sweep M2 h2
volume because of reservoir heterogeneity. The pore re-
So the difference in pressure oscillation amplitudes:
sponses for low and high permeabilities layers were different
as the vibration propagated through the heterogeneous for-
mation. And these different responses can generate a tran-
sient pressure difference, and the crossflow between the low
and high permeabilities layers appeared accordingly.
The mass conservation of rock, oil, and water during low-
frequency vibrations is written as:
v∅
þ V:½ð1 ∅ Þw ¼ 0 (15)
vt
when the volume strain is ε≡V:u, then
v∅ vε
þ ð1 ∅ Þ ¼ 0 (16)
vt vt
vu
where u is the rock displacement vector and w ¼ vt
.
Therefore, for oil and water phases then becomes,
respectively
vε ∅Sw vp vSw
ð1 ∅ ÞSw þ þ∅ V:½lw ðVp rw gVDÞ ¼ 0 (17)
vt kw vt vt
and
vε ∅So vp vSo
ð1 ∅ ÞSo þ þ∅ V:½lo ðVp ro gVDÞ ¼ 0 (18)
vt ko vt vt
By combining Eqs. (17) And (18), we have

vε So Sw vp
ð1 ∅ Þ þ∅ þ V:½lT Vp ðlo ro þ lw rw ÞgVD ¼ 0
vt ko kw vt Fig. 12 e (a). Schematics of the simplified tow-layer
(19) reservoir model with application of rock normal stress
oscillation, s; (b) The oil/water relative permeabilities used
where lT ¼ lo þ lw .
in the model [8].
researchers have established a series of mathematical models

A2
MA1 for seepage mechanics under vibration, including simple
pa1 pa2
¼
M1
2 (26) seepage models [59,60], capillary models [61], macroscopic
sa
A1 A2 DiuT A1
h2
þ Ah12 medium model [62,63], as well as compound wave theoretical
model by integrating mass transfer/heat transfer equations
where A is effective compressibility; s is the normal stress; Pi [64,65]. Due to the complexity of microscopic seepage and
is the fluid pressure in i-layer; M is rock modulus; DT is the coupling mechanism, the related model research still needs
effective total transmissibility across two layers. The oil/water further investigation.
relative permeability curve is shown in Fig. 12b. For the sam-
ple calculation, the parameters are specified as follows: Simple seepage models
mw¼1.0 mps; mo¼2.0 mps; 41¼0.25; 42¼0.25; h1¼10 m; h2¼10 m;
Kw¼3.3 105 psi; Ko¼3.3 105 psi; M¼6.09 105 psi [58]. In order In this model, it only introduces the fluctuation as a changing
to simplify the model, it is assumed that the skin effect is not pressure boundary into the Darcy equation, which considers
involved during the simulation (e.g. hv¼0). And there is no the situation relatively simple. Luo [59] has studied the effect
horizontal flow in the model, the vertical permeabilities of the of fluctuations on the permeability of porous media through
two layers are represented by k1 ¼ 1.0 mm2 and k2 ¼ 0.05 mm2, the simple seepage model:
respectively. The modulus of pressure differential (scaled by
the stress amplitude) at different frequencies is shown in vPt k
¼ V2 Pf ; Pf x¼0 ¼ P0 eiut (27)
Fig. 13. As we can see from Fig. 13a, the pressure differential vt h4ðbs þ bl Þ
with larger fluid saturation difference is lower than that of low where Pf is the pressure of porous media, MPa; bs and bl are
saturation difference when the wave frequency is lower than compression factors for solid phase and liquid phase, MPa1
50 Hz. However, with a larger difference in fluid saturation, we respectively; 4 is the porosity; k is the permeability, mD; h is
can see that the pressure differential increases substantially the viscosity of fluid, mPas; P0 is the pressure amplitude under
at large wave frequency (>50 Hz). For the effect of oil bulk vibration, MPa; u is the vibration frequency, Hz; x is the dis-
modulus (Fig. 13b), it is shown that the pressure differential tance to the vibration source, m.
increases somewhat when the oil is more compressible (Ko Liu et al. [60] superimposed the wave-induced pressure on
changed from 1.0 105 psi to 0.75 105 psi). When the high the Darcy equation, and the dynamic effects of elastic waves
permeability layer is more compressible than that of low on permeability and porosity were also considered. The one-
permeability layer, it is shown that the pressure differential dimensional and radial seepage mechanics models under vi-
increased greatly again. According to the above simple model, bration conditions were proposed. However, the actual fluid-
we can infer that the recovery of the bypassed oil by seismic solid coupling effect has not been considered in this model.
wave is possible, and a more detailed model on the bypass oil The pressure value introduced by the wave is in a lack of
recovery is still needed. theoretical support. Therefore, the porosity and permeability
Based on the experimental researches and the theory of of porous media vary monotonically with the vibration ac-
elastic wave propagation in porous media, some of the celeration (as shown in Fig. 14).
Fig. 13 e Modulus of pressure differential between two layers (scaled with sa) as a function of frequency (u) [13].
Fig. 14 e (a) Relationship between permeability and distance as a function of acceleration amplitude; (b) Relationship
between porosity and distance as a function of acceleration amplitude [60].
8
vPf
>
> vH vHw
hCt 4ðxÞ ¼ V2 kðxÞPf ; Pf x¼0 ¼ Pw þ P0 sin ut >
> þ ¼ 0; for liquid area PH
(28) >
> vt vx
vt >
>
>
>
1=3 >
< vHw þ 19 vHw 2 vPf 1 v 2 Hw 3
qffiffiffi ¼ H þ w; for liquid area PH
where kðxÞ ¼ k0 exp 2pf rbfl P0 expð a1 A1 x ; 4ðxÞz40 kk0 . 40 vt 12 vx vx Re vx2 Re
>
>
>
> w ¼ 0; t¼0
>
>
and k0 is the initial porosity and permeability, respectively; Ct >
>
>
> vw
is the comprehensive compression factor, MPa1. P0 is the >
: ¼ 0; x ¼ 0 and x ¼ xl
vx
initial pressure amplitude, mm; f is the natural frequency of
(30)
the formation, Hz; a1 is the attenuation constant factor m1;
Pw is the injection pressure, MPa. where, w is the liquid displacement, mm; gðxÞ is throat shape
function, which can represent the roundness of the capillary
Capillary models model, dimensionless; HðxÞ is the throat width, which is the
function of time and displacement,
The capillary model has been used to investigate the Hðx; lÞ ¼ 2ðyl þgðxÞ þwðx; 0; lÞÞ; mm; xl; yl; hl are the average pore
microscopic mechanisms of low-frequency fluctuation for throat length, average pore throat width, and half of the average
EOR by a large number of researchers. Pan et al. [61] used the width between the parallel pore throats, mm. The flow behaviors
homogenization method to analyze the possibility of in a capillary at different frequencies are shown in Fig. 15. It in-
obtaining reservoir parameters by using intermediate fre- dicates that the average flow rate changes sinusoidally as the
quency waves. In their capillary model, the vertical fluid flow vibration time increases, which is different from the mono-
in the throat and the movement of the solid along the tonically decreasing, as shown in Fig. 14. Besides, the flow rate
percolation direction are neglected. Considering the force of fluctuation decreases, as the vibration frequency increases.
the solid-liquid contact surface in the pore throat, the Some researchers [6,53,66] have studied the effect of elastic
seepage analysis is carried out by combination with the waves on wall droplets or microporous droplets in capillary
Darcy equation and Biot theory. However, they did not models. And the critical wave force is given based on the force
consider the macroscopic seepage boundary and other analysis of the droplet. Kostrov et al. [6] gave the conditions for
coupling mechanisms in their model. The equations for the the wall droplets to fall off: I) the fluctuation force of the single
solid phase can be expressed as: droplet exceeded the adsorption force between the liquid and
8 solid wall; II) the sum of the fluctuation force on the droplet and
>
> v2 u v2 u v2 u
>
> the attraction between the surrounding droplet molecules was
>
> rs 2 ¼ ð2G þ lÞ 2 þ G 2 ; for solid area SH
>
> vt v y v x greater than electrostatic repulsion. By considering gravity, wave
>
>
>
>
>
> force, electrostatic force and interfacial tension of the droplets,
>
> vu
>
> u¼ ¼ 0; t¼0 Shang et al. [66] proposed the critical equilibrium condition for
>
> vt
>
< the droplet to move on the inclined wall under the elastic wave. It
vu (29) was concluded that the droplet would move and then carried out
>
> ¼ 0; x ¼ 0 and x ¼ xl
>
>
>
> vx from the formation by the flooding fluid when the vibration force
>
>
>
> changed the balance, which can be expressed as:
>
> u ¼ 0; y ¼ hl
>
>
>
>
>
> vu 2
v u Fvc cos a ± Fg sin a Ff þ Fb (31)
>
> ð2G þ lÞ 2h ¼ Pf ðx; tÞ; y ¼ gðxÞ
>
: vy vtvy
where Fvc is the critical vibration force for wall droplets
The equations for liquid phase can be expressed as: peeling, N; Fg is the gravity, N; Ff is the friction, N; Fb is the
propagation direction (radial-direction), mm; r is the vertical

1
distance, m; F ¼ r 1c0 2 þ 4Q
1
, c0 is wave velocity in fluid, m/
f
s, Q is the coupling parameters between solid volume

change and fluid volume change, MPa; R is squirt flow length
parameter, mm; l is the lame constants; g ¼ a 4, a is the
Biot coefficient, dimensionless. In 2000, Diallo et al. [69]
proposed a new model based on the BISQ model, called
RBISQ. The big difference between the original BISQ theory
and the new theory is the average fluid pressure term is
independent of squirt flow length. In the RBISQ model, the
coordinate system was used where the fluid displacement
(radial-direction) v was changed as Ur to avoid the depen-
dence of R. In this way, the relative displacement equation
for fluid/solid phase and the equation for fluid pressure can
Fig. 15 e Response of a fluid in a rigid channel to harmonic be expressed as:
perturbation (Re¼1, xl¼2) [61]. 2
4 vrf v4 v2 ðUx ux Þ v Ur 1 vUr
þ þ4 þ4 þ ¼0 (34)
rf vt vt vxvt vrvt r vr
interfacial tension of the droplets, N; a is the angle between

the wall and flow direction, . F vux Fg1
Pf ¼ V,W þ F V,u (35)
4 vx 4
Macroscopic medium model
where V,W and V,u represent the divergence operator for the
The macroscopic medium model mainly includes Biot theory relative displacement of fluid/solid phase and relative
and continuum theory by considering fluid-solid coupling. displacement of the solid phase, respectively. Besides, other
The model is used to study the influence of low-frequency models based on Biot theory are also proposed. Zienkiewicz
fluctuation on seepage by analyzing the motion of fluid and et al. [70] improved the Biot equation and replaced the pa-
solid under vibration. For the Biot theory, it considers the rameters that are difficult to give explicit physical meaning
fluid-solid mass coupling and the fluid inertial acceleration (A, N, R, and Q) with m, l, a, and M, which can be expressed by
under the action of elastic waves. For the continuum theory, elastic modulus parameters. Spanos et al. [71] developed the
it focuses on the fluid-solid continuity equation and the Da la Cruz-Spanos theory to build the macroscopic contin-
Darcy equation simultaneously. In general, the capillary uum equations and investigated the wave propagation in the
model can be used to investigate the seepage in micro/nano formation which was full of fluid. The wave equations for
scale, while the macroscopic medium model is suitable for two-phase isotropic medium based on the BISQ model are
revealing the mechanics of seepage under vibration on a complex partial differential equations with variable co-
larger scale. efficients. Yang et al. [63] gave a numerical solution of the
Based on Terzaghi's principle [67], Biot [68] gave the fluid- equations by using the 25-point frequency-space domain
solid coupling dynamics equation in porous media under the finite difference method. The wave propagation of numerical
action of low-frequency elastic waves. The one-dimensional simulation in isotropic media under the action of Biot-flow
continuity equation and pore pressure equation of the Biot and squirt-flow was investigated for the ideal and viscous
model can be further obtained by combining the fluid mass fluid cases.
conservation equation, strain-porosity relationship, and For the continuum theory model, it is based on the con-
liquid compressibility equation. The BISQ (Biot-Squirt) model tinuum theories of solid-fluid mixtures. The introduction of
is proposed based on the Biot model [62]. Based on the solid/ volume fraction conception gives this model advanced
liquid wave equation, the equations for liquid-solid displace- development. The model is assumed to be equivalent to the
ment and radial flow velocity of the fluid can be obtained by Biot theory when the theoretical additional mass density is 0.
combining with the two-dimensional axisymmetric mass Frehner et al. [72] equivalented the pore fluid and solid oscil-
conservation equation. lations to the mechanical model of one-dimensional spring
oscillator. Through the proposed model, they explained the
2
4 vrf v4 v2 ðUx ux Þ v v 1 vv spectral separation of fluids under vibration when the oil and
þ þ4 þ4 þ ¼0 (32)
rf vt vt vxvt vrvt r vr water flow in the porous media. It was assumed that the dif-
ference between vibration frequency and inherent frequency

2J1 ðlRÞ vU g vu of the porous medium promoted the relative motion between
Pf ¼ F 1 þ (33)
lRJ0 ðlRÞ vx 4 vx the fluid and the solid under vibration conditions, which is
different from the traditional explanation that the relative
where J0 and J1 represent zero-order and first-order Bessel
motion between the fluid and the solid is caused by the vi-
functions, respectively; rf is the fluid density, kg/m3; Ux and
bration force exceeding the capillary force. The final equations
ux represent the fluid displacement and solid displacement
for the relative displacement of fluid and solid parts can be
in the wave propagation direction, mm; v is the fluid
expressed as:
displacement in the direction perpendicular to the wave
stimulation methods. Some researchers have investigated the

8 effect of vibration on fluid seepage during stimulation pro-
>
> v2 U
>
< S4rf 2 ¼ S4rf t2 u0 2 ðU uÞ cesses through experimental or theoretical research methods.
vt
> 2 (36) Liu et al. [75] found that the combination of low-frequency
>
> v u v vu
: ð1 4Þrs 2 ¼ E þ S4rf t2 u0 2 ðU uÞ resonance wave and surfactant flooding together could facil-
vt vx vx
itate surfactant diffusion in fluid and reduce surfactant
where rs and rf are the solid density and fluid density, adsorption on the formation. The optimum parameters for
respectively, kg/m3; U and u represent the fluid displacement this combination technology are with the frequency between
and solid displacement, respectively; E is Young's modulus of 15 and 25 Hz, acceleration around 0.4 m/s2. Li et al. [64]
the equivalent skeleton, MPa; u0 is the characteristic fre- analyzed the effect of low-frequency on the gel properties.
quency of the skeleton, Hz; The results showed that the low-frequency resonant wave
Sun et al. [73] established a forecasting model for reasonable could improve the crosslink of gel with the acceleration from
drawdown pressure to solve the contradiction between sand 0.05 G to 0.08 G, and it would lead to inhibition in the range of
production and oil production in wells during the development 0.08 G to 0.19 G. Besides, the frequency between 12 Hz and
of unconsolidated sand reservoirs. The model of fluid-solid 30 Hz could damage the gelation. It seems that the frequency
coupling was built based on the theory of continuous me- and acceleration of vibration should be selected cautiously in
dium. They analyzed the influence of production well pressure order to enhance the performance of polymer flooding.
fluctuation on the stress and deformation of the reservoir The synergistic effect between hydraulic pulse wave and
skeleton. Besides, the coupling effect of skeleton volume multi-hydracid acidification shows a highly-efficient plug
change to fluid flow was also considered. However, in their removal effect against reservoir plugging in the vicinity of
models, fluid inertia and solid motion under elastic waves were high-pressure water and steam injection well. He et al. [65]
not considered. Vuong et al. [74] derived a general constitutive proposed a kinetic model of plug removal reaction based on
relation for porous media by integrating the arbitrary strain the acidic rock reaction model and the transmission dynamic
energy functions of any skeleton based on the thermodynamic of hydraulic pulse wave. In their research, they studied the
principles. The Lagrangian observer was employed to follow periodic decay of acid flow rate over applied distance under
the skeleton phase and the fluid phase was under the Euler different vibration conditions, as shown in Fig. 18. The kinetic
coordinate system. They proposed that the porosity and its model based on a synergy between hydraulic pulse wave and
time derivative were not only depending on the deformation multi-hydracid acidification can be expressed as:
gradient, but also the pore pressure. The finite element nu-
8
merical example was carried out by considering the porosity >
>
<
changed with time/space and macroscopic Darcy flow, as vCHF vCHF
v þ4 ¼ vHF
>
> vr vt
shown in Fig. 16 and Fig. 17. The equations for continuity, fluid :
flow, and momentum conservation are expressed as:
vCM1
k1 qðCHF CHF0 ÞðCM1 CM10 Þ ¼ ð1 4Þ
8 v4 vt
> þ4V,vf þV4, vf vs ¼0; Ut ½t0; tE
>
>
> vt X k2 ðCHF CHF0 ÞðCM2 CM20 Þ ¼ ð1 4Þ
vCM2
>
< vt
h b ¼0; Ut ½t0; tE vCH2 SiF6 vCH2 SiF6
>
> rf 0 ,af þ 4 vf vs þVPf rf 0 b k3 q CH2 SiF6 CHH2 SiF6 0 ðCM1 CM10 Þ ¼ v þ4
>
> k vr vt
>
:
b b vCSiðOHÞ4
rs0 ð140 Þ,as V,ðF,SÞrs0 ð140 Þ, br f 0 J4 baf ¼0; U0 ½t0; tE k4 ðCHF CHF0 Þ CSiðOHÞ4 CSiðOHÞ4 0 ¼ ð1 4Þ v
vt
(37) h x i
¼ vw uAn ebr sin u t þ fn (38)
u
where vf and vs are the velocity of fluid and skeleton, m/s,
respectively; af and as are the averaged microscopic skeleton where CM1 , CM2 , CH2 SiF6 , CSiðOHÞ4 and CHF are the concentrations
and fluid acceleration, m/s2; J is the determinant of the for fast reactant, low reactant, H2SiF6, Si(OH)4 and HF, mol/L,
dx respectively; the subscript “0” represents the concentration of
deformation gradient F¼ dX, Xand x represent the material
acid or mineral at the initial time; v is the fluid velocity under
coordinate and spatial coordinate, respectively; S is the sec- the action of hydraulic pulse waves, m/s; r is the radial prop-
ond Piola Kirchhoff stress tensor; rf 0 and rs0 are the initial fluid agation distance of acid, cm; vHF is the reaction rate of HF, g/h;
and skeleton density, kg/m3, respectively; U0 and Ut are the x is the wave propagation distance, cm; u is the wave velocity
b is the body force
material and current volume, respectively; b in the medium, cm/s; u is the angular frequency, rad/s; q is the
per spatial unit volume; ½t0; tE is the time interval. proportion of fast reactant that is not covered by SiO2,
dimensionless; k1 , k2 , k3 and k4 are the reaction rate constants
Compound wave theoretical model for fast reactant, low reactant, H2SiF6, Si(OH)4. The proposed
model innovatively combines wave seepage mechanics with
Low-frequency vibration oil extraction technology has great reservoir reformation, but the pore fluid velocity under the
potential for the complex reservoirs to improve the injection action of pulse waves is still assumed to be a simple trigono-
and output, because of its advantages of low cost, high metric function, which fails to take into account the coupling
effectivity, no formation damage, and environmental pollu- effect of fluid/solid.
tion. Recently, it is becoming a hot topic by combining the low- Generally, it is challenge to get the analytical solutions of
frequency vibration oil extraction technology with other these mathematical models for seepage mechanics under
Fig. 16 e Physical model for seepage with initial macro flow and boundary conditions under vibration and parameters [74].
Fig. 17 e Development of fluid pressure (a) and porosity (b) as a function of time for quasi-stationary and non-stationary
simulation from model in Fig. 16 at three different points (lo: lower point at the inlet; mi: middle point; up: upper point at the
outlet) [74].
vibration. Therefore, the finite element method, finite differ-

ence method, homogenization method can be used to Field application of seismic vibration
approximate or discretize the function, so as to get the nu-
merical solution of the model. For the simple seepage model, Until now, there are many researches about the impulse
it is very simple to understand implement. However, this impact on the oil recovery at the laboratory scale. Based on
model does not consider the fluid-solid coupling effect, and these laboratory researches, seismic vibration for EOR is
the pressure value generated by seismic wave need more upscaled to the oilfield application. The field application
theoretical support. For the capillary model, it can reveal some
micro mechanisms of IOR by low-frequency fluctuation.
However, it can not consider the macroscopic seepage
boundary and other coupling mechanisms. In general, the
macroscopic medium model has advantages in revealing the
fluid-solid coupling mechanism under vibration in reservoir
scale. However, the mathematical modeling of seismic vi-
bration for the real reservoir development (such as non-Darcy
flow, low permeability reservoirs, coupling of non-Newtonian
fluid, etc.) is still insufficient. The compound wave theoretical
model need more work on the seepage flow theory of the fluid-
solid coupling. The coupling of fluid-solid inertia and defor-
mation under vibration also increases the difficulty of
research. Besides, the corresponding microscopic mecha-
nisms for macroscopic seepage and vibration-induced Fig. 18 e Changes of acid velocity under amplitude as a
seepage also need further study. function of distance [65].
shows that the oil production rates are increased when the
seismic vibration is applied in the oilfield with the water cut
decreased. The seismic stimulation technology gives the
highest investment/production ratio compared with other
EOR stimulation methods (e.g. some oilfields in China). Here,
we will introduce some successful field applications in Russia,
North America, and China, etc.
Application in Russia
In Russia, a large number of oilfields are undergoing the late

stages of waterflood development. These oilfields usually
have very high water cut and low investment/production
ratio. The seismic and seismo-chemical stimulation methods
have been applied to over 200 wells in Russia [76]. The location
of the oilfield is in western Siberia. The reservoir is at the
depth of 2400 me2630 m, with a small net pay thickness of
4.7 m. It is a sandstone reservoir with low permeability and
the water cut for some wells can reach over 85%. The porosity
is between 4.95% and 18%, and the permeability is 1.5 mD e 6.0
mD. The changes of well injection profile for well #75 before
and after the stimulation technology is shown in Fig. 19. It can
be seen that the seismo-chemical stimulation exhibits better
injectivity and longer enhancement duration effect. The oil
production increase after the stimulation treatment is over
4000 tones. The total incremental oil production for the oilfield
is about 33,121 tons with the average production increase for
each well is about 3680 tons. In 1991 and 1992, two oilfield tests
have been carried out at Jirnovskyi field with the oil viscosity
of about 4.5 mPas in Volgogradskiy region, Russia [7,26]. The Fig. 19 e Injection profile before and after the treatment: (a)
depth of reservoir is around 1000 m, and the formation common seismic stimulation; (b) seismo-chemical
permeability is between 100 mD and 5000 mD. The first test stimulation [76].
began on Oct. 20 and lasted until Dec. 15, 1991, with the
average water cut decreased by 6%. For the second test, the
stimulation treatment lasted for 55 days with the wave source production. Positive results had shown in several sandstones
placed near the pay zone to enhance the propagation effi- as well as carbonates fields in several places of the United
ciency of seismic. The treatment results for the second test States.
showed the average water/oil ratio decreased from 9.7% to In 1998, Wascana Energy Inc. chose the Morgan Field
8.3%, and the seismic vibration stimulation technology has (30 km Northwest of Lloydminster, Canada) to launch on the
larger UTCs (typical unit technical cost) and gives a better field scale test [71]. There were 19 production wells in the
increase in oil production. location, and only 13 of these wells were operational for the
Application in North America
Wooden and Kostrov [22] showed seismic stimulation out-

comes for a Permian basin North Robinson Clearfork carbon-
ate in Gaines Country, USA. The carbonates react to seismic
stimulation with a distinct change in decline as can be seen in
Fig. 20. Comparing with other enhanced oil recovery methods,
seismic stimulation is exceptional since the generated elastic
waves have no obstacles, in neither the horizontal nor the
vertical plane. The presence of fault blocks, multi-layers,
heterogeneity, or multiphase flow will not stop the stimula-
tion processes. There is a possibility to combine seismic vi-
bration with other fluid-based EOR methods. In 2016, Adams
and WoodenIs [77] wrote an article in The Permian Basin Pe-
troleum Association Magazine and stated that Seismic Stim-
ulation can be the answer for Enhanced Oil Recovery in the
Permian Basin. Several companies have explored new tech- Fig. 20 e Permian basin carbonate response from seismic
nology such as Seismic Stimulation that can improve oil stimulation [71].
test. The fluid production profile for one of the wells (well #1) is Test results in Shengli Oilfield
shown in Fig. 21. The fluid production before stimulation The vibration stimulation carried on Shengli Oilfield in 1999
treatment was declining at a rate of 0.041 m3/day, while the and promising oil production was achieved. The Shengli
BS&W was increasing at 0.031%/day. Here, BS&W (base sedi- Oilfield is a multi-layer sandstone reservoir with high het-
ment and water composition) is the total percentage of water erogeneity. The depth of pay zone is in the range of
and sand in the production fluid. After the treatment, the total 970 me2960 m and the oil properties show dramatic change
fluid production rates showed an increasing rate of 0.041 m3/ from light oil to heavy oil. The oil density is in the range of
day, which was the same as the declining rate of pre- 0.86 g/cm3 e 0.97 g/cm3, while the surface crude oil viscosity
stimulation treatment. The BS&W showed a decreasing is from 10 mPas to 6000 mPas. The downhole stimulation was
trend of 0.125%/day (Fig. 21). launched on for 7 h, and the average oil viscosity reduced by
21% according to the oil samples from the 23 wells within the
Application in China area of 7 km2. The largest viscosity reduction among the
production wells can be from 1388 mPas to 216 mPas. The
Since late 1990, a serious of field tests, such as Jilin Oilfield, sand content fell significantly based on the data from 32
Shengli Oilfield, Liaohe Oilfield, Huabei Oilfield, etc. have production wells. The largest decline in the sand content was
carried out based on the successful application in Russia [78]. from 0.756% to 0.045%. Based on the development data from
The DHVOS (downhole harmonic vibration oil displacement 281 production wells in the Shengli oilfield, the effect of oil
system) has been developed by CNPC (China National Petro- viscosity on oil recovery is shown in Fig. 22. The oil recovery
leum Company). And, the DHVOS, which can generate a large- can increase from 18.2% to 42% when the oil viscosity
amplitude seismic wave, has been applied in over 100 pro- decreased from 30 mPas to 15 mPas. The field results
duction wells since 1997. demonstrated that periodic application of large amplitude
excitation to oil reservoirs led to increased oil production
Test results in Liaohe Oilfield rates and decreased produced fluid water content.
The DHVOS system was applied in Gaosheng heavy oilfield,
Liaohe, China, in 1997. The depth of pay zone is in the range of
1510 me1690 m, with the thickness on average about 67.7 m. Discussion and conclusions
The average porosity and permeability are 24% and 2420 mD,
respectively. The viscosity of crude oil is 500 mPas and the Generally, the oil recovery by waterflooding is very low,
surface degassed viscosity is approximately mostly 30%e40%, due to the heterogeneity of the oil layer, the
3000 mPase4000 mPas. The density of oil is 0.946 g/cm3 and difference in oil/water viscosity, capillary force, and gravity,
the asphaltene content is 37.52%. The DHVOS system was etc. As a result, a large amount of crude oil remains in the
lowered into a production well (Well #3572) to the depth of formation. Therefore, some chemical flooding methods, such
584 m, and the frequency of vibration was 88 shocks/minute as polymer flooding, surfactant flooding, alkali flooding, ASP
with the strength of each shock 5 tons. The vibration lasted for (alkaline-surfactant-polymer) flooding, and other chemically-
76 h. Finally, 26 production wells were influenced, and the oil based EOR method, are widely used in many oilfields. In some
production increased by 47.6% compared with the oil pro- cases, the oil recovery by chemical flooding works very well.
duction before stimulation treatment. The water cut of the However, it is necessary to inject the chemical agent into the
production well (within the 800 m radius around the Well oil layer, therefore, the cost for oil production is high, which
#3572) decreased by 8%. In total, there was a significant in- limits its large-scale application. Besides, the chemical flood-
crease in oil production and a decline in water cut during the ing method can also cause some negative impact, such as
period of seismic treatment, and the maximum oil production groundwater pollution, oil layer blockage, equipment corro-
can even reach to 47 tons/day. sion and reduced quality of produced oil.
Fig. 21 e Fluid production and BS&W before and after the

seismic stimulation technology for Well #1 [71]. Fig. 22 e Influence of oil viscosity on oil recovery [78].
As a physical method for IOR (improved oil recovery), issue is how to transfer the vibration energy from the source
seismic stimulation has some advantages, such as I) It will not to the oil-rich zone efficiently. As it is common that the
pollute or damage the oil layer, as there are no new resources amplitude of the vibration will attenuate rapidly before it
introduced into the reservoir during the seismic stimulation propagates to the oil zone, which will lead to failure to IOR.
process; II) Low equipment investment, low operating cost, Some of the researchers suggested the generation of reso-
and high oil recovery efficiency; III) It can be combined with nance in the oil zone to deliver the vibration energy effectively
other stimulation methods to achieve complementary ad- [13,80,81]. A small amplitude vibration can generate a large
vantages, such as acoustic fracturing, acoustic acidification, amplitude rock displacement in the formation. A simple
acoustic augmented injection, etc.; IV) Wide range of appli- example can be used to have a qualitative look for the possi-
cations: the seismic stimulation can be used for some low bility of resonance. The resonance frequency can be
production wells caused by salt plugging, fouling or dead wells expressed as:
and abandoned wells whose permeabilities are drastically
Ur
reduced due to mechanical impurities during the process of fr ¼ (39)
Lr
drilling, completion, and workover, etc. This technology is
also suitable for the development of clay reservoirs, low where Lr is the characteristic thickness of the oil layer, m; Ur is
permeability reservoirs, tight formation reservoirs and heavy the seismic wave velocity in the oil layer. According to some
oil reservoirs that cannot be treated by conventional stimu- works of literature [58], the velocities for compressional and
lation measures. Some other researchers also confirmed that shear wave in the rock filled with fluid are 2200 m/s and
the seismic vibration could enhance the fluid crossflow be- 1000 m/s, respectively. Therefore, the resonance frequency
tween the low permeability and high permeability layers, should be 220 Hz and 100 Hz, respectively, if the characteristic
which can be used for delivering the surfactant solution into thickness (Lr ) equals to 10 m. The resonance frequency will
the low permeability zones (oil-rich zones). This application is increase to 2200 Hz and 1000 Hz if Lr ¼ 1 m, which is much
very useful for naturally fractured reservoirs, as it is hard for higher than the frequency used for IOR (1 Hze100 Hz). The
the flooding fluid to invade into the matrices because of the result suggests that it is necessary to create a wave with a
existence of fractures. And, its application deserves detailed much slower velocity.
consideration. Huh et al. [13] proposed that the extension of Biot formu-
Accordingly, seismic stimulation technology will play an lation can be used to predict the properties of the two slow
important role in the oil industry, and its application will waves when it propagated in the poroelastic porous media
continue to be expanded. However, at present, there are still saturated with two immiscible fluids. Santos et al. [82] thought
some shortcomings, which need more concerns: that two slow waves may generate by considering capillary
forces and mass and viscous coupling coefficients in the mo-
Long-distance between the vibration source and the oil layer tion equation. By employing the volume-averaging theory,
some other researchers predicted similar slow waves
For some of the surface-based vibro-seismic sources, it is comparing to that of Biot wave [83]. If the slow-wave with
usually far away from the oil layers, and the effective vibration several of magnitude can arise with the help of two immis-
energy conducted to the oil layer is very small. The oil layer is cible fluids, the resonance in the oil layer can be generated
often more than 1000 m away from the ground, and the sur- when the slow waves propagate in the formation. Resonance
face rock is loose, so the attenuation of the vibration is very generation at the source is an effective way to transmit
high [79]. The vibration can not accelerate the migration of the vibrational energy into the deeper formation. Besides, the
residual oil when it is generated at the ground surface. Several direct linkage from the pore level mechanisms to the macro-
improvements can be advised: I) Keep the vibration source as scopic level for the possibility of resonance development
close as possible to the oil layer or use auxiliary conduction needs further investigation.
equipment to transmit the ground vibration; II) More powerful
vibration source can be employed; III) Multi-point simulta- Future work on the vibration coupled seepage mechanics
neous vibrations are used in the same block. The multi-point
simultaneous vibrations can fluctuate the remaining oil from For the seismic stimulation on IOR, the seepage mechanism of
multiple directions. The vibration sources pattern (similar to fluid in the reservoir is very complicated due to the complex
the well pattern, e.g. five (nine) - spots pattern or inverted five characteristics of the actual reservoir and its coupling with the
(nine) - spots pattern, shown in Fig. 23) can be selected ac- wave field. More researches should be involved in the vibra-
cording to the distribution of oil layer, the development of tion coupled seepage mechanics to reveal the influence of
fractures, physical properties of oil layers and fluids, etc. This wave field on the fluid flow behaviors in multiple media
pattern selection needs further consideration. Besides, the saturated with immiscible fluids.
multi-point sources can also generate resonance in the oil
layer, thereby greatly enhancing the vibration energy to the oil I) Proper models for macroscopic seepage by coupling the
layer. wave induction. The fluid in reservoir can be driven to
flow with the help of the macro pressure difference, and
Effective vibration energy delivery the seismic wave can also induce the fluid flow in the
presence of the vibration. Therefore, the vibration
In the above, we have discussed the possible mechanism of oil coupled seepage model is more complicated than the
recovery by seismic stimulation. However, another important propagation model of elastic wave in reservoir porous
Fig. 23 e (a) Five-spots vibration sources pattern; (b) inverted five-spots vibration sources pattern; (c) nine-spots vibration
sources pattern; (d) inverted nine-spots vibration sources pattern.
media, which needs further consideration in the future still limited to the single wave, and the seepage model
to reveal the mechanism of vibration-induced seepage. under different conditions such as different fre-
II) Vibration coupled seepage model used in low perme- quencies, intensities need further study. Therefore, the
ability reservoirs. The application of vibration stimula- flow model for multiphase in the superimposed wave
tion technology in low/extra-low permeability filed is still a big challenge.
reservoirs has become a hot topic recently [11]. How-
ever, in practice, this type of reservoir is highly hetero-
geneous, and there are a large number of natural or
Acknowledgments
artificial fractures inside, which increases the difficulty
in quantitative description of the vibration coupled
This paper was made possible by an NPRP award NPRP 11S-
seepage mechanics. In the low/extra-low permeability
1126e170031 from the Qatar National Research Fund (a
reservoirs, the theory of vibration coupled seepage
member of The Qatar Foundation). The statements made
mechanics can be introduced into the classical oil and
herein are solely the responsibility of the authors.
gas seepage mechanics by considering the non-Darcy
flow, starting pressure gradient and large-scale flow in
fracture/karst, etc. references
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Seismic Vibration For Improved Oil Recovery

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international journal of hydrogen energy xxx (xxxx) xxx

Available online at www.sciencedirect.com

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/he

Seismic vibration for improved oil recovery: A

Qian Sun a,b, Albertus Retnanto b,*, Mahmood Amani b

Mechanisms of seismic stimulation based on the published literature are introduced.

article info abstract

methods, the challenges are high energy cost, low thermal

waves). It can create intense heat by cavitation effect, which

Displacement efficiency of oil by water

Table 1 e Improved oil recovery after low-frequency pulse action.

In 1991, Simkin et al. [49] had launched on some experi-

Fig. 8 e Triggers to modify water and oil production.

The degassing phenomenon usually associates with the local

Fig. 10 e Cumulative fluid production cm as a function of

satisfied for stimulation to mobilize the trapped oil.

yields the dynamic criterion d ¼ da eiut (22)

researchers have established a series of mathematical models

propagation direction (radial-direction), mm; r is the vertical

s, Q is the coupling parameters between solid volume

stimulation methods. Some researchers have investigated the

vibration. Therefore, the finite element method, finite differ-

In Russia, a large number of oilfields are undergoing the late

Application in North America

Wooden and Kostrov [22] showed seismic stimulation out-

Fig. 21 e Fluid production and BS&W before and after the

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