Permeability Impairment Due to Fines Migration in Sandstones

Compaction and sand migration are some of the main problems for the loosely consolidated and unconsolidated high rate gas reservoirs. A reliable estimation of the well productivity depends on accurate modeling of permeability and inertial effects. Therefore, the key objective of this paper is to quantify the flow parameters change in the case of compaction and sand migration, and the development of permeability and the non-Darcy coefficient correlations that can be used in reservoir simulations. The compaction effects are simulated by increasing grains diameters with the same ratio. Permeability and the non-Darcy coefficients are calculated from lattice Boltzmann method (LBM). Results indicate that permeability decrease is not directional and the change in permeability can be estimated from porosity change with a Kozeny-Carman type relation with an exponent of 3.2. A Kozeny-Carman type relation between the non-Darcy coefficient and permeability is also found with an exponent −1.303. For high compressibility reservoirs, estimation of the inertial effects from the correlations developed as a function of permeability and porosity may also lead to underestimation of the inertial effects. Sand migration causes pore-throat plugging that leads to significant reduction in permeability. Permeability impairment due to sand or fines migration is usually estimated from Kozeny-Carman type relation based on porosity. There is no study in the literature on how the inertial effects are changed with permeability impairment due to sand or fines migration. Sand particle plugging locations are found from the network simulations for different pore volume reduction, and corresponding permeability and the non-Darcy coefficient are calculated from LBM. It is found that permeability change with sand plugging is direction dependent: permeability reduction in the flow direction is twice compared to other directions. Porosity reduction does not depend on only pore-throat plugging, porosity can be decrease due to compaction and pore-surface deposition. Therefore, a correlation is developed to estimate permeability from pore-throat sand concentration. Even though permeability change is directional, the trend between permeability and the non-Darcy coefficient is similar and the magnitude of exponent in Kozeny-Carman type relation is larger, −1.803, compared to that of compaction.

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An Investigation into the Effect of Brine Salinity on Fines Migration in SAGD Operations

10.2118/195370-ms ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Mohammad Haftani ◽

Chenxi Wang ◽

Jesus David Montero Pallares ◽

Mahdi Mahmoudi ◽

Vahidoddin Fattahpour ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Fines Migration ◽

Brine Salinity

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Modified Mathematical Model for Fines Migration in Oil Fields

10.2118/143742-ms ◽

2011 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Abbas Zeinijahromi ◽

Fernando A. Machado ◽

Pavel G. Bedrikovetsky

Keyword(s):

Mathematical Model ◽

Oil Fields ◽

Fines Migration

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Fines migration in aquifers: production history treatment and well behaviour prediction

Journal of Hydrology ◽

10.1016/j.jhydrol.2021.126660 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 126660

Author(s):

L. Chequer ◽

C. Nguyen ◽

G. Loi ◽

A. Zeinijahromi ◽

P. Bedrikovetsky

Keyword(s):

Fines Migration ◽

Production History

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Fines Migration in Fractured Wells: Integrating Modeling With Field and Laboratory Data

SPE Production & Operations ◽

10.2118/165108-pa ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 29 (04) ◽

pp. 309-322 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Maricel Marquez ◽

Wade Williams ◽

Mark M Knobles ◽

Pavel Bedrikovetsky ◽

Zhenjiang You

Keyword(s):

Laboratory Data ◽

Fines Migration

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Fines migration and compaction in diatomaceous rocks

Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering ◽

10.1016/j.petrol.2014.06.024 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 122 ◽

pp. 108-118 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

J.R.P. Lagasca ◽

A.R. Kovscek

Keyword(s):

Fines Migration

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Zeta-Potential Investigation and Experimental Study of Nanoparticles Deposited on Rock Surface To Reduce Fines Migration

SPE Journal ◽

10.2118/142633-pa ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 18 (03) ◽

pp. 534-544 ◽

Cited By ~ 28

Author(s):

M.. Ahmadi ◽

A.. Habibi ◽

P.. Pourafshary ◽

S.. Ayatollahi

Keyword(s):

Zeta Potential ◽

Interaction Energy ◽

Fine Particles ◽

Rock Surface ◽

Production Engineering ◽

Release Process ◽

Fines Migration ◽

Total Interaction Energy ◽

Total Interaction ◽

Potential Test

Summary Fines migration is a noticeable problem in petroleum-production engineering. Plugging of throats in porous media occurs because of detachment of fine particles from sand surfaces. Thus, the study of interactions between fines and pore surfaces and the investigation of governing forces are important factors to consider when describing the mechanism of the fines-release process. The main types of these forces are electric double-layer repulsion (DLR) and London–van der Waals attraction (LVA). It may be possible to alter these forces with nanoparticles (NPs) as surface coatings. In comparison with repulsion forces, NPs increase the effect of attraction forces. In this paper, we present new experiments and simple modeling to observe such properties of NPs. For this purpose, the surfaces of pores were coated with different types of NPs: magnesium oxide (MgO), silicon dioxide (SiO2), and aluminum oxide (Al2O3). A zeta-potential test was used to examine changes in the potential of the pore surfaces. Total interaction energy was then mathematically calculated to compare different states. Total interaction energy is a fitting criterion that gives proper information about the effect of different NPs on surface properties. Consequently, total interaction plots are found to be suitable tools for selecting the best coating material. On the basis of experimental results, the magnitude of change in zeta potential for the MgO NP was 45 mV. Our model demonstrated that the magnitude of the electric DLR in comparison with the LVA of the probe and plate surface was considerably diminished when MgO NPs were used to coat the surface of the plate, which agrees completely with our experimental observation.

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Real-time completion monitoring with acoustic waves

Geophysics ◽

10.1190/1.2818117 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 73 (1) ◽

pp. E15-E33 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Andrey Bakulin ◽

Alexander Sidorov ◽

Boris Kashtan ◽

Mikko Jaaskelainen

Keyword(s):

Real Time ◽

Acoustic Waves ◽

Acoustic System ◽

Acoustic Signatures ◽

New Findings ◽

Sand Control ◽

Surveillance Method ◽

4D Seismic ◽

Permeability Impairment ◽

Downhole Sensors

Deepwater production is challenged by well underperformance issues that are hard to diagnose early on and expensive to deal with later. Problems are amplified by reliance on a few complex wells with sophisticated sand-control media. New downhole data are required for better understanding and prevention of production impairment. We introduce real-time completion monitoring (RTCM), a new nonintrusive surveillance method that uses acoustic signals sent via the fluid column to identify permeability impairment in sand-screened completions. The signals are carried by tube waves that move borehole fluid back and forth radially across the completion layers. Such tube waves are capable of instant testing of the presence or absence of fluid communication across the completion and are sensitive to changes occurring in sand screens, gravel sand, perforations, and possibly in the reservoir. The part of the completion that has different impairment from its neighbors will carry tube waves with modified signatures (velocity, attenuation) and will produce a reflection from the boundary where impairment changes. We conduct a laboratory experiment with a model of a completed horizontal borehole and focus on effects of sand-screen permeability on transmitted and reflected acoustic signatures. These new findings form the basis of an RTCM method that can be thought of as “miniaturized” 4D seismic and as a “permanent log” in an individual wellbore. We present experiments with a fiber-optic acoustic system that suggest a nonintrusive way to install downhole sensors on the pipe in realistic completions and thus implement real-time surveillance with RTCM.

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Mechanism and Effect of Nanoparticles on Controlling Fines Migration in Unconsolidated Sandstone Formations

SPE Journal ◽

10.2118/204474-pa ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-13

Author(s):

Xin Zhao ◽

Zhengsong Qiu ◽

Jian Gao ◽

Xiaoxia Ren ◽

Jia Li ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Interaction Energy ◽

Control Method ◽

Effective Control ◽

Attractive Potential ◽

Surface Element ◽

Pore Surface ◽

Microscopic Mechanism ◽

Fines Migration ◽

Favorable Conditions ◽

Physical And Chemical

Summary Pore throat blockage due to fines migration during drilling and completion is one of the leading causes of damage to unconsolidated sandstone reservoirs. Therefore, it is necessary to explore an effective control method for fines migration. Five types of nanoparticles in suspension with aqueous NaCl solutions of six different ionic strengths were chosen. Their ability to control the migration of quartz and kaolinite fines in quartz sand as the porous medium is discussed in this work. Results show that nanoparticles can effectively adsorb and fix fines, thus successfully suppressing their migration. Among these nanoparticles, Al2O3 showed the best performance, and nanoparticle suspensions with higher ionic strengths were preferable. A surface element integration method was used to establish a mathematical model for calculating the interaction energy between the formation fines and the rock pore surface with adsorbed nanoparticles. Through atomic force microscopy and zeta potential measurements, the effect of nanoparticle adsorption on the heterogeneity of the pore surface was analyzed in terms of roughness and electrical properties. The interaction energy between the formation fines and the heterogeneous pore surface was calculated; it revealed the microscopic mechanism of how nanoparticles control fines migration. The results indicated that the nanoparticles form an adsorption layer, which enhances the physical and chemical heterogeneities of the pore surface and provides favorable conditions for the adsorption and fixation of fines. As a result, the interaction energy curves of the fines and the pore surface shift downward, and their repulsive barriers decrease or even disappear, exhibiting higher attractive potential energy. These variations promote adsorption and fixation of fines at the pore surface, as confirmed by the experimental results reported in this work, thus successfully preventing formation damage.

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