Characterization of Primary and Secondary Recovery Processes in an Oil Reservoir: Theoretical Assumptions and Experimental Limitations
Part 10
1. While measuring the steady-state oil and water relative permeability values, would it remain feasible to get rid-off the capillary end-effect errors, observed at the outlet of the core samples, by maintaining a relatively larger pressure gradient across the core sample?
By having a relatively larger pressure gradient with reference to the capillary pressure difference between oil and water, would it remain feasible to ensure a stabilized displacement (by maintaining a relatively larger flow velocity) @ laboratory-scale using cores towards determining relative permeability curves?
Further, with slight miscibility between oil and water; and with slight compressibility for oil, would it remain feasible to maintain the flow velocity to remain as a constant at all cross sections of core sample, while determining oil and water relative permeability curves?
2. Whether the number of core samples used in the laboratory; and the number of core measurements remain to be representative of real field conditions?
How do we ensure application of proper mud formulation (by mitigating mud filtrate flushing of core minerals); the proper recovery procedure for retrieval of core samples from friable and unconsolidated formations (by ensuring an optimal rate of penetration during coring, towards reducing the quantum of filtrate entry into the cores); and the proper coring procedures following the retrieval of the cores from special core barrels (the critical core handling approaches that remain necessary before moving cores from rig-site to laboratory in order to prevent the grain rearrangement during transport of cores) – in order to secure good quality of cores from the field?
Even, if we manage to secure relatively good quality of cores from field, to what extent, ‘oil production rate’ and ‘water rate’ as a function of time; and its associated ‘field-scale ultimate oil recovery forecast’ would remain to be justified based on laboratory core-scale measurements?
Suresh Kumar Govindarajan
https://home.iitm.ac.in/gskumar/
https://iitm.irins.org/profile/61643
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